II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1829 

To amend title V of the Social Security Act to extend the Maternal, Infant, 

and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. CASEY, Mr. 

GARDNER, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title V of the Social Security Act to extend the 

Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting 

Program. 

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 ‘‘Strong Families Act 

5 of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONTINUING EVIDENCE-BASED HOME VISITING 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 Section 511(j)(1)(H) of the Social Security Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 711(j)(1)(H)) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year 


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1 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal years 2017 through 

2 2022’’. 

3 SEC. 3. CONTINUING TO DEMONSTRATE RESULTS TO HELP 

4 FAMILIES. 

5 (a) REQUIRE SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS TO DEM6 ONSTRATE IMPROVEMENT IN APPLICABLE BENCHMARK

7 AREAS.—Section 511 of the Social Security Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 711) is amended in each of subsections (d)(1)(A) 

9 and (h)(4)(A) by striking ‘‘each of’’. 

10 (b) DEMONSTRATION OF IMPROVEMENTS IN SUBSE11 QUENT YEARS.—Section 511(d)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 711(d)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(D) DEMONSTRATION OF IMPROVEMENTS

14 IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) CONTINUED MEASUREMENT OF

16 IMPROVEMENT IN APPLICABLE BENCH17 MARK AREAS.—The eligible entity, after 

18 demonstrating improvements for eligible 

19 families as specified in subparagraphs (A) 

20 and (B), shall continue to track and re21 port, not later than 30 days after the end 

22 of fiscal year 2020 and every 3 years 

23 thereafter, information demonstrating that 

24 the program results in improvements for 

25 the eligible families participating in the 


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1 program in at least 4 of the areas specified 

2 in subparagraph (A) that the service deliv3 ery model or models selected by the entity 

4 are intended to improve. 

5 ‘‘(ii) CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN.—If 

6 the eligible entity fails to demonstrate im7 provement in at least 4 of the areas speci8 fied in subparagraph (A), as compared to 

9 eligible families who do not receive services 

10 under an early childhood home visitation 

11 program, the entity shall develop and im12 plement a plan to improve outcomes in 

13 each of the areas specified in subparagraph 

14 (A) that the service delivery model or mod15 els selected by the entity are intended to 

16 improve, subject to approval by the Sec17 retary. The plan shall include provisions 

18 for the Secretary to monitor implementa19 tion of the plan and conduct continued 

20 oversight of the program, including 

21 through submission by the entity of reg22 ular reports to the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(iii) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The 

24 Secretary shall provide an eligible entity 

25 required to develop and implement an imVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Sep 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1829.IS S1829

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1 provement plan under clause (ii) with tech2 nical assistance to develop and implement 

3 the plan. The Secretary may provide the 

4 technical assistance directly or through 

5 grants, contracts, or cooperative agree6 ments. 

7 ‘‘(iv) NO IMPROVEMENT OR FAILURE

8 TO SUBMIT REPORT.—If the Secretary de9 termines after a period of time specified by 

10 the Secretary that an eligible entity imple11 menting an improvement plan under clause 

12 (ii) has failed to demonstrate any improve13 ment in at least 4 of the areas specified in 

14 subparagraph (A), or if the Secretary de15 termines that an eligible entity has failed 

16 to submit the report required by clause (i), 

17 the Secretary shall terminate the grant 

18 made to the entity under this section and 

19 may include any unexpended grant funds 

20 in grants made to nonprofit organizations 

21 under subsection (h)(2)(B).’’. 

22 (c) INCLUDING INFORMATION ON APPLICABLE

23 BENCHMARKS IN APPLICATION.—Section 511(e)(5) of 

24 such Act (42 U.S.C. 711(e)(5)) is amended by inserting 

25 ‘‘that the service delivery model or models selected by the 


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1 entity are intended to improve’’ before the period at the 

2 end. 

3 SEC. 4. REVIEWING STATEWIDE NEEDS TO TARGET RE4 SOURCES. 

5 Section 511(b)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 711(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘Not later 

7 than’’ and all that follows through ‘‘section 505(a))’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘Each State shall, as a condition of receiving 

9 payments from an allotment for the State under section 

10 502, conduct a statewide needs assessment (which may be 

11 separate from but in coordination with the statewide needs 

12 assessment required under section 505(a) and which shall 

13 be reviewed and updated by the State not later than Octo14 ber 1, 2020)’’. 

15 SEC. 5. IMPROVING THE LIKELIHOOD OF SUCCESS IN 

16 HIGH-RISK COMMUNITIES. 

17 Section 511(d)(4)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 711(d)(4)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, taking 

19 into account the staffing, community resource, and other 

20 requirements to operate at least one approved model of 

21 home visiting and demonstrate improvements for eligible 

22 families’’ before the period. 


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1 SEC. 6. OPTION TO FUND EVIDENCE-BASED HOME VISITING 

2 ON A PAY FOR OUTCOME BASIS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 511(c) of the Social Secu4 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 711(c)) is amended by redesignating 

5 paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respec6 tively, and by inserting after paragraph (2) the following: 

7 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY TO USE GRANT FOR A PAY

8 FOR OUTCOMES INITIATIVE.—An eligible entity to 

9 which a grant is made under paragraph (1) may use 

10 up to 25 percent of the grant for outcomes or suc11 cess payments related to a pay for outcomes initia12 tive that will not result in a reduction of funding for 

13 services delivered by the entity under a childhood 

14 home visitation program under this section while the 

15 eligible entity develops or operates such an initia16 tive.’’. 

17 (b) DEFINITION OF PAY FOR OUTCOMES INITIA18 TIVE.—Section 511(k) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 711(k)) is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(4) PAY FOR OUTCOMES INITIATIVE.—The 

21 term ‘pay for outcomes initiative’ means a perform22 ance-based grant, contract, cooperative agreement, 

23 or other agreement awarded by a public entity in 

24 which a commitment is made to pay for improved 

25 outcomes that result in social benefit and direct cost 


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1 savings or cost avoidance to the public sector. Such 

2 an initiative shall include— 

3 ‘‘(A) a feasibility study that describes how 

4 the proposed intervention is based on evidence 

5 of effectiveness; 

6 ‘‘(B) a rigorous, third-party evaluation 

7 that uses experimental or quasi-experimental 

8 design or other research methodologies that 

9 allow for the strongest possible causal infer10 ences to determine whether the initiative has 

11 met its proposed outcomes; 

12 ‘‘(C) an annual, publicly available report 

13 on the progress of the initiative; and 

14 ‘‘(D) a requirement that payments are 

15 made to the recipient of a grant, contract, or 

16 cooperative agreement only when agreed upon 

17 outcomes are achieved, except that this require18 ment shall not apply with respect to payments 

19 to a third party conducting the evaluation de20 scribed in subparagraph (B).’’. 

21 (c) EXTENDED AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Section 

22 511(j)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 711(j)(3)) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY.—Funds’’ 

24 and inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), funds’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(B) FUNDS FOR PAY FOR OUTCOMES INI5 TIATIVES.—Funds made available to an eligible 

6 entity under this section for a fiscal year (or 

7 portion of a fiscal year) for a pay for outcomes 

8 initiative shall remain available for expenditure 

9 by the eligible entity for not more than 10 years 

10 after the funds are so made available.’’. 

11 SEC. 7. DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS FOR IMPROVED 

12 INTEROPERABILITY. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 511(h) of the Social Secu14 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 711(h)) is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following: 

16 ‘‘(5) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS FOR IM17 PROVED INTEROPERABILITY.— 

18 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION AND USE OF DATA EX19 CHANGE STANDARDS.— 

20 ‘‘(i) DESIGNATION.—The head of the 

21 department or agency responsible for ad22 ministering a program funded under this 

23 section shall, in consultation with an inter24 agency work group established by the Of25 fice of Management and Budget and conVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Sep 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1829.IS S1829

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1 sidering State government perspectives, 

2 designate data exchange standards for nec3 essary categories of information that a 

4 State agency operating the program is re5 quired to electronically exchange with an6 other State agency under applicable Fed7 eral law. 

8 ‘‘(ii) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS

9 MUST BE NONPROPRIETARY AND INTER10 OPERABLE.—The data exchange standards 

11 designated under clause (i) shall, to the ex12 tent practicable, be nonproprietary and 

13 interoperable. 

14 ‘‘(iii) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—In 

15 designating data exchange standards under 

16 this paragraph, the Secretary shall, to the 

17 extent practicable, incorporate— 

18 ‘‘(I) interoperable standards de19 veloped and maintained by an inter20 national voluntary consensus stand21 ards body, as defined by the Office of 

22 Management and Budget; 

23 ‘‘(II) interoperable standards de24 veloped and maintained by intergov25 ernmental partnerships, such as the 


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1 National Information Exchange 

2 Model; and 

3 ‘‘(III) interoperable standards 

4 developed and maintained by Federal 

5 entities with authority over con6 tracting and financial assistance. 

7 ‘‘(B) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS FOR

8 FEDERAL REPORTING.— 

9 ‘‘(i) DESIGNATION.—The head of the 

10 department or agency responsible for ad11 ministering a program referred to in this 

12 section shall, in consultation with an inter13 agency work group established by the Of14 fice of Management and Budget, and con15 sidering State government perspectives, 

16 designate data exchange standards to gov17 ern Federal reporting and exchange re18 quirements under applicable Federal law. 

19 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The data ex20 change reporting standards required by 

21 clause (i) shall, to the extent practicable— 

22 ‘‘(I) incorporate a widely accept23 ed, nonproprietary, searchable, com24 puter-readable format; 


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1 ‘‘(II) be consistent with and im2 plement applicable accounting prin3 ciples; 

4 ‘‘(III) be implemented in a man5 ner that is cost-effective and improves 

6 program efficiency and effectiveness; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(IV) be capable of being contin9 ually upgraded as necessary. 

10 ‘‘(iii) INCORPORATION OF NONPROPRI11 ETARY STANDARDS.—In designating data 

12 exchange standards under this paragraph, 

13 the Secretary shall, to the extent prac14 ticable, incorporate existing nonproprietary 

15 standards, such as the eXtensible Mark up 

16 Language. 

17 ‘‘(iv) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

18 Nothing in this paragraph shall be con19 strued to require a change to existing data 

20 exchange standards for Federal reporting 

21 about a program referred to in this sec22 tion, if the head of the department or 

23 agency responsible for administering the 

24 program finds the standards to be effective 

25 and efficient.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 2 years 

3 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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