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Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008: H.R. 6893 / P.L 110-351
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (H.R. 6893/P.L. 110-351) of 2008 helps to: connect foster children with their relatives; better coordinate the health care and education of foster children; support permanent families through relative guardianship; and enhance adoption subsidies and supports to older youth in foster care. Click here for a summary of the Act.
In the 2009 and 2010 legislative sessions combined, 33 states and the District of Columbia enacted 63 different bills related to the provisions of the Fostering Connections Act. In the 2011 legislative session, state activity around the act continued with approximately 11 states enacting 15 different bills. And, in the 2012 legislative session, activity around the provisions of the Act continues.
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For more information on enacted bills in 2011, click here.
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For more information on enacted bills in 2010, click here.
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For more information on enacted bills in 2009, click here.
Updated October 16, 2012
2012 INTRODUCED LEGISLATION
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STATE
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Bill
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Bill Summary
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Disposition
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Sponsor
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California |
AB 1712, Chap. 846 |
Makes the non-minor dependents or youth participating in Foster Care to 21 eligible for the court-appointed special advocate (CASA) program so that volunteer CASAs can provide designated services and support to youth under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. |
Enacted |
Assembly Member Beall |
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California
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CA SB 1568, Chap. 578
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Requires a local educational agency to allow a former foster child to continue his or her education in a school of origin through the end of the highest grade maintained at that school.
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Enacted
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Senator DeSaulnier
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Colorado
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CO SB 66, Chap. 86
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Expands persons eligible as guardians in the guardianship assistance program to include relatives, persons ascribed by the family as having a family-like relationship with the child or persons who have had a prior significant relationship with the child.
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Enacted
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Senator Nicholson
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Delaware |
De HJR 18 |
This resolution is in response to recommendations from Delaware's Youth Advisory Council, which is comprised of youth who have experienced foster care and who speak on behalf of all youth in care. The Youth Advisory Council provides the opportunity for youth, who are sincere about improving foster care, to assemble and discuss issues and possible solutions. The Youth Advisory Council members, in collaboration with the Delaware Youth Opportunities Initiative, have asked the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families and the General Assembly to consider creating a developmentally appropriate foster care program for youth/young adults up to the age of 21 to assist with their successful transition to adulthood. This resolution requires significant youth participation in submitting a timely analysis and report on the practical and fiscal impacts of extending Delaware's foster care program to age 21 |
Enacted |
Representative Barbieri |
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Hawaii
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HI SCR 47
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Requests the convening of a joint public and private sector task force to identify the feasibility and benefits of extending foster care up to age 21.
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Failed
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Senator Chun Oakland
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Illinois
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IL HB 5592, Public Act 1076
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Requires the Department of Children and Family Services to place a child with the child's sibling or siblings unless the placement is not in each child's best interest, or is otherwise not possible under the Department's rules. If the child is not placed with a sibling under the Department's rules, the Department shall consider placements that are likely to develop, preserve, nurture, and support sibling relationships, where doing so is in each child's best interest.
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Enacted
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Representative Feigenholtz
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Louisiana
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LA SB 152, Act 730
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Requires that at least six months prior to the release of a child from foster care, the department shall prepare a written, individualized, and thorough transitional plan developed in collaboration with the child and any agency or department assuming his custody, care, or responsibility.
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Enacted
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Senator Broome
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Maryland
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MD SB 605, Chap. 505
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Companion bill to MD HB 757. Determines that a child in state-supervised care may remain in their school of origin regardless of whether the child resides within a school’s geographic attendance area if it is in the child’s best interest. The law provides that the local department of social services shall pay the cost of transportation of the child to the school.
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Enacted
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Senator Kelley
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Michigan |
SB 1232 |
(5) The department shall exercise due diligence to determine, document, and contact the Indian child's extended family members in accordance with the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, Public Law 110-351. If applicable, determinations and documentation should be conducted in consultation with the child or parent's tribe. |
Pending |
Senator Emmons |
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Nebraska
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NE LB 1150
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Establishes that the Department of Health and Human Services provide extended foster care services on a voluntary basis to a young adult. Requires the department to provide extended guardianship assistance for a young adult if the young adult began receiving guardianship assistance at sixteen years of age or older and meets specific education and work criteria.
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Indefinitely Postponed
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Senator McGill
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Pennsylvania |
PA HB 1261, Act 2012-80 |
Extends Foster Care to youth age 21.
Except in situations of family or domestic violence, the county agency shall exercise due diligence to identify and notify all grandparents and other adult relatives to the fifth degree of consanguinity or affinity to the parent or stepparent of a dependent child within 30 days of the child's removal from the child's home.
The Subsidized Permanent Legal Custodianship Program is established in the department. The department shall establish and develop criteria and promulgate necessary regulations for county agencies to implement the Subsidized Permanent Legal Custodianship Program in accordance with the provisions of this article. The criteria and regulations shall include, but not be limited to, identification of eligible children and eligible permanent legal custodians, procedures for implementing the program and reporting requirements by county agencies
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Enacted |
Rep. Quigley |
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Rhode Island
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RI HB 7831
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Determines that children placed in group homes, in foster care, in child caring facilities, or by a Rhode Island state agency or a Rhode Island licensed child placing agency will have the right to continue to attend school in a district where they have previously resided in order to maintain educational stability.
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Pending
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Representative Naughton
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Rhode Island
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RI SB 2711
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Establishes that Rhode Island licensed child placing agencies and Rhode Island governmental agencies promote the educational stability of children in foster care by considering the child's school attendance area when making placement decisions. The act would provide that a student who is in foster care would have the right to remain enrolled in and attend school in a district where the student previously resided.
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Pending
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Senator Perry
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Tennessee |
TN H 2337, Ch. 653 |
Continues the Transition Planning Program for older youth aging out of foster care. |
Enacted |
Representative
McCormick
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Utah |
UT HB 237 |
Requires a caseworker to file a report explaining why a particular placement is in the child's best interest when a child is removed from the child's immediate family but not placed with kin.
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Enacted |
Representative Harper |
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Washington
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WA HB 2254, Chap. 163
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Companion bill to WA SB 6374. Enacts the educational success for youth and alumni of foster care act. Requires the department of social and health services to contract with at least one nongovernmental entity to administer a program of education coordination for foster youth, birth through twelfth grade in Washington state.
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Enacted
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Representative Carlyle
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Washington
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WA HB 2592, Chap. 52
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Allows all youth currently enrolled in the foster care to 21 program for the purposes of postsecondary education to remain enrolled until they turn twenty-one, are no longer otherwise eligible, or choose to leave the program. Within three years of the effective date of this act, the "foster care to 21" program will cease to operate, and youth seeking a postsecondary education will be solely served by the extended foster care program.
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Enacted
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Representative Roberts
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Washington
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WA SB 5245
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Supports foster youth to age nineteen with the goal of increasing support to age twenty-one as resources become available.
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Pending
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Senator Regala
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Washington
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WA SB 6374
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Companion bill to WA HB 2254. Enacts the educational success for youth and alumni of foster care act. Requires the department of social and health services to contract with at least one nongovernmental entity to administer a program of education coordination for foster youth, birth through twelfth grade in Washington state.
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Pending
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Senator Kilmer
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2011 Pending- Carryover Legislation
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STATE
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BILL
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Bill Summary
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Disposition
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Sponsor
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Georgia
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HB 23
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Requires the Department of Human Services to establish regulations governing the use of psychotropic medications for foster children in state custody. Sets compliance with the Health Care Oversight and Coordination Plan mandates of the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, P.L. 110-351.
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Pending-Carryover
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Representative Oliver
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Hawaii
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HB 726
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Authorizes the family court system to retain jurisdiction over children in the foster care system until they reach the age of twenty-one. Amends current law to require a transition plan for children in the foster care system once they have reached the age of fourteen.
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Pending-Carryover
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Representative Muzino
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Hawaii
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SB 954
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Provides children in the foster care system the option to remain under the jurisdiction of the family court system until they reach the age of twenty-one. Amends current law to require a transition plan for children once they have reached the age of fourteen.
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Pending-Carryover
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Senator Chun Oakland
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Iowa
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HB 494
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Requires that the Department facilitate frequent visitation or ongoing interaction between children participating in the subsidized guardianship program administered by the department and the siblings of those children. However, facilitation of the visiting or interaction is not required if the department determines the visitation or ongoing interaction would be detrimental to the child's well-being or is suspended or terminated by the court.
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Pending-Carryover
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House Human Resources Committee
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Massachusetts
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SB 37
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Establishes that the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall enter into a memorandum of understanding concerning the enrollment of students in the public school system when such students are placed in the care or custody of the Department of Children and Families or are young adults who have signed a voluntary placement agreement with the Department of Children and Families. The commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, in consultation with the Office of the Child Advocate and the secretary of education, shall develop a statewide plan for the educational stability of children placed in the care or custody of the department of children and families and young adults who have signed voluntary placement agreements with the Department of Children and Families.
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Pending
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Senator DiDomenico
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Minnesota
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HB 1304
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Extends adoption assistance to children up to age 21 when certain eligibility criteria are met.
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Pending-Carryover
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Representative Huntley
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Minnesota
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SB 1173
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Determines that a child may qualify, under limited circumstances, for the extension of adoption assistance beyond the age of 18, up to the age of 21. States that diligent efforts to identify and search for relatives as potential caregivers must be made by the responsible social service agency no later than three months after a child is ordered removed from the care of a parent. The court may continue jurisdiction over an individual to the individual's 19th birthday when continuing jurisdiction is in the individual's best interest in order to: accomplish additional planning for independent living or for the transition out of foster care; or support the individual's completion of high school or a high school equivalency program. Establishes that siblings shall be placed together in the same home and ensures that visitation is occurring when siblings are separated in foster care placement and visitation is in the siblings' best interests. Requires the responsible social services agency to develop a personalized transition plan as directed by the youth for a child who will be discharged from foster care at age 18 or older. The transition plan must be developed during the 90-day period immediately prior to the expected date of discharge. States that when a child asks to continue or to reenter foster care after age 18, the child and the responsible social services agency may enter into a voluntary agreement for the child to be in foster care; the voluntary agreement must be in writing and on a form prescribed by the commissioner.
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Pending-Carryover
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Senator Benson
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New York
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AB 609
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Provides for the establishment of kinship guardianships for kinship foster parent.
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Pending
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Assemblymember Peoples
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New York
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SB 563
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Provides for the establishment of kinship guardianships for kinship foster parent.
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Pending
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Senator Robach
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