II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 415 

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

Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct research on indicators of child well-being. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2005 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

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

to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to conduct research on indicators of child well-being. 

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 ‘‘State Child Well-Being 

5 Research Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The well-being of children is a paramount 

9 concern for our Nation and for every State, and 
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1 most programs for children and families are man2 aged at the State or local level. 

3 (2) Child well-being varies over time and across 

4 social, economic, and geographic groups, and can be 

5 affected by changes in the circumstances of families, 

6 by the economy, by the social and cultural environ7 ment, and by public policies and programs at both 

8 the Federal and State level. 

9 (3) States, including small States, need infor10 mation about child well-being that is specific to their 

11 State and that is up-to-date, cost-effective, and con12 sistent across States and over time. 

13 (4) Regular collection of child well-being infor14 mation at the State level is essential so that Federal 

15 and State officials can track child well-being over 

16 time. 

17 (5) Information on child well-being is necessary 

18 for all States, particularly small States that do not 

19 have State-level data in other federally supported 

20 data bases, such as the Survey of Income and Pro21 gram Participation. 

22 (6) Telephone surveys of parents, on the other 

23 hand, represent a relatively cost-effective strategy 

24 for obtaining information on child well-being at the 

25 State level for all States, including small States. 
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1 (7) Data from telephone surveys of the popu2 lation are used to monitor progress toward many im3 portant national goals, including immunization of 

4 preschool children with the National Immunization 

5 Survey, and the identification of health care issues 

6 of children with special needs with the National Sur7 vey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. 

8 (8) A State-level telephone survey can provide 

9 information on a range of topics, including children’s 

10 social and emotional development, education, health, 

11 safety, family income, family employment, and child 

12 care. Information addressing marriage and family 

13 structure can also be obtained for families with chil14 dren. Information obtained from such a survey 

15 would not be available solely for children or families 

16 participating in programs but would be representa17 tive of the entire State population and consequently, 

18 would not only inform welfare policymaking, but pol19 icymaking on a range of other important issues, 

20 such as child care, child welfare, and education. 

21 SEC. 3. RESEARCH ON INDICATORS OF CHILD WELL-BEING. 

22 Section 413 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 613) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(k) INDICATORS OF CHILD WELL-BEING.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, through 

2 grants, contracts, or interagency agreements shall 

3 develop comprehensive indicators to assess child 

4 well-being in each State. 

5 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The indicators devel7 oped under paragraph (1) shall include meas8 ures related to the following: 

9 ‘‘(i) Education. 

10 ‘‘(ii) Social and emotional develop11 ment. 

12 ‘‘(iii) Health and safety. 

13 ‘‘(iv) Family well-being, such as fam14 ily structure, income, employment, child 

15 care arrangements, and family relation16 ships. 

17 ‘‘(B) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The data 

18 collected with respect to the indicators devel19 oped under paragraph (1) shall be— 

20 ‘‘(i) statistically representative at the 

21 State level; 

22 ‘‘(ii) consistent across States; 

23 ‘‘(iii) collected on an annual basis for 

24 at least the 5 years following the first year 

25 of collection; 
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1 ‘‘(iv) expressed in terms of rates or 

2 percentages; 

3 ‘‘(v) statistically representative at the 

4 national level; 

5 ‘‘(vi) measured with reliability; 

6 ‘‘(vii) current; 

7 ‘‘(viii) over-sampled, with respect to 

8 low-income children and families; and 

9 ‘‘(ix) made publicly available. 

10 ‘‘(C) CONSULTATION.—In developing the 

11 indicators required under paragraph (1) and 

12 the means to collect the data required with re13 spect to the indicators, the Secretary shall con14 sult and collaborate with the Federal Inter15 agency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. 

16 ‘‘(3) ADVISORY PANEL.— 

17 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

18 shall establish an advisory panel to make rec19 ommendations regarding the appropriate meas20 ures and statistical tools necessary for making 

21 the assessment required under paragraph (1) 

22 based on the indicators developed under that 

23 paragraph and the data collected with respect 

24 to the indicators. 

25 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.— 
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The advisory 

2 panel established under subparagraph (A) 

3 shall consist of the following: 

4 ‘‘(I) One member appointed by 

5 the Secretary of Health and Human 

6 Services. 

7 ‘‘(II) One member appointed by 

8 the Chairman of the Committee on 

9 Ways and Means of the House of 

10 Representatives. 

11 ‘‘(III) One member appointed by 

12 the Ranking Member of the Com13 mittee on Ways and Means of the 

14 House of Representatives. 

15 ‘‘(IV) One member appointed by 

16 the Chairman of the Committee on 

17 Finance of the Senate. 

18 ‘‘(V) One member appointed by 

19 the Ranking Member of the Com20 mittee on Finance of the Senate. 

21 ‘‘(VI) One member appointed by 

22 the Chairman of the National Gov23 ernors Association, or the Chairman’s 

24 designee. 
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1 ‘‘(VII) One member appointed by 

2 the President of the National Con3 ference of State Legislatures or the 

4 President’s designee. 

5 ‘‘(VIII) One member appointed 

6 by the Director of the National Acad7 emy of Sciences, or the Director’s des8 ignee. 

9 ‘‘(ii) DEADLINE.—The members of 

10 the advisory panel shall be appointed not 

11 later than 2 months after the date of en12 actment of the State Child Well-Being Re13 search Act of 2005. 

14 ‘‘(C) MEETINGS.—The advisory panel es15 tablished under subparagraph (A) shall meet— 

16 ‘‘(i) at least 3 times during the first 

17 year after the date of enactment of the 

18 State Child Well-Being Research Act of 

19 2005; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) annually thereafter for the 3 suc21 ceeding years. 

22 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 There are authorized to be appropriated for each of 
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1 fiscal years 2006 through 2010, $15,000,000 for the 

2 purpose of carrying out this subsection.’’. 

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