Finding Permanent Homes for Adoptable Children - Pepperdine ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

SOURCE: HHS Office of the Inspector General, The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children: State Structure and Process, Report OEI -02-95- 00041, 11/98, http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-02-95- 00041.pdf, p.7 Accessed April 2003. In March of 2000, the United States Department of Health and Human Services reported that 134,000 children in foster care had adoption as part of their permanency plan, an increase from those in foster care during the 1990’s, due to the implementation of the Adoptions and Safe Families Act (ASFA), 10 signed by President Clinton in 1997. Among other issues addressed in the bill, section 442(12) of the ASFA requires that the states provide a plan for effectively using cross-jurisdictional resources in their IV-B plan, and Section 474(e) states that as a condition for receiving Title IV-E funding (Social Security Act), states “shall not deny or delay the placement of a child for an adoption when an approved family is 10 Children’s Rights. “The Adoption and Safe Families Act and Geographical Barriers to Adoption.” http://www.childrensrights.org/policy/adoption_and_safe_families.htm. Google search engine. Accessed February 11, 2003. 6
available outside the jurisdiction with responsibility for handling the case of the child.” 11 The penalty for states violating this provision ranges from a 2 percent to 5 percent penalty in the federal funds given the state for foster care and adoption assistance services (Children’s Rights). The states must make reasonable effort to place children interjurisdictionally if an adoptive home is available, with reasonable effort defined by ASFA Section 471(15)(E)(ii) as those efforts that “shall be made to place the child in a timely manner in accordance with the permanency plan, and to complete whatever steps are necessary to finalize the permanent placement of the child” 12 (see Appendix D for the complete text of the Adoption and Safe Families Act). For each case, the state agency must also document the steps it is taking to find permanent placement for a child. 13 While the ICPC does not fall directly under this mandate, the connection to focus on here is that ASFA has provided a level of accountability to the process not seen before, particularly with the reporting requirements written into the legislation. The reporting requirements within ASFA speak to cases within the public system; some of which become placements that fall under ICPC authority. It is an indirect relationship to be sure, but one that cannot be overlooked when recognizing recent legislation that has changed the process. Interestingly enough, it was with Children’s Bureau funds, of whose goals was to assist states in meeting ASFA requirements, that I-JAC was initiated; one of five pilot projects created with this mandate to improve the placement of children throughout the country. Further discussion of I-JAC will come later in this report, but it is important to refer to it now to illustrate just how closely connected the ICPC is with current policy and to understand that relationship for our overall conversation about change. While interstate placements have increased and services improved under this reform effort, there is still a need for continued scrutiny and substantial improvements. 11 The New York State Citizen’s Coalition for Children, Inc (NYSCCC). “A Guide to Interjurisdictional Adoptions: Creative Ways to Remove Barriers to Interagency, Intercounty, and Interstate Adoptions.” December 12, 2002. http://www.nysccc.org/Adoptive%20Parent%20Info./InterjurisNotes.htm. Google search engine. Accessed February 6, 2003. 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid. 7
Page 1: Finding Permanent Homes for Adoptab
Page 4 and 5: Executive Summary There are few soc
Page 6 and 7: Although federalization of a statut
Page 8 and 9: Literature Cited...................
Page 10 and 11: About the Authors Benjamin Barker -
Page 12 and 13: Recognizing that improvements have
Page 14 and 15: Similarly, large families, with thr
Page 18 and 19: Chapter 2. What Are Challenges Redu
Page 20 and 21: These agreements may be entered int
Page 22 and 23: Perhaps the most valuable resource
Page 24 and 25: 4. Jurisdictional Uncertainty and I
Page 26 and 27: Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction
Page 28 and 29: ules. Currently, the ICPC has no su
Page 30 and 31: Options for Reforming the ICPC With
Page 32 and 33: Funding is another advantage that a
Page 34 and 35: Conclusions: Federalizing Does Not
Page 36 and 37: esources to pull funding from perma
Page 38 and 39: ottlenecks through revised procedur
Page 40 and 41: order to gauge the best interest of
Page 42 and 43: • The numbers of children success
Page 44 and 45: Literature Cited AdoptionStatistics
Page 46: The U.S. Department of Health and H
Page 50 and 51: The Lengths of Stay for the Childre
Page 52 and 53: The Race and Ethnicity of Children
Page 54 and 55: The Outcomes of Children Exiting Fo
Page 56 and 57: The Age of Waiting Children When Re
Page 58 and 59: Appendix B. The Cost of an Adoption
Page 60 and 61: Appendix C. The Interstate Compact
Page 62 and 63: another location and custody pursua
Page 64 and 65: 14-5-104. Agreements with other par
Page 66 and 67:
Sec. 202. Adoptions across State an
Page 68 and 69:
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- Section 4
Page 70 and 71:
giving priority to children for who
Page 72 and 73:
TITLE II--INCENTIVES FOR PROVIDING
Page 74 and 75:
`(B) with respect to any subsequent
Page 76 and 77:
(ii) concerning the procedures to g
Page 78 and 79:
(c) AUTHORITY TO EXTEND DURATION OF
Page 80 and 81:
(A) in subsection (c), by striking
Page 82 and 83:
(3) by adding at the end the follow
Page 84 and 85:
`(I) the unadjusted net payment to
show all

Finding Permanent Homes for Adoptable Children - Pepperdine ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?