This legislation is in alignment with SB 292 (Juvenile Code Reform). Please support HB 1085.
We have just been informed that HB 1085 - Fostering Connections may be brought up for a vote on the House Floor of the Georgia General Assembly tomorrow, Tuesday, March 9, 2010. Please contact your member of the House of Representatives today and ask him/her to support HB 1085.
Background: The federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (H.R. 6893/P.L. 110-351) was designed to help hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children find a safe, loving and permanent home by increasing opportunities for adoption and relative guardianship. It also focuses on improving critical education and health care services for children in foster care and better preparing older youth for adulthood.
Mandatory Provisions of Federal Law
· Enhancing Support of Relative Caregivers
· Promoting Sibling Co-Placement and Visitation
· Improving Education and Health Care Access
· Improves Planning for Youth Transition to Adulthood
· Strengthening Adoption
Reasons for Pursuing HB 1085 in the Georgia General Assembly
· This legislation would assure Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) compliance with the federal Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (outlined above).
· This proposal would include:
o addition of an element to the case planning process to ensure that reasonable effort are made to assure placement of siblings together or to allow them ample visitation if they cannot be placed together;
o addition of case planning requirement regarding attention to the health and educational needs of foster children; and
o add a requirement that a written transitional living plan for every child be completed no later than 90 days prior to their 18th birthday or their eventual exit from care.
Consequences for Failure to Comply
US Department of Health and Human Services could withhold funding in excess of $80 million of Title IV-E funding annually.
