I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2908 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to account for the age of certain 

juvenile offenders and to amend title IV of the Social Security Act 

to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award competitive grants to enhance collaboration between State child welfare and 

juvenile justice systems, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2021 

Ms. BASS (for herself and Mr. CA ́RDENAS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 

Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to account for the 

age of certain juvenile offenders and to amend title IV 

of the Social Security Act to allow the Secretary of 

Health and Human Services to award competitive grants 

to enhance collaboration between State child welfare and 

juvenile justice systems, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Childhood Offenders 

3 Rehabilitation and Safety Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 5031 of title 18, United 

6 States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘person who’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘person who is at least twelve years of age that has 

9 not attained their’’; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘not attained’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘not attained their’’; and 

12 (3) by striking ‘‘committed by a person prior 

13 to’’ and inserting ‘‘committed by a person who has 

14 reached their twelfth birthday but prior to their’’. 

15 (b) DELINQUENCY PROCEEDINGS IN DISTRICT

16 COURTS; TRANSFER FOR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.—Sec17 tion 5032 of title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘fifteen’’ and inserting ‘‘six19 teen’’; 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘fifteenth birthday’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘their sixteenth birthday’’; 

22 (3) by striking ‘‘ In the application of the pre23 ceding sentence, if the crime of violence is an offense 

24 under section 113(a), 113(b), 113(c), 1111, 1113, 

25 or, if the juvenile possessed a firearm during the of26 fense, section 2111, 2113, 2241(a), or 2241(c), 


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1 ‘‘thirteen’’ shall be substituted for ‘‘fifteen’’ and 

2 ‘‘thirteenth’’ shall be substituted for ‘‘fifteenth’’.’’; 

3 (4) by striking ‘‘However, a juvenile who is al4 leged to have committed an act after his sixteenth 

5 birthday which if committed by an adult would be a 

6 felony offense that has as an element thereof the 

7 use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical 

8 force against the person of another, or that, by its 

9 very nature, involves a substantial risk that physical 

10 force against the person of another may be used in 

11 committing the offense, or would be an offense de12 scribed in section 32, 81, 844(d), (e), (f), (h), (i) or 

13 2275 of this title, subsection (b)(1)(A), (B), or (C), 

14 (d), or (e) of section 401 of the Controlled Sub15 stances Act, or section 1002(a), 1003, 1009, or 

16 1010(b)(1), (2), or (3) of the Controlled Substances 

17 Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 952(a), 953, 

18 959, 960(b)(1), (2), (3)), and who has previously 

19 been found guilty of an act which if committed by 

20 an adult would have been one of the offenses set 

21 forth in this paragraph or an offense in violation of 

22 a State felony statute that would have been such an 

23 offense if a circumstance giving rise to Federal juris24 diction had existed, shall be transferred to the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 Jun 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2908.IH H2908

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1 propriate district court of the United States for 

2 criminal prosecution.’’; 

3 (5) by striking ‘‘social background of the juve4 nile’’ and inserting ‘‘social background of the juve5 nile; the juvenile’s prior exposure to adverse child6 hood experiences, childhood trauma, and involvement 

7 in the child welfare system;’’; 

8 (6) by striking ‘‘behavioral problems’’ and in9 serting ‘‘juvenile’s behavioral problems; the rehabili10 tative potential of the juvenile within the juvenile 

11 system; and the best interest of the child’’; 

12 (7) by striking ‘‘leadership role’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘juvenile’s level of participation in the offense’’; 

14 (8) by striking ‘‘in an organization, or other15 wise influenced other persons to take part in crimi16 nal activities, involving the use or distribution of 

17 controlled substances or firearms. Such a factor, if 

18 found to exist, shall weigh in favor of a transfer to 

19 adult status, but the absence of this factor shall not 

20 preclude such a transfer’’; 

21 (9) by striking ‘‘juvenile, his parents’’ and in22 serting ‘‘juvenile, their parents’’; and 

23 (10) by striking ‘‘custodian and to his counsel’’ 

24 and ‘‘custodian and to their counsel’’. 


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1 (c) COMMITMENT.—Section 5039 of title 18, United 

2 States Code, is amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘or correctional institution in 

4 which he has regular contact with adults incarcer5 ated because they have been convicted of a crime or 

6 are awaiting trial on criminal charges’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘, correctional institution, or prison’’; and 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘near’’ and insert ‘‘near their’’. 

9 (d) MURDER.—Section 1111 of title 18, United 

10 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(d) A person who was under the age of 18 at the 

13 time of the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a 

14 crime listed under subsection (a) in which the death of 

15 a human being occurs is liable for murder only if one of 

16 the following is proven: 

17 ‘‘(1) the person who intentionally or knowingly 

18 causes the death of another person; or 

19 ‘‘(2) the person was not the actual killer, but, 

20 with the intent to kill, aided, abetted, counseled, 

21 commanded, induced, solicited, requested, or assisted 

22 the actual killer in the commission of the unlawful 

23 killing of another human being. 


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1 ‘‘ ‘A person who is not liable for murder under subsection 

2 (a) shall be sentenced in accordance with the crime they 

3 committed or attempted to commit.’.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. STATISTICS, DATA, AND RESEARCH ON INCARCER5 ATED CHILDREN AND PERSONS CONVICTED 

6 OF CRIMES AS CHILDREN. 

7 (a) COMPREHENSIVE STATISTICAL REVIEW.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Bu10 reau of Justice Statistics of the Department of Jus11 tice (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Bureau’’) 

12 shall publish, for each calendar year, a comprehen13 sive statistical review and analysis of children under 

14 eighteen years of age who are subject to adjudica15 tion, prosecution, and incarceration by the federal 

16 government. The statistical review and analysis shall 

17 include the following: 

18 (A) The number of children adjudicated 

19 delinquent in the calendar year and the offenses 

20 they were adjudicated for. 

21 (B) The number of children transferred to 

22 district court for criminal prosecution in the 

23 calendar year and the offenses they charged 

24 with. 


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1 (C) The number of children convicted in 

2 district court in the calendar year and the of3 fenses they were convicted of. 

4 (D) The average age of the children at the 

5 time of the commission of the offense. 

6 (E) The age of the child at the time of ad7 judication or conviction. 

8 (F) Demographic information, including 

9 race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, gender, 

10 sex, and gender identity of each child. 

11 (G) The number of children in Federal 

12 custody who are being detained, housed, or in13 carcerated more than 100 miles from the juris14 diction where they were adjudicated or con15 victed in. 

16 (H) The length of time or sentence each 

17 child in Federal custody has been ordered to 

18 serve for their corresponding offense. 

19 (I) The number of people incarcerated in 

20 Federal custody for crimes they committed as 

21 children. 

22 (J) Demographic information, including 

23 race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, gender, 

24 sex, gender identity, current age, as well as age 

25 at the time of the offense for each person who 


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1 is currently incarcerated in Federal custody for 

2 crimes they committed as children. 

3 (K) The number of people in Federal cus4 tody for crimes they committed as children who 

5 are incarcerated more than 100 miles from the 

6 jurisdiction they were adjudicated or convicted 

7 in. 

8 (L) The offense and corresponding sen9 tence each person in Federal custody is serving 

10 for the crime they committed as a child. 

11 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO AWARD COMPETITIVE GRANTS TO 

12 ENHANCE COLLABORATION BETWEEN STATE 

13 CHILD WELFARE AND JUVENILE JUSTICE 

14 SYSTEMS. 

15 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

16 ‘‘Childhood Outcomes Need New Efficient Community 

17 Teams’’ or the ‘‘CONNECT Act’’. 

18 (b) IN GENERAL.—Section 436 of the Social Security 

19 Act (42 U.S.C. 629f) is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(d) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS TO STATES TO

22 ENHANCE COLLABORATION BETWEEN STATE CHILD

23 WELFARE AND JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEMS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the subsection 

25 is to authorize the Secretary to make grants to State 


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1 child welfare and juvenile justice agencies to collabo2 rate in the collection of data relating to children ex3 cluded from juvenile adjudication by age (under age 

4 of 12 and over the age of 15 years old), child sur5 vivors of commercial sexual exploitation, dual status 

6 youth (children in both foster care and juvenile jus7 tice systems), and cross over children (children that 

8 cross between the foster care and juvenile justice 

9 systems) and to develop practices, policies, and pro10 tocols to confront the challenges presented and expe11 rienced by these children and their families. 

12 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

14 award competitive grants jointly to a State 

15 child welfare agency and a State juvenile justice 

16 agency to facilitate or enhance collaboration be17 tween the child welfare and juvenile justice sys18 tems of the State in order to carry out pro19 grams to address the needs of children includ20 ing those excluded from juvenile adjudication by 

21 age (under age of 12 and over the age of 15 

22 years old), child survivors of commercial sexual 

23 exploitation, dual status youth (children in both 

24 foster care and juvenile justice systems), and 


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1 cross over children (children that cross between 

2 the foster care and juvenile justice systems). 

3 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—Any grants awarded 

4 under this subsection shall be awarded from the 

5 amounts made available under subsection (a) of 

6 this section, after the application of subsection 

7 (b) of this section and before the determination 

8 of allotments under section 433. 

9 ‘‘(C) LENGTH OF GRANTS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A grant shall be 

11 awarded under this subsection for a period 

12 of not less than 2, and not more than 5, 

13 fiscal years, subject to clause (ii). 

14 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSION OF GRANT.—On ap15 plication of the grantee, the Secretary may 

16 extend for not more than 2 fiscal years the 

17 period for which a grant is awarded under 

18 this subsection. 

19 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—In order for a State 

21 to be eligible for a grant under this subsection, 

22 it shall submit an application, to be approved 

23 by the Secretary, that includes— 

24 ‘‘(i) a description of the proposed 

25 leadership collaboration group (including 


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1 the membership of such group), and how 

2 such group will manage and oversee a re3 view and analysis of current practices while 

4 working to jointly address enhanced prac5 tices to improve outcomes for children ex6 cluded from juvenile adjudication by age 

7 (under age of 12 and over the age of 15 

8 years old), child survivors of commercial 

9 sexual exploitation, dual status youth (chil10 dren in both foster care and juvenile jus11 tice systems), and cross over children (chil12 dren that cross between the foster care and 

13 juvenile justice systems); 

14 ‘‘(ii) a description of how the State 

15 proposes to— 

16 ‘‘(I) identify any eligible children; 

17 ‘‘(II) identify individuals who are 

18 at risk of becoming eligible children; 

19 ‘‘(III) identify common charac20 teristics shared by any eligible chil21 dren in the State; and 

22 ‘‘(IV) determine the prevalence of 

23 children excluded from juvenile adju24 dication by age (under age of 12 and 

25 over the age of 15 years old), child 


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1 survivors of commercial sexual exploi2 tation, dual status youth (children in 

3 both foster care and juvenile justice 

4 systems), and cross over children 

5 (children that cross between the foster 

6 care and juvenile justice systems) in 

7 the State; 

8 ‘‘(iii) a description of current and pro9 posed practices and procedures that the 

10 State intends to use to— 

11 ‘‘(I) screen and assess children 

12 excluded from juvenile adjudication by 

13 age (under age of 12 and over the age 

14 of 15 years old), child survivors of 

15 commercial sexual exploitation, dual 

16 status youth (children in both foster 

17 care and juvenile justice systems), and 

18 cross over children (children that 

19 cross between the foster care and ju20 venile justice systems) for risks and 

21 treatment needs; 

22 ‘‘(II) provide targeted and evi23 dence-based services, including edu24 cational, behavioral health, and pro25 social treatment interventions for chilVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:06 Jun 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2908.IH H2908

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1 dren excluded from juvenile adjudica2 tion by age (under age of 12 and over 

3 the age of 15 years old), child sur4 vivors of commercial sexual exploi5 tation, dual status youth (children in 

6 both foster care and juvenile justice 

7 systems), and cross over children 

8 (children that cross between the foster 

9 care and juvenile justice systems); and 

10 ‘‘(III) provide for a lawful proc11 ess to enhance or ensure the abilities 

12 of the State and any relevant agencies 

13 to share information and data about 

14 children excluded from juvenile adju15 dication by age (under age of 12 and 

16 over the age of 15 years old), child 

17 survivors of commercial sexual exploi18 tation, dual status youth (children in 

19 both foster care and juvenile justice 

20 systems), and cross over children 

21 (children that cross between the foster 

22 care and juvenile justice systems) 

23 while maintaining confidentiality and 

24 privacy protections under State and 

25 Federal law; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) a certification that the State has 

2 involved local governments, including tribal 

3 governments, as appropriate, in the devel4 opment, expansion, modification, operation, 

5 or improvement of proposed policy and 

6 practice reforms to address the needs of 

7 children excluded from juvenile adjudica8 tion by age (under age of 12 and over the 

9 age of 15 years old), child survivors of 

10 commercial sexual exploitation, dual status 

11 youth (children in both foster care and ju12 venile justice systems), and cross over chil13 dren (children that cross between the fos14 ter care and juvenile justice systems). 

15 ‘‘(B) NO SUPPLANTATION OF OTHER

16 FUNDS.—Any amounts paid to a State under a 

17 grant under this subsection shall be used to 

18 supplement and not supplant other State ex19 penditures on any eligible children involved with 

20 either the child welfare or juvenile justice sys21 tems. 

22 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—A State child welfare 

23 agency and a State juvenile justice agency re24 ceiving a grant under this subsection shall 

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1 ministrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice 

2 and Delinquency Prevention of the Department 

3 of Justice and the Administration for Children 

4 and Families of the Department of Health and 

5 Human Services a report on the activities car6 ried out under the grant at the end of each fis7 cal year during the period of the grant. Such 

8 report shall include— 

9 ‘‘(i) a description of the scope and na10 ture of the children excluded from juvenile 

11 adjudication by age (under age of 12 and 

12 over the age of 15 years old), child sur13 vivors of commercial sexual exploitation, 

14 dual status youth (children in both foster 

15 care and juvenile justice systems), and 

16 cross over children (children that cross be17 tween the foster care and juvenile justice 

18 systems) in the State, including the num19 ber of dual status youth; 

20 ‘‘(ii) a description of the evidence21 based practices and procedures used by the 

22 agencies to carry out the activities de23 scribed in subclauses (I) through (III) of 

24 subparagraph (A)(iii); and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) an analysis of the effects of such 

2 practices and procedures, including infor3 mation regarding— 

4 ‘‘(I) the collection of data related 

5 to individual children; 

6 ‘‘(II) aggregate data related to 

7 the eligible children population, in8 cluding— 

9 ‘‘(aa) characteristics of chil10 dren excluded from juvenile adju11 dication by age (under age of 12 

12 and over the age of 15 years old), 

13 child survivors of commercial sex14 ual exploitation, dual status 

15 youth (children in both foster 

16 care and juvenile justice sys17 tems), and cross over children 

18 (children that cross between the 

19 foster care and juvenile justice 

20 systems) in the State; 

21 ‘‘(bb) case processing 

22 timelines; and 

23 ‘‘(cc) information related to 

24 case management, the provision 

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1 ments within the foster care or 

2 juvenile justice system; and 

3 ‘‘(III) the extent to which such 

4 practices and procedures have contrib5 uted to— 

6 ‘‘(aa) higher educational at7 tainment for any eligible chil8 dren; 

9 ‘‘(bb) fewer delinquency re10 ferrals for children excluded from 

11 juvenile adjudication by age 

12 (under age of 12 and over the 

13 age of 15 years old), child sur14 vivors of commercial sexual ex15 ploitation, dual status youth 

16 (children in both foster care and 

17 juvenile justice systems), and 

18 cross over children (children that 

19 cross between the foster care and 

20 juvenile justice systems); 

21 ‘‘(cc) shorter stays in inten22 sive restrictive placements for 

23 children excluded from juvenile 

24 adjudication by age (under age of 

25 12 and over the age of 15 years 


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1 old), child survivors of commer2 cial sexual exploitation, dual sta3 tus youth (children in both foster 

4 care and juvenile justice sys5 tems), and cross over children 

6 (children that cross between the 

7 foster care and juvenile justice 

8 systems); or 

9 ‘‘(dd) such other outcomes 

10 for children excluded from juve11 nile adjudication by age (under 

12 age of 12 and over the age of 15 

13 years old), child survivors of com14 mercial sexual exploitation, dual 

15 status youths (children in both 

16 foster care and juvenile justice 

17 systems), and cross over children 

18 (children that cross between the 

19 foster care and juvenile justice 

20 systems) as the State child wel21 fare agency and State juvenile 

22 justice agency may identify. 

23 ‘‘(4) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

24 The Secretary may support State child welfare agen25 cies and State juvenile justice agencies by offering a 


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1 program, developed in consultation with organiza2 tions and agencies with subject matter expertise, of 

3 training and technical assistance to assist the agen4 cies in developing programs and protocols— 

5 ‘‘(A) to facilitate or enhance collaboration 

6 between State child welfare agencies and State 

7 juvenile justice agencies; and 

8 ‘‘(B) for effectively working with Federal 

9 agencies and child welfare and juvenile justice 

10 agencies from other States. 

11 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the 

12 date of enactment of this subsection, and every 3 

13 years thereafter, the Secretary and the Attorney 

14 General of the Department of Justice shall jointly 

15 submit to the Committee on Finance and the Com16 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Com17 mittee on Ways and Means and the Committee on 

18 Education and the Workforce of the House of Rep19 resentatives, a report on the grants provided under 

20 this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

22 ‘‘(A) COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOI23 TATION.—The term ‘commercial sexual exploi24 tation’ means crimes and activities involving the 

25 sexual abuse or exploitation of a person under 


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1 age 18 for the financial benefit of any person 

2 or in exchange for anything of value, including 

3 monetary and non-monetary benefits, given or 

4 received by any person. 

5 ‘‘(B) DUAL STATUS YOUTH.—The term 

6 ‘dual status youth’ means a child who has come 

7 into contact with both the child welfare and ju8 venile justice systems and occupies various 

9 statuses in terms of the individual’s relationship 

10 to such systems. 

11 ‘‘(C) LEADERSHIP COLLABORATION

12 GROUP.—The term ‘leadership collaboration 

13 group’ means a group composed of senior offi14 cials from the State child welfare agency, the 

15 State juvenile justice agency, and other relevant 

16 youth and family-serving public agencies and 

17 private organizations, including tribal nations, 

18 and to the extent practicable, representatives 

19 from the State judiciary branch. 

20 ‘‘(D) STATE JUVENILE JUSTICE AGEN21 CY.—The term ‘State juvenile justice agency’ 

22 means the agency of the State or Indian tribe 

23 responsible for administering grant funds 

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1 quency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 

2 5601 et seq.). 

3 ‘‘(E) STATE CHILD WELFARE AGENCY.— 

4 The term ‘State child welfare agency’ means 

5 the State agency responsible for administering 

6 the program under subpart 1, or in the case of 

7 a tribal organization operating a direct Title 

8 IV–B (SSA) program or a Title IV–B-funded 

9 program through tribal-State agreement, or 

10 that is receiving payments under section 428, 

11 the tribal agency responsible for administering 

12 such program.’’. 

13 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsections (b) 

14 and (c) of section 433 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 633) are 

15 each amended by striking ‘‘section 436(b)’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘subsections (b) and (c) of section 436’’. 

Æ 


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