By Lani Molina
A new federal law that makes sweeping changes to child welfare services has the potential to improve outcomes for children and youth in foster care, advocates say. But some also say the measure does not go far enough to improve foster-care placements or adoption assistance.
In October, President Bush signed into law the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (HR 6893) view PDF file. It is the first new child welfare law since 1997. The measure amended the Social Security Act, making extensive changes to the laws governing child welfare services and forcing states to enact their own changes.
Focus on the Family
One of the main goals is to keep families together whenever possible. The act federally subsidizes a guardianship program for relative caregivers by giving states the option to use Title IV-E funds for kinship guardianship payments.
The law includes provisions to create a ìfamily connectionî grant which can be used for any of the following purposes: (1) programs to support relative caregivers, (2) efforts to locate and inform family members about a childís situation, (3) family group decision-making meetings, and (4) residential treatment programs for families. It also requires the notification of relatives when a child is removed from his/her immediate family within 30 days. In addition, it requires that states make reasonable efforts to place siblings together in foster care. In cases where siblings cannot be placed together, the state must provide for regular visitation or other ongoing activity between siblings.
Extending Benefits
The new law gives states the option of extending Title IV-E funds to foster youth up to age 21 if the youth meet certain conditions, such as completing high school or an equivalent credentialing program; enrolling in an institution providing post-secondary or vocational education; participating in a program or activity designed to promote employment; or being employed for a minimum of 80 hours per month. The extension of funds to older foster youths is critical, one expert said. ìIf states opt in, the result will be an increase in educational attainment and a decrease in the criminalization of foster youth,î said Amy Lemley, policy director for the John Burton Foundation in San Francisco. The foundation works to improve the quality of life for homeless youth in California and develop policy solutions to prevent homelessness.
ìIn states that already extend care past age 18, entrance into higher education is three times higher than states that donít,î Lemley said.
States will also be required to work with youth aging out of the system to develop a detailed and personalized transition plan covering housing, health insurance, education, continuing support services, and employment services.
Foster youth education and health care were also addressed by the act, which provides funding for a childís education by keeping him or her enrolled in the same school even with a change of residence -- when it is in the best interest of the child. The new law also requires states to develop health oversight and coordination plans in order to quickly respond to the health care needs of foster children including mental and dental health.
Adoption Incentives
The new law increases incentives for adoption and requires states to inform all potential parents of the federal tax credit. It reauthorizes the Adoption Incentives Program, which offers money to parents who adopt and to states who raise their rate of adoptions, through FY 2013. For adoptions of special needs, younger children, the law increases the payment per adoption to $4,000 per child, and to $8,000 per child for older children. There is also an elevated incentive payment for states that exceed their highest recorded foster child adoption rate since 2002.
Lemley said the new law has the potential to be very effective toward improving the child welfare system. However, she was critical of its failure to eliminate the ìlook backî provision of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) income rules that went into effect in 1996. That provision limits a childís access to Title IV-E adoption assistance, by determining a childís qualification for funding based on an out of date income test, which results in the underestimation of a familyís needed assistance. According to Lemley, the law also does not address the issue of the quality of the placements for foster children, particularly adolescent foster youth.
Lani Molina is a communications intern at NCYL. She plans to attend law school next fall.
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