Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 115 Part 3.djvu/340

 115 STAT. 2414 PUBLIC LAW 107-133^JAN. 17, 2002 TITLE I—PROMOTING SAFE AND STABLE FAMILIES Subtitle A—Grants to States for Promoting Safe and Stable Families SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. Section 430 (42 U.S.C. 629) is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 430. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. "(a) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds that there is a continuing urgent need to protect children and to strengthen families as demonstrated by the following: "(1) Family support programs directed at specific vulnerable populations have had positive effects on parents, children, or both. The vulnerable populations for which programs have been shown to be effective include teenage mothers with very young children and families that have children with special needs. "(2) Family preservation programs have been shown to provide extensive and intensive services to families in crisis. "(3) The time lines established by the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 have made the prompt availability of services to address family problems (and in particular the prompt availability of appropriate services and treatment addressing substance abuse) an important factor in successful family reunification. "(4) The rapid increases in the annual number of adoptions since the enactment of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 have created a growing need for postadoption services and for service providers with the particular knowledge and skills required to address the unique issues adoptive families and children may face. "(b) PURPOSE. —The purpose of this program is to enable States to develop and establish, or expand, and to operate coordinated programs of community-based family support services, family preservation services, time-limited family reunification services, and adoption promotion and support services to accomplish the following objectives: "(1) To prevent child maltreatment among families at risk through the provision of supportive family services. "(2) To assure children's safety within the home and preserve intact families in which children have been maltreated, when the familj^s problems can be addressed effectively. "(3) To address the problems of families whose children have been placed in foster care so that reunification may occur in a safe and stable manner in accordance with the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. "(4) To support adoptive families by providing support services as necessary so that they can make a lifetime commitment to their children.".

�