1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Sibling Connections Act”.
Sibling Connections Act
A BILL
To encourage the placement of children in foster care with siblings.
2. Encouraging the placement of children in foster care with siblings
State plan amendment—
Notification of parents of siblings— Section 471(a)(29) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(29)) is amended by striking “all adult grandparents” and inserting “the following relatives: all adult grandparents, all parents of a sibling of the child, where such parent has legal custody of such sibling,”.
Sibling defined— Section 475 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(9) The term sibling means an individual who satisfies at least one of the following conditions with respect to a child:
“(A) The individual is considered by State law to be a sibling of the child.
“(B) The individual would have been considered a sibling of the child under State law but for a termination or other disruption of parental rights, such as the death of a parent.”
Effective dates—
In general— The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
Delay permitted if State legislation required— In the case of a State plan approved under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act which the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines requires State legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) in order for the plan to meet the additional requirements imposed by this Act, the State plan shall not be regarded as failing to comply with the requirements of such part solely on the basis of the failure of the plan to meet such additional requirements before the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter beginning after the close of the 1st regular session of the State legislature that ends after the 1-year period beginning with the date of enactment of this Act. For purposes of the preceding sentence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session is deemed to be a separate regular session of the State legislature.