I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5461 

To require the President to call a White House Conference on Children 

and Youth in 2010. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2008 

Mr. FATTAH (for himself, Mr. PORTER, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, 

Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. COOPER, 

Mr. STARK, Mr. FILNER, Mr. PLATTS, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ENGLISH

of Pennsylvania, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. 

WOOLSEY, Ms. BORDALLO, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. TERRY, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. KENNEDY, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. JEFFERSON, 

Ms. NORTON, Ms. KILPATRICK, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor 

A BILL 

To require the President to call a White House Conference 

on Children and Youth in 2010. 

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 ‘‘White House Con5 ference on Children and Youth in 2010 Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND POLICY. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) In 2005 there were over 3,000,000 reports 

4 of child abuse and neglect, and only 60 percent of 

5 the children from the substantiated reports received 

6 follow-up services and 20 percent were placed in fos7 ter care as a result of an investigation. 

8 (2) Each year there are nearly 900,000 sub9 stantiated reports of child abuse and neglect. 

10 (3) Each year approximately 60 percent of such 

11 substantiated reports are reports of neglect, 30 per12 cent are physical and sexual abuse reports, and more 

13 than 20 percent are reports that involve other forms 

14 of abuse. 

15 (4) Almost 500,000 children and youth were in 

16 foster care at the end of the Federal fiscal year 

17 2004 and nearly 800,000 spent at least some time 

18 in foster care throughout the year. 

19 (5) While 51,000 children are adopted from the 

20 foster care system each year, more than 117,000 

21 children are waiting to be adopted. 

22 (6) Each year approximately 22,000 youth 

23 leave the foster care system not because they have 

24 found permanent placements, but because they have 

25 reached the age at which foster care ends. 

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1 (7) The child welfare system includes State and 

2 local governments, tribal governments, child welfare 

3 agencies, child welfare caseworkers, private agencies, 

4 social workers, the courts, volunteer court appointed 

5 special advocates, mental health and health care pro6 fessionals, educators, and advocates. 

7 (8) There is an over-representation of certain 

8 populations, including Native Americans and Afri9 can-Americans, in the child welfare system. 

10 (9) The number of children being raised by 

11 grandparents and other relatives is increasing and 

12 exceeds more than 6,000,000 children cared for in 

13 this way, and the Government recognizes that kin14 ship care is a permanency option through the enact15 ment of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 

16 1997. 

17 (10) The State courts make key decisions in the 

18 lives of children involved in the child welfare system, 

19 including decisions of whether children have been 

20 victims of child abuse, whether parental rights 

21 should be terminated, and whether children should 

22 be reunified with their families, adopted, or placed 

23 in other settings. 

24 (11) The child welfare system will never fully 

25 address its primary mission unless the courts are an 

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1 integral and functioning component of a statewide 

2 system of care and protection. 

3 (b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the Congress that— 

4 (1) the Government should work jointly with 

5 the States and their residents to develop rec6 ommendations and plans for action to meet the chal7 lenges and needs of children and families involved 

8 with the child welfare system, consistent with this 

9 Act; 

10 (2) in developing such recommendations and 

11 plans, emphasis should be directed toward the role 

12 of the Government, State and local child welfare sys13 tems, State family courts systems, child welfare ad14 vocates, guardians, and other key participants in 

15 such child welfare systems, with a goal of enhancing 

16 and protecting the lives and well-being of children 

17 and families who are involved with such child welfare 

18 systems; and 

19 (3) Federal, State, and local programs and poli20 cies should be developed to reduce the number of 

21 children who are abused and neglected, to reduce the 

22 number of children in foster care, and to dramati23 cally increase the number of children in permanent 

24 placements through family reunification, kinship 

25 placement, and adoption. 

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1 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF THE CONFERENCE. 

2 (a) AUTHORITY TO CALL THE CONFERENCE.—The 

3 President shall call a White House Conference on Children 

4 and Youth in 2010 (in this Act referred to as ‘‘the Con5 ference’’), to be convened not later than 18 months after 

6 the selection of the Policy Committee established in sec7 tion 4, to encourage improvements in each State and local 

8 child welfare system, and to develop recommendations for 

9 actions to implement the policy set forth in section 2(b). 

10 (b) PLANNING AND DIRECTION.—The Secretary shall 

11 plan, conduct, and convene the Conference in cooperation 

12 with the heads of other appropriate Federal entities, in13 cluding the heads of the Department of Justice, the De14 partment of Education, and the Department of Housing 

15 and Urban Development. 

16 (c) PURPOSES OF THE CONFERENCE.—The purposes 

17 of the Conference are— 

18 (1) to identify the problems and challenges of 

19 child abuse and neglect, and the needs of the chil20 dren and families affected by decisions made 

21 through the child welfare system; 

22 (2) to strengthen the use of research-based best 

23 practices that can prevent child abuse and neglect 

24 with a special focus on younger children; 

25 (3) to strengthen the use of research-based best 

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1 nency for children removed from their homes, includ2 ing practices involving family reunification, kinship 

3 placement, and adoption; 

4 (4) to promote the role of State family courts 

5 in each State child welfare system; 

6 (5) to develop recommendations that will reduce 

7 the number of children who are in out-of-home care 

8 and who fail to leave foster care before the age of 

9 majority, and to reduce the overrepresentation of 

10 certain populations in the child welfare system; 

11 (6) to examine the role of the Government in 

12 building an equal partnership in assisting and en13 couraging State, local, and tribal coordination; 

14 (7) to develop such specific and comprehensive 

15 recommendations for State-level executive and legis16 lative action as may be appropriate for maintaining 

17 and improving the well-being of children in such sys18 tem; and 

19 (8) to review the status of recommendations re20 garding child welfare made by previous White House 

21 conferences. 

22 SEC. 4. POLICY COMMITTEE. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a 

24 Policy Committee which shall be comprised of 17 members 

25 to be selected as follows: 

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1 (1) PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTEES.—Nine mem2 bers shall be selected by the President and shall con3 sist of— 

4 (A) 3 members who are officers or employ5 ees of the United States; and 

6 (B) 6 members, who may be officers or 

7 employees of the United States, with experience 

8 in the field of child welfare, including providers 

9 and children directly affected by the child wel10 fare system. 

11 (2) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE AP12 POINTEES.— 

13 (A) Two members shall be selected by the 

14 Speaker of the House of Representatives after 

15 consultation with the chairperson of the Com16 mittee on Education and Labor, and the chair17 person of the Committee on Ways and Means, 

18 of the House of Representatives. 

19 (B) Two members shall be selected by the 

20 minority leader of the House of Representa21 tives, after consultation with ranking minority 

22 members of such committees. 

23 (3) SENATE APPOINTEES.— 

24 (A) Two members shall be selected by the 

25 majority leader of the Senate, after consultation 

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1 with members of the Committee on Health, 

2 Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the Com3 mittee on Finance, of the Senate. 

4 (B) Two members shall be selected by the 

5 minority leader of the Senate, after consultation 

6 with members of such committees. 

7 (b) VOTING; CHAIRPERSON.— 

8 (1) VOTING.—The Policy Committee shall act 

9 by the vote of a majority of the members present. 

10 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The President shall select 

11 the chairperson from among the members of the 

12 Policy Committee. The chairperson may vote only to 

13 break a tie vote of the other members of the Policy 

14 Committee. 

15 (c) DUTIES OF POLICY COMMITTEE.—The Policy 

16 Committee shall first meet at the call of the Secretary, 

17 not later than 30 days after the last member is selected. 

18 Subsequent meetings of the Policy Committee shall be 

19 held at the call of the chairperson of the Policy Committee. 

20 Through meetings, hearings, and working sessions, the 

21 Policy Committee shall— 

22 (1) make recommendations to the Secretary to 

23 facilitate the timely convening of the Conference; 

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1 (2) submit to the Secretary a proposed agenda 

2 for the Conference not later than 90 days after the 

3 first meeting of the Policy Committee; 

4 (3) make recommendations for delegates of the 

5 Conference; 

6 (4) establish the number of delegates to be se7 lected under section 5 and the manner by which they 

8 are to be selected in accordance with such section; 

9 and 

10 (5) establish other advisory committees as need11 ed to facilitate Conference participation of— 

12 (A) professionals with direct experience 

13 providing services to children and families in 

14 the child welfare system; and 

15 (B) children and families who are directly 

16 involved in the child welfare system. 

17 SEC. 5. CONFERENCE DELEGATES. 

18 To carry out the purposes of the Conference, the Sec19 retary shall bring together delegates representative of the 

20 spectrum of thought in the field of child welfare and the 

21 courts, without regard to political affiliation or past par22 tisan activity, who shall include— 

23 (1) the directors of child welfare systems of the 

24 States and tribal governments; 

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1 (2) members of the State and local judicial sys2 tems relating to families and children, representa3 tives of the State organization composed of members 

4 of the legal profession, and attorneys specializing in 

5 family law; 

6 (3) elected officials of State and local govern7 ments; and 

8 (4) advocates (including national and State or9 ganizations), guardians, experts in the field of child 

10 welfare, families, children, and youth affected by the 

11 child welfare system, and the general public. 

12 SEC. 6. CONFERENCE ADMINISTRATION. 

13 (a) ADMINISTRATION.—In conducting and planning 

14 the Conference, the Secretary shall— 

15 (1) request the cooperation and assistance of 

16 the heads of such other Federal entities as may be 

17 appropriate, including the detailing of personnel; 

18 (2) furnish all reasonable assistance, including 

19 financial assistance, not less than 18 months before 

20 the Secretary convenes the Conference, to State 

21 child welfare systems, heads of State courts and 

22 courts on family law, and to other appropriate orga23 nizations, to enable them to organize and conduct 

24 State-level child welfare conferences in conjunction 

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1 with and in preparation for participation in the Con2 ference; 

3 (3) prepare and make available for public com4 ment a proposed agenda for the Conference, which 

5 will reflect to the greatest extent possible the major 

6 issues facing child welfare systems and the courts, 

7 consistent with the policy set forth in section 2(b); 

8 (4) prepare and make available background ma9 terials that the Secretary deems necessary for the 

10 use of delegates to the Conference; and 

11 (5) employ such additional personnel as may be 

12 necessary to carry out this Act without regard to 

13 provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing 

14 appointments in the competitive service, and without 

15 regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 

16 53 of such title relating to classification and General 

17 Schedule pay rates. 

18 (b) DUTIES.—In carrying out the Secretary’s respon19 sibilities and functions under this section, the Secretary 

20 shall ensure that— 

21 (1) the conferences held under subsection (a)(2) 

22 will— 

23 (A) be conducted to ensure broad partici24 pation of individuals and groups; and 

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1 (B) include conferences on Native Ameri2 cans— 

3 (i) to identify conditions that ad4 versely affect their children in the child 

5 welfare system and to identify Native 

6 American families who are at risk of enter7 ing such system; 

8 (ii) to propose solutions to ameliorate 

9 such conditions; and 

10 (iii) to provide for the exchange of in11 formation relating to the delivery of serv12 ices to their children in the child welfare 

13 system and to Native American families 

14 who are at risk of entering such system; 

15 and 

16 (2) the proposed agenda for the Conference as 

17 described in subsection (a)(3) is— 

18 (A) published in the Federal Register not 

19 less than 180 days before the Conference is 

20 convened; and 

21 (B) made available for public comment for 

22 a period of not less than 60 days; 

23 (3) the final agenda for the Conference, pre24 pared after the Secretary takes into consideration 

25 comments received under paragraph (2), is published 

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1 in the Federal Register and transmitted to the chief 

2 executive officers of the States not later than 30 

3 days after the close of the public comment period re4 quired by paragraph (2); 

5 (4) the personnel employed under subsection 

6 (a)(5) are fairly balanced in terms of point of view 

7 represented and are appointed without regard to po8 litical affiliation or previous partisan activities; 

9 (5) the recommendations of the Conference are 

10 not inappropriately influenced by any public official 

11 or special interest, but instead are the result of the 

12 independent and collective judgment of the delegates 

13 of the Conference; and 

14 (6) before the Conference is convened— 

15 (A) current and adequate statistical data 

16 (including decennial census data) and other in17 formation on the well-being of children in the 

18 United States; and 

19 (B) such information as may be necessary 

20 to evaluate Federal programs and policies relat21 ing to children; 

22 which the Secretary may obtain by making grants to 

23 or entering into an agreement with, public agencies 

24 or nonprofit organizations, are readily available in 

25 advance of the Conference to the delegates. 

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1 SEC. 7. REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE. 

2 (a) PROPOSED REPORT.—After consultation with the 

3 Policy Committee, the Secretary shall prepare— 

4 (1) a proposed report on the results of the Con5 ference, which shall include a statement of com6 prehensive coherent national policy on State child 

7 welfare systems (including the courts); and 

8 (2) recommendations for the implementation of 

9 such policy; 

10 which shall be published in the Federal Register and sub11 mitted to the chief executive officers of the States, not 

12 later than 60 days after the Conference adjourns. 

13 (b) RESPONSE TO PROPOSED REPORT.—After re14 viewing and soliciting recommendations and comments on 

15 the report of the Conference, the Secretary shall request 

16 that the chief executive officers of the States submit to 

17 the Secretary, not later than 180 days after receiving the 

18 report, their views and findings on the recommendations 

19 of the Conference. 

20 (c) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 

21 receiving the views and findings of the chief executive offi22 cers of the States under subsection (b), the Secretary 

23 shall— 

24 (1) prepare a final report of the Conference, 

25 which shall include a compilation of the views and 

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1 findings of the chief executive officers of the States; 

2 and 

3 (2) publish in the Federal Register, and trans4 mit to the President and to the Congress, the rec5 ommendations for the administrative action and the 

6 legislation necessary to implement the recommenda7 tions contained in such report. 

8 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

9 For the purposes of this Act— 

10 (1) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

11 of Health and Human Services; and 

12 (2) the term ‘‘State’’ means any of the several 

13 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

14 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United 

15 States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the 

16 Northern Marianas, the Federated States of Micro17 nesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the 

18 Republic of Palau. 

19 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 

21 to carry out this Act. 

22 SEC. 10. LIMITATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 New spending authority or new authority to enter 

24 into contracts under which the United States is obligated 

25 to make outlays shall be effective only to the extent and 

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1 in such amounts as are provided in advance in appropria2 tions Acts. 

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