II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2836 

To amend subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to 

support the mental health and well-being of children and youth in, 

and formerly in, foster care, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023 

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

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social 

Security Act to support the mental health and wellbeing of children and youth in, and formerly in, foster 

care, 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 ‘‘Foster Youth Mental 

5 Health Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL NAVIGATION PROGRAM TO SUPPORT 

2 THE MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF 

3 CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN, AND FORMERLY 

4 IN, FOSTER CARE. 

5 Section 426 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 626) is amended— 

7 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘SPE8 CIAL PROJECTS,’’ after ‘‘TRAINING,’’; 

9 (2) in subsection (a)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

11 after the semicolon; 

12 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe13 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2), the 

15 following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(3) for grants by the Secretary, or contracts 

17 or cooperative arrangements, for the operation of a 

18 national navigation program to support the mental 

19 health and well-being of children and youth in, and 

20 formerly in, foster care that includes a 24-hour text 

21 line and toll-free hotline by which children and youth 

22 in foster care, youth who are aging out of foster 

23 care, children and youth formerly in foster care who 

24 have not yet reached their 28th birthday, foster and 

25 adoptive parents, kinship guardians, and parents of 

26 children in foster care may request information on 


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1 support for foster and adopted youth mental health 

2 and well-being that is staffed by youth who were for3 merly in foster care and individuals with expertise in 

4 helping such populations navigate and access re5 sources to support their mental health and well6 being, including with respect to mental health and 

7 substance use disorder treatments and services, in8 surance coverage and renewal, housing, childcare, 

9 skills training and education, extracurricular activi10 ties, and other critical services for children and 

11 youth in foster care and youth who are aging out of 

12 foster care.’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub14 section: 

15 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL NAVIGATION PROGRAM TO SUPPORT

16 THE MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN

17 IN, AND FORMERLY IN, FOSTER CARE.— 

18 ‘‘(1) FUNDING REQUIREMENT.—Beginning with 

19 the first fiscal year after fiscal year 2023 for which 

20 the amount appropriated for the fiscal year to carry 

21 out this section exceeds the amount appropriated for 

22 such purpose for fiscal year 2023 by at least 

23 $5,000,000, the Secretary shall make grants, or 

24 enter into contracts or cooperative arrangements, to 

25 carry out the national navigation program to supVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:23 Sep 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2836.IS S2836

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1 port the mental health and well-being of children in, 

2 and formerly in, foster care in accordance with sub3 section (a)(3). 

4 ‘‘(2) UTILIZATION.—The Secretary shall evalu5 ate the demographics of the children and parents 

6 who use or request information from the national 

7 navigation program carried out in accordance with 

8 subsection (a)(3) and shall identify the demo9 graphics of children and parents who are not access10 ing the program and increase outreach to make such 

11 children and parents aware of the program.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEMS TO 

13 SUPPORT THE MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL14 BEING OF FOSTER CARE YOUTH. 

15 Section 422(b)(15) of the Social Security Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 622(b)(15)) is amended— 

17 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

18 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

19 striking ‘‘provides’’ and inserting ‘‘provide’’; 

20 and 

21 (B) in clause (viii), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

22 the semicolon; 

23 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub24 paragraph (C); 


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1 (3) in subparagraph (C) (as redesignated by 

2 paragraph (2) of this section), by striking ‘‘subpara3 graph (A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and 

4 (B)’’; and 

5 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (A), the fol6 lowing new subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(B) contain assurances that not less than 10 

8 percent of expenditures for services and activities the 

9 State will fund under the State program carried out 

10 pursuant to this subpart shall be for developing and 

11 providing ongoing support for a comprehensive men12 tal health system for youth in a foster care place13 ment that meets the requirements of subparagraph 

14 (A) and— 

15 ‘‘(i) is established through partnerships 

16 with pediatricians, mental health professionals, 

17 child-serving agencies, child advocates, family 

18 groups, housing services, alternative programs 

19 that support mental health and well-being, and 

20 other key organizations to ensure youth in a 

21 foster care placement have timely access to non22 pharmaceutical mental health and substance 

23 use disorder treatments and services; 

24 ‘‘(ii) includes services and activities for 

25 youth in a foster care placement who are at risk 


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1 of developing, or have, a mental health or sub2 stance use disorder, at the prevention, early 

3 intervention, and treatment stages; 

4 ‘‘(iii) includes processes for— 

5 ‘‘(I) recruiting, hiring, supervision, or 

6 training of individuals with lived experience 

7 to serve as peer specialists who deliver 

8 services to youth in a foster care placement 

9 as they navigate the child welfare system 

10 and other health and social services pro11 grams and who check in with such youth 

12 weekly; 

13 ‘‘(II) training of caseworkers and 

14 other staff working within the child welfare 

15 system with a series of trauma-informed 

16 and addiction-based professional develop17 ment training sessions to better connect 

18 youth with resources for treatment and 

19 services as they enter the child welfare sys20 tem, including the therapeutic supports 

21 and community-based resources developed 

22 and implemented in accordance with sub23 clause (III); and 

24 ‘‘(III) the development and implemen25 tation of protocols for assisting youth in a 


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1 foster care placement with accessing thera2 peutic supports, including navigation to 

3 peer support, family therapy, and alter4 native therapies such as music or art ther5 apy, play therapy, sports, mobile or virtual 

6 therapy, as well as community-based re7 sources, such as parenting classes, commu8 nity-provided financial and in-kind mate9 rial support, behavioral health care, and 

10 community engagement opportunities; 

11 ‘‘(iv) has procedures to address privacy 

12 concerns which include requirements for private 

13 space to be made available for mental health 

14 sessions, requirements for the use of platforms 

15 with end-to-end encryption for the exchange of 

16 sensitive health information that comply with 

17 the regulations promulgated under section 

18 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and 

19 Accountability Act of 1996, requirements for 

20 youth in a foster care placement to be informed 

21 of confidentiality agreements with counselors, 

22 therapists, and psychiatrists, and provided with 

23 information regarding where and how to file a 

24 grievance about each member of their care 

25 team, and requirements to retrain mental 


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1 health, child welfare, or juvenile justice profes2 sionals who have violated such confidentiality 

3 agreements on upholding these requirements; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(v) requires that, in the case of a youth 

6 in a foster care placement who needs treatment 

7 for a mental health condition or substance use 

8 disorder— 

9 ‘‘(I) the health and education infor10 mation required for the youth’s case plan 

11 under section 475(1)(C) includes docu12 mentation evidencing having discussed with 

13 the youth the youth’s options for treatment 

14 of the mental health condition or substance 

15 use disorder and a plan for the delivery of 

16 such treatments, prior to, or as soon as 

17 practicable after, the start of treatment; 

18 ‘‘(II) procedures are in place to en19 sure continuity of care for a youth in a 

20 foster care placement who is being treated 

21 for a mental health condition or substance 

22 use disorder if the youth is moved to an23 other placement setting, the youth’s treat24 ment is transferred to another provider, or 

25 the type of treatment is changed; 


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1 ‘‘(III) the components of the transi2 tion plan development process required 

3 under section 475(5)(H) that relate to the 

4 health care needs of children aging out of 

5 foster care, includes a plan for continuity 

6 of care when a youth in a foster care 

7 placement who is being treated for a men8 tal health condition or substance use dis9 order leaves foster care; and 

10 ‘‘(IV) systems are in place to follow 

11 up with youth to ensure receipt and ade12 quacy of needed mental health or sub13 stance use disorder services, with protocols 

14 to respond to concerns identified by foster 

15 youth and assist youth with accessing addi16 tional care as recommended by a health 

17 care professional; and’’. 

18 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

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

20 Act shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act 

21 and shall apply to payments under subpart 1 of part B 

22 of title IV of the Social Security Act for calendar quarters 

23 beginning on or after such date, and without regard to 

24 whether regulations to implement the amendments are 

25 promulgated by such date. 


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1 (b) EXCEPTION FOR STATE PLANS REQUIRING

2 STATE LAW AMENDMENTS.—In the case of a State plan 

3 under subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social Security 

4 Act which the Secretary determines requires State legisla5 tion in order for the plan to meet the additional require6 ments imposed by the amendments made by this Act, the 

7 effective date of the amendments imposing the additional 

8 requirements shall be 3 months after the first day of the 

9 first calendar quarter beginning after the close of the first 

10 regular session of the State legislature that begins after 

11 the date of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of 

12 the preceding sentence, in the case of a State that has 

13 a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session shall 

14 be considered to be a separate regular session of the State 

15 legislature. 

Æ 


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