42 U.S.C. § 678
Section 678 · Rule of construction
This is § 478 of the Social Security Act of 1935
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case Rios v. South Dakota Department of Social Services (1988)
Most recently applied in IN RE: A.I. I.I. (July 2019)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Nothing in this part shall be construed as precluding State courts from exercising their discretion to protect the health and safety of children in individual cases, including cases other than those described in section 671(a)(15)(D) of this title.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 678, act Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531, title IV, §478, as added Oct. 22, 1986, Pub. L. 99–514, title XVIII, §1883(b)(10)(A), 100 Stat. 2917, excluded from AFDC unit child for whom foster care maintenance payments are made, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 101–508, title V, §5052(b), (c), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–228, applicable with respect to benefits for months beginning on or after the first day of the sixth calendar month following November 1990.
Effective Date
Section effective Nov. 19, 1997, except as otherwise provided, with delay permitted if State legislation is required, see section 501 of Pub. L. 105–89, set out as an Effective Date of 1997 Amendments note under section 622 of this title.