IB 
Union Calendar No. 352 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4472 
[Report No. 114–460] 
To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to require States to adopt 
a centralized electronic system to help expedite the placement of children 
in foster care or guardianship, or for adoption, across State lines, and 
to provide grants to aid States in developing such a system, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 4, 2016 
Mr. YOUNG of Indiana (for himself and Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways 
and Means 
MARCH 21, 2016 
Additional sponsors: Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. NUNES, 
Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, and Mr. RENACCI 
MARCH 21, 2016 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 4, 2016] 
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A BILL 
To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to require 
States to adopt a centralized electronic system to help 
expedite the placement of children in foster care or 
guardianship, or for adoption, across State lines, and 
to provide grants to aid States in developing such a 
system, and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modernizing the Inter-
state Placement of Children in Foster Care Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
(1) when a child in foster care cannot return 
safely home, the child deserves to be placed in a set-
ting that is best for that child, regardless of whether 
it is in the child’s State or another State; 
(2) the Interstate Compact on the Placement of 
Children (ICPC) was established in 1960 to provide 
a uniform legal framework for the placement of chil-
dren across State lines in foster and adoptive homes; 
(3) frequently, children waiting to be placed with 
an adoptive family, relative, or foster parent in an-
other State spend more time waiting for this to occur 
than children who are placed with an adoptive, fam-
ily, relative, or foster parent in the same State, be-
cause of the outdated, administratively burdensome 
ICPC process; 
(4) no child should have to wait longer to be 
placed in a loving home simply because the child 
must cross a State line; 
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(5) the National Electronic Interstate Compact 
Enterprise (NEICE) was launched in August 2014 in 
Indiana, Nevada, Florida, South Carolina, Wis-
consin, and the District of Columbia, and is expected 
to be expanded into additional States to improve the 
administrative process by which children are placed 
with families across State lines; 
(6) States using this electronic interstate case- 
processing system have reduced administrative costs 
and the amount of staff time required to process these 
cases, and caseworkers can spend more time helping 
children instead of copying and mailing paperwork 
between States; 
(7) since NEICE was launched, placement time 
has decreased by 30 percent for interstate foster care 
placements; and 
(8) on average, States using this electronic inter-
state case-processing system have been able to reduce 
from 24 business days to 13 business days the time 
it takes to identify a family for a child and prepare 
the paperwork required to start the ICPC process. 
SEC. 3. STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 471(a)(25) of the Social Se-
curity Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(25)) is amended— 
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(1) by striking ‘‘provide’’ and insert ‘‘provides’’; 
and 
(2) by inserting ‘‘, which, not later than October 
1, 2026, shall include the use of an electronic inter-
state case-processing system’’ before the 1st semicolon. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on the 1st day of the 
1st calendar quarter beginning on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, and shall apply to pay-
ments under part E of title IV of the Social Security 
Act for calendar quarters beginning on or after such 
date. 
(2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION 
REQUIRED.—If the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services determines that State legislation (other than 
legislation appropriating funds) is required in order 
for a State plan developed pursuant to part E of title 
IV of the Social Security Act to meet the additional 
requirement imposed by the amendments made by 
subsection (a), the plan shall not be regarded as fail-
ing to meet any of the additional requirements before 
the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter beginning after 
the first regular session of the State legislature that 
begins after the date of the enactment of this Act. For 
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purposes of the preceding sentence, if the State has a 
2-year legislative session, each year of the session is 
deemed to be a separate regular session of the State 
legislature. 
SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ELEC-
TRONIC INTERSTATE CASE-PROCESSING SYS-
TEM TO EXPEDITE THE INTERSTATE PLACE-
MENT OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE OR 
GUARDIANSHIP, OR FOR ADOPTION. 
Section 437 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 637) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) GRANTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ELEC-
TRONIC INTERSTATE CASE-PROCESSING SYSTEM TO EXPE-
DITE THE INTERSTATE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN FOS-
TER CARE OR GUARDIANSHIP, OR FOR ADOPTION.— 
‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 
is to facilitate the development of an electronic inter-
state case-processing system for the exchange of data 
and documents to expedite the placements of children 
in foster, guardianship, or adoptive homes across 
State lines. 
‘‘(2) APPLICATION
REQUIREMENTS.—A State 
that desires a grant under this subsection shall submit 
to the Secretary an application containing the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(A) A description of the goals and out-
comes to be achieved during the period for which 
grant funds are sought, which goals and out-
comes must result in— 
‘‘(i) reducing the time it takes for a 
child to be provided with a safe and appro-
priate permanent living arrangement across 
State lines; 
‘‘(ii) improving administrative proc-
esses and reducing costs in the foster care 
system; and 
‘‘(iii) the secure exchange of relevant 
case files and other necessary materials in 
real time, and timely communications and 
placement decisions regarding interstate 
placements of children. 
‘‘(B) A description of the activities to be 
funded in whole or in part with the grant funds, 
including the sequencing of the activities. 
‘‘(C) A description of the strategies for inte-
grating programs and services for children who 
are placed across State lines. 
‘‘(D) Such other information as the Sec-
retary may require. 
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‘‘(3) GRANT
AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may 
make a grant to a State that complies with para-
graph (2). 
‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—A State to which a grant 
is made under this subsection shall use the grant to 
support the State in connecting with the electronic 
interstate case-processing system described in para-
graph (1). 
‘‘(5) EVALUATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after 
the final year in which grants are awarded under this 
subsection, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress, 
and make available to the general public by posting 
on a website, a report that contains the following in-
formation: 
‘‘(A) How using the electronic interstate 
case-processing system developed pursuant to 
paragraph (4) has changed the time it takes for 
children to be placed across State lines. 
‘‘(B) The number of cases subject to the 
Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children 
that were processed through the electronic inter-
state case-processing system, and the number of 
interstate child placement cases that were proc-
essed outside the electronic interstate case-proc-
essing system, by each State in each year. 
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‘‘(C) The progress made by States in imple-
menting the electronic interstate case-processing 
system. 
‘‘(D) How using the electronic interstate 
case-processing system has affected various 
metrics related to child safety and well-being, in-
cluding the time it takes for children to be placed 
across State lines. 
‘‘(E) How using the electronic interstate 
case-processing system has affected administra-
tive costs and caseworker time spent on placing 
children across State lines. 
‘‘(6) DATA
INTEGRATION.—The Secretary, in 
consultation with the Secretariat for the Interstate 
Compact on the Placement of Children and the States, 
shall assess how the electronic interstate case-proc-
essing system developed pursuant to paragraph (4) 
could be used to better serve and protect children that 
come to the attention of the child welfare system, by— 
‘‘(A) connecting the system with other data 
systems (such as systems operated by State law 
enforcement and judicial agencies, systems oper-
ated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 
the purposes of the Innocence Lost National Ini-
tiative, and other systems); 
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‘‘(B) simplifying and improving reporting 
related to paragraphs (34) and (35) of section 
471(a) regarding children or youth who have 
been identified as being a sex trafficking victim 
or children missing from foster care; and 
‘‘(C) improving the ability of States to 
quickly comply with background check require-
ments of section 471(a)(20), including checks of 
child abuse and neglect registries as required by 
section 471(a)(20)(B).’’. 
SEC. 5. CONTINUATION OF DISCRETIONARY FUNDING TO 
PROMOTE SAFE AND STABLE FAMILIES. 
Section 437(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
637(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘2016’’ and inserting 
‘‘2017’’. 
SEC. 6. RESERVATION OF FUNDS TO IMPROVE THE INTER-
STATE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN. 
Section 437(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
637(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) IMPROVING
THE
INTERSTATE
PLACEMENT 
OF
CHILDREN.—The 
Secretary 
shall 
reserve 
$5,000,000 of the amount made available for fiscal 
year 2017 for grants under subsection (g), and the 
amount so reserved shall remain available through 
fiscal year 2021.’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 352 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4472 
[Report No. 114–460] 
A BILL 
To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to re-
quire States to adopt a centralized electronic sys-
tem to help expedite the placement of children in 
foster care or guardianship, or for adoption, 
across State lines, and to provide grants to aid 
States in developing such a system, and for other 
purposes. 
MARCH 21, 2016 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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