Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Promoting Permanency Through Kinship Families Act”.
Promoting Permanency Through Kinship Families Act
A BILL
To amend parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act to remove barriers and encourage kinship guardianship, foster, or adoptive placements for children who cannot be safely cared for in their own homes, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings and purposes
Findings— Congress finds the following:
Reunification with parents, permanent placement with extended family members, and adoption are all permanency options for children who are in, or at risk for entering or re-entering, foster care.
The estimated lifetime cost of foster youth who age out of foster care is approximately $6.9 billion. On an annual basis, approximately 23,000 youth age out of foster care (reach the maximum age a State will support them without reunification with family or being placed in a permanent home) with no legal family ties. Over 20 percent of youth who age out of foster care become homeless, 60 percent of sex trafficked youth come from foster care, and 25 percent of youth become involved in the criminal justice system within 2 years of aging out of foster care. When family reunification and kinship guardianship, foster, and adoptive placements are promoted and supported, children’s family connections and family relationships can reverse such adverse adult outcomes.
Foster care is intended to be temporary. The best interests of children in safe, stable, and permanent placements are paramount. At the same time, absent aggravating circumstances, it is in the best interests of children for parents to be provided individualized services, supports, and time needed to address the reasons for foster care or other temporary placements of their children.
Where kinship placements can safely be made, extended family members available for such placements often face financial and other barriers related to access to health and mental health services and supports, crisis stabilization services, and other service supports.
The United States has a unique and direct interest, as trustee, in protecting the best interests of Indian children including supporting safe and permanent placements that preserve a child’s sense of belonging and connection, including to extended family when reunification with parents is not safe or possible.
Purpose— The purposes of this Act are to promote kinship care as an essential permanency option for children and youth, to remove barriers to children’s safe care by relatives and fictive kin when such children cannot be safely cared for by their parents, and to support the provision of resources and services to kin caregivers.
Sec. 3 Promoting permanency placements for children and youth
State plan requirement relating to provision of child welfare services— Section 422(b)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(7)) is amended by striking “provide for the diligent recruitment” and inserting “substantiate with clear and convincing data and analysis that the agency administering or supervising the administration of the plan is addressing disproportionality in the State child welfare system, and disparities in access to community-based services, array, and contracting, provide for locating and involving relatives and fictive kin as a regular and ongoing part of case planning, for addressing barriers to family involvement, and provide for the diligent recruitment”.
Foster care and adoption assistance— Section 471(a)(19) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(19)) is amended by striking “shall consider” and inserting “shall make and document prompt, active, and continuous efforts to identify and locate relatives or fictive kin as a potential kinship guardianship, foster or adoptive placement, and family support resources, and must consider”.
in clause (i), by striking “, and” and inserting a semicolon;
in clause (ii), by striking the comma at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(iii) if the State determines that kinship guardianship, foster, or adoptive placement with any relative or fictive kin is not in the child’s best interest or that the relative or fictive kin does not meet the requirements of a relative caregiver, documents the basis for that determination with clear and convincing evidence;
“(iv) if the State determines that the child requires placement in an environment other than a home environment, ensures that the State shall make prompt, active, and continuous efforts to identify and locate relatives or fictive kin to serve as visitation resources of the child and potential future placement resources;
“(v) if the State determines that efforts to identify and locate relatives and fictive kin would be futile or inconsistent with the child’s best interests, documents the basis of its determination with clear and convincing evidence; and
“(vi) if the child is residing in a kinship placement, describes reasonable efforts the State will make to maintain the child in the kinship home and not remove the child from the kinship home except to effectuate a permanency goal of reunification or upon a showing by clear and convincing evidence that remaining in the kinship placement is contrary to the welfare of the child.”
Greater flexibility for States and families— Section 475(5)(E) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(E)) is amended to read as follows:
“(E) in the case of a child who has been in foster care under the responsibility of the State for 24 consecutive months, or, if a court of competent jurisdiction has determined a child to be an abandoned infant (as defined under State law) or has made a determination that the parent has committed murder of another child of the parent, committed voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent, aided or abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit such a murder or such a voluntary manslaughter, or committed a felony assault that has resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child of the parent, the State may file or join a petition for modification or termination of parental rights and, concurrently, identify, recruit, process, and approve a qualified family (including the child’s extended family) for an adoption, only after demonstrating by clear and convincing evidence that the State—
“(i) has demonstrated compelling reasons why such modification or termination is in the best interest of the child;
“(ii) has provided to the family of the child such services, supports, and time needed to address the reasons for the child’s removal and enable the family to safely reunify; and
“(iii) if the child is living with a kinship (including fictive kinship) caregiver, has provided a meaningful opportunity for such caregiver to express an opinion as to whether such modification or termination is in the best interests of the child and has documented such opinion in the case plan of the child;”
Effective date—
In general— The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the first day of the first fiscal year beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply to payments under subpart 1 of part B and part E of title IV of the Social Security Act for calendar quarters beginning on or after such date.
Delay permitted if State legislation required— If the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that State legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) is required in order for a State plan developed pursuant to subpart 1 of part B or part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to meet the additional requirements imposed by the amendments made by this section, the plan shall not be regarded as failing to meet any of the additional requirements before the first day of the first calendar quarter beginning after the first regular session of the State legislature that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of the preceding sentence, if the State has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session is deemed to be a separate regular session of the State legislature.
Application to programs operated by Indian tribal organizations— In the case of an Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium which the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines requires time to take action necessary to comply with the additional requirements imposed by the amendments made by this section (whether the tribe, organization, or tribal consortium has a plan under section 479B of the Social Security Act or a cooperative agreement or contract entered into with a State), the Secretary shall provide the tribe, organization, or tribal consortium with such additional time as the Secretary determines is necessary for the tribe, organization, or tribal consortium to take the action to comply with the additional requirements before being regarded as failing to comply with the requirements.
Sec. 4 Criminal records checks of all kinship caregivers
in subparagraph (B)—
in clause (ii), by striking “and” at the end;
in clause (iii), by adding “and” at the end; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(iv) have in place procedures to ensure that kinship placement is not denied based on past allegations or findings of abuse or neglect against a caregiver or household member in the absence of particularized information demonstrating that the caregiver poses a current safety threat to the child or that placement of the child with the caregiver would be contrary to the welfare of the child.”
in subparagraph (C), by striking “on any relative guardian, and for checks” and all that follows through “under this part” and inserting “on any kinship caregiver, including in the case of a kinship foster, guardianship, or adoptive placement, and for checks described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph on any such kinship caregiver and any other adult living in the home of any such kinship caregiver, before the kinship caregiver may receive kinship guardianship assistance payments on behalf of the child under the State plan under this part unless the State reports to the Secretary the alternative criminal records checks the State conducts on any adult kinship caregiver, and why the checks specified in this subparagraph are not appropriate for the State, and procedures to ensure that a past criminal record does not serve as a bar to kinship licensing in the absence of particularized information demonstrating that the caregiver or household member poses a current safety threat to the child or that placement of the child with the caregiver would be contrary to the welfare of the child.”; and
by moving the margins for subparagraph (D) 2 ems to the left.
No effect on character investigations under the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act— Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to modify the requirements relating to character investigations of kin or extended family under the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act.
Sec. 5 Prohibition on imposition of upper age limit for kinship caregivers
Section 471(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) is amended—
in paragraph (36), by striking “and” at the end;
in paragraph (37), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(38) provides that the State shall have in effect such laws and procedures as are necessary to ensure that the age of an individual who has attained 18 years of age is disregarded in determining—
“(A) whether the individual is qualified to be a kinship caregiver for a child; and
“(B) the appropriate placement for a child for whom placement with a kinship caregiver may be an appropriate option.”
Sec. 6 Mandatory participation in kinship guardianship assistance program
In general— Section 471(a)(28) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(28)) is amended by striking “at the option of the State,”.
Eligibility— Section 473(d)(3)(A)(i)(II) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(d)(3)(A)(i)(II)) is amended by striking “at least 6 consecutive months” and inserting “at least 3 consecutive months”.
Sec. 7 Elimination of the AFDC eligibility requirement for foster care maintenance payments for children placed in a foster family home
Section 472(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 14 672(a)) is amended—
in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “Each State” and inserting “Subject to paragraph (5), each State”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(5) Elimination of the AFDC eligibility requirement for children placed in a foster family home—Beginning on the first day of the first fiscal year beginning on or after the date of the enactment of the Promoting Permanency Through Kinship Families Act, the AFDC eligibility requirement of paragraph (3) shall no longer apply with respect to a child who has been removed from the home of a relative or a caretaker into foster care and placed in a foster family home. On and after such date, each State with a plan approved under this part shall make foster care maintenance payments on behalf of each child who has been removed from the home of a relative or caretaker into foster care and placed in a foster family home (without regard to whether such removal and placement occurred before, on, or after such date of enactment, if the removal and foster care placement met, and continues to meet, the requirements of paragraph (2).”
Sec. 8 Promoting safe and stable families through kinship placement support services programs
Addition of kinship placement support services to the promoting safe and stable families program— Section 431(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629a(a)) is amended—
in paragraph (1), by striking “(including adoptive and extended families)” and inserting “(including kinship guardians, adoptive, and extended families).”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(10) Kinship placement support services
“(A) In general—The term “kinship placement support services” means the services and activities described in subparagraph (B) that are provided on behalf of children and youth in kinship care arrangements, including kinship guardianship placements, who are in, or at risk of entering or re-entering, foster care.
“(B) Services and activities described—The services and activities described in this subparagraph are the following:
“(i) Crisis stabilization services, including case management services designed to stabilize families in crisis such as transportation, assistance with housing and utility payments, and access to adequate health care, child care assistance, educational resources, and establishing a kinship placement crisis stabilization fund for purposes of making direct cash payments to kin caregivers for immediate needs of children placed with such caregivers in order to facilitate kinship placements and prevent the entry of children into foster care.
“(ii) Family finding, including intensive family-finding efforts that utilize search technology to find biological family members for children in, or at risk of entering, foster care.
“(iii) Re-establishing family relationships and supporting family group decision-making.
“(iv) Other assistance or services related to strengthening and supporting kinship families, including families led by siblings, to improve the well-being of children and their kin caregivers, and, if requested, assistance in becoming a licensed foster family home.”
in subparagraph (A)—
by striking “assurances that Federal funds” and inserting
“(i) Federal funds”
by adding at the end the following:
“(ii) the total amount of State expenditures made for fiscal year 2025 and each fiscal year thereafter to support kinship placements shall not be less than the total amount of such expenditures made for fiscal year 2024; and”
in subparagraph (B), by inserting “and spending requirements” after “prohibition”.
Conforming amendments—
Section 430 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 629) is amended—
in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting “kinship placement support services,” after “family reunification services,”;
by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; and
by inserting after paragraph (2), the following:
“(3) To support kinship placements to maintain family connections while ensuring the safety and well-being of children and youth and the well-being of their kin caregivers.”
Paragraphs (4) and (5) of section 432(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 629b(a)) are each amended by inserting “kinship placement support services,” after “family reunification services,”.