II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1313 

To amend parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act to improve 

foster and adoptive parent recruitment and retention, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2023 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security 

Act to improve foster and adoptive parent recruitment 

and retention, 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 ‘‘Recruiting Families 

5 Using Data Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATE PLAN AMENDMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 422 of the Social Security 

8 Act (42 U.S.C. 622) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (b)(7), by inserting ‘‘through 

2 the development and implementation of a family 

3 partnership plan which meets the requirements of 

4 subsection (d) for identification, recruitment, screen5 ing, licensing, support, and retention of foster and 

6 adoptive families’’ after ‘‘are needed’’; and 

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

8 ‘‘(d) FAMILY PARTNERSHIP PLAN REQUIRE9 MENTS.—For purposes of subsection (b)(7), the require10 ments for a family partnership plan (in this subsection 

11 referred to as the ‘plan’) are the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) The plan is developed in consultation with 

13 birth, kinship, foster and adoptive families, commu14 nity-based service providers, technical assistance 

15 providers, and youth with lived experience with fos16 ter care and adoption. 

17 ‘‘(2) The plan describes— 

18 ‘‘(A) how the State plans to identify, no19 tify, engage, and support relatives (and others 

20 connected to the child) as potential placement 

21 resources for children; 

22 ‘‘(B) how the State plans to develop and 

23 implement child-specific recruitment plans for 

24 every child in or entering foster care who needs 

25 a foster or adoptive family; 


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1 ‘‘(C) how the State plans to authentically 

2 engage children and youth in recruitment ef3 forts on their behalf; 

4 ‘‘(D) how the State plans to use data to 

5 establish goals, assess needs, measure progress, 

6 reduce unnecessary placements in congregate 

7 care, increase permanency, improve placement 

8 stability, increase the rate of kinship place9 ments, improve recruitment and retention of 

10 families for teens, sibling groups, and other spe11 cial populations, and align the composition of 

12 foster and adoptive families with the needs of 

13 children in or entering foster care; and 

14 ‘‘(E) how that State will stand up or sup15 port foster family advisory boards for the pur16 pose of improving recruitment and retention of 

17 foster and adoptive families. 

18 ‘‘(3) The plan provides that, not less than an19 nually, the State shall collect and report on the 

20 State’s actual foster family capacity and congregate 

21 care utilization, including the number, demo22 graphics, and characteristics of licensed foster fami23 lies, including prospective adoptive families, the 

24 number of such families that haven’t received a 

25 placement or are not being fully utilized and the reaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 May 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1313.IS S1313

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1 sons therefor, and the number, demographics, and 

2 characteristics of children placed in congregate care 

3 in-State and out-of-State. 

4 ‘‘(4) The plan includes, and shall update not 

5 less than annually, a summary of the most recent 

6 feedback from foster and adoptive parents and youth 

7 regarding licensure, training, support, and reasons 

8 why parents stop fostering or why adoptive or legal 

9 guardianship placements out of foster care fail or 

10 foster and such adoptive of legal guardianship fami11 lies struggle to meet children’s needs. 

12 ‘‘(5) The plan includes, and shall update annu13 ally, a report on the State’s analysis of specific chal14 lenges or barriers to recruiting, licensing, and uti15 lizing families who reflect the racial and ethnic back16 ground of children in foster care in the State, and 

17 the State’s efforts to overcome those challenges and 

18 barriers. 

19 ‘‘(6) The plan includes such other information 

20 relating to foster and adoptive parent recruitment 

21 and retention as the Secretary may require.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para24 graph (2), the amendment made by this subsection 

25 shall take effect on October 1, 2024. 


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1 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION

2 REQUIRED.—In the case of a State plan approved 

3 under subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social 

4 Security Act which the Secretary of Health and 

5 Human Services determines requires State legisla6 tion (other than legislation appropriating funds) in 

7 order for the plan to meet the additional require8 ments imposed by this subsection, the State plan 

9 shall not be regarded as failing to comply with the 

10 requirements of such part solely on the basis of the 

11 failure of the plan to meet such additional require12 ments before the first day of the first calendar quar13 ter beginning after the close of the first regular ses14 sion of the State legislature that begins after the 

15 date of enactment of this subsection. For purposes 

16 of the previous sentence, in the case of a State that 

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

18 session shall be deemed to be a separate regular ses19 sion of the State legislature. 

20 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF INFORMATION ON FOSTER AND 

21 ADOPTIVE FAMILIES IN ANNUAL CHILD WEL22 FARE OUTCOMES REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

23 Section 479A(a) of the Social Security Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 679b(a)) is amended— 


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

2 after the semicolon; 

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

4 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(8) include in the report submitted pursuant 

7 to paragraph (5) for fiscal year 2025 or any suc8 ceeding fiscal year— 

9 ‘‘(A) State-by-State data on the number, 

10 demographics, and characteristics of foster and 

11 adoptive families in the State, and the number 

12 of potential foster and adoptive families not 

13 being utilized in the State and the reasons why; 

14 ‘‘(B) a summary of the challenges of, and 

15 barriers to, being a foster or adoptive parent, 

16 including with respect to recruitment, licensure, 

17 engagement, retention, and why parents stop 

18 fostering, adoptions disrupt or dissolve, or fos19 ter or adoptive families struggle, as reported by 

20 States based on surveys of foster and adoptive 

21 parents; and 

22 ‘‘(C) a summary of the challenges and bar23 riers States reported on efforts to recruit a pool 

24 of families that reflect the racial and ethnic 


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1 background of children in foster care in the 

2 State, and efforts to overcome those barriers.’’. 

Æ 


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