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TITLE 42 > CHAPTER 7 > SUBCHAPTER
IV > Part
E > § 677 |
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§ 677. John H. Chafee Foster Care |
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Release date: 2005-02-25 |
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(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
(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. (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
accordance with paragraph (2). (2) Hold
harmless provision (A) In general The Secretary
shall allot to each State whose allotment for a fiscal year under paragraph
(1) is less than the greater of $500,000 or the amount payable to the State
under this section for fiscal year 1998, an additional amount equal to the
difference between such allotment and such greater amount. (B) Ratable reduction of certain allotments In the case of a State not described in subparagraph (A) of
this paragraph for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reduce the amount
allotted to the State for the fiscal year under paragraph (1) by the amount
that bears the same ratio to the sum of the differences determined under
subparagraph (A) of this paragraph for the fiscal year as the excess of the
amount so allotted over the greater of $500,000 or the amount payable to the
State under this section for fiscal year 1998 bears to the sum of such excess
amounts determined for all such States. (3) Voucher program allotment From the amount,
if any, appropriated pursuant to subsection (h)(2) of this section for a
fiscal year, the Secretary may allot to each State with an application approved
under subsection (b) of this section for the fiscal year an amount equal to
the State foster care ratio multiplied by the amount so specified. (4) State
foster care ratio In this subsection, the term “State foster care ratio”
means the ratio of the number of children in foster care under a program of
the State in the most recent fiscal year for which the information is
available to the total number of children in foster care in all States for
the most recent fiscal year. (d) Use of funds (1) In
general (2) No supplantation of other funds available for same general purposes The amounts paid to a State from its allotment under subsection (c) of this section shall be used to supplement and not supplant any other funds which are available for the same general purposes in the State. (3) Two-year
availability of funds Payments made to a State under this section for a
fiscal year shall be expended by the State in the fiscal year or in the
succeeding fiscal year. (4) Reallocation
of unused funds If a State does not apply for funds under this section
for a fiscal year within such time as may be provided by the Secretary, the
funds to which the State would be entitled for the fiscal year shall be
reallocated to 1 or more other States on the basis of their relative need for
additional payments under this section, as determined by the Secretary. (e) Penalties (1) Use of grant in violation of this part If
the Secretary is made aware, by an audit conducted under chapter 75
of title 31
or by any other means, that a program receiving funds from an allotment made
to a State under subsection (c) of this section has been operated in a manner
that is inconsistent with, or not disclosed in the State application approved
under subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary shall assess a penalty
against the State in an amount equal to not less than 1 percent and not more
than 5 percent of the amount of the allotment. (2) Failure to comply with data reporting
requirement The Secretary shall assess a penalty against a State that fails
during a fiscal year to comply with an information collection plan
implemented under subsection (f) of this section in an amount equal to not
less than 1 percent and not more than 5 percent of the amount allotted to the
State for the fiscal year. (3) Penalties
based on degree of noncompliance The Secretary shall assess penalties
under this subsection based on the degree of noncompliance. (f) Data collection and performance measurement (1) In
general The Secretary, in consultation with State and local public
officials responsible for administering independent living and other child
welfare programs, child welfare advocates, Members of Congress, youth service
providers, and researchers, shall— (A) develop outcome measures (including
measures of educational attainment, high school diploma, employment,
avoidance of dependency, homelessness, nonmarital childbirth, incarceration,
and high-risk behaviors) that can be used to assess the performance of States
in operating independent living programs; (B) identify data elements needed
to track— (i) the number and characteristics
of children receiving services under this section; (ii) the type and quantity of
services being provided; and (iii) State performance on the
outcome measures; and (C) develop and implement a plan to
collect the needed information beginning with the second fiscal year
beginning after (2) Report to the Congress Within 12 months
after December 14, 1999, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Ways
and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the
Senate a report detailing the plans and timetable for collecting from the
States the information described in paragraph (1) and a proposal to impose
penalties consistent with paragraph (e)(2) on States that do not report data.
(1) In
general The Secretary shall conduct evaluations of such State programs
funded under this section as the Secretary deems to be innovative or of
potential national significance. The evaluation of any such program shall
include information on the effects of the program on education, employment,
and personal development. To the maximum extent practicable, the evaluations
shall be based on rigorous scientific standards including random assignment
to treatment and control groups. The Secretary is encouraged to work directly
with State and local governments to design methods for conducting the
evaluations, directly or by grant, contract, or cooperative agreement. (2) Funding of evaluations The Secretary shall
reserve 1.5 percent of the amount specified in subsection (h) of this section
for a fiscal year to carry out, during the fiscal year, evaluation, technical
assistance, performance measurement, and data collection activities related
to this section, directly or through grants, contracts, or cooperative
agreements with appropriate entities. (h) Limitations on
authorization of appropriations To carry out this
section and for payments to States under section 674
(a)(4)
of this title, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for
each fiscal year— (1) $140,000,000, which shall be available for all purposes under
this section; and (2) an additional $60,000,000, which are authorized to be available
for payments to States for education and training vouchers for youths who age
out of foster care, to assist the youths to develop skills necessary to lead
independent and productive lives. (i) Educational and training vouchers The following conditions shall apply to a State educational and training voucher program under this section: (1) Vouchers under the program may be available to youths otherwise eligible for services under the State program under this section. (2) For purposes of the voucher program, youths adopted from foster care after attaining age 16 may be considered to be youths otherwise eligible for services under the State program under this section. (3) The State may allow youths participating in the voucher program on the date they attain 21 years of age to remain eligible until they attain 23 years of age, as long as they are enrolled in a postsecondary education or training program and are making satisfactory progress toward completion of that program. (4) The voucher or vouchers provided for an individual under this section— (A) may be available for the cost
of attendance at an institution of higher education, as defined in section 1002
of title 20;
and (B) shall not exceed the lesser of
$5,000 per year or the total cost of attendance, as defined in section 1087ll
of title 20.
(5) The amount of a voucher under this section may be disregarded
for purposes of determining the recipient’s eligibility for, or the amount
of, any other Federal or Federally supported assistance, except that the
total amount of educational assistance to a youth under this section and
under other Federal and Federally supported programs shall not exceed the
total cost of attendance, as defined in section 1087ll
of title 20,
and except that the State agency shall take appropriate steps to prevent
duplication of benefits under this and other Federal or Federally supported
programs. (6) The program is coordinated with other appropriate education and
training programs. |
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