I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2033 

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

ensure that mental health screenings and assessments are provided to 

children and youth upon entry into foster care. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 18, 2021 

Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Ms. BASS, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. 

HAYES, Ms. NORTON, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. NADLER, and Mr. CARSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways 

and Means 

A BILL 

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

Security Act to ensure that mental health screenings 

and assessments are provided to children and youth upon 

entry into foster care. 

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 ‘‘Timely Mental Health 

5 for Foster Youth Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TIMELY MENTAL HEALTH SCREENINGS AND AS2 SESSMENTS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH 

3 UPON ENTRY INTO FOSTER CARE. 

4 (a) STATE AND TRIBAL PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Sec5 tion 422(b)(15)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 622(b)(15)(A)) is amended— 

7 (1) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘and that require 

8 that an initial mental health screening of any child 

9 in foster care be completed not later than 30 days 

10 after the date the child enters into foster care and, 

11 in the case of any child in foster care for whom a 

12 mental health issue is identified in such initial 

13 screening, that a comprehensive assessment of the 

14 mental health of the child be completed not later 

15 than 60 days after the date the child enters into fos16 ter care’’ before the semicolon; and 

17 (2) in clause (ii)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘screenings’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘such screenings and assessments’’; and 

20 (B) by inserting ‘‘which shall ensure an21 nual mental health screenings, including, as ap22 propriate, follow-up assessment and treatment, 

23 for the duration of a child’s placement in the 

24 foster care’’ before the semicolon. 

25 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 

26 422(b)(15)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(15)(A)) is 


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1 further amended, in the matter before clause (i), by strik2 ing ‘‘provides’’ and inserting ‘‘provide’’. 

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para5 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 

6 shall take effect on October 1, 2022. 

7 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION

8 REQUIRED.—In the case of a State plan approved 

9 under subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social 

10 Security Act which the Secretary of Health and 

11 Human Services determines requires State legisla12 tion (other than legislation appropriating funds) in 

13 order for the plan to meet the additional require14 ments imposed by this section, the State plan shall 

15 not be regarded as failing to comply with the re16 quirements of such subpart solely on the basis of the 

17 failure of the plan to meet such additional require18 ments before the first day of the first calendar quar19 ter beginning after the close of the first regular ses20 sion of the State legislature that begins after the 

21 date of enactment of this section. For purposes of 

22 the previous sentence, in the case of a State that has 

23 a 2-year legislative session, each year of such session 

24 shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of 

25 the State legislature. 


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1 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 

2 The Administration for Children and Families and 

3 the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the De4 partment of Health and Human Services shall provide 

5 technical assistance to States on how to comply with the 

6 amendments made by section 2(a) of this Act. The Admin7 istration for Children and Families and the Center for 

8 Medicare and Medicaid Services should consult with other 

9 relevant Federal agencies on the development of the tech10 nical assistance, which should take into account evidence11 based best practices. 

12 SEC. 4. DATA COLLECTION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

14 Human Services, in consultation with State and local pub15 lic officials responsible for administering child welfare pro16 grams, child welfare advocates, pediatric mental health ex17 perts, and researchers shall— 

18 (1) identify data elements needed to track— 

19 (A) the number of children receiving an 

20 initial mental health screening required under 

21 section 422(b)(15)(A)(i) of the Social Security 

22 Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(15)(A)) (as amended by 

23 section 2(a) of this Act); 

24 (B) whether or not such required initial 

25 mental health screening occurs within 30 days 

26 of a child’s entry or re-entry into foster care; 


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1 (C) the number of children who receive a 

2 follow-up comprehensive assessment required 

3 under section 422(b)(15)(A)(i) of the Social Se4 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(15)(A)) (as so 

5 amended); 

6 (D) whether or not such required follow-up 

7 comprehensive assessment occurs within 60 

8 days of a child’s entry or re-entry into foster 

9 care; 

10 (E) the number of children in foster care 

11 who are referred for mental health services; and 

12 (F) the number and characteristics of such 

13 children who receive mental health services 

14 after being referred for such services; and 

15 (2) develop a plan to collect the information de16 scribed in paragraph (1) from States administering 

17 a State plan under subpart 1 of part B of title IV 

18 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) 

19 beginning with the second fiscal year that begins 

20 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

21 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 12 

22 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec23 retary of Health and Human Services shall submit to the 

24 Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee 

25 on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a 


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1 report detailing the plan and timetable for collecting the 

2 information described in subsection (a)(1) from States. 

Æ 


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