I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4420 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 

Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Ms. BASS, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

SOTO, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. 

MITCHELL, and Ms. MENG) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

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

3 UPON ENTRY INTO FOSTER CARE. 

4 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Section 

5 422(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) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘screenings’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘such screenings and assessments’’. 

19 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 

20 422(b)(15)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(15)(A)) is 

21 further amended in the matter before clause (i), by strik22 ing ‘‘provides’’ and inserting ‘‘provide’’. 

23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para25 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 

26 shall take effect on October 1, 2020. 


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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 section, the State plan shall 

9 not be regarded as failing to comply with the re10 quirements of such subpart 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 section. For purposes of 

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

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

18 shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of 

19 the State legislature. 

20 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 

21 The Administration for Children and Families and 

22 the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the De23 partment of Health and Human Services shall provide 

24 technical assistance to States on how to comply with the 

25 amendments made by section 2(a) of this Act. The AdminVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4420.IH H4420

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1 istration for Children and Families and the Center for 

2 Medicare and Medicaid Services should consult with other 

3 relevant Federal agencies on the development of the tech4 nical assistance, which should take into account evidence5 based best practices. 

Æ 


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