I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3873 

To provide funds to State courts for the provision of legal representation 

to parents and legal guardians with respect to child welfare cases. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2012 

Ms. MOORE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To provide funds to State courts for the provision of legal 

representation to parents and legal guardians with respect to child welfare cases. 

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 ‘‘Enhancing the Quality 

5 of Parental Legal Representation Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In the Strengthening Abuse and Neglect 

9 Courts Act of 2000, the Congress found that ‘‘under 

10 both Federal and State law, the courts play a crucial 


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1 and essential role in the Nation’s child welfare sys2 tem and in ensuring safety, stability, and perma3 nence for abused and neglected children under the 

4 supervision of that system’’. 

5 (2) Child outcomes are improved and courts 

6 function more effectively when all parties have qual7 ity legal representation. Analysis of data from pro8 grams in New York and Michigan revealed that 

9 more than 50 percent of children avoided unneces10 sary foster care placement when all parties received 

11 high quality representation. According to the Amer12 ican Bar Association, a pilot program in the State 

13 of Washington to improve representation for parents 

14 resulted in ‘‘a 53.3 percent increase in the rate of 

15 reunification’’. 

16 (3) In New York, children placed in foster care 

17 whose parents receive high quality legal representa18 tion spent on average 4.5 months in placement compared to a statewide average of 21 19 ⁄2 years and re20 entry rates of 1 percent compared to 15 percent 

21 statewide. 

22 (4) According to the American Bar Association, 

23 the cost per family for high quality legal services in 

24 New York was approximately $6,000 over the life of 

25 a case as compared to anywhere from $29,000 to 


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1 $66,000 for 1 year of foster care for a child in New 

2 York City in 2010. 

3 (5) Training and standards of representation 

4 are necessary to ensure qualified representation. Ac5 cording to the American Bar Association Center on 

6 Children and the Law, parental representation is 

7 ‘‘often substandard, resulting in the failure of due 

8 process in these cases. As a result, numerous chil9 dren are needlessly separated from their parents for 

10 extended periods of time and in many cases families 

11 are permanently severed through termination of pa12 rental rights orders’’ and most states have no stand13 ard training requirements for attorneys representing 

14 parents in their state. 

15 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE COURT IMPROVEMENT PRO16 GRAM. 

17 (a) PROVISION OF LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR

18 PARENTS AND LEGAL GUARDIANS WITH RESPECT TO

19 CHILD WELFARE CASES.—Section 438(a) of the Social 

20 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629h(a)) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

22 end; 

23 (2) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking the period 

24 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(5) to provide legal representation for parents 

2 and legal guardians with respect to proceedings de3 scribed in paragraph (1).’’. 

4 (b) APPLICATION.—Section 438(b) of such Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 629h(b)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub8 paragraph (B); 

9 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

10 subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(D) in the case of a grant for any pur13 pose described in subsection (a)(5)— 

14 ‘‘(i) a description of how the grant 

15 will be used to provide legal representation 

16 to parents and legal guardians; 

17 ‘‘(ii) a description of how the court 

18 will prioritize the provision of legal rep19 resentation, including how and when attor20 neys will be assigned to represent a parent 

21 or legal guardian; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) a description of how courts and 

23 child welfare agencies on the local and 

24 State levels will collaborate and jointly 

25 plan for the collection and sharing of all 


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1 relevant data and information to dem2 onstrate how increased quality representa3 tion of parents and legal guardians with 

4 respect to child welfare cases will improve 

5 child and family outcomes.’’; and 

6 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or’’; 

8 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and 

9 (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘(C), and (D)’’; and 

10 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 

11 subparagraph (E); and 

12 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(D) the purpose described in subsection 

15 (a)(5); or’’. 

16 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—Section 438(c)(1) is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘and (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘(C), and 

18 (D)’’. 

19 (d) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Section 438(c)(3)(A) 

20 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 629h(c)(3)(A)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (iii); 

22 (2) by redesignating clause (iv) as clause (v); 

23 and 

24 (3) by inserting after clause (iii) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(iv) $10,000,000 for grants for the 

2 purpose described in subsection (a)(5); 

3 and’’. 

4 (e) FUNDING.—Section 436 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 629g) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a), by striking 

7 ‘‘$345,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$355,000,000’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking 

9 ‘‘$30,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$40,000,000’’. 

Æ 


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