II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 836 

To amend subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to 

ensure that mental health screenings and assessments are provided to 

children and youth upon entry into foster care. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 18, 2021 

Mr. BLUNT (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. BOOZMAN, and Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social 

Security Act to ensure that mental health screenings 

and assessments are provided to children and youth upon 

entry into 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 ‘‘Timely Mental Health 

5 for Foster Youth Act’’. 


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•S 836 IS

1 SEC. 2. TIMELY MENTAL HEALTH SCREENINGS AND AS2 SESSMENTS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH 

3 UPON ENTRY INTO FOSTER CARE. 

4 (a) STATE AND TRIBAL PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Sec5 tion 422(b)(15)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 622(b)(15)(A)) is amended— 

7 (1) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘and that require 

8 that an initial mental health screening of any child 

9 in foster care be completed not later than 30 days 

10 after the date the child enters into foster care and, 

11 in the case of any child in foster care for whom a 

12 mental health issue is identified in such initial 

13 screening, that a comprehensive assessment of the 

14 mental health of the child be completed not later 

15 than 60 days after the date the child enters into fos16 ter care’’ before the semicolon; and 

17 (2) by striking clause (ii) and inserting the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(ii) how health needs identified 

20 through such screenings and assessments 

21 will be monitored and treated for the dura22 tion of a child’s placement in foster care, 

23 including through annual mental health 

24 screenings, with respect to emotional trau25 ma associated with a child’s maltreatment 

26 and removal from home, and, as approVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S836.IS S836

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1 priate, follow-up assessments and treat2 ment;’’. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 

4 422(b)(15)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(15)(A)) is 

5 further amended in the matter before clause (i), by strik6 ing ‘‘provides’’ and inserting ‘‘provide’’. 

7 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 

10 shall take effect on October 1, 2020. 

11 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION

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

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

14 Security Act which the Secretary of Health and 

15 Human Services determines requires State legisla16 tion (other than legislation appropriating funds) in 

17 order for the plan to meet the additional require18 ments imposed by this section, the State plan shall 

19 not be regarded as failing to comply with the re20 quirements of such part solely on the basis of the 

21 failure of the plan to meet such additional require22 ments before the first day of the first calendar quar23 ter beginning after the close of the first regular ses24 sion of the State legislature that begins after the 

25 date of enactment of this section. For purposes of 


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1 the previous sentence, in the case of a State that has 

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

3 shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of 

4 the State legislature. 

5 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 

6 The Assistant Secretary for the Administration for 

7 Children and Families and the Administrator for the Cen8 ters for Medicare & Medicaid Services jointly shall provide 

9 technical assistance to States on how to comply with the 

10 amendments made by section 2(a) of this Act. The Assist11 ant Secretary and Administrator should consult with other 

12 relevant Federal agencies on the development of such tech13 nical assistance, which should take into account evidence14 based best practices. 

15 SEC. 4. DATA COLLECTION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

17 Human Services, in consultation with State and local pub18 lic officials responsible for administering child welfare pro19 grams, child welfare advocates, pediatric mental health ex20 perts, and researchers shall— 

21 (1) identify data elements needed to track— 

22 (A) the number of children receiving an 

23 initial mental health screening required under 

24 section 422(b)(15)(A)(i) of the Social Security 


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1 Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(15)(A)) (as amended by 

2 section 2(a) of this Act); 

3 (B) whether or not such required initial 

4 mental health screening occurs within 30 days 

5 of a child’s entry or re-entry into foster care; 

6 (C) the number of children who receive a 

7 follow-up comprehensive assessment required 

8 under section 422(b)(15)(A)(i) of the Social Se9 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(15)(A)) (as so 

10 amended); 

11 (D) whether or not such required follow-up 

12 comprehensive assessment occurs within 60 

13 days of a child’s entry or re-entry into foster 

14 care; 

15 (E) the number of children in foster care 

16 who are referred for mental health services; and 

17 (F) the number and characteristics of such 

18 children who receive mental health services 

19 after being referred for such services; and 

20 (2) develop a plan to collect the information de21 scribed in paragraph (1) from States administering 

22 a State plan under subpart 1 of part B of title IV 

23 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) 

24 beginning with the second fiscal year that begins 

25 after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 12 

2 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary of Health and Human Services shall submit to the 

4 Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee 

5 on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a 

6 report detailing the plan and timetable for collecting the 

7 information described in subsection (a)(1) from States. 

Æ 


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