Updating custody requirements to preserve families

Section 475(5)(E) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(E)) is amended— (1) by striking 15 of the most recent 22 months and inserting 24 consecutive months and who is not in the care of kin (including fictive kin), the State may consider filing or joining a petition for modification or termination of parental rights only after demonstrating by clear and convincing evidence that the State has provided to the family of the child such services, supports, and time needed to address the reasons for foster care and enable the family to safely reunify, and by demonstrating compelling reasons why the modification or termination is in the best interest of the child, and if the child is living with a kinship (including fictive kinship) caregiver, the State agency shall provide a meaningful opportunity for the kinship (including fictive kinship) caregiver to express whether modification or termination is or is not in the best interests of the child and shall document such in the case plan of the child; (2) by striking clause (i) and redesignating clauses (ii) and (iii) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; (3) in clause (ii) (as so redesignated by paragraph (2) of this section), by striking the semicolon and inserting a comma; and (4) by inserting after and below clause (ii) (as so redesignated) the following: except that, in the case of a child to whom this subparagraph applies solely because the child has been in foster care under the responsibility of the State for 24 consecutive months and is not in the care of kin (including fictive kin), the State may not file or join such a petition if a parent of the child is actively engaged in services to address the reasons the child entered care (including treatment for substance use disorder, mental health concerns, or parenting skills), if based principally on the incarceration of a parent, or if based principally on the detention of the parent by the Department of Homeland Security or the deportation of the parent;.