Foster Care Act Analysis

On November 18, 1999, the House of Representatives passed the H.R.3443, which is The Foster Care Act of 1999. This was signed into law by former President, Bill Clinton. The Foster Care Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-169) is there to help the many young adults who age out of the foster care system and have nowhere to go and no family to rely on (Social Security, 2015). With so many young adults aging out of the foster care system, there has to be a solution as to what they do next. Title I in the bill helps the children who are going to age out at 18 years of age to either continue their education through college or to help them find a job where they can support themselves. “States would promote the self-sufficiency of these young people

This program is put into place to help provide safe and stable care for children being put in and out foster care homes until they are permanently placed somewhere. There is a fixed amount of funds that can be used and it is provided by grants. The agency must submit on how they are using the money and on what they are using the money for. The agencies are able to use the money in multiple areas such as daily care and supervision of eligible children, costs to run the program, and the training of the staff and also the foster care providers (Title IV-E, 2012). Not only is this program helping provide a safe place for children who are being put in foster care homes, but it is also providing training for the parents who are choosing to foster care these children. This can help the parents understand what these children are going through and to help them realize this is not easy for them. The parents are then able to relate to the foster care children on a different level and this can help them in the long run once they age out. If the foster care children are being placed in loving and nurturing homes who teach them how to live and survive once they get out of foster care, that can really help the children so they may not end up homeless or living paycheck to paycheck once they age out. This is why the Federal Foster Care

The key elements of this law is as follows:

•States have funding to provide long term foster care children with a plan to receive training to obtain a job, to prepare for college, and to be mentored.

•Every state is eligible for $500,000.

•The states muse use a portion of the money for the aged-out youth until the age of 21. It can also be used to provide room and board for the youth from ages 18 to 21.

•Independent living activities are not to be an alternative for adoption for the foster care children, but can still occur if the agency is still looking for a permanent home for the child (Summary of the Foster Care, 2015).

The Foster Care Act of 1999 covers multiple things stated above and many other topics. This law is helping the foster care children in many