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OCR Page 1 of 72Moynihan's "The Enhancing Family Life Act"
On January 19, 1999, Senator Moynihan introduced the Enhancing Family Life Act of
1999, legislation to encourage adoption, support "second chance" homes for unwed
teenage mothers, promote early childhood development programs and create a new
educational assistance program to help stay-at-home parents return to the workforce after
time spent raising children. The legislation was inspired by a set of family policy
proposals by Professor James Q. Wilson.
The Enhancing Family Life Act of 1999 contains four key elements. First, it would
provide $45 million annually to establish or expand 'second chance' maternity homes for
unwed teenage mothers. These are group homes where young women would live with
their children under strict adult supervision while learning good parenting skills and have
the support necessary to become productive members of society. Second, this legislation
promotes adoption. The bill expands the number of children in foster care eligible for
federal adoption incentives. The bill encourages states to experiment with 'per capita'
approaches to finding permanent homes for foster children, a strategy Kansas has used
with success. The bill would expand the number of 'special needs' children in foster care
for which federal adoption subsidies are available. It 'de-links' eligibility for these
subsidies from the income level of the foster child's biological parents. (Under current
law, a foster child determined to have special needs only qualifies for a federal adoption
subsidy if the child's birth parents are welfare-eligible.) The subsidies would help
adoptive parents meet the particular emotional and physical challenges of troubled
children and so they can provide the children permanent homes. In addition, the Adoption
and Safe Families Act of 1998 authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services
to grant child welfare demonstration waivers to ten states each year. The bill would
reserve three of each ten waivers to states wishing to test 'per capita' approaches to
finding permanent homes for children in foster care, as Kansas has done. Under a per
capita approach, states or localities contract on a fixed sum basis with agencies to reunite
foster children with their biological families or place them with adoptive parents.
Because the agency, typically a non-profit social service agency, receives a fixed sum per
child (rather than unlimited reimbursement of costs) the agency may settle the child in a
permanent home more quickly. Third, it funds collaborative early childhood development
programs. The bill provides $3.75 billion over five years for collaborative early
childhood development programs. States could use the funds for home visiting programs,
parenting education, high-quality child care, and preventive health services. States would
have great flexibility in deciding which services to provide. Finally, the legislation
creates a new education assistance program to enable more parents to remain home with
young children. The bill would provide grants to parents who choose to remain home
with young children and allow them to obtain the training, or re-training, needed to
prosper and advance careers after a period of time outside the labor force. A custodial
parent with children under the age of six and no earned income, welfare, or SSI receipt
would be eligible to receive a benefit equivalent to the largest Pell Grant available for
that year (about $2,700 in FY 1998). The benefit to be called a 'Parent Grant'-could
only be used for expenses associated with post-secondary education or completion of
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