Foster Care Independence Act Analysis

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In the time before the enactment of the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, which addressed the issue of foster children who were aging out of foster care, there were laws that were passed to confront related problems in childcare. One of these laws was the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) of 1985. This was an addition of the section 477 of Title IV-E of the Social Security Act (Children’s Bureau, 1987). The act funded $70 million dollars every year to states. The amount each state received depended on the number of the population of children collecting foster care maintenance payments. These payments fell under the Social Security Act, Title IV-E (Wolf & Black, 2004). These funds help aid this population …show more content…
This law was signed by President Clinton on November 19, 1997. This law was an amendment of the previously mentioned Child Welfare Act of 1980. In addition to the former acts concerns for the safety and health, the new act aimed to address the issue of children being placed in permanent homes (Adoptions and safe families act of 1997 (H.R. 867), 1997). This amendment defines the safety and health of the child is most important to consider when decisions are made in regards to removing the child from the home, reunification and case planning for foster care. The amendment also stated that “reasonable efforts” must continue to be made to keep the child in the home (Adoptions and safe families act of 1997 (H.R. 867), 1997). In a CRS Report, Stoltzfus (2013) addresses the renewed concern for finding permanent placements for children in foster care. This included adoptions when applicable. This reports states the changes in the Adoption and Safe Families Act, such as tightened permanency timelines for foster care children as well as programs and funding (Stoltzman, 2013). The CQ Researcher Cox (1998) states that the Adoption and Safe Families Act puts more emphasis on the child’s safety than the existing law’s emphasis on family preservation. The article also reports on the new financial incentives for adoptive parents (Cox, 1998). Cox also claimed that this act was hailed as “the most significant overhaul of the foster care system in nearly 20 years”. Two major supporters of this act were Senator Mike DeWine and Senator Rockefeller of the Republican party. There were some negative issues with the Adoption and Safe Families Act. One of these is regarding teenage parents. When a teen parent loses custody of their child, reunification is not a priority. The implementation of the act has failed to consider the

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