Cite as: 503 U. S. 347 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
ministering foster care and adoption services. The Act provides that States will be reimbursed for a percentage of foster care and adoption assistance payments when the State satisfies the requirements of the Act. 42 U. S. C. §§ 672-674, 675(4)(A) (1988 ed. and Supp. I).
To participate in the program, States must submit a plan to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for approval by the Secretary. §§ 670, 671. Section 671 lists 16 qualifications which state plans must contain in order to gain the Secretary's approval. As relevant here, the Act provides:
"(a) Requisite features of State plan
"In order for a State to be eligible for payments under this part, it shall have a plan approved by the Secretary which—
. . . . . "(3) provides that the plan shall be in effect in all political subdivisions of the State, and, if administered by them, be mandatory upon them;
. . . . . "(15) effective October 1, 1983, provides that, in each case, reasonable efforts will be made (A) prior to the placement of a child in foster care, to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child from his home, and (B) to make it possible for the child to return to his home . . . ." §§ 671(a)(3), (15).
Petitioners in this action are Sue Suter and Gary T. Morgan, the Director and the Guardianship Administrator, respectively, of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). DCFS is the state agency responsible for, among other things, investigating charges of child abuse and neglect and providing services to abused and neglected children and their families. DCFS is authorized under Illinois law, see Ill. Rev. Stat., ch. 37, ¶ 802-1 et seq. (1989), to gain temporary custody of an abused or neglected child after a
351
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007