This document provides the locations of Children's Bureau policy, guidance, and other implementation activities related to the Fostering Connection to Success and Increasing Adoption Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-351). Background. The President signed the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P. L. 110-351) into law on October 7, 2008. Generally, the law amends the Social Security Act to extend and expand adoption incentives through FY2013; create an option to provide kinship guardianship assistance payments; create an option to extend eligibility for title IV-E foster care, adoption assistance and kinship guardianship payments to age 21; de-link adoption assistance from Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) eligibility over time; and, provide Federally-recognized Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, or Tribal consortia (Tribes) with the option to operate a title IV-E program, among many other provisions. A draft compilation of the revised Social Security Act can be found on the CB's website. Title IV-E RequirementsGuardianship Assistance Payments (GAP) ProgramTribal Option to Operate a Title IV-E ProgramTribal Option to Directly Operate the Chafee Foster Care Independent Living Program (CFCIP) and Education and Training Voucher (ETV) ProgramTribal Title IV-E Plan Development GrantsDe-linking a Child's Adoption Assistance Eligibility from AFDC Eligibility RequirementsExtension and Expansion of the Adoption Incentives ProgramOption to Extend Eligibility for Title IV-E Payments to Age 21Educational Stability RequirementsTitle IV-B Plan Health Oversight and Coordination Plan RequirementsTransition Plan for Emancipating YouthState Good Faith Negotiation with TribesTrainingNotice to Relatives of RemovalTitle IV-E Plan Requirements for Sibling PlacementAdoption Tax CreditLicensing Waivers for Relatives and Report to CongressAccess to Federal Parent Locator ServiceFamily Connection GrantsAdditional Policy Guidance Title IV-E Requirements — States and Tribes that operate a program pursuant to title IV-E of the Social Security Act must comply with all requirements identified in law, regulation and policy. Additional information regarding general requirements of title IV-E may be found at: Guardianship Assistance Payments (GAP) Program (Effective October 7, 2008) - creates an option for State and Tribal title IV-E agencies to provide kinship guardianship assistance payments. Additional information may be found at: Tribal Option to Operate a Title IV-E Program (Effective October 1, 2009) - allows Federally-recognized Tribes to apply to receive title IV-E funds directly for foster care, adoption assistance and, at Tribal option, kinship guardianship assistance. Additional information may be found at: Tribal Option to Directly Operate the Chafee Foster Care Independent Living Program (CFCIP) and Education and Training Voucher (ETV) Program (Effective October 1, 2009) - provides an option for Tribes with an approved title IV-E plan or a title IV-E Tribal/State agreement to receive directly from the Secretary of HHS a portion of the State's CFCIP and ETV allotments to fund the provision of services to Tribal youth. Additional information may be found at: Tribal Title IV-E Plan Development Grants - are authorized for the development of a Tribal title IV-E plan and implementation of a title IV-E program. De-linking a Child's Adoption Assistance Eligibility from AFDC Eligibility Requirements (Effective October 1, 2009, subject to phase-in) - establishes new criteria associated with the de-linking of Adoption Assistance eligibility AFDC eligibility requirements, phased in over time beginning in FY 2010. In FY 2010 beginning with children aged 16 years and older, eligibility for Adoption Assistance will be delinked from AFDC and every fiscal year after the age drops two years. Additional information may be found at: Extension and Expansion of the Adoption Incentives Program (Effective October 7, 2

The purpose of the Understanding Post Adoption and Guardianship Instability for Children and Youth Who Exit Foster Care project is to examine rates of instability, factors associated with instability, and the supports and resources that promote post-permanency stability. Ultimately, the project aims to support efforts to build the capacity of federal, state, and local agencies to get accurate information about instability for children who exit foster care to adoption or guardianship. In order to examine these issues, two separate studies were conducted 1.) The Contact After Adoption or Guardianship: Child Welfare Agency and Family Interactions Study and 2.) The Survey of National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) Adopted Youth, Young Adults, Adults, and Adoptive Parents. This dataset contains data from The Contact After Adoption or Guardianship: Child Welfare Agency and Family Interactions Study. The Contact After Adoption or Guardianship: Child Welfare Agency and Family Interactions Study (hereafter referred to as “The Contact After Adoption or Guardianship Study”) seeks to understand child welfare agency processes and procedures to help obtain better information on post adoption and post guardianship instability. The study explores the intentional and unintentional ways public child welfare agencies contact or receive information about the well-being of children and youth (and in particular, their experiences of instability) who have exited the foster care system through adoption or guardianship. Additionally, this study investigates how child welfare agencies track children and youth who exit the foster care system to adoption or guardianship and what information they collect. The study used two web-based surveys of adoption program managers (APMs) in all 50-states. One web survey focused on adoption practices, which all AMPs received, and one focused on guardianship practices. Only APMs from the 38 states that have a federally subsidized guardianship program (i.e., Kin-GAP) were asked to complete the separate guardianship survey. Seventy-two percent of the 50 APMs responded to the adoption survey and 63% of the 38 guardianship APMs responded to the guardianship survey. Investigators: Nancy Rolock, PhD Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH Kevin White, PhD. East Carolina University Greenville, NC Heather Ringeisen, PhD RTI International Research Triangle Park, NC Rose Domanico, MA RTI International Research Triangle Park, NC Rong Bai, PhD Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH Leyla Stambaugh, PhD RTI International Research Triangle Park, NC

Describes the nature, scope, and impact of interjurisdictional adoption placement efforts and the strategies that improve outcomes for children in foster care who are placed for adoption in other jurisdictions. Metadata-only record linking to the original dataset. Open original dataset below.