I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5414 

To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure that 

immigration status alone does not disqualify a parent, legal guardian, 

or relative from being a placement for a foster child, to authorize discretion to a State, county, or other political subdivision of a State to 

delay filing for termination of parental rights in foster care cases in 

which an otherwise fit and willing parent or legal guardian has been 

deported or is involved in (including detention pursuant to) an immigration proceeding, unless certain conditions have been met, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2018 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD (for herself and Mrs. TORRES) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 

to ensure that immigration status alone does not disqualify a parent, legal guardian, or relative from being 

a placement for a foster child, to authorize discretion 

to a State, county, or other political subdivision of a 

State to delay filing for termination of parental rights 

in foster care cases in which an otherwise fit and willing 

parent or legal guardian has been deported or is involved 

in (including detention pursuant to) an immigration proceeding, unless certain conditions have been met, and 

for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Help Separated Fami5 lies Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMMIGRATION STATUS ALONE NOT A DISQUALI7 FICATION FROM BEING A PLACEMENT FOR A 

8 FOSTER CHILD. 

9 Section 471(a)(19) of the Social Security Act (42 

10 U.S.C. 671(a)(19)) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘(19) provides that the State’’ 

12 and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(19) provides that— 

14 ‘‘(A) the State’’; 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘and’’; 

16 and 

17 (3) by adding after and below the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(B) such standards shall ensure that the 

20 immigration status alone of a parent, legal 

21 guardian, or relative shall not disqualify the 

22 parent, legal guardian, or relative from being a 

23 placement for a child;’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT TO ACCEPT CERTAIN 

2 DOCUMENTS ISSUED BY FOREIGN ENTITIES 

3 AS SUFFICIENT IDENTIFICATION FOR PUR4 POSES OF INITIATING A CRIMINAL RECORDS 

5 CHECK OR A FINGERPRINT-BASED CHECK. 

6 Section 471(a)(20) of the Social Security Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)) is amended— 

8 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘which 

9 procedures shall require the State (including the 

10 State agency, the child welfare agency of any county 

11 or other political subdivision of the State, and case12 workers and supervisors of any such agency) to ac13 cept a foreign consulate identification card or a for14 eign passport as sufficient identification for purposes 

15 of initiating a criminal records check or a finger16 print-based check,’’ before ‘‘including procedures’’; 

17 and 

18 (2) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘, which 

19 procedures shall require the State (including the 

20 State agency, the child welfare agency of any county 

21 or other political subdivision of the State, and case22 workers and supervisors of any such agency) to ac23 cept a foreign consulate identification card or a for24 eign passport as sufficient identification for purposes 

25 of initiating a criminal records check or a finger26 print-based check’’ before the semicolon. 


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1 SEC. 4. STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT TO NOTIFY RELATIVES 

2 SEEKING PLACEMENT OF A CHILD THAT 

3 THEIR IMMIGRATION STATUS WILL NOT BE 

4 QUESTIONED. 

5 Section 471(a)(29) of the Social Security Act (42 

6 U.S.C. 671(a)(29)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara8 graph (C); 

9 (2) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara10 graph (D); and 

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

12 ‘‘(E) the immigration status of any such 

13 relative seeking placement of the child with the 

14 relative shall not be questioned, except to the 

15 extent necessary in determining eligibility for 

16 relevant services or programs;’’. 

17 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZE STATE DISCRETION TO DELAY FILING 

18 FOR TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS IN 

19 FOSTER CARE CASES IN WHICH OTHERWISE 

20 FIT AND WILLING PARENT OR LEGAL GUARD21 IAN HAS BEEN REMOVED OR IS INVOLVED IN 

22 AN IMMIGRATION PROCEEDING, UNLESS 

23 CERTAIN CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN MET. 

24 Section 475(5)(E)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 

25 U.S.C. 675(5)(E)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘; or’’ and 

26 inserting the following: ‘‘and a compelling reason in secVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Mar 30, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5414.IH H5414

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1 tion 475(5)(E) for the State to not file (or join in the 

2 filing of such a petition) shall include the removal of the 

3 parent from the United States or the involvement of the 

4 parent in (including detention pursuant to) an immigra5 tion proceeding, unless the parent is unfit or unwilling to 

6 be a parent of the child. Before a State may file to termi7 nate the parental rights under such section 475(5)(E), the 

8 State (or the county or other political subdivision of the 

9 State, as the case may be) shall make reasonable efforts— 

10 ’’ 

11 ‘‘(I) to identify, locate, and con12 tact (including, if appropriate, 

13 through the diplomatic or consular of14 fices of the country to which the par15 ent was removed or a parent or rel16 ative resides) any parent of the child, 

17 who has been removed from the 

18 United States, and where possible, 

19 any potential adult relative of the 

20 child (as described in section 

21 471(a)(29)); 

22 ‘‘(II) to notify such a parent or 

23 legal guardian of the intent of the 

24 State (or the county or other political 

25 subdivision of the State, as applicable) 


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1 to file (or join in the filing of) such a 

2 petition; 

3 ‘‘(III) to reunify the child with 

4 any such parent or legal guardian; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(IV) provide and document ap7 propriate services to the parent or 

8 legal guardian; or’’. 

9 SEC. 6. CHILD WELFARE SERVICES FOR CHILDREN SEPA10 RATED FROM PARENTS DETAINED OR RE11 MOVED FROM THE UNITED STATES FOR IM12 MIGRATION VIOLATIONS. 

13 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—Section 471(a) 

14 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) is amend15 ed— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

17 (34); 

18 (2) by striking the period at the end of para19 graph (35) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

21 ‘‘(36) provides that the State shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) ensure that the case manager for a 

23 separated child is capable of communicating in 

24 the native language of such child and of the 

25 family of such child, or an interpreter who is so 


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1 capable is provided to communicate with such 

2 child and the family of such child at no cost to 

3 the child or the family of such child; 

4 ‘‘(B) coordinate with the Department of 

5 Homeland Security to make every effort to en6 sure that parents who wish for their child to ac7 company them to their country of origin are 

8 given adequate time and assistance to obtain a 

9 passport and visa, and to collect all relevant 

10 vital documents such as birth certificate, health, 

11 and educational records, and other information; 

12 ‘‘(C) preserve, to the greatest extent pos13 sible, the privacy and confidentiality of all infor14 mation gathered in the course of administering 

15 the care, custody, and placement of, and follow16 up services provided to, a separated child, con17 sistent with the best interest of such child, by 

18 not disclosing such information to other govern19 ment agencies or persons (other than a parent, 

20 legal guardian, or relative caregiver of such 

21 child), except that the head of the State agency 

22 (or the county or other political subdivision of 

23 the State, as applicable) may disclose such in24 formation, after placing a written record of the 

25 disclosure in the file of the child— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to a consular official for the pur2 pose of reunification of a child with a par3 ent, legal guardian, or relative caregiver 

4 who has been removed or is involved in an 

5 immigration proceeding, unless the child, 

6 or their parent, legal guardian, or relative 

7 has refused contact with, or the sharing of 

8 personal or identifying information with, 

9 the government of their country of origin; 

10 or 

11 ‘‘(ii) when authorized to do so by the 

12 child (if the child has attained 18 years of 

13 age) if the disclosure is consistent with the 

14 best interest of the child; and 

15 ‘‘(D) not less frequently than annually, 

16 compile, update, and publish a list of entities in 

17 the State that are qualified to provide legal rep18 resentation services for a separated child, in a 

19 language such that a child can read and under20 stand.’’. 

21 (b) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN

22 CASE PLAN.—Section 475(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 675(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(H) In the case of a separated child with 

25 respect to whom the State plan requires the 


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1 State to provide services pursuant to section 

2 471(a)(36)— 

3 ‘‘(i) the location of the parent or legal 

4 guardian referred to in paragraph (13)(A) 

5 of this subsection from whom the child has 

6 been separated; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) a written record of each disclo8 sure to a government agency or person 

9 (other than such a parent or legal guard10 ian) of information gathered in the course 

11 of tracking the care, custody, and place12 ment of, and follow-up services provided to, 

13 the child.’’. 

14 (c) SEPARATED CHILD DEFINED.—Section 475 of 

15 such Act (42 U.S.C. 675) is amended by adding at the 

16 end the following: 

17 ‘‘(13) The term ‘separated child’ means an indi18 vidual who— 

19 ‘‘(A) has a parent or legal guardian who 

20 has been detained by a Federal, State, or local 

21 law enforcement agency in the enforcement of 

22 an immigration law, or removed from the 

23 United States as a result of a violation of such 

24 a law; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) is in the care or supervision of a 

2 State.’’. 

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall take effect on the first day of the first 

5 calendar quarter that begins after the 1-year period that 

6 begins with the date of the enactment of this Act. 

7 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in 

9 this Act, the amendments made by this Act shall take ef10 fect on the first day of the first fiscal year beginning on 

11 or after the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall 

12 apply to payments under part E of title IV of the Social 

13 Security Act for calendar quarters beginning on or after 

14 such date. 

15 (b) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION RE16 QUIRED.—If the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

17 determines that State legislation (other than legislation 

18 appropriating funds) is required in order for a State plan 

19 approved under part E of title IV of the Social Security 

20 Act to meet the additional requirements imposed by the 

21 amendments made by this Act, the plan shall not be re22 garded as failing to meet any of the additional require23 ments before the first day of the first calendar quarter 

24 beginning after the first regular session of the State legis25 lature that begins after the date of the enactment of this 


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1 Act. For purposes of the preceding sentence, if the State 

2 has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session 

3 is deemed to be a separate regular session of the State 

4 legislature. 

Æ 


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