Presidential DocumentExecutive Order 139302020-14077
Strengthening the Child Welfare System for America's Children
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Published
June 29, 2020
Signed
June 24, 2020
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 125 (Monday, June 29, 2020)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 125 (Monday, June 29, 2020)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 38741-38745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14077]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 85 , No. 125 / Monday, June 29, 2020 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 38741]]
Executive Order 13930 of June 24, 2020
Strengthening the Child Welfare System for
America's Children
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. Every child deserves a family. Our
States and communities have both a legal obligation,
and the privilege, to care for our Nation's most
vulnerable children.
The best foster care system is one that is not needed
in the first place. My Administration has been focused
on prevention strategies that keep children safe while
strengthening families so that children do not enter
foster care unnecessarily. Last year, and for only the
second time since 2011, the number of children in the
foster care system declined, and for the third year in
a row, the number of children entering foster care has
declined.
But challenges remain. Too many young people who are in
our foster care system wait years before finding the
permanency of family. More than 400,000 children are
currently in foster care. Of those, more than 124,000
children are waiting for adoption, with nearly 6 out of
10 (58.4 percent) having already become legally
eligible for adoption.
More than 50 percent of the children waiting for
adoption have been in foster care--without the security
and constancy of a permanent family--for 2 years or
more. The need for stability and timely permanency is
particularly acute for children 9 years and older,
children in sibling groups, and those with intellectual
or physical disabilities.
Even worse, too many young men and women age out of
foster care having never found a permanent, stable
family. In recent years, approximately 20,000 young
people have aged out of foster care each year in the
United States. Research has shown that young people who
age out of the foster care system are likely to
experience significant, and significantly increased,
life challenges--40 percent of such young people
studied experienced homelessness; 50 percent were
unemployed at age 24; 25 percent experienced post-
traumatic stress disorder; and 71 percent became
pregnant by age 21. These are unacceptable outcomes.
Several factors have contributed to the number of
children who wait in foster care for extended periods.
First, State and local child welfare agencies often do
not have robust partnerships with private community
organizations, including faith-based organizations.
Second, those who step up to be resource families for
children in foster care--including kin, guardians,
foster parents, and adoptive parents--may lack adequate
support. Third, too often the processes and systems
meant to help children and families in crisis have
instead created bureaucratic barriers that make it more
difficult for these children and families to get the
help they need.
It is the goal of the United States to promote a child
welfare system that reduces the need to place children
into foster care; achieves safe permanency for those
children who must come into foster care, and does so
more quickly and more effectively; places appropriate
focus on children who are waiting for adoption,
especially those who are 9 years and older, are in
sibling groups, or have disabilities; and decreases the
proportion of young adults who age out of the foster
care system.
[[Page 38742]]
Children from all backgrounds have the potential to
become successful and thriving adults. Yet without a
committed, loving family that can provide
encouragement, stability, and a lifelong connection,
some children may never receive the support needed to
realize that potential.
This order will help to empower families who answer the
call to open their hearts and homes to children who
need them. My Administration is committed to helping
give as many children as possible the stability and
support that family provides by dramatically improving
our child welfare system.
Sec. 2. Encouraging Robust Partnerships Between State
Agencies and Public, Private, Faith-based, and
Community Organizations. (a) In order to facilitate
close partnerships between State agencies and
nongovernmental organizations, including public,
private, faith-based, and community groups, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services (the
``Secretary'') shall provide increased public access to
accurate, up-to-date information relevant to
strengthening the child welfare system, including by:
(i) Publishing data to aid in the recruitment of community support. Within
1 year of the date of this order and each year thereafter, the Secretary
shall submit to the President, through the Assistant to the President for
Domestic Policy, a report that provides information about typical patterns
of entry, recent available counts of children in foster care, and counts of
children waiting for adoption. To the extent appropriate and consistent
with applicable law, including all privacy laws, this data will be
disaggregated by county or other sub-State level, child age, placement
type, and prior time in care.
(ii) Collecting needed data to preserve sibling connections.
(A) Within 2 years of the date of this order, the Secretary shall collect
information from appropriate State and local agencies on the number of
children in foster care who have siblings in foster care and who are not
currently placed with their siblings.
(B) Within 3 years of the date of this order, to support the goal of
keeping siblings together (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(31)(A)), the Secretary shall
develop data analysis methods to report on the experience of children
entering care in sibling groups, and the extent to which they are placed
together. The Secretary's analysis shall also assess the extent to which
siblings who are legally eligible for adoption achieve permanency together.
(iii) Expanding the number of homes for children and youth.
(A) Within 2 years of the date of this order, the Secretary shall develop
a more rigorous and systematic approach to collecting State administrative
data as part of the Child and Family Services Review required by section
1123A of the Social Security Act (the ``Act'') (42 U.S.C. 1320a-2a). Data
collected shall include:
(1) demographic information for children in foster care and waiting for
adoption;
(2) the number of currently available foster families and their demographic
information;
(3) the average foster parent retention rate and average length of time
foster parents remain certified;
(4) a target number of foster homes needed to meet the needs of children in
foster care; and
(5) the average length of time it takes to complete foster and adoptive
home certification.
[[Page 38743]]
(B) The Secretary shall ensure, to the extent consistent with applicable
law, that States report to the Secretary regarding strategies for
coordinating with nongovernmental organizations, including faith-based and
community organizations, to recruit and support foster and adoptive
families.
(b) Within 1 year of the date of this order, the
Secretary shall issue guidance to Federal, State, and
local agencies on partnering with nongovernmental
organizations. This guidance shall include best
practices for information sharing, providing needed
services to families to support prevention of children
entering foster care, family preservation, foster and
adoptive home recruitment and retention, respite care,
post-placement family support, and support for older
youth. This guidance shall also make clear that faith-
based organizations are eligible for partnerships under
title IV-E of the Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et seq.), on an
equal basis, consistent with the First Amendment to the
Constitution.
Sec. 3. Improving Access to Adequate Resources for
Caregivers and Youth. While many public, private,
faith-based, and community resources and other sources
of support exist, many American caregivers still lack
connection with and access to adequate resources.
Within 1 year of the date of this order, the Secretary
shall equip caregivers and those in care to meet their
unique challenges, by:
(a) Expanding educational options. To the extent
practicable, the Secretary shall use all existing
technical assistance resources to promote dissemination
and State implementation of the National Training and
Development Curriculum, including, when appropriate, in
non-classroom environments.
(b) Increasing the availability of trauma-informed
training. The Secretary shall provide an enhanced, web-
based, learning-management platform to house the
information generated by the National Adoption
Competency Mental Health Training Initiative. Access to
this web-based training material will be provided free
of charge for all child welfare and mental health
practitioners.
(c) Supporting guardianship. The Secretary shall
provide information to States regarding the importance
and availability of funds to increase guardianship
through the title IV-E Guardianship Assistance Program
(42 U.S.C. 673), which provides Federal reimbursement
for payments to guardians and for associated
administrative costs. This information shall include
which States have already opted into the program.
(d) Enhancing support for kinship care and youth
exiting foster care. The Secretary shall establish a
plan to address barriers to accessing existing Federal
assistance and benefits for eligible individuals.
Sec. 4. Ensuring Equality of Treatment and Access for
all Families. The Howard M. Metzenbaum Multiethnic
Placement Act of 1994 (the ``Multiethnic Placement
Act'') (Public Law 103-382), as amended, prohibits
agencies from denying to any person the opportunity to
become an adoptive or a foster parent on the basis of
race, color, or national origin (42 U.S.C.
671(a)(18)(A)); prohibits agencies from delaying or
denying the placement of a child for adoption or into
foster care on the basis of race, color, or national
origin (id. 671(a)(18)(B)); and requires agencies to
diligently recruit a diverse base of foster and
adoptive parents to better reflect the racial and
ethnic makeup of children in out-of-home care (id.
662(b)(7)). To further the goals of the Multiethnic
Placement Act, the Secretary shall:
(a) within 6 months of the date of this order,
initiate a study regarding the implementation of these
requirements nationwide;
(b) within 1 year of the date of this order, update
guidance, as necessary, regarding implementation of the
Multiethnic Placement Act; and
[[Page 38744]]
(c) within 1 year of the date of this order,
publish guidance regarding the rights of parents,
prospective parents, and children with disabilities
(including intellectual, developmental, or physical
disabilities).
Sec. 5. Improving Processes to Prevent Unnecessary
Removal and Secure Permanency for Children. (a) Federal
Review of Reasonable Effort Determinations and
Timeliness Requirements.
(i) Within 2 years of the date of this order, the Secretary shall require
that both the title IV-E reviews conducted pursuant to 45 CFR 1356.71 and
the Child and Family Services Reviews conducted pursuant to 45 CFR 1355.31-
1355.36 specifically and adequately assess the following requirements:
(A) reasonable efforts to prevent removal;
(B) filing a petition for Termination of Parental Rights within
established statutory timelines and court processing of such petition,
unless statutory exemptions apply;
(C) reasonable efforts to finalize permanency plans; and
(D) completion of relevant required family search and notifications and
how such efforts are reviewed by courts.
(ii) In cases in which it is determined that statutorily required timelines
and efforts have not been satisfied, the Secretary shall make use of
existing authority in making eligibility determinations and disallowances
consistent with section 1123A(b)(3)(4) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-
2a(b)(3)(4)).
(iii) Within 2 years of the date of this order, the Secretary shall develop
metrics to track permanency outcomes in each State and measure State
performance over time.
(iv) Within 6 months of the date of this order, the Secretary shall provide
guidance to States regarding flexibility in the use of Federal funds to
support and encourage high-quality legal representation for parents and
children, including pre-petition representation, in their efforts to
prevent the removal of children from their families, safely reunify
children and parents, finalize permanency, and ensure that their voices are
heard and their rights are protected. The Secretary shall also ensure
collection of data regarding State use of Federal funds for this purpose.
(b) Risk and Safety Assessments.
(i) Within 18 months of the date of this order, the Secretary shall collect
States' individual standards for conducting risk and safety assessments
required under section 106(b)(2)(B)(iv) of the Child Abuse Prevention and
Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106(b)(2)(B)(iv)).
(ii) Within 2 years of the date of this order, the Secretary shall outline
reasonable best practice standards for risk and safety assessments,
including how to address domestic violence and substance abuse.
Sec. 6. Indian Child Welfare Act. Nothing in this order
shall alter the implementation of the Indian Child
Welfare Act or replace the tribal consultation process.
Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
[[Page 38745]]
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 24, 2020.
[FR Doc. 2020-14077
Filed 6-26-20; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F0-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 29, 2020.
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