119-s162

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 162 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 162

 To amend parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act to 
 improve foster and adoptive parent recruitment and retention, and for 
 other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 January 21, 2025

 Mr. Grassley (for himself, Ms. Hassan, and Mr. Wicker) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
 Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act to 
 improve foster and adoptive parent recruitment and retention, and for 
 other purposes.

 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 ``Recruiting Families Using Data Act 
of 2025''.

SEC. 2. STATE PLAN AMENDMENT.

    (a) In General.--

Section 422 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
622) is amended--

    (1) in subsection

    (b)

    (7) , by inserting ``through the 
 development and implementation of a family partnership plan 
 which meets the requirements of subsection
            (d) for 
 identification, recruitment, screening, licensing, support, and 
 retention of foster and adoptive families'' after ``are 
 needed''; and

    (2) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (d) Family Partnership Plan Requirements.--For purposes of 
subsection

    (b)

    (7) , the requirements for a family partnership plan (in 
this subsection referred to as the `plan') are the following:
 ``

    (1) The plan is developed in consultation with birth, 
 kinship, foster and adoptive families, community-based service 
 providers, technical assistance providers, and youth with lived 
 experience with foster care and adoption.
 ``

    (2) The plan describes--
 ``
        (A) how the State plans to identify, notify, 
 engage, and support relatives (and others connected to 
 the child) as potential placement resources for 
 children;
 ``
        (B) how the State plans to develop and implement 
 child-specific recruitment plans for every child in or 
 entering foster care who needs a foster or adoptive 
 family;
 ``
            (C) how the State plans to authentically engage 
 children and youth in recruitment efforts on their 
 behalf;
 ``
            (D) how the State plans to use data to establish 
 goals, assess needs, measure progress, reduce 
 unnecessary placements in congregate care, increase 
 permanency, improve placement stability, increase the 
 rate of kinship placements, improve recruitment and 
 retention of families for teens, sibling groups, and 
 other special populations, and align the composition of 
 foster and adoptive families with the needs of children 
 in or entering foster care; and
 ``
        (E) how that State will stand up or support 
 foster family advisory boards for the purpose of 
 improving recruitment and retention of foster and 
 adoptive families.
 ``

    (3) The plan provides that, not less than annually, the 
 State shall collect and report on the State's actual foster 
 family capacity and congregate care utilization, including the 
 number, demographics, and characteristics of licensed foster 
 families, including prospective adoptive families, the number 
 of such families that haven't received a placement or are not 
 being fully utilized and the reasons therefor, and the number, 
 demographics, and characteristics of children placed in 
 congregate care in-State and out-of-State.
 ``

    (4) The plan includes, and shall update not less than 
 annually, a summary of the most recent feedback from foster and 
 adoptive parents and youth regarding licensure, training, 
 support, and reasons why parents stop fostering or why adoptive 
 or legal guardianship placements out of foster care fail or 
 foster and such adoptive of legal guardianship families 
 struggle to meet children's needs.
 ``

    (5) The plan includes, and shall update annually, a 
 report on the State's analysis of specific challenges or 
 barriers to recruiting, licensing, and utilizing families who 
 reflect the racial and ethnic background of children in foster 
 care in the State, and the State's efforts to overcome those 
 challenges and barriers.
 ``

    (6) The plan includes such other information relating to 
 foster and adoptive parent recruitment and retention as the 
 Secretary may require.''.

    (b) Effective Date.--

    (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph

    (2) , the 
 amendment made by this subsection shall take effect on October 
 1, 2026.

    (2) Delay permitted if state legislation required.--In the 
 case of a State plan approved under subpart 1 of part B of 
 title IV of the Social Security Act which the Secretary of 
 Health and Human Services determines requires State legislation 
 (other than legislation appropriating funds) in order for the 
 plan to meet the additional requirements imposed by this 
 subsection, the State plan shall not be regarded as failing to 
 comply with the requirements of such part solely on the basis 
 of the failure of the plan to meet such additional requirements 
 before the first day of the first calendar quarter beginning 
 after the close of the first regular session of the State 
 legislature that begins after the date of enactment of this 
 subsection. For purposes of the previous sentence, in the case 
 of a State that has a 2-year legislative session, each year of 
 such session shall be deemed to be a separate regular session 
 of the State legislature.

SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF INFORMATION ON FOSTER AND ADOPTIVE FAMILIES IN 
 ANNUAL CHILD WELFARE OUTCOMES REPORT TO CONGRESS.

 

Section 479A

    (a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 679b

    (a) ) is 
amended--

    (1) in paragraph

    (6)
            (C) , by striking ``and'' after the 
 semicolon;

    (2) in paragraph

    (7)
        (B) , by striking the period and 
 inserting ``; and''; and

    (3) by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (8) include in the report submitted pursuant to paragraph

    (5) for fiscal year 2025 or any succeeding fiscal year--
 ``
        (A) State-by-State data on the number, 
 demographics, and characteristics of foster and 
 adoptive families in the State, and the number of 
 potential foster and adoptive families not being 
 utilized in the State and the reasons why;
 ``
        (B) a summary of the challenges of, and barriers 
 to, being a foster or adoptive parent, including with 
 respect to recruitment, licensure, engagement, 
 retention, and why parents stop fostering, adoptions 
 disrupt or dissolve, or foster or adoptive families 
 struggle, as reported by States based on surveys of 
 foster and adoptive parents; and
 ``
            (C) a summary of the challenges and barriers 
 States reported on efforts to recruit a pool of 
 families that reflect the racial and ethnic background 
 of children in foster care in the State, and efforts to 
 overcome those barriers.''.
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