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Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§679b Annual report

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 7— - SOCIAL SECURITY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IV— - GRANTS TO STATES FOR AID AND SERVICES TO NEEDY FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN AND FOR CHILD-WELFARE SERVICES › Part Part E— - Federal Payments for Foster Care, Prevention, and Permanency › § 679b

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must work with Governors, state lawmakers, local child welfare officials, and child welfare advocates to create ways to measure how well states run child protection and welfare programs. The measures must include things like how long children stay in foster care, how many placements they have, and how many adoptions occur. The Secretary should use data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) whenever possible. The Secretary must also make a system to rate each State on those measures, explain how the ratings are calculated, and write rules so States must give the needed data in order to receive federal funds. On May 1, 1999, and every year after, the Secretary must send Congress a report on each State’s results, explain why States do well or poorly, and, when possible, suggest ways to improve. Starting with fiscal year 2007, the annual report must include State-by-State data on monthly caseworker visits (what share of children were visited monthly, visits as a share of the expected monthly visits, and how many visits happened in the child’s home). Starting with fiscal year 2016, the report must include State-by-State data on children placed in institutions or other non–foster-family settings (types of setting, number and basic demographics of children, length of stay, prior placements, special needs, services provided, and how many have an alternative permanency plan), and on children in foster care who are pregnant or parenting. The Secretary must consult States and child welfare organizations and consider requests from Members of Congress when choosing other topics to study using AFCARS and the National Youth in Transition Database.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §679b

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary, in consultation with Governors, State legislatures, State and local public officials responsible for administering child welfare programs, and child welfare advocates, shall—
(1)develop a set of outcome measures (including length of stay in foster care, number of foster care placements, and number of adoptions) that can be used to assess the performance of States in operating child protection and child welfare programs pursuant to part B and this part to ensure the safety of children;
(2)to the maximum extent possible, the outcome measures should be developed from data available from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System;
(3)develop a system for rating the performance of States with respect to the outcome measures, and provide to the States an explanation of the rating system and how scores are determined under the rating system;
(4)prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to ensure that States provide to the Secretary the data necessary to determine State performance with respect to each outcome measure, as a condition of the State receiving funds under this part;
(5)on May 1, 1999, and annually thereafter, prepare and submit to the Congress a report on the performance of each State on each outcome measure, which shall examine the reasons for high performance and low performance and, where possible, make recommendations as to how State performance could be improved;
(6)include in the report submitted pursuant to paragraph (5) for fiscal year 2007 or any succeeding fiscal year, State-by-State data on—
(A)the percentage of children in foster care under the responsibility of the State who were visited on a monthly basis by the caseworker handling the case of the child;
(B)the total number of visits made by caseworkers on a monthly basis to children in foster care under the responsibility of the State during a fiscal year as a percentage of the total number of the visits that would occur during the fiscal year if each child were so visited once every month while in such care; and
(C)the percentage of the visits that occurred in the residence of the child; and
(7)include in the report submitted pursuant to paragraph (5) for fiscal year 2016 or any succeeding fiscal year, State-by-State data on—
(A)children in foster care who have been placed in a child care institution or other setting that is not a foster family home, including—
(i)with respect to each such placement—
(I)the type of the placement setting, including whether the placement is shelter care, a group home and if so, the range of the child population in the home, a residential treatment facility, a hospital or institution providing medical, rehabilitative, or psychiatric care, a setting specializing in providing prenatal, post-partum, or parenting supports, or some other kind of child-care institution and if so, what kind;
(II)the number of children in the placement setting and the age, race, ethnicity, and gender of each of the children;
(III)for each child in the placement setting, the length of the placement of the child in the setting, whether the placement of the child in the setting is the first placement of the child and if not, the number and type of previous placements of the child, and whether the child has special needs or another diagnosed mental or physical illness or condition; and
(IV)the extent of any specialized education, treatment, counseling, or other services provided in the setting; and
(ii)separately, the number and ages of children in the placements who have a permanency plan of another planned permanent living arrangement; and
(B)children in foster care who are pregnant or parenting.
(b)The Secretary shall consult with States and organizations with an interest in child welfare, including organizations that provide adoption and foster care services, and shall take into account requests from Members of Congress, in selecting other issues to be analyzed and reported on under this section using data available to the Secretary, including data reported by States through the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System and to the National Youth in Transition Database.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Subsec. (a)(7)(A). Pub. L. 115–123 added cls. (i) and (ii) and struck out former cls. (i) to (vi) which read as follows: “(i) the number of children in the placements and their ages, including separately, the number and ages of children who have a permanency plan of another planned permanent living arrangement; “(ii) the duration of the placement in the settings (including for children who have a permanency plan of another planned permanent living arrangement); “(iii) the types of child care institutions used (including group homes, residential treatment, shelters, or other congregate care settings); “(iv) with respect to each child care institution or other setting that is not a foster family home, the number of children in foster care residing in each such institution or non-foster family home; “(v) any clinically diagnosed special need of such children; and “(vi) the extent of any specialized education, treatment, counseling, or other services provided in the settings; and”. 2014—Pub. L. 113–183 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added par. (7) and subsec. (b). 2011—Par. (6)(B), (C). Pub. L. 112–34 added subpar. (B) and redesignated former subpar. (B) as (C). 2006—Par. (6). Pub. L. 109–288 added par. (6).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–123 effective as if enacted on Jan. 1, 2018, subject to transition rule and State waiver provisions, see section 50746 of Pub. L. 115–123, set out as a note under section 622 of this title.

Effective Date

of 2011 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 112–34 effective Oct. 1, 2011, and applicable to payments under this part and part B of this subchapter for calendar quarters beginning on or after such date, without regard to whether implementing

Regulations

have been promulgated, and with delay permitted if State legislation is required to meet additional requirements, see section 107 of Pub. L. 112–34, set out as a note under section 622 of this title.

Effective Date

of 2006 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 109–288 effective Oct. 1, 2006, and applicable to payments under this part and part B of this subchapter for calendar quarters beginning on or after such date, without regard to whether implementing

Regulations

have been promulgated, and with delay permitted if State legislation is required to meet additional requirements, see section 12(a), (b) of Pub. L. 109–288, set out as a note under section 621 of this title.

Effective Date

Section effective Nov. 19, 1997, except as otherwise provided, with delay permitted if State legislation is required, see section 501 of Pub. L. 105–89, set out as an

Effective Date

of 1997

Amendments

note under section 622 of this title. Development of Performance-Based Incentive System Pub. L. 105–89, title II, § 203(b), Nov. 19, 1997, 111 Stat. 2127, provided that: “The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with State and local public officials responsible for administering child welfare programs and child welfare advocates, shall study, develop, and recommend to Congress an incentive system to provide payments under parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 620 et seq., 670 et seq.) to any State based on the State’s performance under such a system. Such a system shall, to the extent the Secretary determines feasible and appropriate, be based on the annual report required by section 479A of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 679b] (as added by subsection (a) of this section) or on any proposed modifications of the annual report. Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 19, 1997], the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a progress report on the feasibility, timetable, and consultation process for conducting such a study. Not later than 15 months after such date of enactment, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate the final report on a performance-based incentive system. The report may include other recommendations for restructuring the program and payments under parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 679b

Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73