Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 3.djvu/581

 PUBLIC LAW 100-505—OCT. 18, 1988

102 STAT. 2533

Public Law 100-505 100th Congress An Act To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants for demonstration projects for foster C8u:« and residential care of infants euid young children abandoned in hospitals, and for other purposes.

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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. Abandoned SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

Infants Assistance Act of

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

42 USC 670 note.

This Act may be cited as the "Abandoned Infants Assistance Act 42 USC 670 note of 1988". The Congress finds that— (1) throughout the Nation, the number of infants and young children who have been exposed to drugs taken by their mothers during pregnancy has increased dramatically; (2) the inabliity of parents who abuse drugs to provide adequate care for such infants and young children and a lack of suitable shelter homes for such infants and young children have led to the abandonment of such infants and young children in hospitals for extended periods; (3) the vast majority of these infants and young children will be medically cleared for discharge, yet remain in hospitals sis boarder babies; (4) hospital-based child care for these infants and young children is extremely costly and deprives them of an adequate nurturing environment; (5) training is inadequate for foster care personnel working with medically fragile infants and young children and infants and yoimg children exposed to drugs; (6) a particularly devastating development is the increase in the number of cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome in infants and young children, and the number of such cases has doubled within the last 13 months; (7) more than 80 percent of infants and young children with acquired immune deficiency syndrome have at least one parent who is an intravenous drug abuser; (8) infants and young children with acquired immune deficiency syndrome are particularly difficult to place in foster homes, and are being abandoned in hospitals in increasing numbers by mothers d3ring of acquired immune deficiency s)mdrome, or by parents incapable of providing adequate care; (9) there is a need for comprehensive services for such infants and young children, including foster family care services, case management services, family support services, respite and crisis intervention services, counseling services, and group residential home services; and (10) there is a need for the development of funding strategies that coordinate and make the optimed use of all private re-

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