114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4472 

AN ACT 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to require 

States to adopt a centralized electronic system to help 

expedite the placement of children in foster care or 

guardianship, or for adoption, across State lines, and 

to provide grants to aid States in developing such a 

system, and for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Modernizing the Inter5 state Placement of Children in Foster Care Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 

8 (1) when a child in foster care cannot return 

9 safely home, the child deserves to be placed in a set10 ting that is best for that child, regardless of whether 

11 it is in the child’s State or another State; 

12 (2) the Interstate Compact on the Placement of 

13 Children (ICPC) was established in 1960 to provide 

14 a uniform legal framework for the placement of chil15 dren across State lines in foster and adoptive homes; 

16 (3) frequently, children waiting to be placed 

17 with an adoptive family, relative, or foster parent in 

18 another State spend more time waiting for this to 

19 occur than children who are placed with an adoptive, 

20 family, relative, or foster parent in the same State, 

21 because of the outdated, administratively burden22 some ICPC process; 

23 (4) no child should have to wait longer to be 

24 placed in a loving home simply because the child 

25 must cross a State line; 
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1 (5) the National Electronic Interstate Compact 

2 Enterprise (NEICE) was launched in August 2014 

3 in Indiana, Nevada, Florida, South Carolina, Wis4 consin, and the District of Columbia, and is expected 

5 to be expanded into additional States to improve the 

6 administrative process by which children are placed 

7 with families across State lines; 

8 (6) States using this electronic interstate case9 processing system have reduced administrative costs 

10 and the amount of staff time required to process 

11 these cases, and caseworkers can spend more time 

12 helping children instead of copying and mailing pa13 perwork between States; 

14 (7) since NEICE was launched, placement time 

15 has decreased by 30 percent for interstate foster 

16 care placements; and 

17 (8) on average, States using this electronic 

18 interstate case-processing system have been able to 

19 reduce from 24 business days to 13 business days 

20 the time it takes to identify a family for a child and 

21 prepare the paperwork required to start the ICPC 

22 process. 

23 SEC. 3. STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 471(a)(25) of the Social 

25 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(25)) is amended— 
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘provide’’ and insert ‘‘provides’’; 

2 and 

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘, which, not later than Octo4 ber 1, 2026, shall include the use of an electronic 

5 interstate case-processing system’’ before the 1st 

6 semicolon. 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

9 subsection (a) shall take effect on the 1st day of the 

10 1st calendar quarter beginning on or after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply to pay12 ments under part E of title IV of the Social Security 

13 Act for calendar quarters beginning on or after such 

14 date. 

15 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION

16 REQUIRED.—If the Secretary of Health and Human 

17 Services determines that State legislation (other 

18 than legislation appropriating funds) is required in 

19 order for a State plan developed pursuant to part E 

20 of title IV of the Social Security Act to meet the ad21 ditional requirement imposed by the amendments 

22 made by subsection (a), the plan shall not be re23 garded as failing to meet any of the additional re24 quirements before the 1st day of the 1st calendar 

25 quarter beginning after the first regular session of 
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1 the State legislature that begins after the date of the 

2 enactment of this Act. For purposes of the preceding 

3 sentence, if the State has a 2-year legislative session, 

4 each year of the session is deemed to be a separate 

5 regular session of the State legislature. 

6 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ELEC7 TRONIC INTERSTATE CASE-PROCESSING SYS8 TEM TO EXPEDITE THE INTERSTATE PLACE9 MENT OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE OR 

10 GUARDIANSHIP, OR FOR ADOPTION. 

11 Section 437 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 637) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(g) GRANTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ELEC14 TRONIC INTERSTATE CASE-PROCESSING SYSTEM TO EX15 PEDITE THE INTERSTATE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN

16 FOSTER CARE OR GUARDIANSHIP, OR FOR ADOPTION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

18 is to facilitate the development of an electronic inter19 state case-processing system for the exchange of 

20 data and documents to expedite the placements of 

21 children in foster, guardianship, or adoptive homes 

22 across State lines. 

23 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—A State 

24 that desires a grant under this subsection shall sub-
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1 mit to the Secretary an application containing the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(A) A description of the goals and out4 comes to be achieved during the period for 

5 which grant funds are sought, which goals and 

6 outcomes must result in— 

7 ‘‘(i) reducing the time it takes for a 

8 child to be provided with a safe and appro9 priate permanent living arrangement 

10 across State lines; 

11 ‘‘(ii) improving administrative proc12 esses and reducing costs in the foster care 

13 system; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) the secure exchange of relevant 

15 case files and other necessary materials in 

16 real time, and timely communications and 

17 placement decisions regarding interstate 

18 placements of children. 

19 ‘‘(B) A description of the activities to be 

20 funded in whole or in part with the grant 

21 funds, including the sequencing of the activities. 

22 ‘‘(C) A description of the strategies for in23 tegrating programs and services for children 

24 who are placed across State lines. 
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1 ‘‘(D) Such other information as the Sec2 retary may require. 

3 ‘‘(3) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may 

4 make a grant to a State that complies with para5 graph (2). 

6 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—A State to which a grant 

7 is made under this subsection shall use the grant to 

8 support the State in connecting with the electronic 

9 interstate case-processing system described in para10 graph (1). 

11 ‘‘(5) EVALUATIONS.—Not later than 1 year 

12 after the final year in which grants are awarded 

13 under this subsection, the Secretary shall submit to 

14 the Congress, and make available to the general 

15 public by posting on a website, a report that con16 tains the following information: 

17 ‘‘(A) How using the electronic interstate 

18 case-processing system developed pursuant to 

19 paragraph (4) has changed the time it takes for 

20 children to be placed across State lines. 

21 ‘‘(B) The number of cases subject to the 

22 Interstate Compact on the Placement of Chil23 dren that were processed through the electronic 

24 interstate case-processing system, and the num25 ber of interstate child placement cases that 
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1 were processed outside the electronic interstate 

2 case-processing system, by each State in each 

3 year. 

4 ‘‘(C) The progress made by States in im5 plementing the electronic interstate case-proc6 essing system. 

7 ‘‘(D) How using the electronic interstate 

8 case-processing system has affected various 

9 metrics related to child safety and well-being, 

10 including the time it takes for children to be 

11 placed across State lines. 

12 ‘‘(E) How using the electronic interstate 

13 case-processing system has affected administra14 tive costs and caseworker time spent on placing 

15 children across State lines. 

16 ‘‘(6) DATA INTEGRATION.—The Secretary, in 

17 consultation with the Secretariat for the Interstate 

18 Compact on the Placement of Children and the 

19 States, shall assess how the electronic interstate 

20 case-processing system developed pursuant to para21 graph (4) could be used to better serve and protect 

22 children that come to the attention of the child wel23 fare system, by— 

24 ‘‘(A) connecting the system with other 

25 data systems (such as systems operated by 
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1 State law enforcement and judicial agencies, 

2 systems operated by the Federal Bureau of In3 vestigation for the purposes of the Innocence 

4 Lost National Initiative, and other systems); 

5 ‘‘(B) simplifying and improving reporting 

6 related to paragraphs (34) and (35) of section 

7 471(a) regarding children or youth who have 

8 been identified as being a sex trafficking victim 

9 or children missing from foster care; and 

10 ‘‘(C) improving the ability of States to 

11 quickly comply with background check require12 ments of section 471(a)(20), including checks of 

13 child abuse and neglect registries as required by 

14 section 471(a)(20)(B).’’. 

15 SEC. 5. CONTINUATION OF DISCRETIONARY FUNDING TO 

16 PROMOTE SAFE AND STABLE FAMILIES. 

17 Section 437(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 637(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘2016’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘2017’’. 

20 SEC. 6. RESERVATION OF FUNDS TO IMPROVE THE INTER21 STATE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN. 

22 Section 437(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 637(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(4) IMPROVING THE INTERSTATE PLACEMENT

25 OF CHILDREN.—The Secretary shall reserve 
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1 $5,000,000 of the amount made available for fiscal 

2 year 2017 for grants under subsection (g), and the 

3 amount so reserved shall remain available through 

4 fiscal year 2021.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 22, 

2016. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4472 

AN ACT 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to repurposes. States in developing such a system, and for other across State lines, and to provide grants to aid foster care or guardianship, or for adoption, tem to help expedite the placement of children in quire States to adopt a centralized electronic sys-