I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8814 

To amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to establish a 

competitive grant program to enhance the ability of evidence-based child 

welfare programs to meet the research standards set by the Family 

First Prevention Services Clearinghouse, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2024 

Mr. FEENSTRA (for himself and Mr. KILDEE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

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

to establish a competitive grant program to enhance the 

ability of evidence-based child welfare programs to meet 

the research standards set by the Family First Prevention Services Clearinghouse, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Evi5 dence-based Prevention Services Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 Section 435 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 629e) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(f) PREVENTION SERVICES EVALUATION PARTNER5 SHIPS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

7 is to authorize the Secretary to make competitive 

8 grants to support the timely evaluation of— 

9 ‘‘(A) services and programs described in 

10 section 471(e); or 

11 ‘‘(B) kinship navigator programs described 

12 in section 474(a)(7). 

13 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—In accordance with applications 

14 approved under this subsection, the Secretary may 

15 make grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible enti16 ties to carry out projects designed to evaluate a serv17 ice or program provided by the eligible entity or an 

18 entity in partnership with the eligible entity with re19 spect to the requirements for a promising practice, 

20 supported practice, or well-supported practice de21 scribed in section 471(e)(4)(C). 

22 ‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may 

24 apply to the Secretary for a grant under this 

25 subsection to carry out a project that meets the 

26 following requirements: 


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1 ‘‘(i) The project is designed in accord2 ance with paragraph (2). 

3 ‘‘(ii) The project is to be carried out 

4 by the applicant in partnership with— 

5 ‘‘(I) a State agency that admin6 isters, or supervises the administra7 tion of, the State plan approved under 

8 part E, or an agency administering 

9 the plan under the supervision of the 

10 State agency; and 

11 ‘‘(II) if the applicant is unable or 

12 unwilling to do so, at least 1 external 

13 evaluator to carry out the evaluation 

14 of the service or program provided by 

15 the applicant. 

16 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The application shall 

17 contain the following, in a form and manner de18 termined by the Secretary: 

19 ‘‘(i) A description of the project, in20 cluding— 

21 ‘‘(I) a statement explaining why 

22 a grant is necessary to carry out the 

23 project; and 

24 ‘‘(II) the amount of grant funds 

25 that would be disbursed to each entity 


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1 described in subparagraph (A)(ii) in 

2 partnership with the applicant. 

3 ‘‘(ii) A certification from each entity 

4 described in subparagraph (A)(ii) that pro5 vides assurances that the individual or en6 tity is in partnership with the applicant 

7 and will fulfill the responsibilities of the 

8 entity specified in the description provided 

9 pursuant to clause (i) of this subpara10 graph. 

11 ‘‘(iii) A certification from the appli12 cant that provides assurances that the ap13 plicant intends to comply with subpara14 graph (A)(ii)(II), if applicable. 

15 ‘‘(iv) A certification from the appli16 cant that the applicant requires an exter17 nal evaluator secured by the Secretary pur18 suant to paragraph (5), if applicable. 

19 ‘‘(v) Any additional information the 

20 Secretary may require. 

21 ‘‘(4) PRIORITIES.—In approving applications 

22 under this subsection, the Secretary shall prioritize 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) Addressing, with respect to the clear25 inghouse of practices described in section 


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1 476(d)(2), deficiencies or gaps identified by the 

2 Secretary in consultation with— 

3 ‘‘(i) States, political subdivisions of a 

4 State, and tribal communities carrying out, 

5 or receiving the benefits of, a service or 

6 program; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) child welfare experts, including 

8 experts with lived experience. 

9 ‘‘(B) Maximizing the number of services or 

10 programs to be included in the clearinghouse of 

11 practices described in section 476(d)(2). 

12 ‘‘(C) Timely completing evaluations and 

13 the production of evidence. 

14 ‘‘(D) Supporting services or programs that 

15 are based on, or are adaptations to new popu16 lation settings of, a service or program with re17 liable evidence about the benefits and risks of 

18 the service or program, as determined by the 

19 Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(5) AVAILABILITY OF EXTERNAL EVAL21 UATORS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Before accepting ap23 plications under this subsection, the Secretary 

24 shall make reasonable efforts to secure at least 

25 1 entity to serve as an external evaluator for 


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1 any eligible entity that includes a certification 

2 under paragraph (3)(B)(iv) with an application 

3 under this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(B) FEES FOR SERVICES.—The Secretary 

5 and each external evaluator described in sub6 paragraph (A) shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) agree to and establish— 

8 ‘‘(I) the fees that the external 

9 evaluator may charge to an eligible 

10 entity to carry out an evaluation of a 

11 service or program provided by the eli12 gible entity; and 

13 ‘‘(II) the expected timeframe for 

14 the external evaluator to carry out the 

15 evaluation based on the needs of the 

16 eligible entity; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) make publicly available a speci18 fication of the fees and timeframe before 

19 the Secretary accepts applications under 

20 this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(C) NO EFFECT ON CONSIDERATION OF

22 APPLICATION.—The Secretary may not consider 

23 whether an eligible entity is in partnership with 

24 an external evaluator described in paragraph 


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1 (A) in approving an application under this sub2 section submitted by the eligible entity. 

3 ‘‘(6) REPORTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) BY GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Within 1 

5 year after receiving a grant under this sub6 section, and every year thereafter for the next 

7 5 years, the grant recipient shall submit to the 

8 Secretary a written report on— 

9 ‘‘(i) the use of grant funds; 

10 ‘‘(ii) whether the program or service 

11 evaluated by the project meets a require12 ment specified in section 471(e)(4)(C), in13 cluding information about— 

14 ‘‘(I) how the program or service 

15 is being carried out in accordance 

16 with standards specified in the re17 quirement; 

18 ‘‘(II) any outcomes of the pro19 gram or service; and 

20 ‘‘(III) any outcome with respect 

21 to which the service or program com22 pares favorably to a comparison prac23 tice; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) whether the Secretary has in25 cluded the program or service in an update 


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1 to the clearinghouse of practices described 

2 in section 476(d)(2). 

3 ‘‘(B) BY THE SECRETARY.—The Secretary 

4 shall submit to the Committee on Ways and 

5 Means of the House of Representatives and to 

6 the Committee on Finance of the Senate an an7 nual written report on— 

8 ‘‘(i) the grants awarded under this 

9 subsection; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the programs funded by the 

11 grants; 

12 ‘‘(iii) any technical assistance pro13 vided by the Secretary in carrying out this 

14 subsection, including with respect to the 

15 efforts to secure external evaluators pursu16 ant to paragraph (5); and 

17 ‘‘(iv) any efforts by the Secretary to 

18 support program evaluation and review 

19 pursuant to section 471(e) and inclusion of 

20 programs in the pre-approved list of serv21 ices and programs described in section 

22 471(e)(4)(D) or the clearinghouse of prac23 tices described in section 476(d)(2). 


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1 ‘‘(7) RESTRICTION ON FUNDING.—The Sec2 retary may not make a grant under this subsection 

3 to an eligible entity that is a for-profit business. 

4 ‘‘(8) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may pre5 scribe regulations to carry out this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(9) FUNDING.— 

7 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION.—There are author8 ized to be appropriated to carry out this sub9 section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 

10 through 2029. 

11 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—Of the amounts avail12 able to carry out this subsection, the Secretary 

13 may use not more than 5 percent to provide 

14 technical assistance. 

15 ‘‘(C) CARRYOVER.—Amounts made avail16 able to carry out this section shall remain avail17 able until expended. 

18 ‘‘(10) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi20 ble entity’ means any of the following providing 

21 a service or program or, in the sole determina22 tion of the Secretary, able to provide a service 

23 or program if awarded a grant under this sub24 section: 


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1 ‘‘(i) A State, a political subdivision of 

2 a State, or an agency or department of a 

3 State or political subdivision of a State. 

4 ‘‘(ii) An entity described in subpara5 graph (A) or (B) of section 426(a)(1). 

6 ‘‘(B) EXTERNAL EVALUATOR.—The term 

7 ‘external evaluator’ means an entity with the 

8 ability and willingness to evaluate a service or 

9 program pursuant to paragraph (2) that is not 

10 provided by the entity. 

11 ‘‘(C) SERVICE OR PROGRAM.—The term 

12 ‘service or program’— 

13 ‘‘(i) means a service or program de14 scribed in section 471(e); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) includes a kinship navigator pro16 gram described in section 474(a)(7).’’. 

Æ 


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