I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7038 

To provide a guaranteed income for older youth who have exited foster 

care. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 18, 2024 

Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California (for himself, Ms. OMAR, and Ms. LEE of 

California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To provide a guaranteed income for older youth who have 

exited 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 ‘‘Guaranteed Income 

5 for Foster Youth Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GUARANTEED INCOME FOR OLDER YOUTH WHO 

7 HAVE EXITED FOSTER CARE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 477 of the Social Security 

9 Act (42 U.S.C. 677) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)(4), by inserting ‘‘, or 27 

2 years of age, in the case of a State with a certifi3 cation under subsection (b)(3)(L), to provide cash 

4 benefits to eligible former foster youth who have not 

5 attained such age, in accordance with such sub6 section’’ before the last close parenthesis; 

7 (2) in subsection (b)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(G)(i) Support the enrollment of eligible 

11 youth (including youth with disabilities) in the 

12 State cash benefit program provided for in sub13 section (k). 

14 ‘‘(ii) Within 5 years after the State begins 

15 enrolling youth in the program, provide a path16 way for the automatic enrollment in the State 

17 cash benefit program provided for in subsection 

18 (k) of all youth on emancipation from foster 

19 care in the State.’’; and 

20 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

21 (i) in subparagraph (C), by inserting 

22 ‘‘, other than amounts expended to carry 

23 out subsection (k),’’ before ‘‘will be ex24 pended’’; and 


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1 (ii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(L) The following certifications by the 

4 chief executive of the State with respect to the 

5 State cash benefit program provided for in sub6 section (k): 

7 ‘‘(i) A certification that, in developing 

8 the plan for enrolling eligible youth in the 

9 program, the State has consulted widely 

10 with public and private organizations, in11 cluding engagement (as defined by the Sec12 retary) with a local public or private non13 profit entity, including a community-based 

14 organization, with expertise and experience 

15 providing direct services to foster youth 

16 who have not attained 18 years of age or 

17 former foster youth, and has given all in18 terested members of the public at least 30 

19 days to submit comments on the enroll20 ment plan before finalizing the plan. 

21 ‘‘(ii) A certification that the agencies 

22 implementing the program— 

23 ‘‘(I) will support the enrollment 

24 of eligible youth, including youth with 

25 disabilities, in the program; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) are offering voluntary fi2 nancial literacy education to all youth 

3 enrolled in the program. 

4 ‘‘(iii) Within 5 years after the State 

5 begins enrolling youth in the program, a 

6 certification that the State is automatically 

7 enrolling in the program all youth emanci8 pated from foster care in the State.’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(k) GUARANTEED INCOME PROGRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—All and only the following 

12 conditions shall apply to a State cash benefit pro13 gram under this subsection: 

14 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY.—Cash benefits and fi15 nancial literacy education under the program 

16 shall be provided, on an unconditional basis, for 

17 youth who— 

18 ‘‘(i) were in foster care after attaining 

19 14 years of age; 

20 ‘‘(ii) exited foster care after attaining 

21 16 years of age; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) have not attained 27 years of 

23 age. 

24 ‘‘(B) ENROLLMENT.—Each youth eligible 

25 for benefits under the program who has atVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Feb 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7038.IH H7038

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1 tained 18 years of age shall be automatically 

2 enrolled in the program— 

3 ‘‘(i) in the case of a youth who at4 tained such age before the effective date of 

5 this subsection, on the effective date; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a youth who at7 tains such age on or after the effective 

8 date, on the date the youth attains such 

9 age. 

10 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION ON ANNUAL BENE11 FITS.—The total amount of cash benefits to be 

12 provided for a youth under the program in any 

13 period of 12 consecutive months shall be 

14 $12,000. 

15 ‘‘(D) DURATION.—Cash benefits under the 

16 program may be provided for a youth only dur17 ing the 5-year period that begins with the later 

18 of— 

19 ‘‘(i) the date the youth exits foster 

20 care; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) the effective date of this sub22 section. 

23 ‘‘(E) ENROLLMENT SUPPORT FOR YOUTH

24 WITH DISABILITIES.—The program shall, as 

25 part of the transition plan developed under secVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Feb 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7038.IH H7038

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1 tion 475(5)(H) for a youth who is eligible for 

2 benefits under the program— 

3 ‘‘(i) assist the youth in enrolling in 

4 the program; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a youth with dis6 abilities, provide reasonable accommoda7 tions to the youth. 

8 ‘‘(F) INTERIM REPORT.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Within 24 months 

10 after cash payments are initially made to 

11 youth under the program and annually 

12 thereafter, the State shall submit to the 

13 Congress an interim report on the pro14 gram, including the following information: 

15 ‘‘(I) The total number of youth 

16 participating in the program, 

17 disaggregated by race and ethnicity, 

18 gender, disability status, housing sta19 tus, family composition, and income 

20 and assets (including income level as 

21 a percentage of the Federal poverty 

22 line). 

23 ‘‘(II) With respect to each such 

24 youth, to the extent applicable— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) the employment type 

2 and job status of the youth; 

3 ‘‘(bb) the total amount of 

4 cash payments made to the youth 

5 under the program; and 

6 ‘‘(cc) the ZIP Code in which 

7 the residence of the youth is lo8 cated. 

9 ‘‘(III) Any other information that 

10 the State deems necessary 

11 ‘‘(ii) PROHIBITION ON RELEASE OF

12 PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION

13 IN ANY PUBLIC RELEASE OF THE RE14 PORT.—Any entity who makes available to 

15 the public any content of a report sub16 mitted under clause (i) shall redact from 

17 the content any personally identifiable in18 formation. 

19 ‘‘(G) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 12 

20 months after the end of the program, the State 

21 shall submit to the Congress and make avail22 able to the public a final report on the program, 

23 which shall include a quantitative and quali24 tative analysis of the effects of the income sub25 sidies provided under the program on— 


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1 ‘‘(i) financial outcomes of partici2 pating youth; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the health and economic well4 being of participating youth; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) the social costs of poverty and 

6 income volatility, including connections 

7 with income fluctuation and health, edu8 cation, employment, childcare, and other 

9 outcomes as determined appropriate by the 

10 Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(H) VOLUNTARINESS OF YOUTH PARTICI12 PATION IN RESEARCH.—In preparing a report 

13 pursuant to subparagraph (F) or (G), a State 

14 may not require a youth to provide information. 

15 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF BENEFITS.—The cash 

16 benefits provided to a youth under the program shall 

17 be disregarded in determining the eligibility of the 

18 youth for, and the benefits to be provided to the 

19 youth under, any other Federal or federally sup20 ported program, and shall not be considered income 

21 of the youth for any purpose under any Federal 

22 law.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO TRANSITION

24 PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—Section 475(5)(H) of such Act 

25 (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(H)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, and inVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Feb 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7038.IH H7038

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1 cludes information on the consequences of electing to exit 

2 foster care and receive benefits under the State cash ben3 efit program, if any, funded under section 477(k) on the 

4 eligibility of the child for benefits and supports, and that 

5 provides for the automatic enrollment of the child, upon 

6 exiting foster care, in the State cash benefit program, if 

7 any, funded under section 477(k)’’ before the semicolon. 

8 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall take effect on October 1, 2025. 

Æ 


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