I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4472 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 

Mr. YOUNG of Indiana (for himself and Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois) 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 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. 

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’’. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 4472 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds that— 

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

4 safely home, the child deserves to be placed in a set5 ting that is best for that child, regardless of whether 

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

7 (2) the Interstate Compact on the Placement of 

8 Children (ICPC) was established in 1960 to provide 

9 a uniform legal framework for the placement of chil10 dren across State lines in foster and adoptive homes; 

11 (3) frequently, children waiting to be placed 

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

13 another State spend more time waiting for this to 

14 occur than children who are placed with an adoptive, 

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

16 because of the outdated, administratively burden17 some ICPC process; 

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

19 placed in a loving home simply because the child 

20 must cross a State line; 

21 (5) the National Electronic Interstate Compact 

22 Enterprise (NEICE) was launched in August 2014 

23 in Indiana, Nevada, Florida, South Carolina, Wis24 consin, and the District of Columbia, and is expected 

25 to be expanded into additional States to improve the 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 4472 IH

1 administrative process by which children are placed 

2 with families across State lines; 

3 (6) States using this centralized electronic 

4 interstate case processing system have reduced ad5 ministrative costs and the amount of staff time re6 quired to process these cases, and caseworkers can 

7 spend more time helping children instead of copying 

8 and mailing paperwork between States; 

9 (7) since NEICE was launched, placement time 

10 has decreased by 30 percent for interstate foster 

11 care placements; and 

12 (8) on average, States using this centralized 

13 electronic interstate case processing system have 

14 been able to reduce from 24 days to 13 days the 

15 time it takes to identify a family for a child and pre16 pare the paperwork required to start the ICPC proc17 ess. 

18 SEC. 3. STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT. 

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

20 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(25)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘provide’’ and insert ‘‘provides’’; 

22 and 

23 (2) by inserting ‘‘, which, not later than Octo24 ber 1, 2022, shall include a centralized electronic 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 4472 IH

1 interstate case processing system’’ before the 1st 

2 semicolon. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

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

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

6 1st calendar quarter beginning on or after the date 

7 of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply to pay8 ments under part E of title IV of the Social Security 

9 Act for calendar quarters beginning on or after such 

10 date. 

11 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION

12 REQUIRED.—If the Secretary of Health and Human 

13 Services determines that State legislation (other 

14 than legislation appropriating funds) is required in 

15 order for a State plan developed pursuant to part E 

16 of title IV of the Social Security Act to meet the ad17 ditional requirement imposed by the amendments 

18 made by subsection (a), the plan shall not be re19 garded as failing to meet any of the additional re20 quirements before the 1st day of the 1st calendar 

21 quarter beginning after the first regular session of 

22 the State legislature that begins after the date of the 

23 enactment of this Act. For purposes of the preceding 

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


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 4472 IH

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

2 regular session of the State legislature. 

3 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CENTRAL4 IZED ELECTRONIC SYSTEM TO EXPEDITE THE 

5 INTERSTATE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN 

6 FOSTER CARE OR GUARDIANSHIP, OR FOR 

7 ADOPTION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 437 of the Social Security 

9 Act (42 U.S.C. 637) is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(g) GRANTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CEN12 TRALIZED ELECTRONIC SYSTEM TO EXPEDITE THE

13 INTERSTATE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER

14 CARE OR GUARDIANSHIP, OR FOR ADOPTION.— 

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

16 is to facilitate the development of a centralized elec17 tronic system for the exchange of data and docu18 ments to expedite the placements of children in fos19 ter, guardianship, or adoptive homes across State 

20 lines. 

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

22 that desires a grant under this subsection shall sub23 mit to the Secretary an application containing the 

24 following: 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 4472 IH

1 ‘‘(A) A description of the goals and out2 comes to be achieved during the period for 

3 which grant funds are sought, which goals and 

4 outcomes must result in— 

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

6 child to be provided with a safe and appro7 priate permanent living arrangement 

8 across State lines; 

9 ‘‘(ii) improving administrative proc10 esses and reducing costs in the foster care 

11 system; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) the secure exchange of relevant 

13 case files and other necessary materials in 

14 real time, and timely communications and 

15 placement decisions regarding interstate 

16 placements of children. 

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

18 funded in whole or in part with the grant 

19 funds, including the sequencing of the activities. 

20 ‘‘(C) A description of the strategies for in21 tegrating programs and services for children 

22 who are placed across State lines. 

23 ‘‘(D) Such other information as the Sec24 retary may require. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 4472 IH

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

2 make a grant to a State that complies with para3 graph (2). 

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

5 is made under this subsection shall use the grant for 

6 the development of the centralized electronic system 

7 described in paragraph (1). 

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

9 after the final year in which grants are awarded 

10 under this subsection, the Secretary shall submit to 

11 the Congress, and make available to the general 

12 public by posting on a website, that contains the fol13 lowing information: 

14 ‘‘(A) How using the centralized electronic 

15 system developed pursuant to paragraph (4) 

16 has changed the time it takes for children to be 

17 placed across State lines. 

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

19 Interstate Compact on the Placement of Chil20 dren that were processed through the central21 ized electronic system, and the number of inter22 state child placement cases that were processed 

23 outside the centralized electronic system, by 

24 each State in each year. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 4472 IH

1 ‘‘(C) The progress made by States in im2 plementing the centralized electronic system. 

3 ‘‘(D) How using the centralized electronic 

4 system has affected various metrics related to 

5 child safety and well-being, including the time 

6 it takes for children to be placed across State 

7 lines. 

8 ‘‘(E) How using the centralized electronic 

9 system has affected administrative costs and 

10 caseworker time spent on placing children 

11 across State lines. 

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

13 consultation with the Secretariat for the Interstate 

14 Compact on the Placement of Children and the 

15 States, shall assess how the centralized electronic 

16 system developed pursuant to paragraph (4) could 

17 be used to better serve and protect children that 

18 come to the attention of the child welfare system, 

19 by— 

20 ‘‘(A) connecting the system with other 

21 data systems (such as systems operated by 

22 State law enforcement and judicial agencies, 

23 systems operated by the Federal Bureau of In24 vestigation for the purposes of the Innocence 

25 Lost National Initiative, and other systems); 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 4472 IH

1 ‘‘(B) simplifying and improving reporting 

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

3 471(a) regarding children or youth who have 

4 been identified as being a sex trafficking victim 

5 or children missing from foster care; and 

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

7 quickly comply with background check require8 ments of section 471(a)(20), including checks of 

9 child abuse and neglect registries as required by 

10 section 471(a)(20)(B).’’. 

11 SEC. 5. CONTINUATION OF DISCRETIONARY FUNDING TO 

12 PROMOTE SAFE AND STABLE FAMILIES. 

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

14 637(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘2016’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘2017’’. 

16 SEC. 6. RESERVATION OF FUNDS TO IMPROVE THE INTER17 STATE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN. 

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

19 637(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(4) IMPROVING THE INTERSTATE PLACEMENT

21 OF CHILDREN.—The Secretary shall reserve 

22 $5,000,000 of the amount made available for fiscal 

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


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 4472 IH

1 amount so reserved shall remain available through 

2 fiscal year 2021.’’. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS