I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2437

To provide for grants to State child welfare systems to improve quality 

standards and outcomes, to increase the match for private agencies 

receiving training funds under part E of title IV of the Social Security 

Act, and to authorize the forgiveness of loans made to certain students 

who become child welfare workers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2003

Mr. STARK (for himself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 

GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. COOPER, Mr. FROST, Ms. LEE, Mr. 

LANTOS, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. SERRANO, and Mr. WEXLER) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and 

the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To provide for grants to State child welfare systems to 

improve quality standards and outcomes, to increase the 

match for private agencies receiving training funds under 

part E of title IV of the Social Security Act, and to 

authorize the forgiveness of loans made to certain students who become child welfare workers.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Protection Serv3 ices Workforce Improvement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CHILD WELFARE SERVICE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 

5 GRANTS. 

6 Part B of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 620–629i) is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘Subpart 3—Supporting Quality Front Line Workers 

10 ‘‘SEC. 440. CHILD WELFARE SERVICE QUALITY IMPROVE11 MENT GRANTS. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

13 the Administration of Children and Families, shall make 

14 grants to States to improve the quality of child welfare 

15 services by increasing the quality and capacity of their 

16 child welfare workforce or by increasing the coordination 

17 of their child welfare services. 

18 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—

19 ‘‘(1) CONTENTS.—A State desiring to receive a 

20 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec21 retary an application that includes the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) PLAN.—A detailed description of how 

23 the State would use the grant, during the 5-

24 year period beginning with the date the grant 

25 is received, to improve working conditions of 

26 child welfare workers in any agency providing a 
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1 service under the State plan approved under 

2 subpart 1 or 2 of part B or part E in 1 or more 

3 ways described in paragraph (2), and an expla4 nation of how doing so would help the State 

5 achieve the outcomes set forth in the Final List 

6 of Child Welfare Outcomes and Measures (64 

7 Fed. Reg. 45552–45554). 

8 ‘‘(B) BASELINE DATA ON STATE-SE9 LECTED INDICATORS.—The information de10 scribed in those subparagraphs of paragraph 

11 (3) which describe the indicators that the State 

12 intends to improve on using the grant, with re13 spect to all child welfare agencies in the State 

14 for the fiscal year preceding the first fiscal year 

15 for which the grant is requested. 

16 ‘‘(C) BUDGET.—A budget showing how the 

17 State would expend funds (including any grant 

18 funds provided under this section) for child wel19 fare services or the improvement of the services. 

20 ‘‘(2) WAYS TO IMPROVE WORKING CONDI21 TIONS.—The ways described in this paragraph to 

22 improve working conditions of child welfare workers 

23 are the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) Increase the wages of supervisory and 

25 nonsupervisory child welfare workers. 
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1 ‘‘(B) Increase the number of State super2 visory and nonsupervisory staff working on 

3 strengthening and preserving families and im4 proving child well-being, permanency, and safe5 ty. 

6 ‘‘(C) Reduce the turnover rate for super7 visory and nonsupervisory child welfare workers 

8 in the State, and the number of supervisory and 

9 nonsupervisory staff vacancies in child welfare 

10 agencies. 

11 ‘‘(D) Improve the formal education and 

12 training of supervisory and nonsupervisory child 

13 welfare workers. 

14 ‘‘(E) Increase the number of supervisory 

15 and nonsupervisory child welfare workers who 

16 have graduated from an institution of higher 

17 education in such fields of study as the Sec18 retary determines are related to the delivery of 

19 child welfare services. 

20 ‘‘(F) Coordinate training, recruitment, and 

21 retention strategies for child welfare workers. 

22 ‘‘(G) Provide educational scholarships for 

23 fields of study relevant to the purposes of parts 

24 B and E in return for substantial service. 
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1 ‘‘(H) Implement strategies to increase the 

2 safety of child welfare workers. 

3 ‘‘(I) Enable the State child welfare agen4 cies to coordinate the provision of services with 

5 State and local health care agencies, State and 

6 local alcohol and drug abuse prevention and 

7 treatment agencies, State and local mental 

8 health agencies, State and local housing agen9 cies, State and local agencies administering the 

10 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families pro11 gram, and other welfare agencies to promote 

12 child safety, permanence, and family stability. 

13 ‘‘(J) Provide training to improve the abil14 ity of child welfare workers to include and in15 volve families in planning decisions for children 

16 served by State child welfare agencies. 

17 ‘‘(3) DESCRIPTION OF BASELINE DATA.—The 

18 data described in this paragraph are the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) The average salary of supervisory 

20 child welfare workers, and of nonsupervisory 

21 child welfare workers. 

22 ‘‘(B) The average number of children or 

23 families, per caseworker—
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1 ‘‘(i) for caseworkers who provide serv2 ices for abused or neglected children and 

3 their families; 

4 ‘‘(ii) for caseworkers who provide 

5 services to strengthen and preserve fami6 lies with children;

7 ‘‘(iii) for caseworkers who provide 

8 adoption services; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) for caseworkers who provide 

10 family foster care services. 

11 ‘‘(C) The total number of vacancies in su12 pervisory staff positions and in nonsupervisory 

13 staff positions, and each such number expressed 

14 as a percentage of each type of staff position. 

15 ‘‘(D) The average rate at which super16 visory child welfare workers left employment, 

17 and at which nonsupervisory child welfare work18 ers left employment. 

19 ‘‘(E) The average duration of employment 

20 of supervisory child welfare workers and of non21 supervisory child welfare workers. 

22 ‘‘(F) The total number and percentage of 

23 supervisory child welfare workers and of non24 supervisory child welfare workers who have re25 ceived a bachelor’s or more advanced degree 
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1 from an institution of higher education, in the 

2 aggregate, and broken down by field of study. 

3 ‘‘(G) The average number of staff for 

4 whom supervisory child welfare workers are re5 sponsible. 

6 ‘‘(H) The range and scope of pre-service 

7 and in-service training opportunities, including 

8 numbers and percentage of supervisory child 

9 welfare staff and of nonsupervisory child wel10 fare staff engaged in training programs. 

11 ‘‘(I) The number and severity of injuries 

12 and threats to child welfare workers, and the 

13 strategies used to address the safety of child 

14 welfare workers. 

15 ‘‘(J) Data that indicates whether families 

16 and children received support services (such as 

17 mental and physical health care, food stamps, 

18 affordable housing, and substance abuse pre19 vention and treatment) needed to create a sta20 ble home environment. 

21 ‘‘(K) Such other indicators as the Sec22 retary may by regulation prescribe. 

23 ‘‘(4) AMENDMENT OF APPLICATIONS.—A State 

24 may at any time submit to the Secretary an amend25 ment to the application of the State under this sub-
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1 section. On approval of such an amendment, the ap2 plication shall be considered to include the amend3 ment. 

4 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On certification by the Sec6 retary that a State application for a grant under 

7 this section meets the requirements of subsection (b) 

8 and that implementing the activities described in the 

9 application would help the State achieve some of the 

10 outcomes set forth in the Final List of Child Welfare 

11 Outcomes and Measures (64 Fed. Reg. 45552–

12 45554), and on approval by the Secretary of the ap13 plication, the State shall be eligible to receive a 

14 grant under this section for each fiscal year for 

15 which funds are available for such a grant. 

16 ‘‘(2) GRANT AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall 

17 make a grant to each State that is eligible to receive 

18 a grant under this section for a fiscal year, in an 

19 amount equal to the lesser of—

20 ‘‘(A) the amount finally allotted to or re21 served for the State under this subsection for 

22 the fiscal year; or 

23 ‘‘(B) 3 times the amount that the State 

24 has committed to spend to carry out the activi25 ties described in the approved application. 
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1 ‘‘(3) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—

2 ‘‘(A) PUERTO RICO.—The Secretary shall 

3 reserve 1.75 percent of the funds appropriated 

4 pursuant to subsection (j) for each fiscal year, 

5 for a grant to Puerto Rico under this section 

6 for the fiscal year. If, for a fiscal year, Puerto 

7 Rico does not submit to the Secretary an appli8 cation that meets the requirements of sub9 section (b), the funds so reserved shall be avail10 able for allotment under paragraph (4) of this 

11 subsection for the succeeding fiscal year or (if 

12 the succeeding fiscal year is fiscal year 2009) 

13 remitted to the Treasury of the United States. 

14 ‘‘(B) OTHER TERRITORIES.—The Sec15 retary shall reserve 0.3 percent of the funds ap16 propriated pursuant to subsection (j) for each 

17 fiscal year, for grants among the United States 

18 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and 

19 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is20 lands under this section in such amounts as the 

21 Secretary deems appropriate for the fiscal year. 

22 If, for a fiscal year, none of such territories 

23 submits to the Secretary an application that 

24 meets the requirements of subsection (b), the 

25 funds so reserved shall be available for allot-
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1 ment under paragraph (4) of this subsection for 

2 the succeeding fiscal year or (if the succeeding 

3 fiscal year is fiscal year 2009) remitted to the 

4 Treasury of the United States. 

5 ‘‘(C) INDIAN TRIBES.—The Secretary shall 

6 reserve 2 percent of the funds appropriated 

7 pursuant to subsection (j) for each fiscal year, 

8 for grants among Indian tribes under this sec9 tion in such amounts as the Secretary deems 

10 appropriate for the fiscal year. If, for a fiscal 

11 year, the Secretary does not receive from any 

12 Indian tribe an application that meets the re13 quirements of subsection (b), the funds so re14 served shall be available for allotment under 

15 paragraph (4) of this subsection for the suc16 ceeding fiscal year or (if the succeeding fiscal 

17 year is fiscal year 2009) remitted to the Treas18 ury of the United States. 

19 ‘‘(D) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND EVAL20 UATIONS.—The Secretary shall reserve 0.7 per21 cent of the funds appropriated pursuant to sub22 section (j) for each fiscal year, to pay the costs 

23 of providing technical assistance and conducting 

24 evaluations under this section. 

25 ‘‘(4) ALLOTMENTS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) INITIAL ALLOTMENT.—From the 

2 amount available to carry out this section for a 

3 fiscal year that remains after applying para4 graph (3) for the fiscal year (including any

5 amount available for allotment under this para6 graph for the fiscal year after applying para7 graph (3) for the preceding fiscal year), the 

8 Secretary shall initially allot to each State not 

9 described in paragraph (3) for a fiscal year an 

10 amount that bears the same ratio to the re11 maining amount as the number of individuals 

12 who reside in the State and have not attained 

13 18 years of age bears to the total number of 

14 such individuals in all States not described in 

15 paragraph (3) that are eligible for a grant 

16 under this section for such most recent fiscal 

17 year. 

18 ‘‘(B) FINAL ALLOTMENT.—The Secretary 

19 shall reduce the amount initially allotted to 

20 each State with an initial allotment under sub21 paragraph (A) of more than $300,000, on a pro 

22 rata basis, to the extent necessary to ensure 

23 that the amount finally allotted to each such 

24 State is not less than $300,000. 

25 ‘‘(d) USE OF GRANT.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

2 ‘‘(A) A State to which a grant is made 

3 under this section shall use the grant in accord4 ance with the approved application for the 

5 grant. 

6 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a 

7 State or Indian tribe to which a grant is made 

8 under this section shall provide grant funding 

9 to private and public child welfare agencies on 

10 a proportionate basis, based on the number of 

11 foster children, adopted children, and children 

12 in kinship care arrangements that such agen13 cies serve in the State or in the service delivery 

14 area of the tribe, as the case may be. 

15 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—A State that 

16 receives funds under this section shall remit to the 

17 Secretary any of such funds that remain unexpended 

18 by the State at the end of the 2-year period that be19 gins with the date of the receipt. 

20 ‘‘(3) NO SUPPLANTATION.—A State to which a 

21 grant is made under this section shall use the grant 

22 to supplement and not supplant any Federal, State, 

23 or local funds used for child welfare services or child 

24 welfare training. 
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1 ‘‘(e) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall monitor the 

2 activities of grantees under this section to ensure compli3 ance with this section and any State plan of the grantee 

4 under subpart 1. 

5 ‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 

6 provide technical assistance to any grantee to assist the 

7 grantee in improving the quality of child welfare services, 

8 including strategies to recruit, train, and retain high qual9 ity staff, and in complying with the provisions of law re10 ferred to in subsection (e). 

11 ‘‘(g) ENFORCEMENT.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary determines 

13 that, during a fiscal year, a grantee under this sec14 tion has not complied with a requirement of this 

15 Act, the Secretary may—

16 ‘‘(A) in the case of the 1st such determina17 tion of noncompliance, reduce by not less than 

18 5 percent the amount of the grant otherwise 

19 payable to the grantee under this section for 

20 the fiscal year; 

21 ‘‘(B) in the case of the 2nd such deter22 mination of noncompliance, reduce by not less 

23 than 25 percent the amount of the grant other24 wise payable to the grantee under this section 

25 for the fiscal year; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) in the case of the 3rd or any subse2 quent such determination of noncompliance, 

3 withhold the payment of a grant to the grantee 

4 under this section for any succeeding fiscal 

5 year, notwithstanding subsection (c). 

6 ‘‘(2) RECOVERY.—In the case of a determina7 tion under paragraph (1) of grantee noncompliance, 

8 to the extent that a penalty cannot be imposed 

9 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall require the 

10 grantee to remit to the Secretary the amount of the 

11 penalty not able to be so imposed. 

12 ‘‘(h) EVALUATION.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 

14 30, 2006, the Secretary shall conduct an interim 

15 evaluation to determine whether the grantees under 

16 this section have improved the provision of child wel17 fare services beyond the level reflected in the base18 line data set forth in the applications submitted by 

19 the grantees under this section. 

20 ‘‘(2) MATTERS TO BE ADDRESSED.—The eval21 uation shall include information on whether there 

22 has been a statewide improvement in the status of 

23 child permanency, child welfare, and child safety of 

24 children in the child welfare system. 
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1 ‘‘(3) METHODS.—In conducting the evaluation 

2 of a grantee, the Secretary shall use the same meth3 ods that were used in considering the application 

4 submitted by the grantee pursuant to this section.

5 ‘‘(4) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than Sep6 tember 30, 2008, the Secretary shall submit to the 

7 Congress a written report that contains the final 

8 evaluation of the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(i) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

10 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this 

11 section, including regulations, developed in consultation 

12 with the States, governing how to obtain the baseline data 

13 described in subsection (b)(3). 

14 ‘‘(j) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any money in the 

15 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, 

16 there are appropriated to the Secretary not more than 

17 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008 

18 to carry out this section. 

19 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) ALASKA NATIVE ORGANIZATION.—The 

21 term ‘Alaska Native Organization’ means any orga22 nized group of Alaska Natives eligible to operate a 

23 Federal program under the Indian Self-Determina24 tion Act (25 U.S.C. 450f et seq.) or the designee of 

25 such a group. 
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1 ‘‘(2) CHILD WELFARE AGENCY.—The term 

2 ‘child welfare agency’ means the State agency re3 sponsible for administering subpart 1, and any pub4 lic or private agency under contract with the State 

5 agency to provide child welfare services. 

6 ‘‘(3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 

7 means any Indian tribe, band, Nation or other orga8 nized group or community of Indians, including any 

9 Alaska Native Organization, that is recognized as el10 igible for the special programs and services provided 

11 by the United States to Indians because of their sta12 tus as Indians. 

13 ‘‘(4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—

14 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

15 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

16 Education Act of 1965. 

17 ‘‘(5) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

18 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 

19 Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, American 

20 Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN PAYMENT RATE FOR STATES FOR EX2 PENDITURES FOR SHORT TERM TRAINING OF 

3 STAFF OF CERTAIN CHILD WELFARE AGEN4 CIES AND COURT PERSONNEL. 

5 Section 474(a)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 674(a)(3)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(B) 75 percent of so much of such ex8 penditures (including travel and per diem ex9 penses) as are for the short-term training of—

10 ‘‘(i) current or prospective foster or 

11 adoptive parents and the members of the 

12 staff of State-licensed or State-approved 

13 child care institutions providing care, or of 

14 State-licensed or State-approved child wel15 fare agencies providing services, to foster 

16 and adopted children receiving assistance 

17 under this part, 

18 ‘‘(ii) members of the staff of abuse 

19 and neglect courts, agency attorneys, attor20 neys representing children, parents, or 

21 guardians ad litem, or other court-ap22 pointed special advocates representing chil23 dren in proceedings of such courts, 

24 ‘‘(iii) persons employed by State, 

25 local, or private nonprofit child-serving 

26 agencies that are working with the State 
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1 or local agency administering the State 

2 plan under this part to keep children safe 

3 and provide permanent families for chil4 dren, and 

5 ‘‘(iv) persons employed by State, local, 

6 or private nonprofit child-serving agencies, 

7 in the provision of mental health services 

8 (including an overview of communication 

9 skills, of signs of normal and pathological 

10 development of children, of normal and 

11 pathological family interaction, of coun12 seling strategies and interventions, and of 

13 community mental health resources includ14 ing how and when to use such resources), 

15 in ways that increase the ability of such current 

16 or prospective parents, guardians, staff mem17 bers, institutions, attorneys, advocates, and per18 sons to provide support and assistance to foster 

19 and adopted children, whether incurred directly 

20 by the State or by contract,’’. 

21 SEC. 4. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR CHILD WELFARE WORK22 ERS. 

23 Part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

24 1965 is amended by inserting after section 428K (20 

25 U.S.C. 1078–11) the following new section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 428L. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR CHILD WELFARE 

2 WORKERS. 

3 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section—

4 ‘‘(1) to bring more highly trained individuals 

5 into the child welfare profession; and 

6 ‘‘(2) to keep more highly trained child welfare 

7 workers in the child welfare field for longer periods 

8 of time. 

9 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) CHILD WELFARE SERVICES.—The term 

11 ‘child welfare services’ has the meaning given the 

12 term in section 425 of the Social Security Act. 

13 ‘‘(2) DEGREE.—The term ‘degree’ means a 

14 bachelor’s or graduate degree awarded by an institu15 tion of higher education. 

16 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry 

18 out a demonstration program of assuming the obli19 gation to repay, pursuant to subsection (d), a loan 

20 made, insured, or guaranteed under this part or part 

21 D (excluding loans made under sections 428B and 

22 428C or comparable loans made under part D) for 

23 any new borrower after the date of enactment of this 

24 section, who—

25 ‘‘(A) completes a degree in social work or 

26 related field with a focus on serving children 
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1 and families (as determined in accordance with 

2 regulations prescribed by the Secretary);

3 ‘‘(B) obtains employment in public or pri4 vate child welfare services; and 

5 ‘‘(C) has worked full time for the 2 con6 secutive years preceding the year for which the 

7 determination is made as a child welfare work8 er. 

9 ‘‘(2) AWARD BASIS; PRIORITY.—

10 ‘‘(A) AWARD BASIS.—Subject to subpara11 graph (B), loan repayment under this section 

12 shall be on a first-come, first-served basis and 

13 subject to the availability of appropriations. 

14 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give 

15 priority in providing loan repayment under this 

16 section for a fiscal year to student borrowers 

17 who received loan repayment under this section 

18 for the preceding fiscal year. 

19 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is author20 ized to prescribe such regulations as may be nec21 essary to carry out the provisions of this section. 

22 ‘‘(d) LOAN REPAYMENT.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall assume 

24 the obligation to repay—
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1 ‘‘(A) after the second consecutive year of 

2 employment described in subparagraphs (B) 

3 and (C) of subsection (c)(1), 20 percent of the 

4 total amount of all loans made after date of en5 actment of the Higher Education Amendments 

6 of 1998, to a student under this part or part 

7 D; 

8 ‘‘(B) after the third consecutive year of 

9 such employment, 20 percent of the total 

10 amount of all such loans; and 

11 ‘‘(C) after each of the fourth and fifth con12 secutive years of such employment, 30 percent 

13 of the total amount of all such loans.

14 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 

15 shall be construed to authorize the refunding of any 

16 repayment of a loan made under this part or part 

17 D. 

18 ‘‘(3) INTEREST.—If a portion of a loan is re19 paid by the Secretary under this section for any 

20 year, the proportionate amount of interest on such 

21 loan which accrues for such year shall be repaid by 

22 the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case where a stu24 dent borrower who is not participating in loan repay25 ment pursuant to this section returns to an institu-
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1 tion of higher education after graduation from an in2 stitution of higher education for the purpose of ob3 taining a degree described in subsection (c)(1)(A), 

4 the Secretary is authorized to assume the obligation 

5 to repay the total amount of loans made under this 

6 part or part D incurred for a maximum of two aca7 demic years in returning to an institution of higher 

8 education for the purpose of obtaining such a de9 gree. Such loans shall only be repaid for borrowers 

10 who qualify for loan repayment pursuant to the pro11 visions of this section, and shall be repaid in accord12 ance with the provisions of paragraph (1). 

13 ‘‘(5) INELIGIBILITY OF NATIONAL SERVICE

14 AWARD RECIPIENTS.—No student borrower may, for 

15 the same service, receive a benefit under both this 

16 section and subtitle D of title I of the National and 

17 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601 

18 et seq.). 

19 ‘‘(e) REPAYMENT TO ELIGIBLE LENDERS.—The Sec20 retary shall pay to each eligible lender or holder for each 

21 fiscal year an amount equal to the aggregate amount of 

22 loans which are subject to repayment pursuant to this sec23 tion for such year. 

24 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION FOR REPAYMENT.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible individual de2 siring loan repayment under this section shall sub3 mit a complete and accurate application to the Sec4 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

5 such information as the Secretary may require. 

6 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—An eligible individual may 

7 apply for loan repayment under this section after 

8 completing each year of qualifying employment. The 

9 borrower shall receive forbearance while engaged in 

10 qualifying employment unless the borrower is in 

11 deferment while so engaged. 

12 ‘‘(g) EVALUATION.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con14 duct, by grant or contract, an independent national 

15 evaluation of the impact of the demonstration pro16 gram assisted under this section on the field of child 

17 welfare services. 

18 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—The grant or con19 tract described in subsection (b) shall be awarded on 

20 a competitive basis. 

21 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—The evaluation described in 

22 this subsection shall determine—

23 ‘‘(A) whether the program has increased 

24 child welfare workers’ education in the areas 

25 covered by loan forgiveness; 
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1 ‘‘(B) whether the loan forgiveness program 

2 has contributed to increased time on the job for 

3 child welfare workers as measured by (i) the 

4 length of time child welfare workers receiving 

5 loan forgiveness have worked in the child wel6 fare field; and (ii) the length of time such work7 ers are continuing to work in such field after 

8 they have met the requirements of the loan for9 giveness programs; 

10 ‘‘(C) whether the program has increased 

11 the experience and the quality of child welfare 

12 workers and has contributed to increased per13 formance in the outcomes of child welfare serv14 ices in terms of child well-being, permanency, 

15 and safety, as determined after consultation 

16 with the Secretary of Health and Human Serv17 ices. 

18 ‘‘(4) INTERIM AND FINAL EVALUATION RE19 PORTS.—The Secretary shall prepare and submit to 

20 the President and the Congress such interim reports 

21 regarding the evaluation described in this subsection 

22 as the Secretary deems appropriate, and shall pre23 pare and so submit a final report regarding the eval24 uation by September 30, 2008. 
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1 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, and such sums as may 

4 be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’.

Æ