I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2747 

To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to provide for 

better protections for children raised in kinship families outside of the 

foster care system. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 21, 2021 

Ms. SCANLON (for herself and Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania) introduced 

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

Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 

to provide for better protections for children raised in 

kinship families outside of the foster care system. 

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 Grandfamilies 

5 Prevent Child Abuse Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Nearly 2,700,000 children are being raised 

9 in kinship families or ‘‘grandfamilies’’ by relatives or 


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1 close family friends without their parents in the 

2 home, and the vast majority of such children are 

3 raised outside of the foster care system. 

4 (2) The majority of kinship caregivers are 

5 grandparents. 

6 (3) For every child in foster care living with rel7 atives, there are 19 being raised by relatives outside 

8 of the foster care system. 

9 (4) More than one-third of all children placed 

10 in foster care because of parental drug or alcohol 

11 use are placed with relatives. 

12 (5) Children who have been exposed to sub13 stance misuse in the home may also experience 

14 abuse and neglect, and research indicates that chil15 dren in family foster care because of substance use 

16 are more likely to be placed with relatives than with 

17 nonrelatives. 

18 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO CAPTA. 

19 (a) ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILD ABUSE AND NE20 GLECT.—Section 102(c) of the Child Abuse Prevention 

21 and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5102(c)) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

23 inserting a semicolon; 

24 (2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period 

25 and inserting a semicolon; and 


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

2 ‘‘(15) organizations providing services to kin3 ship families; and 

4 ‘‘(16) birth parents, kinship caregivers, and fos5 ter care alumni.’’. 

6 (b) NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE FOR INFORMATION

7 RELATING TO CHILD ABUSE.—Section 103(b) of the 

8 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 5104(b)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (8)(B), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

11 and inserting a semicolon; 

12 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and 

13 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘(10) coordinate with the National Technical 

16 Assistance Center on Grandfamilies and Kinship 

17 Families to disseminate information about evidence18 based, evidence-informed and exemplary practices 

19 used to support children being raised in kinship fam20 ilies within, or outside of, the child welfare system.’’. 

21 (c) GRANTS TO STATES, INDIAN TRIBES OR TRIBAL

22 ORGANIZATIONS, AND PUBLIC OR PRIVATE AGENCIES

23 AND ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 105(a)(4) of the Child 

24 Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 5106(a)(4)) is amended by adding at the end the folVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Jun 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2747.IH H2747

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1 lowing: ‘‘Such procedures used by recipients of a grant 

2 pursuant to this paragraph shall reflect equity for children 

3 placed with kin, recognize their unique circumstance, and 

4 include plans for prioritizing placement with kin as the 

5 first placement, identifying and engaging kin as supports 

6 for children throughout the child’s involvement with the 

7 child welfare system, making it a priority to license kin 

8 as foster parents, supporting permanent families for chil9 dren placed with kin, and creating a strong community 

10 network to support kin families.’’. 

11 (d) GRANTS TO STATES FOR CHILD ABUSE OR NE12 GLECT PREVENTION AND TREATMENT PROGRAMS.—Sec13 tion 106 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 

16 (A) in subparagraph (B)(iv), by inserting 

17 ‘‘, and for how kinship placements will be 

18 prioritized’’ before the semicolon; and 

19 (B) in subparagraph (D)(v), by inserting 

20 ‘‘kinship navigators,’’ after ‘‘substance abuse 

21 treatment agencies,’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (d)(3)— 

23 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

24 and (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respec25 tively; 


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1 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(B) the number that did not receive serv4 ices during the year under the State program 

5 funded under this section or an equivalent State 

6 program because the child was diverted from 

7 the child welfare system to live with kin outside 

8 of the foster care system;’’; and 

9 (C) in subparagraph (D), as so redesig10 nated, by striking ‘‘families’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘parents’’. 

12 (e) COMMUNITY-BASED GRANTS FOR THE PREVEN13 TION OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT.— 

14 (1) PURPOSE.—Section 201(b)(1) of the Child 

15 Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 5116(b)(1)) is amended— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (G), by striking ‘‘; 

18 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

19 (B) in subparagraph (H), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

20 after the semicolon; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(I) support the unique needs of kinship 

23 families raising children inside or outside the 

24 foster care system;’’. 


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1 (2) LOCAL PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

2 205(a) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treat3 ment Act (42 U.S.C. 5116e(a)) is amended— 

4 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and to 

5 parents who are adult former victims of domes6 tic violence or child abuse or neglect’’ and in7 serting ‘‘to parents who are adult former vic8 tims of domestic violence or child abuse or ne9 glect, and to families where children are being 

10 raised by kin because their parents cannot raise 

11 them’’; 

12 (B) in paragraph (3)(B)— 

13 (i) in clause (viii), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

14 (ii) in clause (ix), by striking the pe15 riod and inserting a semicolon; and 

16 (iii) by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(x) training to meet the specific 

19 needs of kinship caregivers, including 

20 training on caring for children with behav21 ioral or mental health challenges and how 

22 to access services for which such caregivers 

23 may be eligible; and 


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1 ‘‘(xi) training on understanding sub2 stance use disorders and the impact of 

3 trauma on children.’’; and 

4 (C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, kin5 ship caregivers, and foster care alumni’’ after 

6 ‘‘parents’’. 

Æ 


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