II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2543 

To amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide grants 

to develop and enhance, or to evaluate, kinship navigator programs, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 13, 2018 

Ms. HEITKAMP (for herself and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act 

to provide grants to develop and enhance, or to evaluate, 

kinship navigator programs, 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 ‘‘Supporting Kinship 

5 Connections Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) 2,500,000 children in the United States are 

2 living in kinship care with grandparents or other rel3 atives. 

4 (2) With the rise of heroin and other opioid-use, 

5 more kin caregivers are stepping up to raise children 

6 who are in need of foster care and permanent 

7 homes. 

8 (3) Grandparents and relatives residing in 

9 urban, rural, and suburban households in every 

10 county of the United States have stepped forward 

11 out of love and loyalty to care for children during 

12 times in which parents are unable to do so. 

13 (4) Kinship caregivers provide safety, promote 

14 well-being, and establish stable households for vul15 nerable children. 

16 (5) Kinship care enables a child to maintain 

17 family relationships and cultural heritage and re18 main in the community of the child. 

19 (6) Kinship care is a national resource that pro20 vides loving homes for children at risk. 

21 (7) Kinship caregivers face daunting challenges 

22 to keep countless children from entering foster care. 

23 (8) Kinship navigator programs have been 

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1 givers in an effort to avert crises and potentially 

2 prevent more costly services. 

3 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO DEVELOP, ENHANCE, OR EVALUATE 

4 KINSHIP NAVIGATOR PROGRAMS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 427 of the Social Security 

6 Act (42 U.S.C. 627) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 427. KINSHIP NAVIGATOR PROGRAM GRANTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall make grants 

9 to States and to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, or trib10 al consortia to develop and enhance kinship navigator pro11 grams, or to evaluate such programs, in order to promote 

12 the use of kinship navigator programs by all States and 

13 tribal entities, and to advance the knowledge and use of 

14 kinship navigator programs that meet— 

15 ‘‘(1) the evidence-based practices criteria to 

16 qualify for payments under section 474(a)(7) (as in 

17 effect on and after October 1, 2018); and 

18 ‘‘(2) the requirements described in subsection 

19 (b)(1). 

20 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS.—The re22 quirements described in this paragraph are the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(A) The kinship navigator program is de25 signed to assist kinship caregivers in learning 


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1 about, finding, and using programs and services 

2 to meet the needs of the children they are as3 sisting or raising, and their own needs, and to 

4 promote effective partnerships among public 

5 and private agencies to ensure kinship caregiver 

6 families are served. 

7 ‘‘(B) The kinship navigator program is co8 ordinated with other State or local agencies 

9 that promote service coordination or provide in10 formation and referral services, including the 

11 entities that provide 2–1–1 or 3–1–1 informa12 tion systems where available, to avoid duplica13 tion or fragmentation of services to kinship care 

14 families. 

15 ‘‘(C) The kinship navigator program is 

16 planned and operated in consultation with kin17 ship caregivers and organizations representing 

18 them, youth raised by kinship caregivers, rel19 evant government agencies, and relevant com20 munity-based or faith-based organizations. 

21 ‘‘(D) The kinship navigator program estab22 lishes information and referral systems that 

23 link (via toll-free access) kinship caregivers, 

24 kinship support group facilitators, and kinship 

25 service providers to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) each other; 

2 ‘‘(ii) eligibility and enrollment infor3 mation for Federal, State, and local bene4 fits; 

5 ‘‘(iii) relevant training to assist kin6 ship caregivers in caregiving and in obtain7 ing benefits and services; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) relevant legal assistance and 

9 help in obtaining legal services. 

10 ‘‘(E) The kinship navigator program pro11 vides outreach to kinship care families, includ12 ing by establishing, distributing, and updating a 

13 kinship care website, or other relevant guides or 

14 outreach materials. 

15 ‘‘(F) The kinship navigator program pro16 motes— 

17 ‘‘(i) partnerships between public and 

18 private agencies, including schools and uni19 versities, community-based or faith-based 

20 organizations, and relevant government 

21 agencies, to increase their knowledge of the 

22 needs of kinship care families and other in23 dividuals who are willing and able to assist 

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1 tering foster care or to be foster parents; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) improved services for such fami4 lies and individuals. 

5 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES.—In addition to 

6 meeting the requirements described in paragraph 

7 (1), a grant under this section may be used to assist 

8 a kinship navigator program in— 

9 ‘‘(A) establishing and supporting a kinship 

10 care ombudsman with authority to intervene 

11 and help kinship caregivers access services; and 

12 ‘‘(B) supporting any other activities de13 signed to assist kinship caregivers in obtaining 

14 benefits and services to improve their 

15 caregiving, including in-person supportive serv16 ices. 

17 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—In order to receive a grant 

18 under this section, a State, Indian tribe, tribal organiza19 tion, or tribal consortium shall submit to the Secretary 

20 an application, at such time and in such manner as the 

21 Secretary shall require, that contains the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) A description of how the grant will be used 

23 to develop, enhance, or evaluate kinship navigator 

24 programs that meets the requirements of subsection 

25 (b)(1) and whether the State or tribal entity intends 


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1 to carry out any of the activities included in sub2 section (b)(2). 

3 ‘‘(2) A description of how kinship caregivers 

4 and the children they care for will be identified and 

5 an initial projection of the number of children and 

6 kin caregivers that will be served. 

7 ‘‘(3) A description of how the State intends to 

8 make its kinship navigator program available as 

9 broadly as possible, including on a Statewide basis 

10 whenever possible. 

11 ‘‘(4) A description of how the State intends to 

12 sustain the kinship navigator program after the end 

13 of the grant funding, including through use of fund14 ing available under section 471(a)(7) (as so in ef15 fect). 

16 ‘‘(5) An assurance that the State, Indian tribe, 

17 tribal organization, or tribal consortium will cooper18 ate fully with any evaluation provided for by the 

19 Secretary with respect to grants made under this 

20 section. 

21 ‘‘(6) Any other information that the Secretary 

22 may require. 

23 ‘‘(d) GRANT ALLOTMENTS AND PAYMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.—Subject to the 

25 succeeding paragraphs of this subsection, from the 


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1 amounts appropriated to carry out this section for a 

2 fiscal year, after the application of the amounts re3 served under subsection (e) for the fiscal year, the 

4 Secretary shall allot to each State that has sub5 mitted an application for a grant under this section 

6 for the fiscal year (including, if it submits an appli7 cation for a grant for the fiscal year, Puerto Rico) 

8 an amount equal to the sum of— 

9 ‘‘(A) $200,000; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the product of— 

11 ‘‘(i) the amount remaining after mak12 ing the reservations required under sub13 section (e) and allotting the amount de14 scribed in subparagraph (A) to each such 

15 State; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the proportion that the number 

17 of children in the State bears to the total 

18 number of children for all the States. 

19 ‘‘(2) ALLOTMENTS TO CERTAIN TERRI20 TORIES.—In the case of the allotments determined 

21 under paragraph (1) for the jurisdictions of United 

22 States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and 

23 the Northern Mariana Islands, the Secretary may 

24 reduce the amount of the allotment based on the 

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1 imum amount that the Secretary determines is suffi2 cient to enable such jurisdictions to carry out the 

3 purposes of a grant made under this section. 

4 ‘‘(3) INDIAN TRIBES OR TRIBAL CONSORTIA.— 

5 From the amount reserved under subsection (e)(1) 

6 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall allot to each In7 dian tribe, tribal organization, and tribal consortium 

8 that has submitted an application for the fiscal year 

9 an amount that bears the same ratio to such re10 served amount as the number of children in the In11 dian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium 

12 bears to the total number of children in all Indian 

13 tribes and tribal organizations that have submitted 

14 an application for a grant under this section for the 

15 fiscal year, as determined by the Secretary on the 

16 basis of the most current and reliable information 

17 available to the Secretary. If a consortium of Indian 

18 tribes applies and is approved for a grant under this 

19 section, the Secretary shall allot to the consortium 

20 an amount equal to the sum of the allotments deter21 mined for each Indian tribe and tribal organization 

22 that is part of the consortium. 

23 ‘‘(4) PAYMENTS.—Payments of grants under 

24 this section may be made in advance or by way of 

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1 retary may determine, and shall be made on such 

2 conditions as the Secretary finds necessary to carry 

3 out the purposes of the grants. 

4 ‘‘(5) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts allot5 ted under this subsection to a State or to an Indian 

6 tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium shall 

7 remain available for expenditure through the end of 

8 the succeeding fiscal year. 

9 ‘‘(6) NO MATCHING PAYMENT REQUIRED.—No 

10 matching payment shall apply to the grants made 

11 under this section. 

12 ‘‘(e) RESERVATIONS OF FUNDS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) INDIAN TRIBES, TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS, 

14 OR TRIBAL CONSORTIA.—The Secretary shall reserve 

15 5 percent of the funds appropriated for a fiscal year 

16 to carry out this section for grants to Indian tribes, 

17 tribal organizations, or tribal consortia. 

18 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, EVALUATIONS, 

19 AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall reserve 5 per20 cent of the funds appropriated for a fiscal year to 

21 carry out this section to provide technical assistance, 

22 evaluations, and guidance to grantees and to carry 

23 out, by grant, contract, or interagency agreement, 

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1 dence-based practices criteria that will qualify for 

2 payment under section 474(a)(7) (as so in effect). 

3 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi4 tion to any amounts otherwise appropriated to carry out 

5 this subpart, there are authorized to be appropriated to 

6 the Secretary for purposes of making grants under this 

7 section, $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 and 

8 2020, to remain available until expended. 

9 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 

11 The terms ‘Indian tribe’ and ‘tribal organization’ 

12 have the meanings given such terms in section 

13 428(c). 

14 ‘‘(2) STATE.—The term ‘State’ has the mean15 ing given that term in section 1101 for purposes of 

16 this title and includes the Northern Mariana Is17 lands.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) Effective October 1, 2018, section 474(a)(7) 

20 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 674(a)(7)) is amended by 

21 striking ‘‘section 427(a)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

22 427(b)(1)’’. 

23 (2) Section 476 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 676) is 

24 amended— 

25 (A) in subsection (c)(2)(A)(ii)— 


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1 (i) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

2 after the semicolon; and 

3 (ii) by inserting after subclause (II) 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(III) Indian tribes, tribal orga6 nizations, or tribal consortia seeking 

7 to develop and enhance kinship navi8 gator programs, or to evaluate such 

9 programs, in order to promote their 

10 use by tribal entities, and to advance 

11 the knowledge and use of kinship nav12 igator programs that meet the evi13 dence-based practices to qualify for 

14 payments under section 474(a)(7) (as 

15 in effect on and after October 1, 

16 2018) and the requirements described 

17 in section 427(b)(1); and’’; and 

18 (B) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ‘‘sec19 tion 427(a)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

20 427(b)(1)’’. 

21 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (1) Section 428(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 628(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘by subsections (e) 

24 and (l) of section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

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1 spectively’’ and inserting ‘‘under section 4 of the In2 dian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

3 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)’’. 

4 (2) Section 479B(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 679c(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘450b’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘5304’’. 

Æ 


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