119-hr4972

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4972 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4972

 To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to address or 
 assist in resolving the shortage of appropriate foster homes for 
children, to develop resources to keep sibling groups together, and to 
provide for a system of checks and balances to ensure a child's ongoing 
safety and well-being, by providing for the placement of a foster child 
 in cottage family homes and making a child so placed eligible for 
 foster care maintenance payments.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 August 15, 2025

 Mr. Steube (for himself, Mr. Dunn of Florida, Mrs. Cammack, Ms. 
 Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Soto, Mr. Gimenez, Mr. Scott Franklin of 
 Florida, Mr. Ezell, Mr. Guest, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Rutherford, Mr. 
 Edwards, and Mr. Mills) introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to address or 
 assist in resolving the shortage of appropriate foster homes for 
children, to develop resources to keep sibling groups together, and to 
provide for a system of checks and balances to ensure a child's ongoing 
safety and well-being, by providing for the placement of a foster child 
 in cottage family homes and making a child so placed eligible for 
 foster care maintenance payments.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Create Accountable Respectful 
Environments

    (CARE) for Children Act''.

SEC. 2. PLACEMENT OF FOSTER CHILDREN IN COTTAGE FAMILY HOMES.

    (a) State Plan Requirement.--

Section 471

    (a)

    (37) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671

    (a)

    (37) ) is amended by inserting ``or a 
cottage family home'' before the comma.

    (b) Eligibility of Cottage Family Homes for Foster Care Maintenance 
Payments.--

Section 472

    (a)

    (2)
            (C) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 672

    (a)

    (2)
            (C) ) is 
amended by inserting ``a cottage family home,'' before ``with a 
parent''.
            (c) Definition of Cottage Family Home.--

Section 472
            (c) of such Act 
(42 U.S.C. 672
            (c) ) is amended by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (3) Cottage family home.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--The term `cottage family home' 
 means a home--
 ``
            (i) that is operated by a public or 
 private child care agency licensed or approved 
 by the State in which the home is situated as 
 an agency that meets the standards established 
 for the licensing or approval;
 ``
            (ii) that encourages and supports the 
 child and the family of the child in 
 maintaining a strong connection through regular 
 contact and involvement in a plan of care, 
 except to the extent otherwise directed by a 
 court of law;
 ``
            (iii) that is able to serve as a resource 
 to facilitate sibling groups being placed 
 together where daily contact and interaction 
 strengthens family ties;
 ``
            (iv) that provides children access to 
 activities or items that are age or 
 developmentally-appropriate, including the 
 ability to participate in extracurricular, 
 social, or other home and community activities 
 with the same freedom afforded to their peers 
 who are living at home with their families;
 ``
            (v) that has and implements a trauma-
 informed approach in the care of children;
 ``
            (vi) that prohibits the use of seclusion 
 or mechanical or chemical restraints and 
 permits only short-term physical restraint if 
 approved in the policies of the agency to 
 prevent injury to self or others, and prohibits 
 any prone physical restraint;
 ``
            (vii) that provides a system for a child 
 to alert a staff member if the child has a 
 concern, feels unfairly denied rights, or is 
 subject to a threat of mistreatment;
 ``
            (viii) that has a continuous quality 
 improvement methodology that regularly solicits 
 information from children concerning their 
 perceptions of the quality of care and opinions 
 about the strengths and weaknesses of the 
 program;
 ``
            (ix) that is in a single-family style 
 residence with no more than 2 children per 
 bedroom unless it is in the best interest of 
 the children; and
 ``
            (x) in which the children are under the 
 care of live-in parents that use the reasonable 
 and prudent parent standard and provide 24-hour 
 substitute care of children placed away from 
 their parents or other caretakers.
 ``
        (B) Preservation of state flexibility.--The 
 Secretary may not prohibit, limit, or penalize, by 
 regulation or order, or bring an action in any court to 
 challenge, any action or determination of a State or 
 political subdivision of a State to--
 ``
            (i) treat a cottage family home as a 
 foster family home for purposes of this part; 
 or
 ``
            (ii) treat an entity as a cottage family 
 care home for purposes of this part, as the 
 State deems necessary to serve the best 
 interests of children or families.''.
            (d) No Time Limit on Foster Care Maintenance Payments for Children 
Placed in a Cottage Family Home.--

Section 472

    (k)

    (2) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 672

    (k)

    (2) ) is amended by adding at the end the following:
 ``
        (E) A cottage family home.''.

    (e) Effective Date.--

    (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall 
 take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall 
 apply to payments under part E of title IV of the Social 
 Security Act for calendar quarters beginning on or after such 
 date.

    (2) Delay permitted if state legislation required.--If the 
 Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that State 
 legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) is 
 required in order for a State plan under part E of title IV of 
 the Social Security Act to meet the additional requirements 
 imposed by the amendments made by this section, the plan shall 
 not be regarded as failing to meet any of the additional 
 requirements before the date that is 6 months after the date of 
 the enactment of this Act.
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