Look-back Elimination Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4472 To eliminate the requirement that, to be eligible for foster care maintenance payments, a child would have been eligible for aid under the former program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children at the time of removal from the home. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 Mr. LEWIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To eliminate the requirement that, to be eligible for foster care maintenance payments, a child would have been eligible for aid under the former program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children at the time of removal from the home. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Look-back Elimination 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4472.IH H4472 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4472 IH (1) As part of President Franklin Delano Roo- 1 sevelt’s New Deal, the Social Security Act of 1935 2 included the creation of the Aid to Dependent Chil- 3 dren program as a way to provide Federal support 4 to poor children. Over time, this program became 5 the Aid to Families with Dependent Children 6 (AFDC) program and provided assistance to strug- 7 gling families for over 60 years. 8 (2) Part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 9 provides primary Federal funding for child welfare 10 services. Under that part, the Federal Government 11 pays a portion of the cost of providing Federal foster 12 care and adoption assistance benefits for eligible 13 children. 14 (3) In 1996, when Congress replaced the AFDC 15 program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy 16 Families (TANF) program, Congress also fixed the 17 income eligibility requirement for Federal foster care 18 and adoption assistance benefits at a level based on 19 the income thresholds established by the States 20 under their former AFDC programs. This income 21 eligibility requirement is now commonly referred to 22 as the ‘‘AFDC look-back standard’’. 23 (4) At that time, many States had established 24 very strict household income requirements in order 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4472.IH H4472 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4472 IH for children to be eligible for AFDC benefits. As a 1 result of this very strict requirement, many children 2 in the Federal foster care and adoption assistance 3 programs are ineligible to receive a wide range of 4 Federal benefits, services, and activities. For exam- 5 ple, this outdated, restrictive standard prevents the 6 State of Georgia from providing assistance to more 7 than half of the children in the child welfare system. 8 (5) Forced to adhere to a stagnant standard, 9 States increasingly struggle to administer Federal 10 foster care and adoption assistance programs and 11 provide services to those children most in need. As 12 inflation increases, fewer children are eligible to re- 13 ceive Federal benefits, and States struggle to pro- 14 vide services from other, limited local and State re- 15 sources. 16 (6) Although the AFDC look-back standard still 17 applies to the Federal foster care program, the Fos- 18 tering Connections to Success and Increasing Adop- 19 tions Act of 2008 completely eliminated the AFDC 20 look-back standard in the Federal adoption assist- 21 ance program in 2018. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4472.IH H4472 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4472 IH SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF THE AFDC ELIGIBILITY REQUIRE- 1 MENT IN THE FOSTER CARE MAINTENANCE 2 PAYMENTS PROGRAM. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 472(a) of the Social Secu- 4 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 672(a)) is amended— 5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘specified’’ 6 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘or caretaker into 7 foster care if the removal and foster care placement 8 met, and continues to meet, the requirements of 9 paragraph (2).’’; and 10 (2) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4). 11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 470 of 12 such Act (42 U.S.C. 670) is amended by striking ‘‘who 13 otherwise would have been eligible for assistance under the 14 State’s plan approved under part A (as such plan was in 15 effect on June 1, 1995)’’. 16 SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 17 It is the sense of the Congress that— 18 (1) the AFDC eligibility requirement for Fed- 19 eral foster care and adoption assistance benefits 20 should be eliminated and replaced with income eligi- 21 bility standards that are based on modern, balanced 22 criteria that treat all children equally; and 23 (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 24 ices should collaborate with Members of Congress 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4472.IH H4472 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4472 IH and child welfare advocates in developing any modi- 1 fied standards. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4472.IH H4472 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS