II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3907 

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

Secretary of Health and Human Services to identify obstacles to identifying and responding to children missing from foster care and other 

vulnerable foster youth, to provide technical assistance relating to the 

removal of such obstacles, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 23, 2022 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

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

to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to identify obstacles to identifying and responding to 

children missing from foster care and other vulnerable 

foster youth, to provide technical assistance relating to 

the removal of such obstacles, 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 ‘‘Find and Protect Fos5 ter Youth Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ELIMINATING OBSTACLES TO IDENTIFYING AND RE2 SPONDING TO CHILDREN MISSING FROM 

3 FOSTER CARE AND OTHER VULNERABLE FOS4 TER YOUTH. 

5 Section 476 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 676) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION OF PROTOCOLS RELATING TO

8 CHILDREN MISSING FROM FOSTER CARE AND OTHER

9 VULNERABLE YOUTH; TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con11 duct an evaluation of the protocols established by 

12 States in accordance with the requirements of sec13 tion 471(a)(35) and to the extent applicable, by In14 dian tribes or tribal organizations (as defined in sec15 tion 479B(a)) or tribal consortia with a plan ap16 proved under section 471 in accordance with section 

17 479B. 

18 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The evaluation shall in19 clude the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) A review of relevant aspects of re21 ports submitted by States, Indian tribes, tribal 

22 organizations, and tribal consortia under this 

23 part and part B, and data and other informa24 tion reported pursuant to the system estab25 lished under section 479. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Analysis of the extent to which 

2 States, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and 

3 tribal consortia comply with, and enforce, the 

4 protocols required by section 471(a)(35). 

5 ‘‘(C) Analysis of the effectiveness of such 

6 protocols. 

7 ‘‘(D) Identification of obstacles for States, 

8 Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal 

9 consortia to identifying and responding to chil10 dren missing from foster care and other vulner11 able foster youth. 

12 ‘‘(E) Identification of best practices for 

13 identifying such children and youth and inter14 vening with effective services. 

15 ‘‘(3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, 

16 through the capacity building services initiative of 

17 the Children’s Bureau of the Office of the Adminis18 tration for Children & Families, shall provide States, 

19 Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal con20 sortia with information, advice, educational mate21 rials, and technical assistance relating to eliminating 

22 identified obstacles to identifying and responding to 

23 children missing from foster care and other vulner24 able foster youth and providing such children and 


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1 youth with effective services. Such assistance may 

2 include, but is not limited to, dissemination of— 

3 ‘‘(A) processes and tools to identify and 

4 examine risk factors and potential trends re5 lated to children who go missing from foster 

6 care and other vulnerable youth; 

7 ‘‘(B) best practices for ‘runaway’ tracking 

8 and recovery; and 

9 ‘‘(C) guidelines for intervention, including 

10 with respect to services, types of providers, and 

11 placement settings. 

12 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the 

13 date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary 

14 shall submit a report to Congress on the results of 

15 the evaluation conducted under this subsection and 

16 the technical assistance provided in accordance with 

17 paragraph (3). 

18 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY.—Nothing in 

19 this subsection shall be construed as authorizing the 

20 Secretary to establish new or additional require21 ments for States, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, 

22 and tribal consortia relating to eliminating identified 

23 obstacles to identifying and responding to children 

24 missing from foster care and other vulnerable foster 


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1 youth and providing such children and youth with 

2 effective services.’’. 

Æ 


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