Fostering Connections to Success Act

To amend parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act to assist children in foster care in developing or maintaining connections to family, community, support, health care, and school, and for other purposes.

6/24/2008--Passed House amended. (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.) Fostering Connections to Success Act -
(Sec. 2) Amends Part E (Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to give state plans the option of providing for the state to enter into agreements to provide kinship guardianship assistance payments to grandparents and other relatives who have assumed legal guardianship of children for whom they have cared as foster parents and for whom they have committed to care on a permanent basis.
(Sec. 3) Amends SSA title IV part B (Child and Family Services) to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make matching grants to state, local, or tribal child welfare agencies, and experienced private nonprofit organizations to help children in, or at risk of entering, foster care to reconnect with family members.
(Sec. 4) Requires the applicable state agency, within 30 days after placing a child in foster care, to attempt to:
(1) locate and notify any of the child's adult family members of the child's removal from parental custody; and
(2) explain the options for participating in the child's care and placement.
(Sec. 5) Gives states the option of covering under part E certain children in foster care, and certain children in an adoptive or guardianship placement, after attaining age 18.

(Sec. 6) Provides for short-term training for child welfare agencies and prospective relative guardians.
Phases in increased expenditures for such training.
(Sec. 7) Allows an Indian tribe to receive direct federal SSA title IV part E funds if specified requirements are met. Authorizes an Indian tribe to receive a portion of a state plan allotment as part of an agreement to operate the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program.
(Sec. 8) Requires each state child welfare services plan to provide that the state will develop a plan for the ongoing oversight and coordination of health care services for any child in a foster care placement.
(Sec. 9) Requires case plans under SSA title B or E to include a plan for ensuring the educational stability of the child while in foster care. Requires the state plan for foster care and adoption assistance to provide assurances that each child who has attained the minimum age for compulsory school attendance under state law, and with respect to whom there is eligibility for a payment under the state plan, is a full-time elementary or secondary school student or has completed secondary school.
(Sec. 10) Provides for joint placement of siblings in the same foster care, kinship guardianship, or adoptive placement unless it would be contrary to the safety or well being of any of the siblings.
(Sec. 11) Revises the adoption incentives payment program, extending it for five years through FY2013, and providing for an increase in incentive payments for special needs adoptions and older child adoptions among other changes.
(Sec. 12) Requires the state plan for foster care and adoption assistance to provide that the state will inform any individual who is adopting, or considering adopting, a child in foster care of the individual's potential eligibility for a federal tax credit.
(Sec. 13) Revises the formula for federal payments to the District of Columbia for foster care and adoption assistance to make the principal factor in the formula a payment of 70% of the total amount expended during a quarter as foster care maintenance and adoption assistance payments (thus modifying the District of Columbia foster care matching rate to conform with the Medicaid matching rate).
(Sec. 14) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the collection of unemployment compensation debts resulting from fraud.
(Sec. 15) Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to invest U.S. operating cash in repurchase agreements with acceptable parties.


... morehide bill summary

Sponsor

• Rep. James McDermott [D, WA-7]
• and 27 Co-Sponsors
  • Rep. Xavier Becerra [D, CA-31]
  • Rep. Shelley Berkley [D, NV-1]
  • Rep. Earl Blumenauer [D, OR-3]
  • Rep. Robert Brady [D, PA-1]
  • Rep. Dennis Cardoza [D, CA-18]
  • Rep. John Conyers [D, MI-14]
  • Rep. Jim Cooper [D, TN-5]
  • Rep. Joseph Crowley [D, NY-7]
  • Rep. Danny Davis [D, IL-7]
  • Rep. Artur Davis [D, AL-7]
  • Philip English
  • Rep. Chaka Fattah [D, PA-2]
  • Rep. Mazie Hirono [D, HI-2]
  • Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee [D, TX-18]
  • Stephanie Jones
  • Rep. John Larson [D, CT-1]
  • Rep. John Lewis [D, GA-5]
  • Rep. George Miller [D, CA-7]
  • Rep. Earl Pomeroy [D, ND-0]
  • Jon Porter
  • Rep. Linda Sánchez [D, CA-39]
  • Rep. Hilda Solis [D, CA-32]
  • Rep. Fortney Stark [D, CA-13]
  • Rep. Gene Taylor [D, MS-4]
  • Rep. Patrick Tiberi [R, OH-12]
  • Rep. Christopher Van Hollen [D, MD-8]
  • Gerald Weller
  close

Committees

• House Ways and Means
• 1 more
  • Senate Finance
  close

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to H.R.6307

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

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Introduced		Voted on by House		Voted on by Senate		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
June 19, 2008		June 24, 2008

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All Bill Actions

• Jun 25, 2008: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
• Passed by voice vote in the House on Jun 24, 2008. On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
• Jun 24, 2008: DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 6307.
• Jun 24, 2008: Mr. McDermott moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
• Jun 24, 2008: Considered under suspension of the rules.
• Introduced on Jun 19, 2008.
• Jun 19, 2008: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

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Related Issue Areas:

• Children
• Administrative fees
• Adoption
• Alaska
• 54 more
• Authorization
• Budgets
• Caregivers
• Child health
• Child welfare
• Collection of accounts
• Criminal justice
• Custody of children
• Disabled
• District of Columbia
• Education
• Elementary and secondary education
• Elementary education
• Families
• Family services
• Federal aid to Indians
• Federal-local relations
• Fingerprints
• Foster home care
• Fraud
• Government information
• Government publicity
• Grandparents
• Grants-in-aid
• Guardian and ward
• Health insurance
• Higher education
• Home schooling
• Identification of criminals
• Illegal aliens
• Immigration
• Income tax
• Indian children
• Indians
• Indigenous peoples
• Intergovernmental fiscal relations
• Investment of public funds
• Job training
• Labor
• Law
• Legal fees
• Medical care
• Medicine
• Minorities
• Secondary education
• Siblings
• State and local government
• Student enrollment
• Students
• Tax credits
• Taxation
• Unemployment insurance
• Vocational education
• Welfare

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In the News

September 18, 2008 Critical Reform Bill Promises New Help for Children in Foster Care

...vulnerable children and youth across the country. H.R. 6893 builds on two bills that Congress acted on earlier this year: H.R.6307, a bill the House unanimously passed earlier this summer and S. 3038, a bill the Senate Finance Committee passed on Septem

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June 25, 2008 House of Representatives Passes Child Welfare Bill That Includes ...

Today, the House of Representatives unanimously passed under suspension HR 6307, the “Fostering Connections to Success Act.” Representative McDermott (D-WA) ...

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Source: Tulsa Native American Times, OK

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June 20, 2008 Congressman Fattah Leads Bipartisan Effort on Child Welfare Reform

Congressman Fattah was honored to join his bipartisan colleagues in supporting HR 6307 ‘The Fostering Connections to Success Act.’ Introduced today in ...

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Source: eNews Park Forest, IL

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Blog Coverage

November 17, 2008 Child Welfare: The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing ...

The final bill represented a compromise between earlier bills acted on in the House (H.R. 6307) and in the Senate Finance Committee (S. 3038). As enacted, it revises the Adoption Incentives program and extends its funding authorization ...

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October 08, 2008 Child Welfare: The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing ...

The final bill represented a compromise between earlier bills acted on in the House (HR 6307) and in the Senate Finance Committee (S. 3038). As enacted, it revises the Adoption Incentives program and extends its funding authorization ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: Open CRS: Recent Reports

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September 19, 2008 critical reform bill promises new help for children in foster care ...

hr 6893 builds on two bills that congress acted on earlier this year: hr6307, a bill the house unanimously passed earlier this summer and s. 3038, a bill the senate finance committee passed on september 10, 2008.

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