Home > 106th Congressional Bills > H.R. 1802 (rh2) To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide States with more funding and greater flexibility in carrying out programs designed to help children make the transition from foster care to self-sufficiency, and for other p...H.R. 1802 (rh2) To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide States with more funding and greater flexibility in carrying out programs designed to help children make the transition from foster care to self-sufficiency, and for other p...
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1802
[Report No. 106-182, Part I]
To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide
States with more funding and greater flexibility in carrying out
programs designed to help children make the transition from foster care
to self-sufficiency, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 13, 1999
Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut (for herself and Mr. Cardin) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means,
and in addition to the Committee on Commerce, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
June 10, 1999
Reported from the Committee on Ways and Means with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
June 10, 1999
Referral to the Committee on Commerce extended for a period ending not
later than June 25, 1999
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 13,
1999]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide
States with more funding and greater flexibility in carrying out
programs designed to help children make the transition from foster care
to self-sufficiency, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Foster Care
Independence Act of 1999''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I--IMPROVED INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM
Subtitle A--Improved Independent Living Program
Sec. 101. Improved independent living program.
Subtitle B--Related Foster Care Provision
Sec. 111. Increase in amount of assets allowable for children in foster
care.
Subtitle C--Medicaid Amendments
Sec. 121. State option of medicaid coverage for adolescents leaving
foster care.
TITLE II--SSI FRAUD PREVENTION
Subtitle A--Fraud Prevention and Related Provisions
Sec. 201. Liability of representative payees for overpayments to
deceased recipients.
Sec. 202. Recovery of overpayments of SSI benefits from lump sum SSI
benefit payments.
Sec. 203. Additional debt collection practices.
Sec. 204. Requirement to provide State prisoner information to Federal
and federally assisted benefit programs.
Sec. 205. Rules relating to collection of overpayments from individuals
convicted of crimes.
Sec. 206. Treatment of assets held in trust under the SSI program.
Sec. 207. Disposal of resources for less than fair market value under
the SSI program.
Sec. 208. Administrative procedure for imposing penalties for false or
misleading statements.
Sec. 209. Exclusion of representatives and health care providers
convicted of violations from participation
in social security programs.
Sec. 210. State data exchanges.
Sec. 211. Study on possible measures to improve fraud prevention and
administrative processing.
Sec. 212. Annual report on amounts necessary to combat fraud.
Sec. 213. Computer matches with medicare and medicaid
institutionalization data.
Sec. 214. Access to information held by financial institutions.
Subtitle B--Benefits for Filipino Veterans of World War II
Sec. 251. Provision of reduced SSI benefit to certain individuals who
provided service to the Armed Forces of the
United States in the Philippines during
World War II after they move back to the
Philippines.
TITLE III--CHILD SUPPORT
Sec. 301. Elimination of hold harmless provision for State share of
distribution of collected child support.
TITLE IV--TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS
Sec. 401. Technical corrections relating to amendments made by the
Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
TITLE I--IMPROVED INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM
Subtitle A--Improved Independent Living Program
SEC. 101. IMPROVED INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) States are required to make reasonable efforts to find
adoptive families for all children, including older children,
for whom reunification with their biological family is not in
the best interests of the child. However, some older children
will continue to live in foster care. These children should be
enrolled in an Independent Living program designed and
conducted by State and local government to help prepare them
for employment, postsecondary education, and successful
management of adult responsibilities.
(2) About 20,000 adolescents leave the Nation's foster care
system each year because they have reached 18 years of age and
are expected to support themselves.
(3) Congress has received extensive information that
adolescents leaving foster care have significant difficulty
making a successful transition to adulthood; this information
shows that children aging out of foster care show high rates of
homelessness, non-marital childbearing, poverty, and delinquent
or criminal behavior; they are also frequently the target of
crime and physical assaults.
(4) The Nation's State and local governments, with
financial support from the Federal Government, should offer an
extensive program of education, training, employment, and
financial support for young adults leaving foster care, with
participation in such program beginning several years before
high school graduation and continuing, as needed, until the
young adults emancipated from foster care establish
independence or reach 21 years of age.
(b) Improved Independent Living Program.--Section 477 of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 477. INDEPENDENT LIVING PROGRAM.
``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to provide States
with flexible funding that will enable programs to be designed and
conducted--
``(1) to identify children who are likely to remain in
foster care until 18 years of age and to design programs that
help these children make the transition to self-sufficiency by
providing services such as assistance in obtaining a high
school diploma, career exploration, vocational training, job
placement and retention, training in daily living skills,
training in budgeting and financial management skills,
substance abuse prevention, and preventive health activities
(including smoking avoidance, nutrition education, and
pregnancy prevention);
``(2) to help children who are likely to remain in foster
care until 18 years of age receive the education, training, and
services necessary to obtain employment;
``(3) to help children who are likely to remain in foster
care until 18 years of age prepare for and enter postsecondary
training and education institutions;
``(4) to provide personal and emotional support to children
aging out of foster care, through mentors and the promotion of
interactions with dedicated adults; and
``(5) to provide financial, housing, counseling,
employment, education, and other appropriate support and
services to former foster care recipients between 18 and 21
years of age to complement their own efforts to achieve self-
sufficiency and to assure that program participants recognize
and accept their personal responsibility for preparing for and
then making the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
``(b) Applications.--
``(1) In general.--A State may apply for funds from its
allotment under subsection (c) for a period of 5 consecutive
fiscal years by submitting to the Secretary, in writing, a plan
that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) and the
certifications required by paragraph (3) with respect to the
plan.
``(2) State plan.--A plan meets the requirements of this
paragraph if the plan specifies which State agency or agencies
will administer, supervise, or oversee the programs carried out
under the plan, and describes how the State intends to do the
following:
``(A) Design and deliver programs to achieve the
purposes of this section.
``(B) Ensure that all political subdivisions in the
State are served by the program, though not necessarily
in a uniform manner.
``(C) Ensure that the programs serve children of
various ages and at various stages of achieving
independence.
``(D) Involve the public and private sectors in
helping adolescents in foster care achieve
independence.
``(E) Use objective criteria for determining
eligibility for benefits and services under the
programs, and for ensuring fair and equitable treatment
of benefit recipients.
``(F) Cooperate in national evaluations of the
effects of the programs in achieving the purposes of
this section.
``(3) Certifications.--The certifications required by this
paragraph with respect to a plan are the following:
``(A) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that the State will provide
assistance and services to children who have left
foster care but have not attained 21 years of age.
``(B) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that not more than 30 percent of
the amounts paid to the State from its allotment under
subsection (c) for a fiscal year will be expended for
room or board for children who have left foster care
and have attained 18 years of age but not 21 years of
age.
``(C) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that none of the amounts paid to
the State from its allotment under subsection (c) will
be expended for room or board for any child who has not
attained 18 years of age.
``(D) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that the State will use training
funds provided under the program of Federal payments
for foster care and adoption assistance to provide
training to help foster parents, workers in group
homes, and case managers understand and address the
issues confronting adolescents preparing for
independent living, and will, to the extent possible,
coordinate such training with the independent living
program conducted for adolescents.
``(E) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that the State has consulted
widely with public and private organizations in
developing the plan and that the State has given all
interested members of the public at least 30 days to
submit comments on the plan.
``(F) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that the State will make every
effort to coordinate the State programs receiving funds
provided from an allotment made to the State under
subsection (c) with other Federal and State programs
for youth (especially transitional living youth
projects funded under part B of title III of the
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of
1974), abstinence education programs, local housing
programs, programs for disabled youth (especially
sheltered workshops), and school-to-work programs
offered by high schools or local workforce agencies.
``(G) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that each Indian tribe in the
State has been consulted about the programs to be
carried out under the plan; that there have been
efforts to coordinate the programs with such tribes;
and that benefits and services under the programs will
be made available to Indian children in the State on
the same basis as to other children in the State.
``(H) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that the State will ensure that
adolescents participating in the program under this
section participate directly in designing their own
program activities that prepare them for independent
living and that the adolescents accept personal
responsibility for living up to their part of the
program.
``(I) A certification by the chief executive
officer of the State that the State has established and
will enforce standards and procedures to prevent fraud
and abuse in the programs carried out under the plan.
``(4) Approval.--The Secretary shall approve an application
submitted by a State pursuant to paragraph (1) for a period
if--
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