I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2408 

To establish in the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services the Federal Interagency Working 

Group on Reducing Child Poverty to develop a national strategy to 

eliminate child poverty in the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2015 

Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. LEE, and 

Mr. CUMMINGS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To establish in the Administration for Children and Families 

of the Department of Health and Human Services the 

Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Child 

Poverty to develop a national strategy to eliminate child 

poverty in the United States, 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 ‘‘Child Poverty Reduc5 tion Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Sec. 1. Short title. 


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Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—FEDERAL INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON 

REDUCING CHILD POVERTY 

Sec. 101. Establishment of Working Group. 

Sec. 102. National plan to reduce child poverty. 

Sec. 103. Other duties. 

Sec. 104. Membership. 

Sec. 105. Director and staff. 

Sec. 106. Reporting requirements. 

TITLE II—WORKSHOPS BY NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 

Sec. 201. Requirement to enter into agreement with National Academy of 

Sciences. 

Sec. 202. Workshop topics. 

Sec. 203. Reporting requirement. 

Sec. 204. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE III—DEFINITIONS 

Sec. 301. Definitions. 

1 TITLE I—FEDERAL INTER2 AGENCY WORKING GROUP ON 

3 REDUCING CHILD POVERTY 

4 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING GROUP. 

5 There is established in the Administration for Chil6 dren and Families of the Department of Health and 

7 Human Services a group which shall be known as the Fed8 eral Interagency Working Group on Reducing Child Pov9 erty (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Working Group’’). 

10 SEC. 102. NATIONAL PLAN TO REDUCE CHILD POVERTY. 

11 (a) PRIMARY GOAL.— 

12 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL PLAN.—The 

13 primary goal of the Working Group is to develop a 

14 national plan— 


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1 (A) to reduce, within 10 years after the 

2 date on which funding is made available to 

3 carry out this Act— 

4 (i) the number of children living in 

5 poverty in the United States to half of the 

6 number of such children as reported in the 

7 report of the United States Census Bureau 

8 on Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance 

9 Coverage in the United States: 2013 

10 (issued in September 2014); and 

11 (ii) the number of children living in 

12 extreme poverty in the United States to 

13 zero; and 

14 (B) to reduce, within 20 years after the 

15 date on which funds are made available to carry 

16 out this Act, the number of children living in 

17 poverty in the United States to zero. 

18 (2) CONSULTATION WITH NATIONAL ACADEMY

19 OF SCIENCES.—In developing the national plan 

20 under paragraph (1), the Working Group shall con21 sider all recommendations, research papers, and re22 ports published by the National Academy of Sciences 

23 as a result of the workshops conducted pursuant to 

24 title II. 


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1 (3) DEADLINE.—Not later than 180 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Working 

3 Group shall make substantial progress toward the 

4 development of the national plan. 

5 (b) ADDITIONAL GOALS.—The national plan under 

6 subsection (a) shall include recommendations for achieving 

7 the following goals: 

8 (1) Understanding the root causes of child pov9 erty, including persistent intergenerational poverty, 

10 taking into account social, economic, and cultural 

11 factors. 

12 (2) Improving the accessibility of anti-poverty 

13 programs and increasing the rate of enrollment in 

14 such programs among eligible children and families 

15 by reducing the complexity and difficulty of enrolling 

16 in such programs. 

17 (3) Eliminating disparate rates of child poverty 

18 based on race, ethnicity, gender, and age. 

19 (4) Improving the ability of individuals living in 

20 poverty, low-income individuals, and unemployed in21 dividuals to access quality jobs that help children 

22 and their families rise above poverty. 

23 (5) Connecting low-income children, discon24 nected youth, and their families to education, job 

25 training, work, and their communities. 


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1 (6) Shifting the measures and policies of Fed2 eral anti-poverty programs from the goal of helping 

3 individuals and families living in poverty to achieve 

4 freedom from deprivation toward the goal of helping 

5 such individuals and families rise above poverty and 

6 achieve long-term economic stability. 

7 (c) METHODS.—In developing the national plan 

8 under subsection (a), the Working Group shall employ 

9 methods for achieving the goals described in subsections 

10 (a) and (b) that include— 

11 (1) entering into an agreement with the Na12 tional Academy of Sciences for a workshop series on 

13 the economic and social costs of child poverty, as de14 scribed in title II; 

15 (2) studying the effect of child poverty on the 

16 health and welfare of children, including the access 

17 of children living in poverty to health care, housing, 

18 proper nutrition, and education; 

19 (3) measuring the effect of child poverty on the 

20 ability of individuals to achieve economic stability, 

21 including such effect on educational attainment, 

22 rates of incarceration, lifetime earnings, access to 

23 healthcare, and access to housing; 

24 (4) updating and applying improved measures 

25 of poverty that can meaningfully account for other 


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1 aspects relating to the measure of poverty, such as 

2 the Supplemental Poverty Measure used by the 

3 United States Census Bureau; and 

4 (5) using and applying fact-based measures to 

5 evaluate the long-term effectiveness of anti-poverty 

6 programs, taking into account the long-term savings 

7 and value to the Federal Government and to State, 

8 local, and tribal governments of practices and poli9 cies designed to prevent poverty. 

10 SEC. 103. OTHER DUTIES. 

11 In addition to developing the national plan under sec12 tion 102(a), the Working Group shall— 

13 (1) monitor, in consultation with the Domestic 

14 Policy Council and the National Economic Council, 

15 all Federal activities, programs, and services related 

16 to child welfare and child poverty; 

17 (2) establish guidelines, policies, goals, and di18 rectives related to the achievement of the goals of 

19 the national plan, in consultation with non-govern20 mental entities providing social services to low-in21 come children and families, advocacy groups that di22 rectly represent low-income children and families, 

23 policy experts, and officials of State, local, and tribal 

24 governments who administer or direct policy for 

25 anti-poverty programs; 


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1 (3) advise all relevant Federal agencies regard2 ing how to effectively administer and coordinate pro3 grams, activities, and services related to child wel4 fare and child poverty and how to resolve any dis5 putes that arise between or among such agencies as 

6 a result of such administration or coordination; 

7 (4) provide recommendations to the Congress 

8 regarding how to ensure that Federal agencies ad9 ministering programs, activities, and services related 

10 to child welfare and child poverty have adequate re11 sources to increase public awareness of such pro12 grams, activities, and services and how to maximize 

13 enrollment of eligible individuals; 

14 (5) identify methods for improving communica15 tion and collaboration among and between State and 

16 Federal governmental entities regarding the imple17 mentation of State programs related to child welfare 

18 and child poverty, such as State programs funded 

19 under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act 

20 (relating to block grants to States for temporary as21 sistance for needy families), and submit rec22 ommendations regarding such methods to relevant 

23 Federal agencies and congressional committees; and 

24 (6) hold hearings in different geographic re25 gions of the United States to collect information and 


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1 feedback from the public regarding personal experi2 ences related to child poverty and anti-poverty pro3 grams, and make such information and feedback 

4 publicly available. 

5 SEC. 104. MEMBERSHIP. 

6 (a) NUMBER OF MEMBERS.—The Working Group 

7 shall be composed of no less than 6 members. 

8 (b) EXECUTIVE PAY RATE.—Each member shall be 

9 an official of an Executive Department who occupies a po10 sition for which the rate of pay is equal to or greater than 

11 the rate of pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule 

12 under section 5313 of title 5, United States Code. 

13 (c) REQUIRED PARTICIPATION OF CERTAIN EXECU14 TIVE DEPARTMENTS.—The Working Group shall include 

15 at least one member who is an official of each of the fol16 lowing Executive departments: 

17 (1) The Department of Justice. 

18 (2) The Department of Agriculture. 

19 (3) The Department of Labor. 

20 (4) The Department of Health and Human 

21 Services. 

22 (5) The Department of Housing and Urban De23 velopment. 

24 (6) The Department of Education. 


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1 (d) APPOINTMENT.—Each member shall be ap2 pointed by the head of the Executive department that em3 ploys such member. 

4 (e) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—On request of the 

5 Chairperson, any head of a Federal agency shall furnish 

6 directly to the Working Group any information necessary 

7 to enable the Working Group to carry out this Act. 

8 (f) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed for the 

9 life of the Working Group. 

10 (g) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall 

11 be filled in the manner in which the original appointment 

12 was made. 

13 (h) QUORUM.—A majority of members shall con14 stitute a quorum. 

15 (i) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the Working 

16 Group shall be appointed by the Secretary of Health and 

17 Human Services. 

18 (j) MEETINGS.— 

19 (1) INITIAL MEETING PERIOD.—The Working 

20 Group shall meet on a monthly basis during the 

21 180-day period beginning with the date on which 

22 funds are made available to carry out this Act. 

23 (2) SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS.—After such 180- 

24 day period, the Working Group shall meet not less 


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1 than once every 6 months and at the call of the 

2 Chairperson or a majority of members. 

3 SEC. 105. DIRECTOR AND STAFF. 

4 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Working Group shall have a Di5 rector who shall be appointed by the Chairperson. 

6 (b) STAFF.—The Director may appoint and fix the 

7 pay of additional personnel as the Director considers ap8 propriate. 

9 (c) DUTIES.—The duties of the Director and staff 

10 shall be to achieve the goals and carry out the duties of 

11 the Working Group. 

12 SEC. 106. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

13 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than September 30, 

14 2016, and annually thereafter, the Chairperson shall sub15 mit to the Congress a report describing the activities, 

16 projects, and plans of the Federal Government to carry 

17 out the goals of the Working Group, which shall include— 

18 (1) an accounting of— 

19 (A) any increase in efficiency in the deliv20 ery of Federal, State, local, and tribal social 

21 services and benefits related to child welfare 

22 and child poverty; 

23 (B) any reduction in the number of chil24 dren living in poverty; 


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1 (C) any reduction in the demand for such 

2 social services and benefits for which children 

3 living in poverty and near poverty are eligible; 

4 and 

5 (D) any savings to the Federal Govern6 ment as a result of such increases or reduc7 tions; 

8 (2) an accounting of any increase in the na9 tional rate of employment due to the efforts of the 

10 Working Group; 

11 (3) a summary of the efforts of each State to 

12 reduce child poverty within such State, including the 

13 administration of State programs funded under part 

14 A of title IV of the Social Security Act (relating to 

15 block grants to States for temporary assistance for 

16 needy families); and 

17 (4) legislative language and recommendations 

18 regarding reducing child poverty and achieving the 

19 other goals and duties of the Working Group. 

20 (b) PUBLIC REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 (1) ANNUAL REPORT AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC.— 

22 A version of the annual report required by sub23 section (a) shall be made publicly available. 

24 (2) ANNUAL UPDATE FROM FEDERAL AGEN25 CIES.—The head of each relevant Federal agency 


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1 shall post on the public Internet Web site of such 

2 agency an annual summary of any plans, activities, 

3 and results of the agency related to the goals and 

4 duties of the Working Group. 

5 TITLE II—WORKSHOPS BY NA6 TIONAL ACADEMY OF 

7 SCIENCES 

8 SEC. 201. REQUIREMENT TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENT 

9 WITH NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

11 date on which funds are made available to carry out this 

12 Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 

13 enter into an agreement with the National Academy of 

14 Sciences for 2 public workshops to provide the Working 

15 Group with information to assist in the development of 

16 the national plan under section 102(a). 

17 (b) STEERING COMMITTEE.—The agreement under 

18 subsection (a) shall include the creation of a steering com19 mittee to plan and conduct such workshops. 

20 (c) EXPERTS.—The agreement under subsection (a) 

21 shall include the commission of experts to prepare re22 search papers that summarize and critique literature on 

23 the economic and social costs of child poverty. 


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1 SEC. 202. WORKSHOP TOPICS. 

2 The purpose of the workshops required by section 

3 201(a) shall be to collect information and input from the 

4 public on the economic and social costs of child poverty, 

5 addressing topics that include— 

6 (1) the macroeconomic costs of child poverty, 

7 including the effects of child poverty on productivity 

8 and economic output; 

9 (2) the health-related costs of child poverty, in10 cluding the costs incurred by the Federal Govern11 ment and State, local, and tribal governments due to 

12 child illnesses, other child medical problems, and 

13 other child health-related expenditures; 

14 (3) the effect of child poverty on crime rates; 

15 (4) the short-term and long-term effects of 

16 child poverty on the Federal budget, including out17 lays for anti-poverty programs; 

18 (5) poverty metrics such as income poverty, 

19 food insecurity, and other measures of deprivation, 

20 and the role of such metrics in assessing the effects 

21 of poverty and the performance of anti-poverty pro22 grams; 

23 (6) the effect of child poverty on certain popu24 lation groups, including immigrants, single parent 

25 families, individuals who have attained the age of 16 

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1 dent loans, individuals living in areas of con2 centrated poverty, and individuals living on Indian 

3 reservations; and 

4 (7) the effect of child poverty on individuals 

5 and families living in extreme poverty, as compared 

6 with such effect on individuals and families living in 

7 poverty or near poverty. 

8 SEC. 203. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

9 (a) RESEARCH PAPERS.—The agreement under sec10 tion 201(a) shall include the publication of the research 

11 papers required under such section on the public Web site 

12 of the National Academy of Sciences. 

13 (b) WORKSHOP SUMMARY.—The agreement under 

14 section 201(a) shall include the publication of a summary 

15 of each workshop required under such section on the pub16 lic Web site of the National Academy of Sciences. 

17 SEC. 204. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 to 

19 carry out this title. 

20 TITLE III—DEFINITIONS 

21 SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) ANTI-POVERTY PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘anti24 poverty program’’ means a program or institution 

25 with the primary goal of lifting children or families 


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1 out of poverty and improving economic opportunities 

2 for children or families that operates in whole or in 

3 part using Federal, State, local, or tribal govern4 ment funds. 

5 (2) CHILD.—The term ‘‘child’’ means an indi6 vidual who has not attained the age of 18. 

7 (3) DEPRIVATION.—The term ‘‘deprivation’’ 

8 means, with respect to an individual, that such indi9 vidual lacks adequate nutrition, health care, housing, 

10 or other resources to provide for basic human needs. 

11 (4) DISCONNECTED YOUTH.—The term ‘‘dis12 connected youth’’ means individuals who have at13 tained the age of 16 but have not attained the age 

14 of 25 who are unemployed and not enrolled in 

15 school. 

16 (5) ECONOMIC STABILITY.—The term ‘‘eco17 nomic stability’’ means, with respect to an individual 

18 or family, that such individual or family has access 

19 to the means and support necessary to effectively 

20 cope with adverse or costly life events and to effec21 tively recover from the consequences of such events 

22 while maintaining a decent standard of living. 

23 (6) EXTREME POVERTY.—The term ‘‘extreme 

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1 nual income that is less than the amount that is 50 

2 percent of the official poverty threshold for such in3 dividual or family, as provided in the report of the 

4 United States Census Bureau on Income, Poverty, 

5 and Health Insurance Coverage in the United 

6 States: 2013 (issued in September 2014). 

7 (7) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

8 agency’’ means an Executive department, a Govern9 ment corporation, and an independent establish10 ment. 

11 (8) NEAR POVERTY.—The term ‘‘near poverty’’ 

12 means, with respect to an individual or family, that 

13 such individual or family has a total annual income 

14 that is less than the amount that is 200 percent of 

15 the official poverty threshold for such individual or 

16 family, as provided in the report of the United 

17 States Census Bureau on Income, Poverty, and 

18 Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 

19 2013 (issued in September 2014). 

20 (9) POVERTY.—The term ‘‘poverty’’ means, 

21 with respect to an individual or family, that such in22 dividual or family has a total annual income that is 

23 less than the amount that is the official poverty 

24 threshold for such individual or family, as provided 

25 in the report of the United States Census Bureau on 


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1 Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in 

2 the United States: 2013 (issued in September 2014). 

Æ 


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