I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2477 

To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to require the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct research on indicators of child well-being. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2007 

Mr. FATTAH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act 

to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to conduct research on indicators of child well-being. 

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 ‘‘State Child Well-Being 

5 Research Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The well-being of children is a paramount 

9 concern for our Nation and for every State, and 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

2 

•HR 2477 IH

1 most programs for children and families are man2 aged at the State or local level. 

3 (2) Child well-being varies over time and across 

4 social, economic, and geographic groups, and can be 

5 affected by changes in the circumstances of families, 

6 by the economy, by the social and cultural environ7 ment, and by public policies and programs at the 

8 Federal, State, and local level. 

9 (3) States, including small States, need infor10 mation about child well-being that is specific to their 

11 State and that is up-to-date, cost-effective, and con12 sistent across States and over time. 

13 (4) Regular collection of child well-being infor14 mation at the State level is essential so that Federal 

15 and State officials can track child well-being over 

16 time. 

17 (5) Information on child well-being is necessary 

18 for all States, particularly small States that do not 

19 have State-level data in other federally supported 

20 databases. Information is needed on the well-being 

21 of all children, not just children participating in 

22 Federal programs. 

23 (6) Telephone surveys of parents represent a 

24 relatively cost-effective strategy for obtaining infor25 mation on child well-being at the State level for all 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

3 

•HR 2477 IH

1 States, including small States, and can be conducted 

2 alone or in mixed mode strategy with other survey 

3 techniques. 

4 (7) Data from telephone surveys of the popu5 lation are currently used to monitor progress toward 

6 many important national goals, including immuniza7 tion of preschool children with the National Immuni8 zation Survey, and the identification of health care 

9 issues of children with special needs with the Na10 tional Survey of Children with Special Health Care 

11 Needs. 

12 (8) A State-level telephone survey, alone or in 

13 combination with other techniques, can provide in14 formation on a range of topics, including children’s 

15 social and emotional development, education, health, 

16 safety, family income, family employment, and child 

17 care. Information addressing marriage and family 

18 structure can also be obtained for families with chil19 dren. Information obtained from such a survey 

20 would not be available solely for children or families 

21 participating in programs but would be representa22 tive of the entire State population and consequently, 

23 would not only inform welfare policymaking, but pol24 icymaking on a range of other important issues, 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

4 

•HR 2477 IH

1 such as child care, child welfare, child health, family 

2 formation, and education. 

3 SEC. 3. RESEARCH ON INDICATORS OF CHILD WELL-BEING. 

4 Section 413 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 613) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(k) INDICATORS OF CHILD WELL-BEING.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

8 comprehensive indicators to assess child well-being 

9 in each State by directing the Director of the Mater10 nal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Re11 sources and Services Administration (in this sub12 section referred to as the ‘Director’) to expand the 

13 National Survey of Children’s Health. 

14 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The indicators devel16 oped under paragraph (1) shall include meas17 ures related to the following: 

18 ‘‘(i) Education. 

19 ‘‘(ii) Social and emotional develop20 ment. 

21 ‘‘(iii) Physical and mental health and 

22 safety. 

23 ‘‘(iv) Family well-being, such as fam24 ily structure, income, employment, child 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

5 

•HR 2477 IH

1 care arrangements, and family relation2 ships. 

3 ‘‘(B) COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS.—The 

4 data collected with respect to the indicators de5 veloped under paragraph (1) shall be— 

6 ‘‘(i) statistically representative at the 

7 State and national level; 

8 ‘‘(ii) consistent across States; 

9 ‘‘(iii) collected on an annual basis for 

10 at least the 5 years following the first year 

11 of collection; 

12 ‘‘(iv) measured with reliability; 

13 ‘‘(v) current; 

14 ‘‘(vi) over-sampled, with respect to 

15 low-income children and families, so that 

16 subgroup estimates can be produced by a 

17 variety of income categories (such as for 

18 50, 100, and 200 percent of the poverty 

19 level, and for children of varied ages, such 

20 as 0–5, 6–11, and 12–17 years of age); 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(vii) made publicly available. 

23 ‘‘(C) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(i) PUBLICATION.—The data col25 lected with respect to the indicators develmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

6 

•HR 2477 IH

1 oped under paragraph (1) shall be pub2 lished as both actual numbers and ex3 pressed in terms of rates or percentages. 

4 ‘‘(ii) SAMPLE SIZES.—Sample sizes 

5 used for the collected data shall be ade6 quate for microdata on the categories in7 cluded in clause (vi) to be made publicly 

8 available without violating confidentiality 

9 standards. 

10 ‘‘(D) CONSULTATION.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In developing the 

12 indicators required under paragraph (1) 

13 and the means to collect the data required 

14 with respect to the indicators, the Sec15 retary shall require the Director to consult 

16 and collaborate with a subcommittee of the 

17 Federal Interagency Forum on Child and 

18 Family Statistics, which shall include rep19 resentatives with expertise on all the do20 mains of child well-being described in sub21 paragraph (A). The subcommittee shall 

22 have appropriate staff assigned to work 

23 with the Maternal and Child Health Bu24 reau during the design phase of the survey. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

7 

•HR 2477 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) DUTIES.—The Director shall 

2 consult with the subcommittee referred to 

3 in clause (i) with respect to the design, 

4 content, and methodology for the develop5 ment of the indicators required under 

6 paragraph (1) and the collection of data 

7 regarding the indicators, and the avail8 ability or lack thereof of similar data 

9 through other Federal data collection ef10 forts. 

11 ‘‘(iii) COSTS.—Costs incurred by the 

12 subcommittee with respect to the develop13 ment of the indicators and the collection of 

14 data related to the indicators shall be 

15 treated as costs of the National Survey of 

16 Children’s Health. 

17 ‘‘(3) ADVISORY PANEL.— 

18 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

19 shall require the Director to establish, with the 

20 advice of the Federal Interagency Forum on 

21 Child and Family Statistics, an advisory panel 

22 of experts to make recommendations regarding 

23 the appropriate measures, methods, dissemina24 tion strategies, and statistical tools necessary 

25 for making the assessment required under paramstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

8 

•HR 2477 IH

1 graph (1) based on the indicators developed 

2 under that paragraph and the data collected 

3 with respect to the indicators. 

4 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The advisory 

6 panel established under subparagraph (A) 

7 of this paragraph shall include experts on 

8 each of the domains of child well-being de9 scribed in paragraph (2)(A), experts on 

10 child indicators, experts from State agen11 cies and from nonprofit organizations that 

12 use child indicator data at the State level, 

13 and experts on survey methodology. 

14 ‘‘(ii) DEADLINE.—The members of 

15 the advisory panel shall be appointed not 

16 later than 2 months after the date of en17 actment of the State Child Well-Being Re18 search Act of 2007. 

19 ‘‘(C) MEETINGS.—The advisory panel es20 tablished under subparagraph (A) shall meet— 

21 ‘‘(i) at least 3 times during the first 

22 year after the date of enactment of the 

23 State Child Well-Being Research Act of 

24 2007; and 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

9 

•HR 2477 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) annually thereafter for the 4 suc2 ceeding years. 

3 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated for each of 

5 fiscal years 2008 through 2012, $20,000,000 for the 

6 purpose of carrying out this subsection.’’. 

Æ 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS