I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5292

To increase State flexibility in funding child protection programs, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 26, 2000

Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To increase State flexibility in funding child protection

programs, 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 ‘‘Flexible Funding for

5 Child Protection Act of 2000’’.
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1 TITLE I—FLEXIBLE FUNDING

2 DEMONSTRATIONS

3 SEC. 101. DEMONSTRATIONS OF FLEXIBLE FUNDING.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1130A of the Social Secu5 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–10) is amended to read as fol6 lows:

7 ‘‘SEC. 1130A. DEMONSTRATIONS OF FLEXIBLE FUNDING.

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to

9 provide for the conduct of demonstration projects to deter10 mine whether providing States with flexible funding for

11 child protection has an effect on caseload levels and en12 hances availability and use of services, efficiency of service

13 delivery, and child safety, permanency, and well-being.

14 ‘‘(b) CONSOLIDATION OF GRANTS.—

15 ‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS.—

16 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY.—A State may submit

17 to the Secretary an application to conduct a

18 demonstration project in accordance with this

19 subsection for 3 consecutive fiscal years with re20 spect to 1 or more categories of foster care ex21 penditures or adoption expenditures, unless sec22 tion 1123A requires Federal matching funds to

23 be withheld from the State.
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1 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—An application sub2 mitted by a State pursuant to this subsection

3 shall contain—

4 ‘‘(i) an estimate of the State baseline

5 for each fiscal year covered by the applica6 tion;

7 ‘‘(ii) a plan which—

8 ‘‘(I) sets forth a detailed descrip9 tion of how the amounts provided to

10 the State under this subsection would

11 be used to help achieve the purpose of

12 this section, including a description of

13 each activity for which any of the

14 amounts would be expended;

15 ‘‘(II) contains the assurances set

16 forth in section 422(b)(10);

17 ‘‘(III) does not impair the entitle18 ment of any qualified child or family

19 to benefits under the State plan ap20 proved under part E of title IV; and

21 ‘‘(IV) is consistent with any cor22 rective action plan that the State may

23 be implementing pursuant to section

24 1123A;
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1 ‘‘(iii) the categories of expenditure

2 that are to be included in the demonstra3 tion project; and

4 ‘‘(iv) such other information as the

5 Secretary may require.

6 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara8 graph (B) of this paragraph, beginning October

9 1, 2001, the Secretary may approve an applica10 tion submitted by a State pursuant to para11 graph (1) if—

12 ‘‘(i) the application includes the

13 agreement of the State and the Secretary

14 on—

15 ‘‘(I) the amount of the State

16 baseline for each fiscal year covered

17 by the application; and

18 ‘‘(II) the participation of the

19 State in any evaluation conducted

20 pursuant to this section; and

21 ‘‘(ii) the conduct of the demonstration

22 project proposed by the application would

23 not—
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1 ‘‘(I) result in the State violating

2 any assurance set forth in section

3 422(b)(10);

4 ‘‘(II) result in any impairment of

5 the entitlement of any qualified child

6 or family to benefits under the State

7 plan approved under part E of title

8 IV.

9 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may

10 not approve more than 5 applications submitted

11 pursuant to this subsection.

12 ‘‘(3) EFFECTS OF APPLICATION APPROVAL.—

13 ‘‘(A) FIXED PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR

14 SELECTED CATEGORIES OF IV-E EXPENDI15 TURES.—

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to para17 graph (6) of this subsection, a State with

18 an approved application under this sub19 section shall be entitled to receive from the

20 Secretary, for each calendar quarter of

21 each fiscal year covered by the application,

an amount equal to 1 22 ⁄4 of the State base23 line agreed on by the State and the Sec24 retary for the fiscal year, in lieu of any

25 payment under paragraph (1), (2), or (3)
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1 of section 474(a), or paragraph (1) or (2)

2 of section 474(b), with respect to the ex3 penditures of the State in the quarter in

4 the categories of expenditure specified in

5 the application.

6 ‘‘(ii) TIMING; ADJUSTMENTS.—The

7 Secretary shall make a payment to a State

8 under clause (i) for a calendar quarter on

9 the 1st day of the quarter, the amounts re10 duced or increased to the extent of any

11 prior overpayment or underpayment which

12 the Secretary determines was made under

13 this subsection or section 474 to the State

14 for any prior quarter and with respect to

15 which adjustment has not been made

16 under this subsection or section 474.

17 ‘‘(B) RELIEF FROM INCOME DETERMINA18 TIONS.—

19 ‘‘(i) DURING PERIOD COVERED BY AP20 PLICATION.—

21 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—During the

22 period covered by an approved appli23 cation of a State under this sub24 section, the State may determine the

25 eligibility of a child for foster care
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1 maintenance payments under section

2 472 and may make such payments,

3 and may make adoption assistance

4 payments under section 473 with re5 spect to a child, without regard to any

6 income requirement, to the extent that

7 the foster care maintenance payments

8 or adoption assistance payments are

9 in a category of expenditure specified

10 in the application.

11 ‘‘(II) DETERMINATIONS RELAT12 ING TO ADOPTION ASSISTANCE FOR

13 STATES ELECTING NOT TO INCLUDE

14 ADOPTION EXPENDITURES IN APPLI15 CATION.—If an approved application

16 of a State under this subsection does

17 not apply with respect to any adoption

18 expenditure, the State may elect to re19 quire the Secretary, in lieu of apply20 ing any income requirement to the

21 families of the children with respect to

22 whom the State has made an adoption

23 expenditure in or after the period cov24 ered by the application and has sub25 mitted a claim under part E of title
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1 IV for the expenditure, to consider

2 otherwise allowable adoption expendi3 tures of the State allowable under

4 such part in the same proportion as

5 the average annual percentage of chil6 dren with respect to whom State

7 adoption expenditures were allowed

8 under such part for the 3-year period

9 preceding the period covered by the

10 application.

11 ‘‘(ii) OPTIONAL CONTINUATION.—Be12 fore the end of the period covered by an

13 approved application of a State under this

14 subsection, the State may make an irrev15 ocable election to require the Secretary, in

16 lieu of applying any income requirement to

17 the families of the children with respect to

18 whom the State has made a foster care ex19 penditure or an adoption expenditure after

20 the period and submitted a claim for the

21 expenditure under part E of title IV, to

22 consider otherwise allowable foster care ex23 penditures or adoption expenditures of the

24 State allowable under such part in the

25 same proportion as the average annual
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1 percentage of children with respect to

2 whom State foster care expenditures or

3 adoption expenditures, as the case may be,

4 were allowed under such part for the 3-

5 year period preceding the period covered

6 by the application.

7 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—A

8 State may not use any amount paid to the

9 State under this subsection for a fiscal year, ex10 cept in accordance with the approved applica11 tion of the State under this subsection for the

12 fiscal year, subject to paragraph (4)(A).

13 ‘‘(4) OTHER STATE OPTIONS.—

14 ‘‘(A) NARROW SCOPE OF APPROVED APPLI15 CATION.—A State with an approved application

16 under this subsection may, at any time, elect to

17 have the approved application cease to apply to

18 any category of expenditure specified in the ap19 plication, beginning with any calendar quarter

20 remaining in the period covered by the applica21 tion.

22 ‘‘(B) WITHDRAWAL.—Effective as of the

23 beginning of any calendar quarter remaining in

24 the period covered by an approved application

25 of a State under this subsection, the State may
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1 withdraw from participation in activities under

2 this subsection, and this subsection (other than

3 paragraph (3)(B)(ii)) shall cease to apply to the

4 State, except with respect to any penalty re5 quired to be imposed at any time by reason of

6 conduct that occurred before the effective date

7 of the withdrawal.

8 ‘‘(5) RENEWAL.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On agreement be10 tween a State and the Secretary as to the

11 amount of the State baseline for each year in

12 the 3-year period following the period covered

13 by an application approved under this sub14 section, the Secretary shall approve the renewal

15 of the application if the application contains

16 such other information as the Secretary may re17 quire.

18 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may

19 not approve an application of a State under this

20 subsection, to the extent that the total number

21 of years covered by approved applications of the

22 State under this section would exceed 9.

23 ‘‘(6) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—

24 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—If the Secretary de25 termines that the average of the historic ex-
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1 penditure levels in effect with respect to a State

2 for 2 consecutive fiscal years covered by 1 or

3 more applications approved under this sub4 section exceeds the average of the total amounts

5 of qualified State expenditures in such fiscal

6 years:

7 ‘‘(i) REDUCTION OF AMOUNTS PAY8 ABLE TO STATE.—The total of the

9 amounts otherwise payable to the State

10 under this subsection or under paragraphs

11 (1), (2), and (3) of section 474(a) for each

12 quarter in the succeeding fiscal year shall

be reduced by an amount equal to 1 13 ⁄4 of

14 the excess.

15 ‘‘(ii) ENHANCED MAINTENANCE OF

16 EFFORT REQUIREMENT FOR NEXT YEAR.—

17 The historic expenditure level otherwise in

18 effect for the succeeding fiscal year with

19 respect to the State shall be increased by

20 an amount equal to the excess.

21 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—

22 ‘‘(i) QUALIFIED STATE EXPENDI23 TURES.—In this paragraph, the term

24 ‘qualified State expenditures’ means, with

25 respect to a fiscal year, the sum of—
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1 ‘‘(I) the total amount expended

2 for child welfare services during the

3 fiscal year by the child welfare agency

4 of the State and the child welfare

5 agencies of all political subdivisions of

6 the State, from Federal, State, or

7 local funds; and

8 ‘‘(II) at the option of the State,

9 the amount (if any) by which the total

10 of the amounts expended for child

11 welfare services during the fiscal year

12 by other agencies of the State or of a

13 political subdivision of the State, from

14 Federal, State, or local funds, exceeds

15 the total of the amounts so expended

16 during fiscal year 1998.

17 ‘‘(ii) CHILD WELFARE SERVICES EX18 PENDITURES.—

19 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For purposes

20 of this paragraph, an amount shall be

21 considered to have been expended for

22 a child welfare service by an agency if

23 the amount is expended directly by

24 the agency, or by another entity under

25 contract with the agency, to provide,
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1 or to cover any administrative cost re2 lated to the provision of, the service.

3 ‘‘(II) PREVENTION OF DOUBLE

4 COUNTING.—Notwithstanding item

5 (aa) of this subclause, an amount that

6 is taken into account as a qualified

7 State expenditure for purposes of sec8 tion 409(a)(7) shall not be considered

9 a qualified State expenditure for pur10 poses of this paragraph.

11 ‘‘(iii) HISTORIC EXPENDITURE

12 LEVEL.—

13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—In this para14 graph, the term ‘historic expenditure

15 level in effect for a fiscal year with re16 spect to a State’ means the total

17 amount expended for child welfare

18 services during fiscal year 1998 by the

19 child welfare agency of the State and

20 the child welfare agencies of all polit21 ical subdivisions of the State, from

22 Federal, State, or local funds, in23 creased by the inflation percentage in

24 effect for the fiscal year.
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1 ‘‘(II) INFLATION PERCENTAGE.—

2 For purposes of subclause (I), the in3 flation percentage in effect for a fiscal

4 year is the percentage (if any) by

5 which—

6 ‘‘(aa) the average of the

7 Consumer Price Index (as de8 fined in section 1(f)(5) of the In9 ternal Revenue Code of 1986) for

10 the preceding fiscal year; exceeds

11 ‘‘(bb) the average of the

12 Consumer Price Index (as so de13 fined) for fiscal year 1998.

14 ‘‘(III) ADJUSTMENT FOR RE15 DUCED FEDERAL FUNDING OF CHILD

16 WELFARE SERVICES.—

17 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The

18 historic expenditure level in effect

19 for a fiscal year with respect to a

20 State, as determined under sub21 clauses (I) and (II), shall be de22 creased by the amount (if any)

23 by which the total amount of

24 Federal funds available to the

25 State or any political subdivision
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1 of the State for child welfare

2 services for the fiscal year is less

3 than the total amount of such

4 Federal funds that were ex5 pended by the State or any polit6 ical subdivision of the State for

7 child welfare services for fiscal

8 year 1998.

9 ‘‘(bb) PENALTY AMOUNTS

10 CONSIDERED TO BE AVAIL11 ABLE.—For purposes of item

12 (aa), an amount withheld or re13 covered from a State in a fiscal

14 year by reason of a failure of the

15 State to comply with part B or E

16 of title IV or this paragraph shall

17 be considered to have been avail18 able to the State for the fiscal

19 year.

20 ‘‘(c) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—

21 ‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS.—

22 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY.—A State may submit

23 to the Secretary an application to conduct a

24 demonstration project in accordance with this

25 subsection for 3 consecutive fiscal years with re-
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1 spect to 1 or more categories of foster care ex2 penditures, unless section 1123A requires Fed3 eral matching funds to be withheld from the

4 State.

5 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—An application sub6 mitted by a State pursuant to this subsection

7 shall contain—

8 ‘‘(i) an estimate of the State baseline

9 for each year in the period covered by the

10 application;

11 ‘‘(ii) a plan which—

12 ‘‘(I) sets forth a detailed descrip13 tion of how the amounts provided to

14 the State under this subsection would

15 be used to help achieve the purpose of

16 this section, including the costs of

17 each activity for which any of the

18 amounts would be expended;

19 ‘‘(II) contains the assurances set

20 forth in section 422(b)(10);

21 ‘‘(III) does not impair the entitle22 ment of any qualified child or family

23 to benefits under the State plan ap24 proved under part E of title IV; and
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1 ‘‘(IV) is consistent with any cor2 rective action plan that the State may

3 be implementing pursuant to section

4 1123A;

5 ‘‘(iii) the categories of expenditure

6 that are to be included in the demonstra7 tion project; and

8 ‘‘(iv) such other information as the

9 Secretary may require.

10 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara12 graph (B) of this paragraph, beginning October

13 1, 2001, the Secretary may approve an applica14 tion submitted by a State pursuant to para15 graph (1) if—

16 ‘‘(i) the State and the Secretary have

17 agreed on—

18 ‘‘(I) the amount of the State

19 baseline for each fiscal year covered

20 by the application; and

21 ‘‘(II) the participation of the

22 State in any evaluation conducted

23 pursuant to this section; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) the conduct of the demonstration

2 project proposed by the application would

3 not—

4 ‘‘(I) result in the State violating

5 any assurance set forth in section

6 422(b)(10);

7 ‘‘(II) result in any impairment of

8 the entitlement of any qualified child

9 or family to benefits under the State

10 plan approved under part E of title

11 IV.

12 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may

13 not approve more than 5 applications submitted

14 pursuant to this subsection.

15 ‘‘(3) EFFECTS OF APPLICATION APPROVAL.—

16 ‘‘(A) STATE PAYMENT OPTIONS.—A State

17 with an approved application under this sub18 section for a fiscal year shall elect to receive

19 payments under this subsection in accordance

20 with only 1 of clause (i) or (ii), as follows:

21 ‘‘(i) SAVINGS PAID TO THE STATE AT

22 THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR.—In addi23 tion to any payment under part E of title

24 IV for the fiscal year, the State shall be

25 entitled to receive from the Secretary, sub-
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1 ject to paragraph (4) of this subsection, an

2 amount equal to the amount (if any) by

3 which—

4 ‘‘(I) the State baseline for the

5 fiscal year; exceeds

6 ‘‘(II) the total of all payments

7 made to the State for the fiscal year

8 under paragraph (1) or (3) of section

9 474(a) with respect to the categories

10 of expenditure specified in the applica11 tion.

12 ‘‘(ii) ADVANCE PAYMENT OF ESTI13 MATED SAVINGS AND YEAR-END REC14 ONCILIATION.—

15 ‘‘(I) STATE ESTIMATE OF SAV16 INGS.—The State shall transmit to

17 the Secretary an estimate by the State

18 of the amount by which the State

19 baseline for the fiscal year will exceed

20 the total of the amounts that will be

21 payable to the State for the fiscal year

22 under paragraph (1) or (3) of section

23 474(a) with respect to the categories

24 of expenditure specified in the applica25 tion.
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1 ‘‘(II) ADVANCE PAYMENT OF ES2 TIMATED SAVINGS.—In addition to

3 any payment under part E of title IV

4 for the fiscal year, the State shall be

5 entitled to receive from the Secretary,

6 at the beginning of the fiscal year,

7 subject to paragraph (4) of this sub8 section, an amount equal to the

9 amount estimated by the State pursu10 ant to subclause (I) of this clause.

11 ‘‘(III) YEAR-END RECONCILI12 ATION.—

13 ‘‘(aa) SAVINGS PAID TO THE

14 STATE.—If the State baseline for

15 the fiscal year exceeds the sum of

16 the amount paid to the State for

17 the fiscal year under subclause

18 (II) of this clause and the total

19 of the amounts payable to the

20 State for the fiscal year under

21 paragraph (1) or (3) of section

22 474(a) with respect to the cat23 egories of expenditure specified

24 in the application, then the Sec25 retary shall make a further addi-
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1 tional payment to the State in an

2 amount equal to the excess

3 amount.

4 ‘‘(bb) RECOVERY OF OVER5 PAYMENT.—If the amount paid

6 to the State for a fiscal year

7 under subclause (II) of this

8 clause plus the total of the

9 amounts payable to the State for

10 the fiscal year under paragraph

11 (1) or (3) of section 474(a) with

12 respect to the categories of ex13 penditure specified in the appli14 cation exceeds the State baseline

15 for the fiscal year, then the Sec16 retary shall reduce the amount

17 otherwise payable to the State

18 under such paragraphs for each

19 quarter in the succeeding fiscal

year by an amount equal to 1 20 ⁄4 of

21 the excess amount.

22 ‘‘(iii) CLAIMS DEADLINE.—For pur23 poses of this subparagraph, the Secretary

24 may not consider a claim submitted by a

25 State with respect to an expenditure in a
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1 fiscal year more than 6 months after the

2 end of the fiscal year.

3 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—A

4 State may not use any amount paid to the

5 State under this subsection for a fiscal year, ex6 cept in accordance with the approved applica7 tion of the State under this subsection for the

8 fiscal year.

9 ‘‘(4) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a State baseline for

11 the fiscal year exceeds the total of the amounts

12 payable to the State for the fiscal year under

13 paragraph (1) or (3) of section 474(a) with re14 spect to the categories of expenditure specified

15 in the application of the State approved under

16 this subsection, then, as a condition of receiving

17 an amount under this subsection for a fiscal

18 year, the State shall expend for the provision of

19 child welfare services, in addition to any other

20 amount required by Federal law to be so ex21 pended, an amount equal to the sum described

22 in subparagraph (B).

23 ‘‘(B) SUM DESCRIBED.—The sum de24 scribed in this subparagraph with respect to a

25 State is the sum of the partial sums described
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1 in subparagraph (C) with respect to each cat2 egory of expenditure specified in the applica3 tion.

4 ‘‘(C) PARTIAL SUMS DESCRIBED.—The

5 partial sum described in this subparagraph with

6 respect to a category of expenditure is—

7 ‘‘(i) 1 minus the percentage or pro8 portion specified or referred to in para9 graph (1) or (3) of section 474(a) with re10 spect to the category of expenditure; multi11 plied by

12 ‘‘(ii) the amount that bears the same

13 ratio to the excess amount described in

14 subparagraph (A) of this paragraph as the

15 amount expended by the State in the cat16 egory of expenditure bears to the total of

17 the amounts payable to the State for the

18 fiscal year under paragraph (1) or (3) of

19 section 474(a) with respect to the cat20 egories of expenditure specified in the ap21 plication.

22 ‘‘(d) AMENDMENT OF APPLICATIONS AND

23 PROJECTS.—

24 ‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS.—A State may amend an

25 application approved by the Secretary under this
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1 section by submitting to the Secretary an amend2 ment consistent with this section.

3 ‘‘(2) PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall develop a

4 streamlined process for consideration of amendments

5 proposed by States to demonstration projects con6 ducted under this section.

7 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

8 ‘‘(1) FOSTER CARE EXPENDITURES.—The term

9 ‘foster care expenditures’ means expenditures in the

10 following expenditure categories:

11 ‘‘(A) FOSTER CARE MAINTENANCE PAY12 MENTS.—Expenditures for foster care mainte13 nance payments under section 472 for children

14 in foster family homes or child-care institutions.

15 ‘‘(B) FOSTER CARE ADMINISTRATIVE NON16 TRAINING EXPENSES.—Expenditures for the

17 proper and efficient administration of the provi18 sions of the State plan approved under part E

19 of title IV relating to foster care except for

20 training.

21 ‘‘(C) FOSTER CARE TRAINING EX22 PENSES.—Expenditures for the proper and effi23 cient administration of the provisions of the

24 State plan approved under part E of title IV re25 lating to foster care training.
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1 ‘‘(2) ADOPTION EXPENDITURES.—The term

2 ‘adoption expenditures’ means expenditures in the

3 following expenditure categories:

4 ‘‘(A) ADOPTION ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS.—

5 Expenditures for adoption assistance under sec6 tion 473 pursuant to adoption assistance agree7 ments.

8 ‘‘(B) ADOPTION ASSISTANCE ADMINISTRA9 TIVE NON-TRAINING EXPENSES.—Expenditures

10 for the proper and efficient administration of

11 the provisions of the State plan approved under

12 part E of title IV relating to adoption except

13 for training.

14 ‘‘(C) ADOPTION ASSISTANCE TRAINING EX15 PENSES.—Expenditures for the proper and effi16 cient administration of the provisions of the

17 State plan approved under part E of title IV re18 lating to adoption assistance training.

19 ‘‘(3) STATE BASELINE.—The term ‘State base20 line’ means, with respect to a State and a fiscal

21 year, the total amount to which the State would be

22 entitled under section 474(a), in the absence of this

23 section, with respect to the expenditures of the State

24 in the fiscal year in the categories specified in the

25 application.
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1 ‘‘(4) FISCAL YEAR.—The term ‘fiscal year’

2 means the 12-month period ending with September

3 30 of the year.

4 ‘‘(5) CHILD WELFARE SERVICES.—The term

5 ‘child welfare services’ has the meaning given in sec6 tion 425.

7 ‘‘(f) APPROVED APPLICATION CONSIDERED PART OF

8 STATE PLAN.—For purposes of part E of title IV and sec9 tion 1123A, an approved application of a State under this

10 section shall be considered part of the State plan approved

11 under such part for the period of time covered by the ap12 proved application.

13 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.—As soon as is practicable after each

14 fiscal year for which a State has conducted a demonstra15 tion project under this section, the State shall prepare and

16 submit to the Secretary a written report on the provision

17 of child welfare services through the project, which shall

18 include a statement of the total amount expended for each

19 kind of child welfare service, and shall make the written

20 report available to the general public. At the end of each

21 3-year period, the report shall include an assessment of

22 the extent to which the demonstration project has achieved

23 the purpose of this section.’’.

24 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINES ON BASELINE DE25 TERMINATIONS.—Not later than April 1, 2001, the Sec-
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1 retary of Health and Human Services (in this section re2 ferred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall issue administrative

3 guidelines with respect to the information required in any

4 application under section 1130A of the Social Security

5 Act, including the manner in which the baselines described

6 in such section are to be determined.

7 (c) REGULATIONS ON MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—

8 Within 12 months after the date of the enactment of this

9 section, the Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as

10 may be necessary to carry out subsections (b)(6) and

11 (c)(4) of section 1130A of the Social Security Act.

12 (d) NATIONAL EVALUATION.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall evaluate

14 the effectiveness of demonstration projects con15 ducted under section 1130A of the Social Security

16 Act in achieving the purposes of such section, and

17 in conducting the evaluation, shall use diverse and

18 rigorous methods (and is encouraged to use random

19 assignment) to assess the effectiveness of the

20 projects involved.

21 (2) REPORTS.—

22 (A) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 2

23 years after the Secretary first approves an ap24 plication under section 1130A of the Social Se25 curity Act, the Secretary shall prepare and sub-
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1 mit to the Congress, in writing, an interim re2 port on the results of the evaluations of dem3 onstration projects conducted under such sec4 tion.

5 (B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 1

6 year after the end of the last demonstration

7 project conducted under section 1130A of the

8 Social Security Act, the Secretary shall prepare

9 and submit to the Congress, in writing, a final

10 report on the results of the evaluations.

11 (3) FUNDING.—Out of any money in the Treas12 ury of the United States not otherwise appropriated,

13 there are appropriated for fiscal years 2001 through

14 2004 $6,000,000 to carry out this subsection.

15 Amounts so appropriated shall remain available until

16 expended.

17 TITLE II—WAIVERS

18 MODIFICATION

19 SEC. 201. ELIMINATION OF LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF

20 WAIVERS.

21 Section 1130(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

22 1320a–9(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (2) and re23 designating paragraphs (3) through (5) as paragraphs (2)

24 through (4), respectively.
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1 SEC. 202. CLARIFICATION OF AUTHORITY TO GRANT WAIV2 ERS TO ENABLE STATEWIDE DEMONSTRA3 TION PROJECTS.

4 Section 1130(f) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

5 1320a–9(f)) is amended by adding at the end the following

6 flush sentence:

7 ‘‘The preceding sentence shall not be interpreted to pre8 vent the Secretary from granting such waivers as may be

9 necessary to authorize a demonstration project under this

10 section to be conducted on a statewide basis.’’.

11 SEC. 203. ELIMINATION OF LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF

12 STATES THAT MAY BE GRANTED WAIVERS TO

13 CONDUCT DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS ON

14 SAME TOPIC.

15 Section 1130 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

16 1320a–9) is amended by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(h) NO LIMIT ON NUMBER OF STATES THAT MAY

18 BE GRANTED WAIVERS TO CONDUCT SAME OR SIMILAR

19 DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall not

20 refuse to grant a waiver to a State under this section on

21 the grounds that a purpose of the waiver or of the dem22 onstration project for which the waiver is necessary would

23 be the same as or similar to a purpose of another waiver

24 or project that is or may be conducted under this sec25 tion.’’.
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•HR 5292 IH

1 SEC. 204. ELIMINATION OF LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF

2 WAIVERS THAT MAY BE GRANTED TO A SIN3 GLE STATE FOR DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.

4 Section 1130 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

5 1320a–9) is further amended by adding at the end the

6 following:

7 ‘‘(i) NO LIMIT ON NUMBER OF WAIVERS GRANTED

8 TO, OR DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS THAT MAY BE CON9 DUCTED BY, A SINGLE STATE.—The Secretary shall not

10 impose any limit on the number of waivers that may be

11 granted to a State, or the number of demonstration

12 projects that a State may be authorized to conduct, under

13 this section.’’.

14 SEC. 205. CONDITIONAL AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT INDEFI15 NITELY DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS RE16 QUIRING WAIVERS.

17 Section 1130(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

18 1320a–9(d)) is amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(d) DURATION OF DEMONSTRATION.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (2), a demonstration project under this sec22 tion may be conducted for not more than 5 years.

23 ‘‘(2) STATE OPTION TO EXTEND PROJECT IN24 DEFINITELY.—If a State has conducted a dem25 onstration project under this section for 5 years and

26 has complied with the agreement under which waiv-
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•HR 5292 IH

1 ers are provided under subsection (b) with respect to

2 the project, the State may continue to conduct the

3 project and the waivers shall continue to remain in

4 effect, for so long as the State desires such continu5 ance and the compliance continues.’’.

6 SEC. 206. STREAMLINED PROCESS FOR CONSIDERATION OF

7 AMENDMENTS TO DEMONSTRATION

8 PROJECTS REQUIRING WAIVERS.

9 Section 1130 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

10 1320a–9) is further amended by adding at the end the

11 following:

12 ‘‘(j) STREAMLINED PROCESS FOR CONSIDERATION

13 OF AMENDMENTS.—The Secretary shall develop a stream14 lined process for consideration of amendments proposed

15 by States to demonstration projects conducted under this

16 section.’’.

17 SEC. 207. PERMISSIBLE USE OF HISTORICAL BASELINES.

18 Section 1130(g) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

19 1320a–9(g)) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: ‘‘For the purpose of making the determination, the

21 Secretary should consider use of historical baselines of fos22 ter care utilization, designs involving random assignment,

23 or designs involving comparison groups.’’.
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•HR 5292 IH

1 SEC. 208. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

2 Section 1130(b)(1) of the Social Security Act (42

3 U.S.C. 1320a–9(b)(1)) is amended by striking

4 ‘‘422(b)(9)’’ and inserting ‘‘422(b)(10)’’.

Æ