Foster Care Independence Act of 1999
Public Law 106-169 · H.R. 3443 · 106th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Dec 14, 1999 · Social Welfare
Sponsor: Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT-6)
Cosponsors (1): Rep. Benjamin Cardin
Passage votes
- HouseUnanimous consent
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 - Title I: Improved Independent Living Program - Subtitle A: Improved Independent Living Program - Amends title IV part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise the program of grants to States for independent living programs providing education, training, employment services, and financial support for individuals between ages 16 and 18 leaving foster care for independent living. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) develop outcome measures to assess State performance in operating such programs; (2) identify data elements needed to track such performance, services, and the individuals served; and (3) develop and implement a plan to collect such data.
(Sec. 101) Authorizes appropriations.
Expresses the sense of Congress that States should provide medical assistance under the State plan approved under (SSA) title XIX (Medicaid) to 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds who have been emancipated from foster care.
Subtitle B: Related Foster Care Provision - Increases the amount of assets allowable for children in foster care.
(Sec. 112) Mandates that State plans for foster care and adoption assistance include a certification that before foster care placement the prospective parents will be adequately prepared to provide for the needs of the child, and that such preparation will continue, as necessary, after placement of the child.
Subtitle C: Medicaid Amendments - Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to authorize a State to limit the eligibility of independent foster care adolescents to individuals for whom foster care maintenance payments or independent living services were furnished under the Improved Independent Living Program.
(Sec. 121) Sets forth contingency provisions for coordination of this Act with the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999.
Subtitle D: Adoption Incentive Payments - Instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make supplemental grants to adoption incentive-eligible States. Increases the appropriations authorized for FY 1999 through 2003.
Title II: SSI Fraud Prevention - Subtitle A: Fraud Prevention and Related Provisions - Amends SSA title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to subject a representative payee to liability for overpayments made after the death of the individual on whose behalf the payments were made. Instructs the Commissioner of Social Security (the Commissioner) to establish an overpayment control record under the social security account number of the representative payee.
(Sec. 202) Provides for recovery of overpayments of SSI benefits from lump sum SSI benefit payments.
(Sec. 203) Authorizes the Commissioner to employ certain statutory debt collection practices to collect delinquent accounts.
(Sec. 204) Requires (currently, merely authorizes) States to provide State prisoner information to Federal and federally assisted benefit programs.
(Sec. 205) Sets forth a statutory mechanism for the treatment of assets held in trust for an individual in connection with eligibility for SSI benefits.
(Sec. 206) Revamps guidelines governing eligibility criteria in connection with disposal of resources for less than fair market value under the SSI program.
(Sec. 207) Prescribes administrative procedures for: (1) imposing penalties for false or misleading statements; and (2) excluding representatives and health care providers convicted of violations from participation in social security programs.
(Sec. 210) Directs the Commissioner to: (1) study and report to certain congressional committees on possible measures to improve fraud prevention and administrative processing; (2) include in the annual budget an itemization of the amount of funds required to support efforts to combat fraud committed by applicants and beneficiaries; and (3) conduct periodic computer matches with Medicare and Medicaid institutionalization data.
(Sec. 213) Authorizes the Commissioner to require applicants or beneficiaries to authorize access to information held by their financial institutions in order to ascertain benefits eligibility.
Subtitle B: Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans - Amends the Social Security Act to add a new title VIII (Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans) to provide monthly benefits for each month certain qualified World War II veterans reside outside the United States. Delineates procedural guidelines. Authorizes appropriations.
Subtitle C: Study - Directs the Commissioner to: (1) study and report to certain congressional committees on the reasons why family farmers with resources of less than $100,000 are denied SSI benefits, including whether the deeming process unduly burdens and discriminates against family farmers who do not institutionalize a disabled dependent; and (2) determine the number of such farmers who have been denied such benefits during each of the preceding ten years.
Title III: Child Support - Cites circumstances under which the State share of distribution of collected child support shall be increased by statutory formula. Repeals the current statutory formula.
Title IV: Technical Corrections - Sets forth technical corrections relating to amendments made by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 13 actions.
- Dec 14, 1999Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 106-169.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Dec 2, 1999PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Nov 19, 1999FloorFloor · Received in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Energy and Commerce Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Ways and Means Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Ways and Means Committee
- Nov 18, 1999FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On passage Passed without objection.
- FloorFloor · Mrs. Johnson (CT) asked unanimous consent to discharge from committee and consider.
- FloorFloor · Considered by unanimous consent.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.