I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 755 

To encourage the development of specialized foster care programs designed 

specifically for large sibling groups, sibling groups with a wide age 

range, and sibling groups with complex needs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2023 

Mr. BACON (for himself, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. NUNN of Iowa, and 

Ms. SCANLON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To encourage the development of specialized foster care programs designed specifically for large sibling groups, sibling groups with a wide age range, and sibling groups 

with complex needs. 

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 ‘‘Protecting Sibling Re5 lationships in Foster Care Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMPETITIVE GRANT PILOT PROGRAM TO ENCOUR2 AGE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIALIZED 

3 FOSTER CARE PROGRAMS DESIGNED SPE4 CIFICALLY FOR LARGE SIBLING GROUPS, SIB5 LING GROUPS WITH A WIDE AGE RANGE, AND 

6 SIBLING GROUPS WITH COMPLEX NEEDS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

8 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec9 retary’’) shall establish a competitive grant pilot program 

10 under which, during the 5-year period that begins with 

11 the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 

12 shall make not more than 5 grants to eligible entities who 

13 have applied therefor to encourage the development of spe14 cialized foster care programs designed specifically for 

15 groups of 3 or more siblings, sibling groups with a wide 

16 age range, and sibling groups with, or that include a youth 

17 with, complex needs. For purposes of the preceding sen18 tence, a youth has complex needs if the youth exhibits 

19 challenging or risky behaviors that could cause themself 

20 or others serious harm, has mental health needs of such 

21 severity that the participation of the youth in daily life 

22 may be impaired either with or without services being ren23 dered to help, has a disability (as defined under the Ameri24 cans with Disabilities Act), or has an illness that requires 

25 continuous monitoring or is life-threatening, and complex 

26 needs include issues that may arise from siblings in foster 


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1 care with a different parent, which could impact the ability 

2 of the siblings to be placed together, or from a youth with 

3 a history of trauma. 

4 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this section, the term ‘‘el5 igible entity’’ means a State child welfare agency, a State, 

6 tribal, or local agency, a faith- or community-based orga7 nization, or a nonprofit organization that has expertise 

8 and demonstrated experience, as well as state supervision, 

9 in administering a foster care program. 

10 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity that desires to 

11 receive a grant under this section shall submit to the Sec12 retary an application that includes— 

13 (1) a description of how funds received under 

14 the grant will be used to place together sibling 

15 groups described in subsection (a); 

16 (2) a description of the specialized foster care 

17 program involved, and how the program is designed 

18 for the placement of sibling groups described in sub19 section (a); 

20 (3) data describing the challenges of placing, 

21 and number of, sibling groups described in sub22 section (a) that are awaiting placements; and 

23 (4) such other information as the Secretary 

24 may reasonably require. 


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1 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of a grant under 

2 this section may use the grant funds only to develop spe3 cialized foster care programs which are— 

4 (1) designed to identify available placements 

5 for, and place together, sibling groups described in 

6 subsection (a); and 

7 (2) evidence-based, and proven to substantially 

8 increase joint sibling placements. 

9 (e) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—As a condition of 

10 receiving a grant under this section, the grant recipient 

11 shall submit to the Secretary a written report on the num12 ber of children in the specialized foster care program in13 volved, the size of the sibling groups served by the pro14 gram, the methods used to place children with their sib15 lings under the program, and the outcomes of the place16 ments. 

17 (f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may prescribe 

18 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this 

19 section. 

20 (g) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO21 PRIATIONS.—To carry out this section, there are author22 ized to be appropriated to the Secretary not more than 

23 $10,000,000, which is authorized to remain available dur24 ing the 5-year period referred to in subsection (a). 

Æ 


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