II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1509 

To provide incentives for States to improve the well-being of children in 

the child welfare system through systemic reforms and innovations, increased collaboration between State agencies, and incorporation of higher 

standards of accountability. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2011 

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide incentives for States to improve the well-being 

of children in the child welfare system through systemic 

reforms and innovations, increased collaboration between 

State agencies, and incorporation of higher standards 

of accountability. 

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 ‘‘Promoting Account5 ability and Excellence in Child Welfare Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CHILD WELFARE INNOVATION GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

3 child welfare innovation grant program (referred to in this 

4 section as the ‘‘grant program’’) that provides eligible en5 tities with the necessary flexibility and financial incentives 

6 to implement comprehensive reforms to existing child wel7 fare programs under parts B and E of title IV of the So8 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 42 U.S.C. 670 

9 et seq.) in order to— 

10 (1) achieve significant results that improve the 

11 well-being of all children in the child welfare system; 

12 and 

13 (2) incorporate higher standards of account14 ability for State and local agencies and organizations 

15 that provide child welfare services. 

16 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For purposes of this sec17 tion, an eligible entity shall include any State or political 

18 subdivision of a State that submits an application pursu19 ant to the requirements described in subsection (e). 

20 (c) DURATION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of carrying out 

22 the goals described in subsection (a), the Secretary 

23 shall award grants, as well as additional financial 

24 assistance (as determined under subsection (d)), to 

25 eligible entities that have submitted an application 

26 that has been approved by the Secretary. The 


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1 amount of the grant provided to the eligible entity 

2 shall be determined by the Secretary and, subject to 

3 paragraph (2), remain available for use by the eligi4 ble entity for a period of 5 years. 

5 (2) IMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENT.—The 

6 Secretary may terminate a grant awarded to an eli7 gible entity under paragraph (1) if, during the 3- 

8 year period following the awarding of the grant, the 

9 eligible entity has not made appropriate progress in 

10 implementing the intervention services and reforms 

11 proposed by the entity under subsection (e)(1), as 

12 determined by the Secretary pursuant to the applica13 ble implementation standards described under sub14 section (f)(1). 

15 (3) RENEWAL OF GRANTS.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara17 graph (B), if an eligible entity has made signifi18 cant progress in achieving the child well-being 

19 results proposed by the entity under subsection 

20 (e)(1), as determined by the Secretary pursuant 

21 to the applicable implementation standards and 

22 performance measures described under sub23 section (f), the Secretary may award an addi24 tional grant to the eligible entity for a period of 

25 not greater than 5 years. 


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1 (B) RE-APPLICATION BY ELIGIBLE ENTI2 TY.—For purposes of receiving an additional 

3 grant under this paragraph, the eligible entity 

4 shall, not less than 6 months prior to expiration 

5 of the initial grant described in paragraph (1), 

6 submit to the Secretary an application at such 

7 time, in such manner, and containing such in8 formation as the Secretary may require. 

9 (4) MINIMUM FUNDING REQUIREMENT.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of receiv11 ing a grant under this section, the eligible enti12 ty shall be required to annually expend non13 Federal funds for purposes of achieving the 

14 child well-being results proposed by the entity 

15 under subsection (e)(1) in an amount that is 

16 not less than— 

17 (i) for the first year in which such a 

18 grant is awarded, 25 percent of the 

19 amount of the grant; 

20 (ii) for the second year in which such 

21 a grant is awarded, 35 percent of the 

22 amount of the grant; and 

23 (iii) for the third year and any subse24 quent year in which such a grant is award25 ed (including any year for which an addiVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:45 Aug 05, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1509.IS S1509

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1 tional grant has been awarded under para2 graph (3)), 50 percent of the amount of 

3 the grant. 

4 (B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—For purposes 

5 of subparagraph (A), the eligible entity may 

6 provide the non-Federal share in cash or in7 kind, as fairly evaluated by the Secretary. The 

8 eligible entity may provide the non-Federal 

9 share from State, local, or private sources. 

10 (d) ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec11 retary shall establish an inter-agency working group that 

12 includes representatives from the Department of Edu13 cation, the Department of Labor, the Department of Jus14 tice, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 

15 and other Federal agencies with responsibility for admin16 istering programs that affect the child welfare system, for 

17 the purpose of identifying existing Federal financial re18 sources that may be used to provide supplemental funding 

19 to eligible entities that have been awarded grants under 

20 this section, including— 

21 (1) establishment of flexibility within existing 

22 Federal financial resources; 

23 (2) dedicating a share of funds from existing 

24 Federal programs, or creating a preference within 

25 such programs; 


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1 (3) use of existing administrative authority to 

2 waive certain State or Federal funding requirements, 

3 including waiver authority provided under subsection 

4 (i); 

5 (4) commitment of appropriated discretionary 

6 funds; 

7 (5) creation of an aggregated source of funding 

8 through bundling of existing Federal programs; and 

9 (6) establishment of partnerships with private 

10 entities, including private foundations involved in 

11 child welfare issues. 

12 (e) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that desires to 

13 participate in the grant program shall submit to the Sec14 retary an application at such time, in such manner, and 

15 containing such information as the Secretary may require, 

16 which shall include a detailed description of the following: 

17 (1) IMPROVED CHILD WELL-BEING RESULTS.— 

18 The proposed reforms and methods for achieving 

19 significant results that improve the well-being of all 

20 children in the child welfare system, including a de21 tailed outline of— 

22 (A) the specific populations or groups of 

23 children and families that will be targeted 

24 under the grant program; 


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1 (B) the specific child well-being results 

2 that will be achieved during the periods de3 scribed in subsection (c); 

4 (C) the specific methods through which the 

5 child well-being results will be achieved under 

6 the grant program, including proposals for 

7 intervention services and strategic reforms to 

8 child welfare policy and infrastructure; and 

9 (D) the evidentiary basis or best practice 

10 models on which such intervention services and 

11 reforms are to be based. 

12 (2) PARTNERSHIPS.—The partnerships to be 

13 established between participating State and local 

14 agencies and organizations under the grant program, 

15 including— 

16 (A) a detailed outline regarding how the 

17 partnership will establish a coordinated process 

18 for delivery of services, sharing of information 

19 and data, and division of specific responsibilities 

20 pursuant to interagency agreements; 

21 (B) the establishment of a memorandum of 

22 understanding between participating State and 

23 local agencies and organizations under the 

24 grant program to— 


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1 (i) provide for shared accountability in 

2 achieving child well-being results proposed 

3 under paragraph (1) and their specific re4 sponsibilities in achieving such results; and 

5 (ii) satisfy the implementation stand6 ards established by the Secretary under 

7 subsection (f)(1); and 

8 (C) certification by the chief executive offi9 cer of the eligible entity of their commitment 

10 to— 

11 (i) achieve the child well-being results 

12 proposed under paragraph (1) and their 

13 responsibility for achieving such results; 

14 and 

15 (ii) satisfy the implementation stand16 ards established by the Secretary under 

17 subsection (f)(1). 

18 (3) COLLABORATION WITH CHILDREN AND PAR19 ENTS.—The processes to ensure collaboration be20 tween the eligible entity, foster parents, biological 

21 parents, family members, kinship caregivers, and 

22 children in the child welfare system in the develop23 ment and implementation of intervention services 

24 and reforms under the grant program. 


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1 (4) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.—The 

2 approaches for development of enhanced data collec3 tion and reporting, which shall include— 

4 (A) collection and reporting of relevant 

5 data (as determined appropriate by the Sec6 retary), with such data to be disaggregated by 

7 race, ethnicity, and gender in order to monitor 

8 progress in achieving child well-being results in 

9 providing services to specific populations of chil10 dren in the child welfare system; 

11 (B) development and implementation of a 

12 specific data collection plan, which shall include 

13 a description of the types of data that will be 

14 collected by the eligible entity (including data 

15 required by the Secretary under subparagraph 

16 (A) that is not currently collected by the entity) 

17 and the methods through which such data will 

18 be obtained, such as surveys, assessments, and 

19 other forms of data collection; 

20 (C) a detailed outline regarding how data 

21 collected by the eligible entity will be incor22 porated in the development of intervention serv23 ices and reforms under the grant program; and 

24 (D) certification by the manager or chief 

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1 ble entity of their commitment and ability to 

2 collect and report relevant data under the grant 

3 program. 

4 (5) SUPPORT FROM PRIVATE ENTITIES.—Any 

5 commitments by private entities to provide addi6 tional funding for support of activities under the 

7 grant program to improve the well-being of children 

8 in the child welfare system. 

9 (f) IMPLEMENTATION STANDARDS AND PERFORM10 ANCE MEASURES.— 

11 (1) IMPLEMENTATION STANDARDS.—The Sec12 retary shall establish a set of implementation stand13 ards to annually determine, for purposes of sub14 section (c), whether an eligible entity has imple15 mented, or made appropriate progress in imple16 menting, the intervention services and reforms pro17 posed by the entity under subsection (e)(1), includ18 ing development, implementation, and maintenance 

19 of data collection systems. 

20 (2) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es22 tablish a set of performance measures to annu23 ally determine, for purposes of subsection (c), 

24 whether an eligible entity has achieved, or made 

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1 being results proposed by the entity under sub2 section (e)(1), which shall include measure3 ments to quantify— 

4 (i) improvements in the well-being of 

5 children in the child welfare system, in6 cluding— 

7 (I) the base performance meas8 ures described in subparagraph (B); 

9 and 

10 (II) any additional performance 

11 measures described in subparagraph 

12 (C) that are applicable to the child 

13 well-being results proposed by the en14 tity; and 

15 (ii) improvements in the overall qual16 ity of life for foster parents. 

17 (B) BASE PERFORMANCE MEASURES.— 

18 The performance measures described under this 

19 paragraph include the number and percentage 

20 of children in the child welfare system who— 

21 (i) were under 5 years of age and at 

22 appropriate levels of mental, emotional, 

23 and physical development; 


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1 (ii) if deemed to be in the child’s best 

2 interest, remained in his or her school of 

3 origin; and 

4 (iii) received health screenings not 

5 later than 30 days after foster care place6 ment. 

7 (C) ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE MEAS8 URES.—Subject to subparagraph (D), the Sec9 retary shall establish additional performance 

10 measures that are specifically designed to meas11 ure progress in achieving the child well-being 

12 results proposed by the eligible entity under 

13 subsection (e)(1), which may include— 

14 (i) the number and percentage of chil15 dren in the child welfare system who— 

16 (I) were under 5 years of age and 

17 attended preschool or early care and 

18 education programs regularly; 

19 (II) were involved in an abuse or 

20 neglect investigation; 

21 (III) achieved grade-level pro22 ficiency in reading and math; 

23 (IV) attended school regularly; 

24 (V) were involved in the juvenile 

25 justice system; 


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1 (VI) were prescribed psychotropic 

2 medication; 

3 (VII) graduated from high school 

4 on time; 

5 (VIII) entered post-secondary 

6 education or training; 

7 (IX) regularly received routine 

8 medical care and examinations; 

9 (X) were reunified with family; 

10 (XI) re-entered the child welfare 

11 system following family reunification; 

12 or 

13 (XII) had attained 14 years of 

14 age before entering the child welfare 

15 system; 

16 (ii) measures to ensure proper func17 tioning of the child welfare system, such 

18 as— 

19 (I) reasonableness of caseload 

20 levels for caseworkers; and 

21 (II) adequacy and frequency of 

22 visits with children by caseworkers; 

23 and 

24 (iii) subject to approval by the Sec25 retary, any performance measures that are 


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1 proposed by the entity for determination of 

2 its progress towards achievement of the 

3 child well-being results. 

4 (D) CONSULTATION WITH ELIGIBLE ENTI5 TY.—The Secretary shall consult with the eligi6 ble entity for purposes of establishing additional 

7 performance measures under subparagraph (C) 

8 that are appropriate for determination of 

9 progress in achieving the child well-being re10 sults proposed by the entity under subsection 

11 (e)(1). 

12 (g) USE OF GRANTS BY ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An el13 igible entity that receives a grant under this section shall 

14 use the funds made available through the grant to develop, 

15 implement, and evaluate the intervention services and re16 forms proposed by the entity under subsection (e)(1), in17 cluding development, implementation, and maintenance of 

18 data collection systems. 

19 (h) ANNUAL REPORTING.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re21 ceives a grant under this section shall submit an an22 nual report to the Secretary on— 

23 (A) the specific intervention services and 

24 reforms implemented under the grant program; 


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1 (B) progress in achieving the child well2 being results proposed by the entity under sub3 section (e)(1), including an analysis of the ef4 fectiveness of the grant funding in achieving the 

5 results; and 

6 (C) an analysis of the progress made by 

7 the eligible entity over the preceding 12-month 

8 period pursuant to the performance measures 

9 established by the Secretary under subsection 

10 (f). 

11 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS AND

12 DATA.—An eligible entity shall make available to the 

13 public, in a manner that is also accessible to children 

14 in the child welfare system, biological families, and 

15 foster parents— 

16 (A) any report submitted to the Secretary 

17 under paragraph (1); and 

18 (B) a summary of the data collected pur19 suant to subsection (e)(4)(A). 

20 (i) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may waive 

21 such requirements under parts B and E of title IV of the 

22 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq., 42 U.S.C. 670 

23 et seq.) as may be necessary to carry out the grant pro24 gram. 


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1 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For pur2 poses of carrying out the grant program under this sec3 tion, there is authorized to be appropriated— 

4 (1) for fiscal year 2013, $40,000,000; 

5 (2) for fiscal year 2014, $30,000,000; 

6 (3) for fiscal year 2015, $20,000,000; and 

7 (4) for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2022, 

8 $10,000,000. 

9 (k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) CHILD WELL-BEING RESULT.—The term 

11 ‘‘child well-being result’’ means a desired condition 

12 of well-being for all children in the child welfare sys13 tem, including the specific populations or groups of 

14 children that will be targeted under the grant pro15 gram. 

16 (2) SCHOOL OF ORIGIN.—The term ‘‘school of 

17 origin’’ means, with respect to a child in foster 

18 care— 

19 (A) the school in which the child was en20 rolled prior to entry into foster care; or 

21 (B) the school in which the child is en22 rolled when a change in foster care placement 

23 occurs or is proposed. 

24 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 


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1 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

2 (A) any of the 50 States or the District of 

3 Columbia; 

4 (B) Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Is5 lands, or American Samoa; or 

6 (C) an Indian tribe, tribal organization, or 

7 tribal consortium. 

8 (5) WELL-BEING.—The term ‘‘well-being’’ 

9 means the overall quality of life for a child in the 

10 child welfare system, which shall include— 

11 (A) the safety and health of the child; 

12 (B) the mental, emotional, educational, 

13 and physical development of the child, including 

14 the ability of the child to maximize their indi15 vidual potential; and 

16 (C) permanency and ability to transition to 

17 self-sufficiency after aging out of the child wel18 fare system. 

19 SEC. 3. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

20 (a) INCOME ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR CHIL21 DREN IN FOSTER CARE.—Not later than 90 days after 

22 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health 

23 and Human Services (referred to in this section as the 

24 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall submit to Congress a report on rec25 ommendations for legislative or administrative action necVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:45 Aug 05, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1509.IS S1509

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1 essary to eliminate the requirement that a child be deemed 

2 to be a recipient of aid to families with dependent children 

3 under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (as 

4 in effect as of July 16, 1996) (referred to in this section 

5 as the ‘‘AFDC income eligibility requirements’’) for pur6 poses of foster care maintenance payments under section 

7 472 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 672), including an analysis 

8 of— 

9 (1) the effects of phasing out the AFDC income 

10 eligibility requirements for adoption assistance pay11 ments under section 473 of the Social Security Act 

12 (42 U.S.C. 673), as enacted by section 402 of the 

13 Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing 

14 Adoptions Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–351; 122 

15 Stat. 3975); 

16 (2) State administrative expenses related to the 

17 existing disparity in Federal reimbursement rates 

18 for foster care maintenance payments; 

19 (3) the level of services provided by States to 

20 children in foster care that meet AFDC income eligi21 bility requirements under section 472 of the Social 

22 Security Act, and thereby provide States with Fed23 eral reimbursement for foster care maintenance pay24 ments under section 474 of such Act, as compared 


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1 to children in foster care that do not meet the 

2 AFDC income eligibility requirements; 

3 (4) the long-term effects related to maintaining 

4 the AFDC income eligibility requirements under sec5 tion 472 of the Social Security Act for purposes of 

6 the amount of overall Federal funding that will be 

7 made available to States for foster care services and 

8 the resulting impact on the ability of States to pro9 vide adequate services to children in foster care; and 

10 (5) the feasability of eliminating the AFDC in11 come eligibility requirements for purposes of foster 

12 care maintenance payments under section 472 of the 

13 Social Security Act in a manner that is budget neu14 tral, or at a limited cost to the Federal Government, 

15 and the effect that such an elimination would have 

16 on the ability of States to provide adequate levels of 

17 services to all children in foster care. 

18 (b) CHILD WELFARE INNOVATION GRANT PRO19 GRAM.—Not later than 180 days after completion of the 

20 child welfare innovation grant program under section 2 

21 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re22 port analyzing the intervention services and reforms im23 plemented by eligible entities under the grant program, 

24 the child well-being results achieved through such services 

25 and reforms, and recommendations for such legislation 


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1 and administrative action as the Secretary determines ap2 propriate. 

Æ 


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