I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9316 

To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to increase awareness 

among eligible children and youths of, and encourage their participation 

in, the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition 

to Adulthood, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 6, 2024 

Mr. NUNN of Iowa (for himself, Mr. BACON, and Mrs. DINGELL) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

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

to increase awareness among eligible children and youths 

of, and encourage their participation in, the John H. 

Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition 

to Adulthood, 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 ‘‘Brighter Futures for 

5 Teens and Young Adults in Foster Care Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING AWARENESS OF THE CHAFEE PRO2 GRAM. 

3 (a) CASE REVIEW SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.—Sec4 tion 475(5)(I) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 675(5)(I)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(I)(i) each child in foster care under the 

7 responsibility of the State who has attained 14 

8 years of age receives, if the child is eligible to 

9 receive the document and without cost to the 

10 child— 

11 ‘‘(I) a copy of any consumer report 

12 (as defined in section 603(d) of the Fair 

13 Credit Reporting Act) pertaining to the 

14 child, each year until the child is dis15 charged from care, and assistance (includ16 ing, when feasible, from any court-ap17 pointed advocate for the child) in inter18 preting and resolving any inaccuracies in 

19 the consumer report; 

20 ‘‘(II) an official or certified copy of 

21 the United States birth certificate of the 

22 child; 

23 ‘‘(III) a social security card issued by 

24 the Commissioner of Social Security; 

25 ‘‘(IV) health insurance information; 


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1 ‘‘(V) a copy of the child’s medical 

2 records; 

3 ‘‘(VI) a driver’s license or identifica4 tion card issued by a State in accordance 

5 with the requirements of section 202 of the 

6 REAL ID Act of 2005; and 

7 ‘‘(VII) official documentation nec8 essary to prove that the child is in foster 

9 care; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) each child who is leaving foster care 

11 under the responsibility of the State by reason 

12 of having attained 18 years of age or such 

13 greater age as the State has elected under para14 graph (8), unless the child has been in foster 

15 care for less than 6 months, is not discharged 

16 from care without being provided, without cost 

17 to the child— 

18 ‘‘(I) official documentation necessary 

19 to prove that the child was in foster care; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(II) each document described in sub22 clauses (I) through (VI) of clause (i), if the 

23 child is eligible to receive the document.’’. 


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1 (b) ADDITIONAL CASE PLAN AND CASE REVIEW SYS2 TEM REQUIREMENTS.—Section 475A(b) of such Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 675a(b)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1), to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(1) a document that describes the rights of the 

6 child— 

7 ‘‘(A) with respect to education, health, visi8 tation, and court participation; 

9 ‘‘(B) to be informed, in an age-appropriate 

10 way, of the services available to the child under 

11 the State programs carried out pursuant to sec12 tion 477, in— 

13 ‘‘(i) every meeting between a case14 worker and the child; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) every court or administrative 

16 hearing held with respect to the child re17 quiring the attendance of the child; 

18 ‘‘(C) to be provided with the documents 

19 specified in section 475(5)(I) in accordance 

20 with that section; 

21 ‘‘(D) to stay safe and avoid exploitation; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(E) to seek redress for a violation of a 

24 right of the child under this section;’’; 

25 (2) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘described in paragraph 

2 (1)’’ after ‘‘copy of the document’’; and 

3 (B) by striking the period and inserting a 

4 semicolon; and 

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

6 ‘‘(3) for each year that the child is in foster 

7 care, a document that describes the requirements for 

8 the child to receive each document specified in sec9 tion 475(5)(I) and any assistance available to the 

10 child to meet the requirements; and 

11 ‘‘(4) a signed and dated acknowledgment by the 

12 child that the child has been provided with a copy 

13 of the document described in paragraph (3), for each 

14 year that the document has been provided.’’. 

15 (c) JOHN H. CHAFEE FOSTER CARE PROGRAM FOR

16 SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD.—Section 477 

17 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 677) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraphs 

19 (1) through (4) and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) to support youth who have experienced fos21 ter care at age 14 or older, youth in extended foster 

22 care, former foster care recipients between ages 18 

23 and 23, and youth placed into guardianship or adop24 tion at age 16 or older in their transition to adult25 hood to support them in achieving positive outcomes 


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1 so that they are able to thrive in adulthood con2 sistent with peers who have not experienced foster 

3 care; 

4 ‘‘(2) to provide the individuals access to appro5 priate supports, services, and programs, without bar6 riers and with the goal of maximizing engagement, 

7 in order to achieve positive outcomes among the in8 dividuals with respect to— 

9 ‘‘(A) secure, meaningful, and permanent 

10 connections with family and kin; 

11 ‘‘(B) secure, meaningful, and permanent 

12 connections with mentors and supportive adults; 

13 ‘‘(C) healing and wellness, including sub14 stance abuse prevention, preventative health 

15 skills (including smoke avoidance, nutrition 

16 education, and pregnancy prevention), and 

17 areas related to mental health; 

18 ‘‘(D) attaining a high school diploma or 

19 equivalent qualification and pursuing post-sec20 ondary education or vocational training; 

21 ‘‘(E) job placement and retention and ca22 reer exploration; 

23 ‘‘(F) acquisition of daily living skills, in24 cluding driving instruction; 


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1 ‘‘(G) budgeting, financial management 

2 skills, and asset building; 

3 ‘‘(H) housing; and 

4 ‘‘(I) self-advocacy and leadership skills; 

5 ‘‘(3) to provide opportunities to the individuals 

6 for normalcy and age- or developmentally-appro7 priate activities and experiences; 

8 ‘‘(4) to achieve maximum reach and effect by 

9 ensuring that State agencies consult and partner 

10 with the individuals in planning, implementing, and 

11 assessing programs funded under this section;’’; 

12 (2) in subsection (b)(2)— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

14 ‘‘achieving independence’’ and inserting ‘‘mak15 ing a successful transition to adulthood’’; 

16 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

17 ‘‘achieve independence’’ and inserting ‘‘make a 

18 successful transition to adulthood’’; and 

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

20 ‘‘(G) Reach and engage eligible youth to 

21 encourage their participation in the programs 

22 available to them, with particular focus on cer23 tain vulnerable populations, including youth— 

24 ‘‘(i) with disabilities; 

25 ‘‘(ii) experiencing homelessness; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) who are, or expecting to be, par2 ents. 

3 ‘‘(H) Ensure that eligible youth are pro4 vided information about the services and re5 sources available to them. 

6 ‘‘(I) Include eligible youth from across the 

7 geographical regions of the State in outreach 

8 and in the planning and delivery of services 

9 provided under this section.’’; 

10 (3) in subsection (b)(3)— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (E)— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘90’’; and 

14 (ii) by inserting ‘‘after making the 

15 plan available to the public for comment’’ 

16 before the period; 

17 (B) in subparagraph (H), by striking 

18 ‘‘independent living’’ and inserting ‘‘a success19 ful transition to adulthood’’; 

20 (C) by redesignating subparagraphs (I) 

21 through (K) as subparagraphs (K) through 

22 (M), respectively; 

23 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (H) 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(J) A certification by the chief executive 

2 officer of the State that the State has made all 

3 reasonable efforts to provide the eligible youth 

4 in the State a description of the programs and 

5 services provided under this section.’’; 

6 (E) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) 

7 through (H) as subparagraphs (G) through (I), 

8 respectively; 

9 (F) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(F) A certification by the chief executive 

12 officer of the State that the State has consulted 

13 with eligible youth from across the State about 

14 the effectiveness of the methods used by the 

15 State for outreach and engagement and about 

16 the development of services and resources pro17 vided under this section.’’; and 

18 (G) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(N) A certification by the chief executive 

20 officer of the State that the State developed the 

21 portion of the State plan describing how the 

22 State intends to comply with paragraph 

23 (2)(G)— 

24 ‘‘(i) in consultation with children, 

25 youth, and young adults who are or were 


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1 in foster care and with community-based 

2 stakeholders who can share best practices 

3 in the outreach to and engagement of chil4 dren, youth, and young adults who are or 

5 were in foster care; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) based on performance measures 

7 that the State collects and evaluates on an 

8 ongoing basis.’’; 

9 (4) in subsection (f)— 

10 (A) in the heading, to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘DATA COLLECTION, BENCHMARKS, AND PER12 FORMANCE INCENTIVES.—’’; 

13 (B) in paragraph (1), in the matter pre14 ceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘youth 

15 with experience in foster care or affiliated with 

16 foster care organizations or networks,’’ before 

17 ‘‘and researchers’’; 

18 (C) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting ‘‘per19 formance benchmarks for’’ before ‘‘outcome 

20 measures’’; and 

21 (D) in paragraph (1)(B), to read as fol22 lows: 

23 ‘‘(B) identify data elements needed to 

24 track— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the notification of eligible youth 

2 of the type and availability of services; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the number of eligible youth who 

4 have signed and dated the acknowledg5 ments pursuant to section 475A(b)(4); and 

6 ‘‘(iii) the number of eligible youth who 

7 have achieved the performance benchmarks 

8 after beginning to receive services provided 

9 under this section; and’’; and 

10 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON RECOMMENDA12 TIONS FOR FUNDING WITH PERFORMANCE INCEN13 TIVES.—Within 6 months after the enactment of 

14 this paragraph, the Secretary shall submit to the 

15 Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 

16 Representatives and the Committee on Finance of 

17 the Senate a report with recommendations to de18 velop incentive payments for States based on the 

19 performance benchmarks developed pursuant to 

20 paragraph (1).’’; and 

21 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(k) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

24 technical assistance to States and State agencies in 


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1 the development and implementation of effective and 

2 robust outreach policies and practices. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONTENT OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

4 The technical assistance shall include— 

5 ‘‘(A) guidance on how to reduce barriers to 

6 eligible youth accessing the programs available 

7 to them, such as through interagency informa8 tion-sharing agreements; and 

9 ‘‘(B) best practices in outreach to and in10 forming eligible youth of the programs available 

11 to them. 

12 ‘‘(l) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE YOUTH.—In this sec13 tion, the term ‘eligible youth’ means youth eligible to par14 ticipate in a State program under this section.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this 

17 Act shall take effect on the 1st day of the 1st fiscal year 

18 beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act, and shall apply to payments— 

20 (1) except as provided under subparagraph (2), 

21 under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 

22 for calendar quarters beginning on or after such 

23 date; and 


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1 (2) under section 477 of such Act pursuant to 

2 plans approved by the Secretary on or after such 

3 date. 

4 (b) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION RE5 QUIRED.—If the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

6 determines that State legislation (other than legislation 

7 appropriating funds) is required in order for any State 

8 plan approved under part E of title IV of the Social Secu9 rity Act to meet the additional requirements imposed by 

10 the amendments made by this Act, the plan shall not be 

11 regarded as failing to meet any of the additional require12 ments before the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter be13 ginning after the 1st regular session of the State legisla14 ture that begins after the date of the enactment of this 

15 Act. For purposes of the preceding sentence, if the State 

16 has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session 

17 is deemed to be a separate regular session of the State 

18 legislature. 

Æ 


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