STATES REQUIRED TO INITIATE OR JOIN PROCEEDINGS TO TERMINATE PARENTAL RIGHTS FOR CERTAIN CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE.

SEC. 103. STATES REQUIRED TO INITIATE OR JOIN PROCEEDINGS TO TERMINATE PARENTAL RIGHTS FOR CERTAIN CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE. (a) Requirement for Proceedings.—Section 475(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)) is amended— (1) by striking “and” at the end of subparagraph (C); (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (D) and inserting “; and”; and (3) by adding at the end the following: “(E) in the case of a child who has been in foster care under the responsibility of the State for 15 of the most recent 22 months, or, if a court of competent jurisdiction has determined a child to be an abandoned infant (as defined under State law) or has made a determination that the parent has committed murder of another child of the parent, committed voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent, aided or abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit such a murder or such a voluntary manslaughter, or committed a felony assault that has resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child of the parent, the State shall file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the child’s parents (or, if such a petition has been filed by another party, seek to be joined as a party to the petition), and, concurrently, to identify, recruit, process, and approve a qualified family for an adoption, unless— “(i) at the option of the State, the child is being cared for by a relative; “(ii) a State agency has documented in the case plan (which shall be available for court review) a compelling reason for determining that filing such a petition would not be in the best interests of the child; or “(iii) the State has not provided to the family of the child, consistent with the time period in the State case plan, such services as the State deems necessary for the safe return of the child to the child’s home, if reasonable efforts of the type described in section 471(a)(15)(B)(ii) are required to be made with respect to the child.”. (b) Determination of Beginning of Foster Care.—Section 475(5) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)), as amended by subsection (a), is amended— (1) by striking “and” at the end of subparagraph (D); (2) by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (E) and inserting “; and”; and (3) by adding at the end the following:111 STAT. 2119 “(F) a child shall be considered to have entered foster care on the earlier of— “(i) the date of the first judicial finding that the child has been subjected to child abuse or neglect; or “(ii) the date that is 60 days after the date on which the child is removed from the home.”. (c) Transition Rules.— (1) New foster children.—In the case of a child who enters foster care (within the meaning of section 475(5)(F) of the Social Security Act) under the responsibility of a State after the date of the enactment of this Act— (A) if the State comes into compliance with the amendments made by subsection (a) of this section before the child has been in such foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, the State shall comply with section 475(5)(E) of the Social Security Act with respect to the child when the child has been in such foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months; and (B) if the State comes into such compliance after the child has been in such foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, the State shall comply with such section 475(5)(E) with respect to the child not later than 3 months after the end of the first regular session of the State legislature that begins after such date of enactment. (2) Current foster children.—In the case of children in foster care under the responsibility of the State on the date of the enactment of this Act, the State shall— (A) not later than 6 months after the end of the first regular session of the State legislature that begins after such date of enactment, comply with section 475(5)(E) of the Social Security Act with respect to not less than ⅓ of such children as the State shall select, giving priority to children for whom the permanency plan (within the meaning of part E of title IV of the Social Security Act) is adoption and children who have been in foster care for the greatest length of time; (B) not later than 12 months after the end of such first regular session, comply with such section 475(5)(E) with respect to not less than % of such children as the State shall select; and (C) not later than 18 months after the end of such first regular session, comply with such section 475(5)(E) with respect to all of such children. (3) Treatment of 2-year legislative sessions.—For purposes of this subsection, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session is deemed to be a separate regular session of the State legislature. (4) Requirements treated as state plan requirements.—For purposes of part E of title IV of the Social Security Act, the requirements of this subsection shall be treated as State plan requirements imposed by section 471(a) of such Act. (d) Rule of Construction.—Nothing in this section or in part E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et seq.), as amended by this Act, shall be construed as precluding State courts or State agencies from initiating the termination of 111 STAT. 2120parental rights for reasons other than, or for timelines earlier than, those specified in part E of title IV of such Act, when such actions are determined to be in the best interests of the child, including cases where the child has experienced multiple foster care placements of varying durations.