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Week Ending July 21, 2006
S.3525 An original bill to amend subpart 2 of part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to improve outcomes for children in families affected by methamphetamine abuse and addiction, to reauthorize the promoting safe and stable families program, and for other purposes.
Generally the bill would amend the Social Security Act to provide funds that may be used to increase the well-being of and outcome for children affected by methamphetamine abuse and addiction.
The bill hopes to accomplish this by providing $500,000 and $1 million grants through 2011 to applicants offering a solution. Those applicants would include nonprofit and for-profit child welfare providers, community health service providers, local law enforcement agencies, juvenile justice officials, school personnel and state and tribal child welfare agencies. The grants would be for two to five years. The taxpayer’s share of project costs is 85% for the first four years and 75% for the fifth year.
The bill also reauthorizes state grants, the mentoring children of prisoners program and allows the awarding grants to an entity that will identify programs meeting quality standards, organize outreach and distribute vouchers.
States must continue to evaluate any family offering to adopt four or more children or a group of siblings
Sponsor: Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Vote: Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent July 14, 2006
Cost to the taxpayers: “The bill would increase discretionary authorizations by an estimated $1.1 billion over the 2007-2011 period, and, assuming the appropriation of the authorized amounts, would result in additional outlays of $0.8 billion over the same period.”
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MORE INFORMATION
The short title of this bill is the Improving Outcomes for Children Affected by Meth Act of 2006.
Reservation of funds
No provision.
The bill provides that in any year from FY2007-FY2011 that appropriations under this subpart are at least $345 million, HHS must reserve $40 million for grants to improve outcomes for children affected by methamphetamine abuse and addiction. (The bill separately sets the mandatory funding authorization for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) program at $345 million for FY2007-FY2011 and continues the discretionary funding authorization of $200 million for each of those same years.)
Purpose
No provision.
The bill creates a new section in title IV-B subpart 2 of the Social Security Act that authorizes HHS to make competitive grants to regional partnerships that provide services and activities designed to increase the well-being of, and improve the permanency outcomes for, children who are in an out-of-home placement or who are at risk of such a placement as a result of parental or a caretaker's abuse of methamphetamines. These services and activities are to be provided via interagency collaboration and integration of programs and services.
Methamphetamine, also known as `meth,' is the fastest growing drug threat in America. Reports estimate that over 12 million Americans have tried meth. Meth-making operations have been uncovered in all 50 states, but the most wide-spread abuse has been concentrated in the western, southwestern and Midwestern United States.
Methamphetamine abuse is on the increase, particularly among women of child-bearing age. This is having an impact on child welfare systems in many States. According to a survey administered by the National Association of Counties (`The Impact of Meth on Children') meth is a major cause of child abuse and neglect. Forty percent of all the child welfare officials in the survey reported an increase in out-of-home placements because of meth in the last year.
Many child welfare agencies are struggling to cope with the unique challenges associated with parental addiction to meth. Children living with a meth-addicted parent are often exposed to toxic chemicals emitted during the production of the drug. Children are also often left to fend for themselves and can be exposed to pornography and sexual abuse.
The Committee finds that the meth epidemic puts a unique strain on child welfare agencies and therefore finds that targeting resources to address this issue is appropriate. The Committee also finds that outcomes for children affected by meth are enhanced when services provided by law enforcement, child welfare and substance abuse agencies are integrated. The Committee encourages eligible applicants for grants to collaborate with the State agency responsible for the administration of foster care.
Eligible applicants
The bill defines an eligible applicant for the grants as a regional partnership (established on an intra- or interstate basis) and that includes any one or more of the following entities or individuals: child welfare service providers (non-profit and for-profit), community providers of health or mental health services, local law enforcement agencies, judges and court personnel, juvenile justice officials, school personnel, the State child welfare agency, the State agency responsible for administering the substance abuse prevention and treatment block grant (authorized under title XIX-B, subpart II of the Public Health Services Act), tribal child welfare agencies (or a consortium of tribal agencies) and any other providers, agencies, personnel, officials or entities related to provision of child and family services funded under title IV-B, subpart 2 of the Social Security Act.
Authorization of grants and minimum period of approval
From the amount reserved from PSSF funding ($40 million), HHS must award grants in each of FY2007-FY2011 to eligible regional partnerships that meet the requirements established in this new section of the Social Security Act. An eligible regional partnership must be approved to receive a grant for no less than 2 years and may receive approval for as many as 5 years. The amount of the grant must not be less than $500,000 and not more then $1 million for each fiscal year.
Application requirements
To be eligible for a grant out of this funding, an eligible regional partnership must submit a written application to HHS containing recent evidence that methamphetamine abuse has increased out-of-home placements for children or the number of children at risk of out-of-home placements in the partnership region. The application must also describe: (1) the goals and outcomes the regional partnership intends to achieve and which will enhance the well-being of children receiving services or taking part in activities funded by the grants and will lead to safety and permanence for them; (2) the joint activities to be funded (entirely or in part) with funds provided by the grant and the sequence in which the proposed activities will be conducted while the grant funding is made available; (3) the strategies for integrating programs and services found to be appropriate for the child (and, if appropriate, the child's family); and (4) its strategies for collaborating with the State child welfare agency (unless the lead agency for the regional partnership is that agency), for consulting, as appropriate, with the State agency responsible for administering substance abuse treatment and prevention services, and for consulting with State law enforcement and judicial agencies. Finally, the application must include any other information HHS may require.
HHS may, to the extent it deems appropriate, exempt any regional partnership that includes a tribal child welfare agency or a consortium of such agencies from the requirement that the application describe what its strategies will be for collaborating with the State child welfare agency.
Use of funds and matching requirement
The bill states that funds received by a regional partnership must only be used for services and activities intended to improve the well-being and permanence of children affected by methamphetamine abuse and addiction and, where appropriate, the child's family. Specific uses may include providing family-based, comprehensive long-term drug treatment services, early intervention and preventative services, counseling for children and families, mental health services, and parenting skills training.
The bill provides that a regional partnership must provide non-Federal resources to support the activities and services of the grant equal to 15 percent of the total cost in years 1 and 2 of the grant; 20 percent of such costs in the third and fourth years; and 25 percent for the fifth year of the grant. The non-Federal resources may be in cash or in-kind (and HHS is permitted to attribute the fair market value of such in-kind goods, services and facilities).
Consideration in making awards and determining their amounts
The bill provides that in considering whether to award a grant and the amount of that grant, HHS must consider the demonstrated need of the eligible regional partnership applying for assistance. Further, it must ensure diversity among the lead agencies applying on behalf of an eligible regional partnership to which it awards these grants. Finally, in awarding these grants and determining their amounts, HHS must give priority to eligible regional partnerships in rural areas that have been significantly affected by methamphetamine abuse and addiction by parents or caretakers of children; have limited resources to address the needs of children affected by this abuse and addiction; and lack capacity for access to comprehensive family treatment services.
Performance indicators
The bill requires HHS to establish indicators that will be used to periodically assess the performance of the regional partnerships awarded grants under this section and, specifically, their success in achieving increased well-being and improved permanence outcomes for children affected by parental or a caretaker's methamphetamine abuse and addiction. The indicators must be established no later than 18 months after this legislation is enacted and only after HHS consults with both its Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and its Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In addition--with respect to the States, territories, or tribes in which awards to regional partnerships have been made--HHS must consult with the following individuals: State and territorial governors, State legislators, State and local public officials responsible for administering child welfare and alcohol and drug abuse prevention and treatment programs, court staff, consumers of services or activities funded by the grants, advocates for children and parents who come to the attention of the child welfare system, and tribal officials.
Grantee reports and reports to Congress
The bill requires each regional partnership that receives a grant under this section to report annually to HHS. The report must describe the activities carried out during the fiscal year with funds received under this grant, and any information HHS determines necessary to provide an accurate description of the activities conducted with the funds and of any planned changes in the use of the funds for the succeeding fiscal year. A regional partnership must submit its first annual report no later than September 30 of the first fiscal year that it receives this grant funding and by that same date for each year in which it continues to receive the grant funds. In addition, no later than 12 months after HHS establishes the performance indicators (described above), information regarding these indicators must be incorporated into each regional partnership's annual report.
On the basis of these reports from the regional partnership grantees, the bill requires HHS to annually prepare a report on the services provided and activities conducted by the grants to increase the well-being of and improve permanence outcomes for children affected by parental or a caretaker's methamphetamine abuse and addiction. The report must also discuss the performance indicators established and the progress made to address the needs of families with methamphetamine abuse problems (who come to the attention of the child welfare system) and in achieving the goals of child safety, permanence and family stability. HHS must annually submit this report to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate.
Extension of funding authorized for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program
For FY2006, authorizes mandatory funding of $345 million for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program (title IV-B, subpart 2 of the Social Security Act) and discretionary funding of $200 million for each of FY2002-FY2006.
The bill extends the mandatory PSSF funding authorization of $345 million for 5 years (FY2007-FY2011) and extends the discretionary funding authorization of $200 million for each of those same 5 years.
PSSF funds are important in providing child welfare services.
Extension of court entitlement to allotment of set-aside funds and required match
For each of FY2002-FY2006, each eligible State highest court is entitled to an allotment of funds to assess and make improvements in its handling of child welfare proceedings. This allotment is provided out of funds set-aside from the total funding provided for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program. (The minimum which must be provided via this set-aside is $10 million per year and the maximum amount which may be available is $16.6 million per year.) In order to receive their full allotment of funds in each of these years, the State highest court must provide a 25 percent match of the Federal funds it is allotted.
The bill extends the entitlement of each eligible State's highest courts to this same allotment amount from funds set-aside out of the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program appropriations for each of FY2007-FY2011, and it continues to condition a State highest court's full receipt of its allotment in each of those same 5 years on provision of a 25 percent funding match by the court.
Improving the handling of child welfare proceedings by courts remains important.
Technical correction of funding of Promoting Safe and Stable Families for FY2006
In December 2005 the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 (P.L. 109-149) appropriated $305 million in mandatory funds for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program for FY2006. (At the time this was the full mandatory funding level authorized for the program.) The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which was enacted in February 2006, raised the mandatory funding authorization for the program to $345 million for FY2006.
The bill amends P.L. 109-149 to increase the FY2006 mandatory appropriation provided for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program to $345 million effective as of February 8, 2006.
Technical Correction of funding of PSSF for FY2006.
Purposes amended
Provides that the purpose of the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program (section 439 of the Social Security Act) is to authorize HHS to make competitive grants to support the establishment or expansion and operation of programs that provide mentoring services to children of prisoners (via a network of public and private community entities) and which are in areas with substantial numbers of children who have incarcerated parents.
The bill adds a new purpose of this program. That purpose is to authorize HHS to enter into a cooperative agreement with a national mentoring support organization to provide greater flexibility nationwide to increase the number of children of prisoners receiving mentoring services.
The Committee finds that while 20,000 children of prisoners have been matched with mentors, there are many more who have not. Approximately 2 million children have at least one parent in a Federal or State correctional facility, suggesting that the need for this sort of mentoring is substantial.
The Committee also finds that while the Administration of Children and Families (ACF) has funded 218 site-based organizations; there are over 4000 mentoring programs across the country. Three States (Utah, Vermont and West Virginia) receive no MCP funding.
The Committee finds that improving family's access to vouchers for mentoring services may increase access of these services for vulnerable children of prisoners.
Extension of the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program
Out of the funding provided for this program, HHS is required to make grants in each of FY2002-FY2006 for provision of mentoring services to children of prisoners. The grants may be made to eligible State or local governments, tribal governments or consortia, faith-based organizations, and community-based organizations.
The bill extends the requirement that HHS make grants (to State or local governments, tribal governments or consortia, faith-based organizations, and community-based organizations) for the provision of mentoring services to prisoners for each of FY2007-FY2011.
The need for this program continues.
Increased access to mentoring services
No provision.
The bill establishes requirements for a cooperative agreement between HHS and a national mentoring support organization. HHS must award the cooperative agreement on a competitive basis to a national mentoring support organization that has substantial experience in mentoring and mentoring services for children, and in developing quality program standards for planning and assessing mentoring programs for children. The purpose of the cooperative agreement is for this national mentoring organization to: (1) identify and approve mentoring programs in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that meet certain quality program standards; (2) organize outreach activities to increase awareness among families of children of prisoners of the availability of vouchers for mentoring services (including making publicly available a list of approved programs to public and private entities); and (3) distribute vouchers directly to approved programs that have been selected by families of children of prisoners to provide mentoring services for their children.
To provide for increased access for mentoring services for children of prisoners.
Application requirements
The bill requires an organization seeking to enter this cooperative agreement with HHS to submit an application to HHS that demonstrates its experience with mentoring and mentoring services for children and with the development of quality program standards for planning and assessing mentoring programs for children. The application must also include a plan that details the proposed voucher distribution program and must include the quality program standards for mentoring developed by the entity and describe how the entity will organize and implement these quality program standards. The entity must further describe in its application how it will organize and implement the distribution of vouchers, including how it will ensure that children in urban and rural communities and children with other geographic, linguistic, or cultural barriers to receipt of mentoring services will have access to such services; and that, if the entity usually provides gender-specific programs or services, both girls and boys will be appropriately served by the program. Finally, in its application the entity must also identify those organizations it knows that comply with quality program standards for mentoring; describe the strategic plan of the entity to work with families of prisoners to develop the list of mentoring programs that accept vouchers distributed under this program; and describe the methods that it will use to evaluate the voucher program, the extent to which the program is achieving the purposes of the cooperative agreement and supports the establishment or expansion and operation of programs that provide mentoring services to children of prisoners in areas where there are substantial numbers of children with incarcerated parents.
In addition, the bill specifies that as a part of the application the entity must agree to: (1) include criminal background checks of mentors in any quality program standards for approved mentoring programs; (2) maintain records, make reports, and cooperate with reviews and audits that HHS finds necessary as part of overseeing the cooperative agreement and expenditures; (3) cooperate fully with the ongoing and final evaluation of the voucher program, including allowing HHS access to the voucher distribution program, program-related records and documents, and staff, as well as, to the mentoring programs to which vouchers were distributed; and (4) to provide any other information HHS finds necessary to show the entity's capacity to carry out the cooperative agreement.
The bill states that the value of a voucher under this subsection can be disregarded for purposes of determining the eligibility for--or the amount of--any other Federal, or federally supported assistance for the recipient family.
Evaluations and reports
Requires HHS to conduct an evaluation of the mentoring programs conducted under the Mentoring Children of Prisoners provisions and to submit to Congress a report on the findings no later than April 15, 2005.
The bill requires HHS to conduct evaluations of the programs authorized under the Mentoring Children of Prisoners provisions, including the program for increased access to mentoring services (via vouchers) that is created in this legislation.
The bill provides that no later than 12 months after the enactment of this legislation, HHS must submit a report to Congress that includes: (1) the characteristics of the mentoring programs funded under this section; (2) the plans for implementation of the cooperative agreement to increase access to mentoring services (including through distribution of vouchers); (3) a description of the outcome-based evaluation of the programs authorized under this section (which HHS is conducting as of the date of the bill's enactment), including how the evaluation has been expanded to evaluate the program to increase access to mentoring services through distribution of vouchers; and (4) the date by which HHS will submit to Congress a final report on this evaluation.
To provide for the evaluation of and reporting to Congress on the new use of Mentoring Children of Prisoners funding.
Authorization of discretionary appropriations for Mentoring Children of Prisoners
For each of FY2002 and FY2003, authorizes discretionary appropriations of $67 million for the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program; authorizes appropriations for this program in every succeeding year (indefinite or no-year limit) at `such sums as may be necessary'.
The bill authorizes appropriations up to $67 million for each of FY2007-FY2011.
There continues to be a need for this program.
Reservation of program funds for mentoring voucher program
Annually provides that 2.5 percent of the funds appropriated for Mentoring Children of Prisoners must be reserved for HHS to spend on research, technical assistance and evaluation related to the programs funded.
The bill retains the current set-aside for research, technical assistance and evaluation. It further requires HHS to reserve not more than 50 percent of the total amount appropriated for each fiscal year to carry out the new program for increasing access to mentoring services (via vouchers). However, HHS must use at least $25 million of the appropriated funds to continue providing competitive grants to programs that provide mentoring services to children of prisoners. And if the total appropriation for the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program is less than $25 million, no funds would be available for the purpose of increasing access to mentoring services (via vouchers).
To reserve funds for competitive site-based grants for programs that provide mentoring services for children of prisoners.
GAO evaluation and report
No provision.
No more than 3 years after the enactment of this legislation, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) must submit to Congress a report evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of the program first authorized by this legislation for increasing access to mentoring services (via vouchers).
To evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the new voucher programs to increase access to mentoring services for children of prisoners.
Increase set-aside for tribal Promoting Safe and Stable Families programs
Requires that 1 percent of all mandatory Promoting Safe and Stable Families funds, and 2 percent of any discretionary appropriations for the program, be set-aside for tribal programs. (The minimum tribal funding provided is $3.45 million and the maximum annual tribal funding possible is $7.45 million.)
The bill requires that 3 percent of all mandatory Promoting Safe and Stable Families funds, and 3 percent of any discretionary appropriations for the program, be set aside for tribal programs. (The minimum tribal funding provided would be $10.35 million and the maximum annual tribal funding possible would be $16.35 million.)
The Committee finds that the current set-aside for Indian tribal program is not sufficient to address the child welfare need in Indian country.
Access to allotment for tribal consortia
Out of the tribal funds reserved, Indian tribes or tribal organizations with an approved plan must be allotted Promoting Safe and Stable Families funds (based on the relative share of tribal persons under age 21 but only among tribes or tribal organizations with approved plans). HHS may exempt a tribe from any plan requirement that it determines would be inappropriate for that tribe (taking into account the resources, needs, and other circumstances of that tribe). However, no tribe or tribal organization may have an approved plan (or receive funds) unless its allotment is equal to at least $10,000. Funds allotted are paid directly to the tribal organization of the Indian tribe to which the money is allotted.
The bill permits tribal consortia to have access to an allotment of Promoting Safe and Stable Families program funds (and related technical assistance) on the same basis as is currently available to Indian tribes. A tribal consortia's allotment is to be determined based on the number of tribal persons under age 21 in each tribe that is a part of the tribal consortia. Where tribes choose to apply collectively as a consortium, the population of tribal persons under age 21 for each tribe would be combined in order to determine the size of the grant to the consortium, including whether the consortium meets the $10,000 eligibility threshold in the Act. A tribal consortium could select which Indian tribal organization (among the tribes in the consortium) would receive the direct payment of its allotment.
The Committee finds that permanency outcomes for Indian children can be improved if tribal consortia are able to have access to an allotment of Promoting Safe and Stable Families funding on the same basis as is currently available to Indian Tribes.
Monitoring and evaluation of families adopting or supporting significant numbers of children
In order to receive Promoting Safe and Stable Families funds States must provide certain assurances to HHS.
The bill adds a new condition of funding under the program, which would require States to establish procedures to provide additional evaluation of any family that seeks to provide foster care to, or to adopt, a large number of children or more than one sibling group. This additional evaluation, which must be done before the placement is made, is to fully assess whether the family has the ability to care for this number of children. The statute provides that States must establish this additional evaluation procedure for a family seeking to care for, or adopt, more than 4 children or more than one group of siblings, or--provided the State can demonstrate good cause for this and receives approval from HHS--any other certain number of children or sibling groups the State chooses.
In the case of a foster family, the procedures must also provide for ongoing monitoring to assess the family's continued ability to provide for this number of children or sibling groups. In the case of a family seeking to adopt, the procedures must include monitoring before the adoption is permitted, to enable the agency to assess whether the family has the ability to care for this number of children or siblings.
Within 18 months of the legislation's enactment, and as a condition for continued approval of its PSSF plan, the State must submit to HHS a plan for implementing these procedures. Within 60 days of its receipt of such a plan from a State, HHS must notify the State of its approval of the plan or of any necessary additions or modifications that must be made before it can be approved.
The Committee finds that, in recent years, there have been several high profile cases (New Jersey, Tennessee, and Ohio) of child abuse in families that were providing foster care or had adopted a large number of children from the foster care system. The Committee finds that many foster children have already endured child abuse or neglect, so there is a strong obligation to protect the children. Having a large number of children in the family can be much more challenging, and States need to ensure that the issue of existing family size has been addressed and considered prior to an additional foster care placement or an additional adoption for foster care. However, the Committee also finds that once an addition into a larger family has been approved, such families should be treated the same as every finalized adoption.
State submission of annual expenditure reports to HHS and provision of report to Congress
States must spend `significant portions' of the funds they receive under the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program on four categories of services: family support, family preservation, time-limited family reunification, and adoption promotion and support; and they may spend no more than 10 percent of the funds to administer the program. Every 5 years States must develop a plan, including goals, for the use of the program funds, and the plan must be made available to HHS and to the public. Further, States must annually review their progress in meeting those goals and they must separately submit to HHS (and make available to the public) descriptions of the service programs they intend to provide in the upcoming fiscal year (within each of the four service categories), the geographic areas where these services will be available, and the populations that will be served. Finally, States are required to furnish such reports to HHS, in whatever format and containing whatever information it may require.
As implemented by HHS, States are required to spend at least 20 percent of their Promoting Safe and Stable Families funds on each of the four service categories (unless they can provide an `especially strong rationale' for not doing this). Every 5 years States must prepare a 5-year Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP) that establishes goals and describes the State's plan for provision of child and family services under the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program, as well as across a range of Federal child welfare programs (including Child Welfare Services under title IV-B, subpart 1 of the Social Security Act; State Grants, under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act; and the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program and related Education and Training Vouchers, both under section 477 of the Social Security Act). In addition, States must each year submit an Annual Progress and Services Report, the CFS-101 Part I--Annual Budget Request, and the CFS-101 Part II--Annual Summary of Child and Family Services. The reports must be submitted to the regional offices of the HHS Administration for Children and Families (ACF).
On form CFS-101 Part I States report how they intend to allocate their Promoting Safe and Stable Families funds (between the four service categories) for the upcoming fiscal year and also request their funding allotments for Child Welfare Services, CAPTA State grants, the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program and Education and Training Vouchers. On form CFS-101, Part II States report how they expect to spend all child welfare dollars (Federal and State) in 13 separate categories (and by specific Federal funding stream). States must also report on the number of families or individuals expected to be served and the geographic areas that will be served. This information is due to the HHS regional office 3 months before the start of the fiscal year for which funds are being requested (e.g., by June 30, 2005 for request of FY2006 funds).
No later than June 30 of each year, the bill requires States to submit to HHS one copy of the forms CFS-101, Part I and CFS-101 Part II (or any successor forms) with information concerning planned expenditures for child and family services in the immediately succeeding fiscal year as well as a second set of the same forms showing the actual expenditures for child and family services in the immediately preceding fiscal year. However, with regard to the form (CFS-101 Part II) used to show actual expenditures by 13 separate categories and multiple funding streams, States would only be required to submit information regarding their actual expenditures for the preceding fiscal year under two Federal funding streams: the Child Welfare Services and Promoting Safe and Stable Families programs (title IV-B, subpart 1 and 2 of the Social Security Act.)
The bill further provides that HHS must compile these reports (showing planned and actual expenditures for the specified fiscal years) and no later than September 30 of each year must submit this compilation to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate.
The bill provides that the first State submission of such forms to HHS under this requirement must be made by June 30, 2007 and that HHS must submit the first compilation of such forms to Congress by September 30, 2007.
For many years, States have provided information on prospective spending plans for title VI-B, parts one and two. The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program requires that States allocate `significant sums,' which is defined by regulation as 20 percent of the total, to each of the four categories. The Committee finds that current report requirements only reflect prospective spending plans and it would be very useful to HHS and Congressional oversight committees to have annual reports on the actual spending among the four categories to evaluate and track improvements and changes in program spending, particularly on adoption and post-adoption services as the number of adopted children and adoptive families increases over time.
Mandatory and discretionary funding for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program is authorized through FY2006, including set-asides for allotments to tribes, grants to State highest courts, and expenditures by HHS (for evaluation, training, technical assistance, and research related to the program). HHS is authorized to make grants under the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program through FY2006 and funding for this program is authorized indefinitely.
The bill provides that effective with October 1, 2006, the annual funding authority (mandatory and discretionary) for the Promoting Safe and State Families program is extended through FY2011 (with current set-aside amounts continued for HHS and increased for tribes). HHS is authorized to make grants under the Mentoring Children of Prisoners program for each of FY2007-FY2011 (with funds authorized for that purpose for those same years).
Unless otherwise specified in the legislation, other changes made by the bill are also effective on October 1, 2006. However, if HHS determines that State legislation is required in order for a State to meet any new requirement under this legislation, the State must have until the completion of the first State legislative session after enactment of this act to comply with such new requirements.
To extend funding authority for the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program and to extend the authorization for the Mentoring Children of Prisoners Program
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