This hearing examined whether federal child welfare and foster care programs could be streamlined to better help children, focusing on the efficacy of section 427 of the 1980 Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, which requires states to report on compliance with 18 separate child protection strategies. Testimony regarding the streamlining or elimination of section 427 was heard from: (1) Assistant Secretary Mary Jo Bane, Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; (2) New Jersey Department of Human Services; (3) National Fatherhood Initiative; (4) Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services; (5) Cook County Office of Public Guardian; (6) Karen Aileen Howze, an adoptive parent; (7) American Civil Liberties Union; (8) Child Welfare League of America; (9) Children's Rights Council; (10) Brigitte Berger, a sociology professor; (11) Maryland Citizen Foster Care Review Board; and (12) National Association of Foster Care Reviewers. Written submissions were also provided by other interested individuals and organizations. (MDM)