Sec. 2. Findings

342 words·~2 min read·/bill/113/hr/2111/ih/section-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

The Congress finds as follows: As part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Social Security Act of 1935 included the creation of the Aid to Dependent Children program as a way to provide Federal support to poor children. Over time, this program became the Aid to Families with Dependent Children

(AFDC)program and provided assistance to struggling families for over 60 years. Part E of title IV of the Social Security Act provides primary Federal funding for child welfare services. Under that part, the Federal Government pays a portion of the cost of providing Federal foster care and adoption assistance benefits for eligible children. In 1996, when Congress replaced the AFDC program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

(TANF)program, Congress also fixed the income eligibility requirement for Federal foster care and adoption assistance benefits at a level based on the income thresholds established by the States under their former AFDC programs. This income eligibility requirement is now commonly referred to as the AFDC look-back standard . At that time, many States had established very strict household income requirements in order for children to be eligible for AFDC benefits. As a result of this very strict requirement, many children in the Federal foster care and adoption assistance programs are ineligible to receive a wide range of Federal benefits, services, and activities. For example, this outdated, restrictive standard prevents the State of Georgia from providing assistance to more than half of the children in the child welfare system. Forced to adhere to a stagnant standard, States increasingly struggle to administer Federal foster care and adoption assistance programs and provide services to those children most in need. As inflation increases, fewer children are eligible to receive Federal benefits, and States struggle to provide services from other, limited local and State resources. Although the AFDC look-back standard still applies to the Federal foster care program, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 will have completely eliminated the AFDC look-back standard in the Federal adoption assistance program by 2018.