§669b Grants to States for access and visitation programs

Summary

The Administration for Children and Families must give grants to states so they can create programs that help parents who do not live with their children get access and visitation. These programs can do things like mediation (voluntary or required), counseling, parent education, making parenting plans, enforcing visits (including monitoring or supervised visits and neutral drop‑offs/pickups), and making guidelines for visitation or alternative custody. Each year a state’s grant equals the smaller of 90 percent of what the state spent that year on these activities or the state’s share of a $10,000,000 pool based on how many children in the state live with only one biological parent. No state gets less than $50,000 for fiscal year 1997 or 1998, or less than $100,000 in later years. States may not use the grant to replace their own spending and must keep at least their 1995 spending level. States can run programs directly or by funding courts, local agencies, or nonprofits, do not have to serve the whole state, and must monitor, evaluate, and report as the Secretary requires.