On September 21, the House approved, 395-25, the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (H.R. 2883); the Ways and Means Committee approved the measure on September 14 (see The Source, 9/16/11). On September 20, the Senate Finance Committee approved a similar version of the bill (S. 1542); however, the Senate agreed to consider H.R. 2883 and passed the measure by unanimous consent on September 22. The president is expected to sign the bill into law.
Sponsored by Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY), the bill would extend through FY2016 the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services program (named after the late Member of Congress from Ohio) and the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program.
The current law authorizes up to $325 million annually from FY2007 until FY2011 for the child welfare services program. H.R. 2883 would reauthorize the program at the same amount. States would be required to develop plans to address emotional trauma experienced by children who have been abused, streamline the process by which children under age five are placed in permanent family arrangements, provide data sources used to report child abuse deaths, and ensure that they complete at least 90 percent of their required monthly home visits.
The bill would reauthorize through FY2016 the current funding levels for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program: $200 million annually in discretionary funds and $345 million in mandatory funds. The legislation would target services to those most at risk of being abused and provide mentoring and support for parents and caregivers, among other provisions.
Grants to state court improvement programs also would be extended and modified in order to help states streamline foster care and adoption proceedings. In addition, family preservation, reunification, and adoption would be added as goals of the court improvement program.
