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42 USC Sec. 677 01/02/2006

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TITLE 42 - THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

CHAPTER 7 - SOCIAL SECURITY

SUBCHAPTER IV - GRANTS TO STATES FOR AID AND SERVICES TO NEEDY

FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN AND FOR CHILD-WELFARE

SERVICES

Part E - Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance

Sec. 677. John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program

(a) Purpose

The purpose of this section is to provide States with flexible

funding that will enable programs to be designed and conducted -

(1) to identify children who are likely to remain in foster

care until 18 years of age and to help these children make the

transition to self-sufficiency by providing services such as

assistance in obtaining a high school diploma, career

exploration, vocational training, job placement and retention,

training in daily living skills, training in budgeting and

financial management skills, substance abuse prevention, and

preventive health activities (including smoking avoidance,

nutrition education, and pregnancy prevention);

(2) to help children who are likely to remain in foster care

until 18 years of age receive the education, training, and

services necessary to obtain employment;

(3) to help children who are likely to remain in foster care

until 18 years of age prepare for and enter postsecondary

training and education institutions;

(4) to provide personal and emotional support to children aging

out of foster care, through mentors and the promotion of

interactions with dedicated adults;

(5) to provide financial, housing, counseling, employment,

education, and other appropriate support and services to former

foster care recipients between 18 and 21 years of age to

complement their own efforts to achieve self-sufficiency and to

assure that program participants recognize and accept their

personal responsibility for preparing for and then making the

transition from adolescence to adulthood; and

(6) to make available vouchers for education and training,

including postsecondary training and education, to youths who

have aged out of foster care.

(b) Applications

(1) In general

A State may apply for funds from its allotment under subsection

(c) of this section for a period of five consecutive fiscal years

by submitting to the Secretary, in writing, a plan that meets the

requirements of paragraph (2) and the certifications required by

paragraph (3) with respect to the plan.

(2) State plan

A plan meets the requirements of this paragraph if the plan

specifies which State agency or agencies will administer,

supervise, or oversee the programs carried out under the plan,

and describes how the State intends to do the following:

(A) Design and deliver programs to achieve the purposes of

this section.

(B) Ensure that all political subdivisions in the State are

served by the program, though not necessarily in a uniform

manner.

(C) Ensure that the programs serve children of various ages

and at various stages of achieving independence.

(D) Involve the public and private sectors in helping

adolescents in foster care achieve independence.

(E) Use objective criteria for determining eligibility for

benefits and services under the programs, and for ensuring fair

and equitable treatment of benefit recipients.

(F) Cooperate in national evaluations of the effects of the

programs in achieving the purposes of this section.

(3) Certifications

The certifications required by this paragraph with respect to a

plan are the following:

(A) A certification by the chief executive officer of the

State that the State will provide assistance and services to

children who have left foster care because they have attained

18 years of age, and who have not attained 21 years of age.

(B) A certification by the chief executive officer of the

State that not more than 30 percent of the amounts paid to the

State from its allotment under subsection (c) of this section

for a fiscal year will be expended for room or board for

children who have left foster care because they have attained

18 years of age, and who have not attained 21 years of age.

(C) A certification by the chief executive officer of the

State that none of the amounts paid to the State from its

allotment under subsection (c) of this section will be expended

for room or board for any child who has not attained 18 years

of age.

(D) A certification by the chief executive officer of the

State that the State will use training funds provided under the

program of Federal payments for foster care and adoption

assistance to provide training to help foster parents, adoptive

parents, workers in group homes, and case managers understand

and address the issues confronting adolescents preparing for

independent living, and will, to the extent possible,

coordinate such training with the independent living program

conducted for adolescents.

(E) A certification by the chief executive officer of the

State that the State has consulted widely with public and

private organizations in developing the plan and that the State

has given all interested members of the public at least 30 days

to submit comments on the plan.

(F) A certification by the chief executive officer of the

State that the State will make every effort to coordinate the

State programs receiving funds provided from an allotment made

to the State under subsection (c) of this section with other

Federal and State programs for youth (especially transitional

living youth projects funded under part B of title III of the

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 [42

U.S.C. 5714-1 et seq.]), abstinence education programs, local

housing programs, programs for disabled youth (especially

sheltered workshops), and school-to-work programs offered by

high schools or local workforce agencies.

(G) A certification by the chief executive officer of the

State that each Indian tribe in the State has been consulted

about the programs to be carried out under the plan; that there

have been efforts to coordinate the programs with such tribes;

and that benefits and services under the programs will be made

available to Indian children in the State on the same basis as

to other children in the State.

(H) A certification by the chief executive officer of the

State that the State will ensure that adolescents participating

in the program under this section participate directly in

designing their own program activities that prepare them for

independent living and that the adolescents accept personal

responsibility for living up to their part of the program.

(I) A certification by the chief executive officer of the

State that the State has established and will enforce standards

and procedures to prevent fraud and abuse in the programs

carried out under the plan.

(J) A certification by the chief executive officer of the

State that the State educational and training voucher program

under this section is in compliance with the conditions

specified in subsection (i) of this section, including a

statement describing methods the State will use -

(i) to ensure that the total amount of educational

assistance to a youth under this section and under other

Federal and Federally supported programs does not exceed the

limitation specified in subsection (i)(5) of this section;

and

(ii) to avoid duplication of benefits under this and any

other Federal or Federally assisted benefit program.

(4) Approval

The Secretary shall approve an application submitted by a State

pursuant to paragraph (1) for a period if -

(A) the application is submitted on or before June 30 of the

calendar year in which such period begins; and

(B) the Secretary finds that the application contains the

material required by paragraph (1).

(5) Authority to implement certain amendments; notification

A State with an application approved under paragraph (4) may

implement any amendment to the plan contained in the application

if the application, incorporating the amendment, would be

approvable under paragraph (4). Within 30 days after a State

implements any such amendment, the State shall notify the

Secretary of the amendment.

(6) Availability

The State shall make available to the public any application

submitted by the State pursuant to paragraph (1), and a brief

summary of the plan contained in the application.

(c) Allotments to States

(1) General program allotment

From the amount specified in subsection (h)(1) of this section

that remains after applying subsection (g)(2) of this section for

a fiscal year, the Secretary shall allot to each State with an

application approved under subsection (b) of this section for the

fiscal year the amount which bears the ratio to such remaining

amount equal to the State foster care ratio, as adjusted in