I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4911 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to allow the Secretary of 

Health and Human Services to award competitive grants to enhance 

collaboration between State child welfare and juvenile justice systems. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 29, 2019 

Mr. SCHWEIKERT (for himself and Ms. SA ́NCHEZ) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to allow the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services to award competitive grants to enhance collaboration between State 

child welfare and juvenile justice systems. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Childhood Outcomes 

5 Need New Efficient Community Teams’’ or the ‘‘CON6 NECT Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO AWARD COMPETITIVE GRANTS TO 

2 ENHANCE COLLABORATION BETWEEN STATE 

3 CHILD WELFARE AND JUVENILE JUSTICE 

4 SYSTEMS. 

5 Subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social Security 

6 Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 429A. GRANTS TO STATES TO ENHANCE COLLABORA9 TION BETWEEN STATE CHILD WELFARE AND 

10 JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEMS. 

11 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to au12 thorize the Secretary, in collaboration with the Attorney 

13 General and the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile 

14 Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the Department of 

15 Justice, to make grants to State child welfare and juvenile 

16 justice agencies to collaborate in the collection of data re17 lating to dual status youth and to develop practices, poli18 cies, and protocols to confront the challenges presented 

19 and experienced by dual status youth. 

20 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

22 competitive grants jointly to a State child welfare 

23 agency and a State juvenile justice agency to facili24 tate or enhance collaboration between the child wel25 fare and juvenile justice systems of the State in 


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1 order to carry out programs to address the needs of 

2 dual status youth and their families. 

3 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—Of the amount appropriated 

4 under section 425 for a fiscal year that exceeds 

5 $270,000,000, the Secretary shall reserve up to 

6 $30,000,000 of such excess amount for grants under 

7 this section. 

8 ‘‘(3) LENGTH OF GRANTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A grant shall be 

10 awarded under this section for a period of not 

11 less than 2, and not more than 5, fiscal years, 

12 subject to subparagraph (B). 

13 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION OF GRANT.—On applica14 tion of the grantee, the Secretary may extend 

15 for not more than 2 fiscal years the period for 

16 which a grant is awarded under this section. 

17 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—In order for a State to be 

19 eligible for a grant under this section, it shall submit 

20 an application, to be approved by the Secretary, that 

21 includes— 

22 ‘‘(A) a description of the proposed leader23 ship collaboration group (including the member24 ship of such group), and how such group will 

25 manage and oversee a review and analysis of 


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1 current practices while working to jointly ad2 dress enhanced practices to improve outcomes 

3 for dual status youth; 

4 ‘‘(B) a description of how the State pro5 poses to— 

6 ‘‘(i) identify dual status youths; 

7 ‘‘(ii) identify individuals who are at 

8 risk of becoming dual status youths; 

9 ‘‘(iii) identify common characteristics 

10 shared by dual status youths in the State; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(iv) determine the prevalence of dual 

13 status youths in the State; 

14 ‘‘(C) a description of current and proposed 

15 practices and procedures that the State intends 

16 to use to— 

17 ‘‘(i) screen and assess dual status 

18 youths for risks and treatment needs; 

19 ‘‘(ii) provide targeted and evidence20 based services, including educational, be21 havioral health, and pro-social treatment 

22 interventions for dual status youths and 

23 their families; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) provide for a lawful process to 

25 enhance or ensure the abilities of the State 


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1 and any relevant agencies to share infor2 mation and data about dual status youths 

3 while maintaining confidentiality and pri4 vacy protections under State and Federal 

5 law; and 

6 ‘‘(D) a certification that the State has in7 volved local governments, as appropriate, in the 

8 development, expansion, modification, oper9 ation, or improvement of proposed policy and 

10 practice reforms to address the needs of dual 

11 status youths. 

12 ‘‘(2) NO SUPPLANTATION OF OTHER FUNDS.— 

13 Any amounts paid to a State under a grant under 

14 this section shall be used to supplement and not 

15 supplant other State expenditures on dual status 

16 youths or children involved with either the child wel17 fare or juvenile justice systems. 

18 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION.—Up to 10 percent of the 

19 amount made available to carry out this section for 

20 a fiscal year shall be made available to the Secretary 

21 to evaluate the effectiveness of the projects funded 

22 under this section, using a methodology that— 

23 ‘‘(A) includes random assignment when24 ever feasible, or other research methods that 

25 allow for the strongest possible causal inferVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:52 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4911.IH H4911

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1 ences when random assignment is not feasible; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) generates evidence on the impact of 

4 specific projects, or groups of projects with 

5 identical (or similar) practices and procedures. 

6 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—A State child welfare agency 

7 and a State juvenile justice agency receiving a grant 

8 under this section shall jointly submit to the Sec9 retary, the Attorney General, and the Administrator 

10 of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

11 Prevention of the Department of Justice, a report 

12 on the evaluation of the activities carried out under 

13 the grant at the end of each fiscal year during the 

14 period of the grant. Such report shall include— 

15 ‘‘(A) a description of the scope and nature 

16 of the dual status youth population in the 

17 State, including the number of dual status 

18 youth; 

19 ‘‘(B) a description of the evidence-based 

20 practices and procedures used by the agencies 

21 to carry out the activities described in clauses 

22 (i) through (iii) of paragraph (1)(C); and 

23 ‘‘(C) an analysis of the effects of such 

24 practices and procedures, including information 

25 regarding— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the collection of data related to 

2 individual dual status youths; 

3 ‘‘(ii) aggregate data related to the 

4 dual status youth population, including— 

5 ‘‘(I) characteristics of dual status 

6 youths in the State; 

7 ‘‘(II) case processing timelines; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(III) information related to case 

10 management, the provision of targeted 

11 services, and placements within the 

12 foster care or juvenile justice system; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(iii) the extent to which such prac15 tices and procedures have contributed to— 

16 ‘‘(I) improved educational out17 comes for dual status youths; 

18 ‘‘(II) fewer delinquency referrals 

19 for dual status youths; 

20 ‘‘(III) shorter stays in intensive 

21 restrictive placements for dual status 

22 youths; or 

23 ‘‘(IV) such other outcomes for 

24 dual status youths as the State child 


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1 welfare agency and State juvenile jus2 tice agency may identify. 

3 ‘‘(d) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The 

4 Secretary may support State child welfare agencies and 

5 State juvenile justice agencies by offering a program, de6 veloped in consultation with organizations and agencies 

7 with subject matter expertise, of training and technical as8 sistance to assist such agencies in developing programs 

9 and protocols that draw on best practices for serving dual 

10 status youth in order to facilitate or enhance— 

11 ‘‘(1) collaboration between State child welfare 

12 agencies and State juvenile justice agencies; and 

13 ‘‘(2) the effectiveness of such agencies with re14 spect to working with Federal agencies and child 

15 welfare and juvenile justice agencies from other 

16 States. 

17 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

18 of enactment of this section, and every 3 years thereafter, 

19 the Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Adminis20 trator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

21 Prevention of the Department of Justice shall jointly sub22 mit to the Committee on Finance and the Committee on 

23 the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on Ways 

24 and Means and the Committee on Education and Labor 


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1 of the House of Representatives, a report on the grants 

2 provided under this section. 

3 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) DUAL STATUS YOUTH.—The term ‘dual 

5 status youth’ means a child who has come into con6 tact with both the child welfare and juvenile justice 

7 systems and occupies various statuses in terms of 

8 the individual’s relationship to such systems. 

9 ‘‘(2) LEADERSHIP COLLABORATION GROUP.— 

10 The term ‘leadership collaboration group’ means a 

11 group composed of senior officials from the State 

12 child welfare agency, the State juvenile justice agen13 cy, and other relevant youth and family-serving pub14 lic agencies and private organizations, including, to 

15 the extent practicable, representatives from the 

16 State judiciary branch. 

17 ‘‘(3) STATE JUVENILE JUSTICE AGENCY.—The 

18 term ‘State juvenile justice agency’ means the agen19 cy of the State or Indian tribe responsible for ad20 ministering grant funds awarded under the Juvenile 

21 Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 

22 U.S.C. 11101 et seq.). 

23 ‘‘(4) STATE CHILD WELFARE AGENCY.—The 

24 term ‘State child welfare agency’ means the State 

25 agency responsible for administering the program 


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1 under this subpart, or, in the case of a tribal organi2 zation that is receiving payments under section 428, 

3 the tribal agency responsible for administering such 

4 program.’’. 

Æ 


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