6893 ) is an omnibus child welfare bill designed to ensure greater permanence and improve the well-being of children served by public child welfare agencies—especially children in foster care, those who leave foster care in their later teens, and those who are Indian children. The legislation received strong support in Congress, and beyond revising and extending the Adoption Incentives program, it responds to a range of issues and concerns that have been variously raised (some for more than a decade) by public child welfare administrators; youth, adoption, tribal, and child welfare advocates; and by children and youth who have been (or still are) in foster care. The bill passed the House of Representatives, by voice vote (under suspension of the rules), on September 17, 2008, and the Senate, by unanimous consent, on September 22, 2008. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 7, 2008. 110-351 ) revises and extends the Adoption Incentives program (under Section 473A of the Social Security Act) for five years, authorizes states to claim additional federal funds for certain child welfare purposes and adds new requirements for receipt of federal child welfare dollars. Financing Changes

P.L. 110-351 establishes new requirements for receipt of federal child welfare funding by public child welfare agencies. The bill requires these agencies (under Title IV-E or Title IV-B) to
provide assurance that each school-age child receiving federal foster care, adoption, or guardianship assistance is enrolled in school; work with other appropriate public agencies to reduce unnecessary school moves for all children in foster care and, separately, to coordinate and ensure access to health care for them, including mental health services and dental care; make "reasonable efforts" to place siblings together, whether in foster care, adoption, or guardianship; notify the adult relatives of children entering foster care of their options to participate in the care and placement of the child; no more than 90 days before a youth's exit from the foster care system (due to age rather than placement with a permanent family) develop with the youth a specific plan for his or her transition to independent living; negotiate "in good faith" with a tribe in the state that requests an agreement with the state to receive federal (Title IV-E) funds in return for that tribe's administration of some or all of the Title IV-E foster care, adoption assistance, and kinship guardianship assistance program for Indian children under its authority; and inform prospective adoptive parents of foster children of their potential eligibility for the federal adoption tax credit. 6307 and S. 3038 ). 110-351 will also extend it, as of FY2011, to kinship guardianship assistance.) However, the health- and education-related requirements included in P.L. Direct Federal Support to Tribal Programs

The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 ( P.L. Federal Support for Training and Other Changes

Over five years, P.L. 110-351 makes several changes that are unrelated to child welfare policy. These non-child welfare-related provisions—together with savings projected from the implementation of kinship guardianship assistance and the school enrollment requirement—are estimated by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to fully offset the cost of the bill to the federal treasury over the next five and 10 years. 6893 , as enacted, authorizes significant expansions in federal support for state and tribal child welfare programs, CBO projects a combined change in federal spending and revenues from the overall bill that is roughly budget neutral over ten years (FY2009-FY2018). 110-351 , the final legislation represented a compromise between bills that were earlier acted on by the House and by the Senate Finance Committee. H.R.
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (H.R. 6893) is an omnibus child welfare bill designed to ensure greater permanence and improve the well-being of children served by public child welfare agencies. The legislation received strong support in Congress and, beyond revising and extending the Adoption Incentives program, responds to a range of issues and concerns that have been raised (some for more than a decade) by public child welfare administrators; youth, adoption, tribal, and child welfare advocates; and by children and youth who have been (or still are) in foster care. The bill passed the House of Representatives, by voice vote (under suspension of the rules), on September 17, 2008, and the Senate, by unanimous consent, on September 22, 2008. It was signed into law by the President on October 7, 2008 (P.L. 110-351).
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 for five years (FY2009-FY2013). It makes significant changes to federal funding for child welfare programs, which include authorizing new federal support for states that provide kinship guardianship assistance to eligible children leaving foster care; expanding eligibility for federal adoption assistance (by phasing out, over FY2010-FY2018, income and other eligibility criteria that are based on dated cash welfare program rules); extending, as of FY2011, eligibility for federal foster care assistance to youth who remain in care beyond their 18th birthday, up to age 21; and phasing in additional support to states for child welfare related training. Additionally, the bill authorizes tribal child welfare agencies, as of FY2010, to directly access federal funds for foster care, adoption, and guardianship assistance under the Title IV-E program, provided the tribes meet substantially the same requirements made of states. The bill also appropriates $15 million in annual funding, for five years, for a new competitive grant program, Family Connection Grants.
Apart from these financing changes, P.L. 110-351 establishes new requirements for receipt of federal child welfare funding by public child welfare agencies. These include several that focus exclusively on the health and education status of children in foster care and others intended to ensure, or enable, sibling and other kinship connections for children in, or entering, foster care, and those leaving to adoption or guardianship. The bill also requires states to make new efforts related to planning for the transition of older children leaving foster care for independent living and requires states to inform prospective adoptive parents of foster children of their potential eligibility for the adoption tax credit (under the federal tax code).
Many of the changes included in the new law are projected by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to increase federal spending for child welfare. However, the increases are projected to be fully offset (over the next five and ten years) by savings or increased revenues to the federal treasury that CBO expects to be produced by other changes in the bill (both related and unrelated to child welfare policy). This report may be updated if warranted by issues related to implementing the new law.