Home Reform Efforts and Groups

Reform Efforts and Groups

Reform Efforts And Groups Foster Care Independence Act

Reform Efforts And Groups Foster Care Independence Act

The Foster Care Independence Act, also known as the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, is a legislative Act that extends healthcare provisions to foster children.
The Act states that foster children can be covered under Medicaid until they
turn 21 years of age
. It was passed to proliferate the fostering of
children.

 

Due to the fact that foster children were eligible to be
covered by
Governmentfunded healthcare, families unwilling or unable to adopt
could foster a child for a minimal cost. In addition, the Foster Care
Independence Act prompted the doubling of
Federal funding for the assistance of the health and
welfare of foster children
, from $70 million to $140 million.



Aside from easing the
financial burden of families who engage in fostering children, the Foster Care
Independence Act allows for funds to be specifically allotted in order to
assist emancipated children. As a result of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services instituted a
change in the amount a child in foster care is allowed to save before being
penalized. Under the law, children are allowed to save as much as $10,000
before it negatively impacts their eligibility or the eligibility of their
foster parents to receive assistance from the
Government.

This bill was an attempt to reform criticisms
that such children were unprepared to face the challenges of adulthood
. By
extending the eligibility for assistance from the age of 18 to 21, it strove to
reflect the continued support that children raised by birth parents often
receive.

Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008

Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008

The Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008 was initiated with the goal of adding more improvements
to the foster
 care and adoption system. The Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008 assisted with the push for foster child adoption.

One of the ways in which the
Act was able to improve the state of foster child adoption is by offering a
financial incentive to the State if they are able to place a child with a
biological relative, such as a child’s grandparent. This incentive was a way in
which foster child adoption would be able to be more common as states witnessed
more and more children that still need the services of foster adoption
placement.

The Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008 established that in order for a State to receive the Federal
financial incentive for relative foster child adoption, the child must live
with the relative for more than six months while receiving financial assistance
from the State Government.  In addition, if the child is brought in as a
foster child, there has to be an intent to adopt by the relative. The Fostering
Connection to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 goes on to say that
in order for the State to receive Federal financial assistance for their
relative placement, the State must consult with any minor above the age of 14
before the foster adoption takes place.
 

The Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008 permitted states to place siblings in a foster child
adoption with their other siblings, in circumstances where the children are
eligible. The Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of
2008 also establishes that in instances of foster adoption, the siblings that
are also placed in the household are to receive financial assistance from the State
as well. For children that are eligible to be placed in the care of other
siblings, the kinship guardianship assistance payments must not exceed the
typical foster care maintenance payments that would be paid if the child were
to remain in the care of the State-provided foster care facility home.

The Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008 also protected the children in which foster child adoption
is to be carried out in terms of healthcare benefits. For those children that
transition to foster child adoption by a relative, those minors are to remain
eligible for Government-assisted healthcare coverage. Those minors that have
undergone foster adoption retain access to Medicaid.

The Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act of 2008 also placed a special focus on the minors that are in the
foster adoption system over the age of 16. Minors over the age of 16 that have
undergone foster child adoption have an emphasis placed on the education that
the Government makes available to them.

The Fostering to Success and
Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 offers vouchers to those minors over the age
of 16 that go on to foster child adoption to continue furthering their
education. Funding is now readily available which allows them to receive the
additional training that these minors want and need.