Author: Kay Casey | Posted: 3. June 2011 06:12
Representative John Lewis (D-GA) introduced legislation on May 31, 2011 (H. R. 2063) to delink the connection between Title IV-E foster care eligibility with the former Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. In 2009, Lewis introduced the Look Back Elimination Act of 2009, which would have eliminated the requirement that to be eligible for foster care maintenance payments, a child would have been eligible for AFDC at the time of removal. The new legislation is similar to what Lewis introduced in 2009 and today the argument is even more critical as children continue to be made ineligible because of the AFDC needs standard continuing to hold income at the 1996 level. Since the prior legislation died in committee, it is unclear if the Ways and Means Committee will pick it up this time and consider presenting it to Congress.
