II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1964 

To encourage kinship guardianship placements and support payment rate 

equity for such placements, to improve oversight of State child welfare 

programs funded under the Social Security Act, to strengthen national 

data on child fatalities from maltreatment, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 16, 2017 

Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To encourage kinship guardianship placements and support 

payment rate equity for such placements, to improve 

oversight of State child welfare programs funded under 

the Social Security Act, to strengthen national data on 

child fatalities from maltreatment, 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 ‘‘Child Welfare Over5 sight and Accountability Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DE-LINKAGE OF ELIGIBILITY FOR KINSHIP GUARD2 IANSHIP ASSISTANCE FROM AFDC INCOME 

3 LIMITATIONS AND DECREASE IN MINIMUM 

4 NUMBER OF MONTHS REQUIRED TO BE RE5 SIDING IN A RELATIVE HOME BEFORE BEING 

6 ELIGIBLE FOR ASSISTANCE. 

7 (a) CHILD’S ELIGIBILITY FOR A KINSHIP GUARDIAN8 SHIP ASSISTANCE PAYMENT.—Section 473(d)(3)(A)(i)(II) 

9 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(d)(3)(A)(i)(II)) 

10 is amended by striking ‘‘eligible for foster care mainte11 nance payments under section 472 while residing for at 

12 least 6’’ and inserting ‘‘residing for at least 3’’. 

13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO LIMITATION ON

14 AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—Section 473(d)(2) of such Act 

15 (42 U.S.C. 673(d)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘foster care 

16 maintenance payment’’ and all that follows through the 

17 period and inserting ‘‘highest foster care maintenance 

18 payment which could have been paid on behalf of the child 

19 if the child were eligible for foster care maintenance pay20 ments under section 472.’’. 

21 (c) APPLICATION OF FOSTER AND ADOPTIVE PAR22 ENT RECORDS CHECKS REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

23 471(a)(20)(C) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(C)) is 

24 amended— 

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1 mation databases (as defined in section 534(e)(3)(A) 

2 of title 28, United States Code),’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘checks described in subparagraph (A)’’; and 

4 (2) by inserting ‘‘, including procedures that re5 quire that a child shall not be placed in the home 

6 of any relative guardian if any such checks reveal in7 formation which would prohibit a prospective foster 

8 or adoptive parent from being finally approved for 

9 placement of a child on whose behalf foster care 

10 maintenance payments or adoption assistance pay11 ments are to be made under the State plan under 

12 this part’’ after ‘‘under this part’’. 

13 SEC. 3. REINVESTING PENALTIES TO IMPROVE SUCCESS14 FUL COMPLETION OF REVIEWS OF CHILD 

15 AND FAMILY SERVICES PROGRAMS AND OF 

16 FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION ASSISTANCE 

17 PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT PLANS. 

18 Section 1123A(b)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 1320a–2a(b)(4)) is amended— 

20 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘, ap21 proved by the Secretary, designed to end the failure 

22 to so conform’’ and inserting ‘‘designed to end the 

23 failure to so conform that is developed with and ap24 proved by the Secretary, and which, in addition to 

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1 gram was determined to have failed to conform, 

2 identifies priority areas that, if successfully com3 pleted under the corrective action plan, will be con4 sidered to have brought the State into substantial 

5 conformity’’; 

6 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘suspend’’ 

7 and all that follows through the semicolon and in8 serting ‘‘, in lieu of withholding of any Federal 

9 matching funds under this section while such a cor10 rective action plan is in effect, require that the State 

11 spend an amount that is not less than the amount 

12 of the Federal matching funds that will be withheld 

13 if the State fails to successfully complete the correc14 tive action plan on the priority areas identified in 

15 the corrective action plan;’’; and 

16 (3) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘if the 

17 failure to so conform is ended by successful comple18 tion of’’ and inserting ‘‘and spending requirement if 

19 the failure to so conform is ended by successful com20 pletion of the identified priority areas of’’. 

21 SEC. 4. STATE CHILD WELFARE CASELOAD AND WORKLOAD 

22 STANDARDS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 471(a)(22) of the Social 

24 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(22)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘that, not later than’’ and in2 serting ‘‘that— 

3 ‘‘(A) not later than’’; 

4 (2) by adding ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and 

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

6 ‘‘(B)(i) not later than January 1, 2020, 

7 the State, in consultation with the Secretary 

8 and national organizations with expertise in 

9 caseload and workload issues, and based on the 

10 most recent research, best practices, and such 

11 other data or information relating to caseload 

12 and workload issues as the State and Secretary 

13 determine appropriate, shall develop and imple14 ment caseload and workload standards for case 

15 workers for children on whose behalf aid, serv16 ices, or assistance may be provided under part 

17 B or this part that are based on the unique 

18 needs and circumstances of the State and that 

19 establish minimum standards with respect to— 

20 ‘‘(I) the number of active initial as21 sessments or investigations per month per 

22 caseworker; 

23 ‘‘(II) the number of active, ongoing 

24 cases per caseworker and the rate of new 


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1 families assigned to a caseworker for every 

2 open family case; 

3 ‘‘(III) the number of combined assess4 ment or investigation and ongoing cases 

5 per caseworker; 

6 ‘‘(IV) the number of families per case7 worker being provided intensive family-cen8 tered or preservation services; 

9 ‘‘(V) the number of cases per case10 worker that involve children with intensive 

11 caseworker or supervision needs; and 

12 ‘‘(VI) supervisor to caseworker ratios; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(ii) not later than January 1, 2025, and 

15 every 5 years thereafter, the State shall update 

16 the standards developed and implemented under 

17 clause (i), in consultation with the Secretary 

18 and national organizations with expertise in 

19 caseload and workload issues, and based on the 

20 most recent research, best practices, and such 

21 other data or information relating to caseload 

22 and workload issues as the State and Secretary 

23 determine appropriate.’’. 

24 (b) APPLICATION TO INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL

25 ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 471(a)(22)(B) of the Social 


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1 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(22)(B)), as added by sub2 section (a), shall apply to— 

3 (1) Indian tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal 

4 consortiums that have a plan approved under section 

5 471(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) 

6 in accordance with section 479B of such Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 679c); and 

8 (2) Indian tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal 

9 consortiums that have a cooperative agreement or 

10 contract with a State for the administration or pay11 ment of funds under part E of title IV of the Social 

12 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 670 et seq.). 

13 SEC. 5. TRAINING CHILD WELFARE WORKERS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 474(a)(3)(A) of the Social 

15 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 674(a)(3)(A)) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘75 per centum of so much of 

17 such expenditures as are for the training’’ and in18 serting ‘‘50 percent of so much of such expenditures 

19 as are for the short- and long-term training’’; and 

20 (2) by inserting ‘‘or of personnel employed or 

21 preparing for employment by State-licensed or State22 approved child welfare agencies, without regard to 

23 whether such personnel provide or will provide serv24 ices to foster or adoptive children on behalf of whom 

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1 sistance payments may be made under this part, in 

2 areas directly related to the responsibilities of such 

3 personnel, including making a case plan, carrying 

4 out case reviews, engaging families, connecting fami5 lies with appropriate substance abuse treatment, 

6 preparing for judicial proceedings, determining eligi7 bility, treating child behaviors or other problems, 

8 carrying out or participating with child abuse and 

9 neglect investigations and other responses, coordi10 nating and connecting children with health services, 

11 helping children access psycho-social services as 

12 needed, providing post-permanency services, pro13 viding child welfare services in a trauma-informed 

14 manner, working in multidisciplinary teams, and col15 laborating with law enforcement,’’ after ‘‘subdivi16 sion,’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

18 474(a)(3)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 674(a)(3)(B)) is 

19 amended by striking ‘‘, the members of the staff of State20 licensed or State-approved child care institutions providing 

21 care, or State-licensed or State-approved child welfare 

22 agencies providing services,’’ and inserting ‘‘or the mem23 bers of the staff of State-licensed or State-approved child 

24 care institutions providing care’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. STRENGTHENING NATIONAL DATA ON CHILD FA2 TALITIES FROM MALTREATMENT. 

3 (a) IV-B REQUIREMENT TO ANNUALLY REVIEW

4 CHILD FATALITIES FROM MALTREATMENT.—Section 

5 422(b)(19) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 622(b)(19)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘contain a description’’ and in8 serting ‘‘contain— 

9 ‘‘(A) a description’’; 

10 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert11 ing a semicolon; and 

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

13 ‘‘(B) assurances that the State shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) annually engage in a multidisci15 plinary review of all child fatalities from 

16 maltreatment in the State that occurred 

17 during the previous year in accordance 

18 with the requirements of section 429A; 

19 and’’. 

20 (b) ANNUAL REVIEW REQUIREMENTS.—Subpart 1 of 

21 part B of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 429A. ANNUAL REVIEW OF CHILD FATALITIES FROM 

2 MALTREATMENT. 

3 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS.—In order to satisfy the re4 quirements of section 422(b)(19)(B)(i), a State shall re5 quire the State’s multidisciplinary child death review team 

6 or other multidisciplinary team established by the State 

7 that is comprised of child welfare workers, child protective 

8 services workers, prosecutors, law enforcement, coroners 

9 or medical examiners, public health care providers, pedia10 tricians with expertise in child maltreatment and the child 

11 welfare system, substance abuse treatment providers, and 

12 other individuals integral to the child welfare system (in 

13 this section referred to as the ‘review team’) to annually 

14 review all child fatalities from maltreatment in the State 

15 that occurred during the most recently ended fiscal year 

16 and for which all administrative or judicial review is com17 plete or no longer timely. Any child fatality from maltreat18 ment in the State that occurred during the most recently 

19 ended fiscal year but for which administrative or judicial 

20 review is not complete or remains timely shall be reviewed 

21 by the review team in the first annual review period that 

22 occurs after all administrative or judicial review is com23 plete or no longer timely. 

24 ‘‘(b) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The review 

25 team shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) for each child fatality from maltreatment 

2 in the State subject to review, make findings regard3 ing the causes of child’s fatality and other factors 

4 that impacted the child’s fatality, the circumstances 

5 of the fatality, the characteristics of the victim, the 

6 perpetrators, including their relationship to the 

7 child, and the parents or guardians of the child, 

8 whether there were previous familial interactions 

9 with child protective services and the outcomes of 

10 those interactions, whether the child had any sib11 lings and how many, and the social services, public 

12 cash or in-kind assistance, health (including mental 

13 health) services, substance abuse treatment, or other 

14 public or private services provided to or on behalf of 

15 the child prior to the child’s death; 

16 ‘‘(2) submit all findings and data made in ac17 cordance with paragraph (1) to the Child Death Re18 view Case Reporting System (in this section referred 

19 to as the ‘CDR Reporting System’) operated by the 

20 National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention; 

21 ‘‘(3) based on the findings made in accordance 

22 with paragraph (1), develop recommendations for 

23 preventing future child fatalities from maltreatment; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(4) submit an annual report to the State Gov2 ernor, the State Legislature, and, if the incident re3 porting threshold established under subsection (c) is 

4 met, to the Secretary, that contains the findings and 

5 data submitted to the CDR Reporting System under 

6 subparagraph (2) (de-identified) and the rec7 ommendations developed under paragraph (3). 

8 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL INCIDENT REPORTING THRESHOLD.— 

9 ‘‘(1) STATE-SPECIFIC THRESHOLDS.—The Sec10 retary annually shall establish a national reporting 

11 incident threshold for each State for purposes of 

12 protecting the privacy of families and other living in13 dividuals whose information is part of the findings 

14 and data submitted under subsection (b)(2) and the 

15 annual report to the State Governor and State Leg16 islature required under subsection (b)(4). In estab17 lishing such threshold for a State, the Secretary 

18 shall ensure that the reporting threshold is sufficient 

19 to prevent the re-identification of living individuals 

20 who could be identified in the information contained 

21 in the annual report required under subsection 

22 (b)(4). 

23 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—If the number of child fa24 talities from maltreatment in a State in a fiscal year 

25 is below the reporting threshold established for the 


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1 State for the fiscal year, the State shall not submit 

2 the annual report required under subsection (b)(4) 

3 to the Secretary but shall submit to the Secretary— 

4 ‘‘(A) the findings and data submitted to 

5 the CDR Reporting System under subsection 

6 (b)(2) for the purpose of making such findings 

7 and data accessible as a public use data set on 

8 the national website required under subsection 

9 (g) after redacting any personal identifying in10 formation; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the recommendations developed under 

12 subsection (b)(3). 

13 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—Amounts expended by a State dur14 ing each quarter beginning after December 31, 2017, for 

15 administrative costs (as defined in section 422(c)(1)) to 

16 carry out this section and section 422(b)(19)(B) shall be 

17 deemed to be amounts expended during such quarter as 

18 found necessary by the Secretary for the proper and effi19 cient administration of the State plan under part E for 

20 purposes of Federal matching payments under section 

21 474(a)(3)(E). 

22 ‘‘(e) INDIAN TRIBES, TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS.—The 

23 Secretary, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary-In24 dian Affairs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the De25 partment of Interior and tribal child welfare organizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 Oct 17, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1964.IS S1964

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1 tions, shall determine how and the extent to which the re2 quirements of this section shall apply to Indian tribes and 

3 tribal organizations (as defined in section 4 of the Indian 

4 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

5 U.S.C. 450b). 

6 ‘‘(f) NONAPPLICATION.—The limitations on pay7 ments for administrative costs under sections 424(e) and 

8 472(i) shall not apply to State expenditures made to carry 

9 out this section. 

10 ‘‘(g) NATIONAL WEBSITE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina12 tion with the National Center for Fatality Review 

13 and Prevention, shall publish on a website that is 

14 available to the public and maintained and updated 

15 at least annually— 

16 ‘‘(A) each annual report submitted to the 

17 Secretary under subsection (b)(4); and 

18 ‘‘(B) the findings and data submitted to 

19 the CDR Reporting System under subsection 

20 (b)(2) (with any personal identifying informa21 tion or information that identifies the submit22 ting State redacted) in a manner that is acces23 sible as a public use data set for purposes of re24 search to identify risk factors and to prevent 

25 future deaths of children from maltreatment. 


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1 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

2 shall notify Congress when information on the 

3 website required under paragraph (1) is updated.’’. 

4 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 425 of the 

5 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 625) is amended by strik6 ing ‘‘426, 427, and 429’’ and inserting ‘‘422(b)(19)(B), 

7 426, 427, 429, and 429A’’. 

8 SEC. 7. DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL DEFINITION STAND9 ARDS RELATING TO CHILD FATALITIES FROM 

10 MALTREATMENT. 

11 (a) PROMULGATION OF NATIONAL DEFINITION

12 STANDARDS.—Not later than 18 months after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

14 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec15 retary’’) shall promulgate proposed regulations estab16 lishing a set of national definition standards relating to 

17 child fatalities from maltreatment that States shall use to 

18 report data to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data 

19 System established and maintained in accordance with 

20 section 103 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 5104) and, not later than 6 months after 

22 the date on which the public comment period on the pro23 posed regulations closes, shall issue final regulations es24 tablishing such standards. 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In promulgating the regula2 tions under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with 

3 representatives of— 

4 (1) State and county officials responsible for 

5 administering the State plans under parts B and E 

6 of title IV of the Social Security Act; 

7 (2) child welfare professionals with field experi8 ence; 

9 (3) child welfare researchers; 

10 (4) child development professionals; 

11 (5) mental health professionals; 

12 (6) emergency medicine physicians; 

13 (7) child abuse pediatricians, as certified by the 

14 American Board of Pediatrics, who specialize in 

15 treating victims of child abuse; 

16 (8) forensic pathologists; 

17 (9) public health administration; 

18 (10) public health researchers; 

19 (11) law enforcement; 

20 (12) a representative from the National Center 

21 for Fatality Review and Prevention; and 

22 (13) such other organizations or entities as the 

23 Secretary determines appropriate. 

24 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

25 (1) CAPTA.— 


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1 (A) NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE AND NE2 GLECT DATA SYSTEM.—Section 103(c)(1)(C) of 

3 the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 5104(c)(1)(C)) is amended— 

5 (i) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

6 after the semicolon; 

7 (ii) in clause (iv), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

8 after the semicolon; and 

9 (iii) by inserting after clause (iv), the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(v) information on child fatalities 

12 from maltreatment in accordance with the 

13 set of national definition standards pro14 mulgated under section 7(a) of the Child 

15 Welfare Oversight and Accountability Act 

16 of 2017;’’. 

17 (B) ANNUAL STATE DATA REPORTS.—Sec18 tion 106(d) of the Child Abuse Prevention and 

19 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a(d)) is amend20 ed by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(19) The number of child fatalities from mal22 treatment and related information required to be re23 ported in accordance with the set of national defini24 tion standards promulgated under section 7(a) of 


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1 the Child Welfare Oversight and Accountability Act 

2 of 2017.’’. 

3 (2) SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.— 

4 (A) IV-B PLAN.—Section 422(b)(19) of 

5 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(19)), 

6 as amended by section 6(a), is further amended 

7 by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(ii) report information on child mal9 treatment deaths required by Federal law 

10 in accordance with the set of national defi11 nition standards promulgated under sec12 tion 7(a) of the Child Welfare Oversight 

13 and Accountability Act of 2017.’’. 

14 (B) ANNUAL REVIEW REQUIREMENTS.— 

15 Section 429A of the Social Security Act, as 

16 added by section 6(b), is amended by adding at 

17 the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(h) APPLICATION OF NATIONAL DEFINITION

19 STANDARDS.—The review team shall use the set of na20 tional definition standards promulgated under section 7(a) 

21 of the Child Welfare Oversight and Accountability Act of 

22 2017 to make and submit findings and data to the CDR 

23 Reporting System and to develop the recommendations re24 quired under subsection (b)(3).’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ANNUAL RE2 PORT TO CONGRESS BASED ON AFCARS AND 

3 OTHER DATA. 

4 (a) PROVIDER-SPECIFIC CHILD OUTCOMES.—Section 

5 479A(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 679b(a)) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (6)(C), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

8 after the semicolon; 

9 (2) in paragraph (7)(B), by striking the period 

10 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

12 ‘‘(8) develop a set of provider-specific child out13 come measures (including with respect to child fa14 talities, child fatalities from maltreatment, maltreat15 ment in care, recurrence of maltreatment within 6 

16 months, exits from foster care by reason for the exit 

17 (adoption, guardianship, reunification, or emanci18 pation), time to reunification, reentry rates, and av19 erage number of placements) that can be used to as20 sess the performance of foster care providers, as de21 fined in subsection (e), in providing services to chil22 dren under this part or part B; 

23 ‘‘(9) prescribe, not later than October 1, 2019, 

24 such regulations as may be necessary to ensure that 

25 States— 


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1 ‘‘(A) provide to the Secretary the data nec2 essary for the Secretary to assess the perform3 ance of States and foster care providers (as so 

4 defined) with respect to the outcome measures 

5 developed under paragraph (8), as a condition 

6 of the State receiving funds under this part; 

7 ‘‘(B) include with the data submitted to 

8 the Secretary under subparagraph (A) for each 

9 foster care provider (as so defined), information 

10 as to whether the provider is a for-profit or not11 for-profit entity; and 

12 ‘‘(C) review and consider the performance 

13 of each foster care provider (as so defined) with 

14 respect to such outcome measures prior to en15 tering into or renewing any agreement with the 

16 provider that relates to the provision of services 

17 to children under this part or part B; and 

18 ‘‘(10) include in the report submitted pursuant 

19 to paragraph (5) for fiscal year 2021 or any suc20 ceeding fiscal year, State-by-State data with respect 

21 to the outcome measures developed under paragraph 

22 (8) and the data and information submitted under 

23 paragraph (9).’’. 

24 (b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF STATE-SPECIFIC IN25 FORMATION.—Section 479A of the Social Security Act (42 


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1 U.S.C. 679b) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall 

4 publish, in a manner that is accessible as a public use data 

5 set for purposes of research, the data, ratings, and per6 formance measures collected and determined under this 

7 section with respect to each State on a website that is 

8 available to the public and maintained and updated at 

9 least annually.’’. 

10 (c) APPLICATION TO INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL

11 ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 479A of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 679b), as amended by subsection (b), is further amended 

13 by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION TO INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL

15 ORGANIZATIONS.—The data collection and outcome meas16 ures requirements of this section shall apply to Indian 

17 tribes, tribal organization, or tribal consortiums that have 

18 a plan approved under section 471(a) in accordance with 

19 section 479B, in the same manner as such requirements 

20 apply to a State under this part.’’. 

21 (d) DEFINITION OF FOSTER CARE PROVIDER.—Sec22 tion 479A of such Act (42 U.S.C. 679b), as amended by 

23 subsections (b) and (c), is further amended by adding at 

24 the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION OF FOSTER CARE PROVIDER.—For 

2 purposes of paragraphs (8) and (9) of subsection (a), the 

3 term ‘foster care provider’ means any entity, other than 

4 a foster family home, that receives funds from a State 

5 under this part or part B for the provision of placement 

6 or supervision services for any child in foster care under 

7 the responsibility of the State.’’. 

8 SEC. 9. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION FOR FAILURE TO COM9 PLY WITH CASE PLAN AND CASE SYSTEM RE10 VIEW REQUIREMENTS. 

11 (a) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Section 475A of 

12 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675a) is amended by 

13 adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who is or 

16 was a child in foster care under the responsibility of 

17 the State may obtain appropriate relief with regard 

18 to a failure to comply with a case plan requirement 

19 in section 475(1) or a failure to comply with a case 

20 review system requirement in section 475(5) that 

21 applies or applied to the individual while the child 

22 was such foster care not later than 5 years after the 

23 date on which the individual exits foster care by 

24 bringing a civil action in an appropriate district 

25 court of the United States. In the case of an indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 Oct 17, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1964.IS S1964

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1 vidual with more than 1 period in foster care under 

2 the responsibility of the State, each such period shall 

3 be treated separately for purposes of applying the 5- 

4 year deadline under the preceding sentence. 

5 ‘‘(2) EXHAUSTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE REM6 EDIES.—An action under this subsection may be 

7 commenced, and relief may be granted, only after 

8 the individual commencing the action has sought or 

9 exhausted any available administrative remedies. 

10 ‘‘(3) WAIVER OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of a 

12 State receiving funds under this part, the State 

13 shall voluntarily and knowingly agree that— 

14 ‘‘(i) an action under this subsection 

15 may be maintained against, among others, 

16 a party that is a State governmental enti17 ty; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) relief in an action under this 

19 subsection may include money damages 

20 even if the defendant is such a govern21 mental entity. 

22 ‘‘(B) STATE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY DE23 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘State 

24 governmental entity’ means a State, a local gov25 ernment within a State, and any agency or 


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1 other governmental unit or subdivision of a 

2 State or of such a local government. 

3 ‘‘(4) RELIEF.—In an action under this sub4 section, the court shall grant— 

5 ‘‘(A) all necessary equitable and legal re6 lief, including, where appropriate, declaratory 

7 relief and compensatory and punitive damages, 

8 to prevent the occurrence, continuance, or rep9 etition of the designated failure and to com10 pensate for losses resulting from the designated 

11 failure; and 

12 ‘‘(B) to a prevailing plaintiff, reasonable 

13 attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses as part 

14 of the costs.’’. 

15 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The private right of 

16 action established under section 475A(c) of the Social Se17 curity Act with regard to a failure to comply with a case 

18 plan requirement in section 475(1) of such Act or a failure 

19 to comply with a case review system requirement in section 

20 475(5) of such Act, as added by subsection (a) of this sec21 tion, shall not be construed as an expression of congres22 sional intent with respect to the creation of, or prohibition 

23 of, a private right of action with respect to a failure to 

24 comply with any other provision of title IV of Social Secu25 rity Act. 


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1 SEC. 10. TRANSPARENCY IN CONTRACTING WITH PRIVATE 

2 CHILD WELFARE SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

3 Section 422(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 622(b)), as amended by section 7(c)(2)(A), is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (18), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

6 the semicolon; 

7 (2) in paragraph (19), by striking the period at 

8 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(20) provide that the State shall make publicly 

11 available on a website maintained by the State, in 

12 accordance with such procedures as are necessary to 

13 maintain the confidentiality and privacy of children 

14 and families provided assistance under this part or 

15 part E— 

16 ‘‘(A) any agreement with a private foster 

17 care provider (as defined in section 479A(e)) 

18 that relates to the provision of services to chil19 dren under this part or part E; and 

20 ‘‘(B) with respect to each such provider 

21 with such an agreement, information as to 

22 whether the provider is a for-profit or not-for23 profit entity.’’. 


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1 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsections 

3 (b), (c), and (d), this Act and the amendments made by 

4 this Act take effect on January 1, 2018. 

5 (b) REINVESTMENT OF PENALTIES.—The amend6 ments made by section 3 take effect on October 1, 2018, 

7 and shall apply to conformity reviews conducted with re8 spect to fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 2019. 

9 (c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—The amendment 

10 made by section 9(a) shall take effect on January 1, 2019. 

11 (d) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION RE12 QUIRED.—In the case of a State plan approved under part 

13 B or E of title IV of the Social Security Act which the 

14 Secretary of Health and Human Services determines re15 quires State legislation (other than legislation appro16 priating funds) in order for the plan to meet the additional 

17 requirements imposed by this Act, the State plan shall not 

18 be regarded as failing to comply with the requirements of 

19 such part solely on the basis of the failure of the plan 

20 to meet such additional requirements before the first day 

21 of the first calendar quarter beginning after the close of 

22 the first regular session of the State legislature that be23 gins after the date of enactment of this section. For pur24 poses of the previous sentence, in the case of a State that 

25 has a 2-year legislative session, each year of such session 


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1 shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of the 

2 State legislature. 

Æ 


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