II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 102 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to establish a demonstration 

grant program to provide emergency relief to foster youth and improve 

pre-placement services offered by foster care stabilization agencies, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 26, 2023 

Mrs. FISCHER (for herself and Mr. HICKENLOOPER) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to establish 

a demonstration grant program to provide emergency 

relief to foster youth and improve pre-placement services 

offered by foster care stabilization agencies, 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 ‘‘Foster Care Stabiliza5 tion Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO IMPROVE PRE-PLACEMENT SERVICES 

2 FOR FOSTER YOUTH. 

3 Section 426 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 626) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(d) GRANTS TO IMPROVE PRE-PLACEMENT SERV6 ICES FOR FOSTER YOUTH.— 

7 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall 

8 award 3 demonstration grants of not more than 

9 $1,000,000 to foster care stabilization agencies for 

10 the purpose of providing emergency relief to foster 

11 youth and improving pre-placement services for fos12 ter youth waiting for placement. 

13 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—A foster care stabilization 

14 agency that receives a grant under this subsection 

15 shall have 3 years to spend funds awarded by the 

16 grant and return any unused grant funds to the Sec17 retary. 

18 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—A foster care stabilization 

19 agency that desires to receive a grant under this 

20 subsection shall submit to the Secretary an applica21 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing 

22 such information as the Secretary may require, that 

23 shall include the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) A description of how grant funds will 

25 be used to provide emergency relief to foster 

26 youth by the foster care stabilization agency. 


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1 ‘‘(B) A description of how grant funds will 

2 be used to improve pre-placement services of3 fered by the foster care stabilization agency. 

4 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION DISSEMINATION.—The Sec5 retary shall ensure that the solicitation of applica6 tions for a grant under this subsection is posted 

7 publicly on the website of the Administration for 

8 Children and Families and shall make special dis9 semination efforts to rural areas and among Indian 

10 Tribes, Tribal organizations, and Native Hawaiian 

11 organizations. 

12 ‘‘(5) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded under 

13 this subsection may be used to carry out any of the 

14 following activities: 

15 ‘‘(A) Hiring of personnel necessary to pro16 vide emergency relief to foster youth and ensure 

17 that services, resources, and assistance reach 

18 such youth. 

19 ‘‘(B) Provision of clothing and other per20 sonal necessities to a foster youth for a total 

21 not to exceed $250 per foster youth, per year. 

22 ‘‘(C) Purchase of food and equipment 

23 needed to prepare food for foster youth. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Provision of service and support to 

2 prevent and respond to occurrences of child 

3 abuse and neglect with respect to foster youth. 

4 ‘‘(E) Any other extraordinary or emer5 gency assistance needed to promote the safety 

6 and self-sufficiency of foster youth. 

7 ‘‘(F) Any other purpose that the Secretary 

8 determines appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(6) RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall re10 serve $45,000 of any amounts referred to in para11 graph (9) for administration, oversight, and tech12 nical assistance activities related to this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(7) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to 

14 the Congress a report that— 

15 ‘‘(A) describes how grants awarded under 

16 this subsection have been used to provide emer17 gency relief to foster youth; 

18 ‘‘(B) describe how grants awarded under 

19 this subsection have been used on pre-place20 ment services; 

21 ‘‘(C) contains data on the extent of cloth22 ing and other necessities purchased with grant 

23 funds awarded under this subsection that have 

24 been provided to foster youth; 


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1 ‘‘(D) provides an evaluation of case out2 comes for foster youth who have benefitted 

3 from grant funds; and 

4 ‘‘(E) states the number of home transfers 

5 for each foster youth that has benefitted from 

6 grant funds. 

7 ‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

8 ‘‘(A) FOSTER CARE STABILIZATION AGEN9 CY.—The term ‘foster care stabilization agency’ 

10 means a local public or private nonprofit entity, 

11 including a community or faith-based organiza12 tion, with expertise and experience providing di13 rect services to 1 or more of the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) Children who are under the care 

15 and placement responsibility of a State or 

16 tribal agency that administers a plan 

17 under this part or part E. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Foster youth who have not at19 tained 18 years of age. 

20 ‘‘(iii) Foster youth who have attained 

21 18 years of age. 

22 ‘‘(B) FOSTER YOUTH.—The term ‘foster 

23 youth’ means an individual in foster care who 

24 has not attained 26 years of age. 


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1 ‘‘(C) HOME TRANSFER.—The term ‘home 

2 transfer’ means the initial placement of a foster 

3 youth in foster care, and any subsequent place4 ment of that foster youth while in foster care. 

5 ‘‘(9) FUNDING.—To the extent that the total of 

6 the amounts made available under subsection (a) for 

7 a fiscal year exceeds $5,000,000 more than the 

8 amount so made available for the previous fiscal 

9 year, the Secretary shall use the amounts to carry 

10 out this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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