Cite as: 503 U. S. 347 (1992)
Blackmun, J., dissenting
Second, the Court emphasizes: "Other sections of the [Adoption] Act provide enforcement mechanisms for the reasonable efforts clause of 42 U. S. C. § 671(a)(15)." Ante, at 360. Such "mechanisms" include the Secretary's power to cut off or reduce funds for noncompliance with the state plan, and the requirement of a state judicial finding that "reasonable efforts" have been made before federal funds may be used to reimburse foster care payments for a child involuntarily removed.
The Court has apparently forgotten that ever since Rosado v. Wyman, 397 U. S. 397 (1970), the power of the Secretary to enforce congressional spending conditions by cutting off funds has not prevented the federal courts from enforcing those same conditions. See id., at 420, 422-423. Indeed, we reasoned in Wilder that a similar "cutoff" provision supports the conclusion that the Medicaid Act creates an enforceable right, because it puts the State "on notice" that it may not simply adopt the reimbursement rates of its choosing. See 496 U. S., at 514. As for the Court's contention that § 671(a)(15) should be enforced through individual removal determinations in state juvenile court, the availability of a state judicial forum can hardly deprive a § 1983 plaintiff of a federal forum. Monroe v. Pape, 365 U. S. 167, 183 (1961). The Court's reliance on enforcement mechanisms other than § 1983, therefore, does not support its conclusion that the "reasonable efforts" clause of the Adoption Act creates no enforceable right.
The Court, without acknowledgment, has departed from our precedents in yet another way. In our prior cases, the existence of other enforcement mechanisms has been relevant not to the question whether the statute at issue creates an enforceable right, but to whether the second exception to § 1983 enforcement applies—whether, that is, " 'Congress has foreclosed such enforcement of the statute in the enactment itself.' " Wilder, 496 U. S., at 508 (quoting Wright v. Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority, 479 U. S., at
375
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