LEGISLATION

Since 1997, seven significant pieces of federal legislation related to children in foster care have been signed into law.

Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-89) (ASFA) focuses on safety, permanency, and well-being for all children and youth in substitute care.

Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-169) focuses on services for youth aging out of substitute care.

Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P.L.110-351) (Fostering Connections) focuses on transition planning, educational stability, and notification of relatives for children and youth in foster care. Fostering Connections also created an option for states to adopt a definition of “child” that would allow states to provide foster care, adoption and, if applicable, guardianship (placement with a permanent legal custodian (PLC) in Pennsylvania) assistance to eligible youth up to 21 years of age, if the youth meets certain criteria.

Pennsylvania opted to extend the definition of a child via Act 91 of 2012. Act 91 revised the definition of “child” in §6302 of Title 42 (the Juvenile Act) for youth who elect to remain in foster care by including employment related activities within the definition. Act 91 also provides former dependent youth the ability for the “resumption of court jurisdiction”. Under this law, former dependent youth may request the court to resume dependency jurisdiction at any time prior to reaching age 21 if they continue to meet the definition of a child, and dependency jurisdiction was terminated within 90 days prior to their 18th birthday or on or after their 18th birthday.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-148) (ACA) is a comprehensive health care reform law which focuses on provisions to expand coverage, control health care costs and improve health care delivery systems. ACA provides Medical Assistance (MA) coverage up to age 26 for youth who at any time on or after their 18th birthday was enrolled in MA and exited the foster care system. ACA also provides for education to youth about the importance of having a health care power of attorney or health care proxy. Continued MA eligibility was available for qualifying youth beginning January 1, 2014.

Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act of 2011 (P.L. 112-34) amended the case review system definition within Title IV-E of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require that each youth age 16 and older in foster care receive a copy of their consumer credit report from each of the three credit reporting bureaus annually and that these youth be assisted in interpreting the credit reports and resolving any inaccuracies.

Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-183) amended Titles IV-B and IV-E of the SSA in ways designed to ensure child welfare agencies are identifying, protecting, and preventing children and youth from becoming victims of sex trafficking and improving outcomes for children and youth in foster care. The law specifically addresses older youth in foster care by:

Limiting the use of Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) as a permanency goal to youth age 16 or older;
Requiring licensing standards to permit foster families and congregate care facilities to apply a ‘reasonable and prudent parent standard’ when making decisions about whether to allow children/youth in foster care to participate in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural and social activities and experiences;
Promoting opportunities for children/youth in foster care to participate in age or developmentally appropriate activities;
Requiring case plans for youth age 14 and older include a description of the programs and services which will help these youth make the transition from foster care to successful adulthood (previously termed “independent living”);
Requiring the provision of important documents to certain youth exiting foster care on or after age 18;
Requiring that children and youth in foster care age 14 and older receive credit reports annually and help with resolving inaccuracies; and
Ensuring, through a new purpose of the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, that youth who are likely to remain in foster care until age 18 have regular, on-going opportunities to engage in age or developmentally appropriate activities.

Pennsylvania’s Act 75 of 2015, the Activities and Experiences for Children in Out-of-Home Placement Act (P.L. 440), was designed to help children and youth who are in Pennsylvania’s foster care system live more normal lives and ensures compliance with the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act . Specifically, the law:

Ensures that children in foster care are afforded opportunities to engage in age and developmentally appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, cultural or social activities and experiences;
Empowers the resource parent(s) for the child or a designated staff person in the child’s placement setting to make decisions regarding the child’s participation in such activities without prior approval from the CCYA, private provider agency, or the court, provided the decision is based on a reasonable and prudent parent standard and the decision does not conflict with the child’s service plans or active court orders;
Requires that caregivers receive training on how to use and apply the reasonable and prudent parent standard to decisions and ensures appropriate liability for caregivers, CCYAs, and private provider agencies, when a child participates in an activity and the trained caregiver acts in accordance with the reasonable and prudent parent standard; and
Ensures that caregivers receive notice of their responsibilities and rights under Act 75 and children receive notice of their opportunities under Act 75.

Act 94 of 2015 amended §6351 of the Juvenile Act by:

Prohibiting courts, CCYAs and private provider agencies from establishing or maintaining a permanency plan/goal of APPLA for children under the age of 16, as well as limiting APPLA use to youth age 16 and older;
Ensuring consultation with the child regarding the child’s permanency plan and the child’s desired permanency goal;
Determining the services needed to assist a child who is 14 years of age or older to make the transition to successful adulthood;
Determining whether the child is being provided with regular, ongoing opportunities to participate in age and developmentally appropriate activities and experiences; and
Requiring a judicial determination explaining why APPLA is the best plan for a youth, including the compelling reasons why return home, adoption, placement with a Permanent Legal Custodian (PLC) or placement with a fit and willing relative are not in the youth’s best interest.

Act 94 requires of CCYAs to document:

Efforts to identify at least one significant connection with a supportive adult willing to be involved in the youth’s life as they transition to adulthood, at every permanency hearing held for a youth with a goal of APPLA (see Appendix Y: Guidance on Significant Connections with Supportive Adults);
Intensive efforts and a compelling reason why it is not in the youth’s best interest to be returned home, placed for adoption, placed with a PLC, or placed with a fit and willing relative; and
Steps taken to ensure that caregivers are following the reasonable and prudent parent standard (established by Act 75 of 2015) and that the child has regular, ongoing opportunities to engage in age and developmentally appropriate activities and experiences.

Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123) (Family First) amended section 477 of the SSA by changing the name of the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program to John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (Chafee) and amending the program purposes. In addition, Family First offered states the option to expand the population of youth eligible to receive aftercare servicesand Educational and Training Vouchers. Specifically, the law:

Clarifies that Chafee services are available to youth who have experienced foster care at age 14 or older;
Allows states such as Pennsylvania, that already had an extended foster care program to age 21, to extend supports and services, known as aftercare services, to youth up to their 23rd birthday (section 477(b)(3) of the SSA). Aftercare services include financial, housing, counseling, employment, post-secondary education and other appropriate supports and services to former foster care youth;
Amends the Chafee Education and Training Voucher program, known as Education and Training Grant (ETG) in Pennsylvania, to extend eligibility to youth up until their 26th birthday (previously 23rd birthday) and to allow youth to participate in the program for up to five years, whether or not the years are consecutive;
Emphasizes that no more than 30 percent of Chafee funds may be used for room and board for youth ages 18-23, should any state decide to extend aftercare services;
Ensures that youth who age out of foster care are provided official documentation that proves they were previously in foster care. This information is critical for youth who aged out of the foster care system, as they may experience challenges accessing MA to age 26, which they are now entitled to through the ACA; and
Identifies specialized placement settings for youth 18 or older transitioning to adulthood in which youth are living independently with supports as exempt from Title IV-E foster care maintenance payment limitations.

In addition to the federal legislation, Governor Wolf signed into law Act 16 of 2019 which amended the Pennsylvania Public School Code of 1949 by adding Article XXVI-K known as the Fostering Independence Through Education Act and Act 118 of 2022 titled “Helping Older Foster Youth Find Permanency” which amended Titles 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) and Title 67 (Public Welfare) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes.

Act 16 of 2019 is a law that provides a waiver for tuition and mandatory fees for eligible students in the foster care system. The Fostering Independence Through Education Tuition Waiver Program requires Pennsylvania post-secondary institutions to award a waiver of tuition and mandatory fees for Pennsylvania resident youth who are or have been in foster care at age 16 or older, meet federal Chafee ETG eligibility requirements and who have applied for all available federal and state grants. Specifically:

Provides a waiver for tuition and mandatory fees once all federal and state
grants and other scholarships have been subtracted;
Tuition waivers apply to both public (state) colleges and universities, community colleges, private post-secondary schools, and other schools;
Eligible youth may receive the tuition waiver for five years, which need not be consecutive, or until age 26; and
Each school must establish a point of contact for eligible youth who will
serve as the primary contact for eligible youth, and provide support related to eligibility for the program, including accessing federal and state financial aid and information and referrals to off-campus support services, including housing and medical insurance and services.

Act 118 of 2022 amended Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) and Title 67 (Public Welfare) to include provisions related to family finding, Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA), transition planning and data collection. The intent of Act 118 is to reduce the number of older youth aging out of the child welfare system without the support and guidance of a permanent family. Act 118 requires independent living planning to begin at age 14 and transition planning to begin at least six months prior to a youth turning 18 for youth who are adjudicated dependent. Additionally, Act 118 now requires youth to be 18 years of age or older for APPLA to be approved by the court as a permanency option and for county agencies to identify at least two significant connections with supportive adults in the permanency plan. Act 118 also requires CCYAs to submit data to the department when the court terminates the jurisdiction of a child, 18 years of age or older. Specifically:

Requires independent living and transition planning services to assist youth who are 14 years or older to make the successful transition to adulthood.
Youth with a permanency goal of another planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA) be 18 years or older for the court to approve.
Requires CCYAs to identify at least two significant connections with supportive adults for youth with a permanency goal of APPLA.
Identify the specific planned permanent living arrangement being approved.
Requires youth be provided the opportunity to participate in the development of their permanency plan.
Requires the provision of ongoing permanency services including maintaining and strengthening sibling connections and identified supportive connections.
Requires the development of a transition plan at least six months prior to a youth’s 18th birthday.
Requires the youth to be provided all relevant documents prior to termination of court jurisdiction for all youth 18 years or older.
Requires all CCYAs to submit data to DHS for all youth 18 years or older at the time the court terminates jurisdiction.