I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2426 
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 identi-
fying and responding to reports of 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 30, 2023 
Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas (for himself, Ms. BROWN, Mrs. HOUCHIN, Ms. 
MOORE
of Wisconsin, Mr. BACON, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. 
NEWHOUSE, and Ms. SCANLON) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
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 
reports of 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:16 Apr 12, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2426.IH
H2426
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Find and Protect Fos-
ter Youth Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ELIMINATING OBSTACLES TO IDENTIFYING AND RE-
SPONDING TO REPORTS OF CHILDREN MISS-
ING FROM FOSTER CARE AND OTHER VUL-
NERABLE FOSTER YOUTH. 
Section 476 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
676) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) EVALUATION
OF PROTOCOLS RELATING
TO 
CHILDREN MISSING FROM FOSTER CARE AND OTHER 
VULNERABLE YOUTH; TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con-
duct an evaluation of the protocols established by 
States in accordance with the requirements of sec-
tion 471(a)(35) and, to the extent applicable, by In-
dian tribes or tribal organizations (as defined in sec-
tion 479B(a)) or tribal consortia with a plan ap-
proved under section 471 in accordance with section 
479B. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The evaluation shall in-
clude the following: 
‘‘(A) A review of relevant aspects of re-
ports submitted by States, Indian tribes, tribal 
organizations, and tribal consortia under this 
part and part B, and data and other informa-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:16 Apr 12, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2426.IH
H2426
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
tion reported pursuant to the system estab-
lished under section 479. 
‘‘(B) Analysis of the extent to which 
States, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and 
tribal consortia comply with, and enforce, the 
protocols required by section 471(a)(35). 
‘‘(C) Analysis of the effectiveness of such 
protocols. 
‘‘(D) Identification of obstacles for States, 
Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal 
consortia to identifying and responding to re-
ports of children missing from foster care and 
other vulnerable foster youth. 
‘‘(E) Identification of best practices for 
identifying such children and youth and inter-
vening with effective services. 
‘‘(3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 
shall provide States, Indian tribes, tribal organiza-
tions, and tribal consortia with information, advice, 
educational materials, and technical assistance relat-
ing to eliminating identified obstacles to identifying 
and responding to reports of children missing from 
foster care and other vulnerable foster youth and 
providing such children and youth with effective 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:16 Apr 12, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2426.IH
H2426
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
services. Such assistance may include dissemination 
of— 
‘‘(A) processes and tools to identify and 
examine risk factors and potential trends re-
lated to children who go missing from foster 
care and other vulnerable youth; 
‘‘(B) best practices for runaway tracking 
and recovery; and 
‘‘(C) guidelines for intervention, including 
with respect to services, types of providers, and 
placement settings. 
‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the 
date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary 
shall submit a report to Congress on the results of 
the evaluation conducted under this subsection and 
the technical assistance provided in accordance with 
paragraph (3).’’. 
SEC. 3. IMPROVING SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT OF 
CHILDREN 
RETURNED 
TO 
FOSTER 
CARE 
AFTER 
GOING 
MISSING 
TO 
DETERMINE 
WHETHER THEY WERE, OR ARE AT RISK OF 
BECOMING, VICTIMS OF SEX TRAFFICKING. 
Section 476 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
676), as amended by section 2, is further amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:16 Apr 12, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2426.IH
H2426
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(g) IMPROVING IDENTIFICATION OF, AND SERVICES 
FOR, CHILDREN WHO RETURN TO FOSTER CARE AFTER 
RUNNING AWAY OR OTHERWISE BEING ABSENT FROM 
FOSTER CARE AND WHO ARE, OR ARE AT RISK OF 
BEING, VICTIMS OF SEX TRAFFICKING.— 
‘‘(1) ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(A) SCREENING
AFTER
A
RETURN
TO 
FOSTER
CARE.—The Secretary shall provide 
States, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and 
tribal consortia, with information, advice, edu-
cational materials, and technical assistance to 
improve 
compliance 
with 
section 
471(a)(35)(A)(iii). 
‘‘(B) 
IMPROVING
OTHER
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—The information, advice, educational 
materials, and technical assistance provided 
may include information, advice, educational 
materials, and technical assistance to improve 
or modify policies and procedures (including rel-
evant training for caseworkers) developed by 
States, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and 
tribal consortia under section 471(a)(9)(C), in-
cluding the following: 
‘‘(i) Identifying, through screening, 
whether the State has reasonable cause to 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:16 Apr 12, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2426.IH
H2426
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
believe the child or youth is, or is at risk 
of being, a victim of sex trafficking. 
‘‘(ii) Documenting the results of such 
screening in agency records. 
‘‘(iii) Determining appropriate serv-
ices for a child or youth for whom the 
State determines there is reasonable cause 
to identify the child or youth as a victim 
of sex trafficking, or as at risk of being a 
victim of sex trafficking. 
‘‘(iv) Documenting in agency records 
the determination of appropriate services 
for a child or youth described in clause 
(iii). 
‘‘(2) FORMS OF ASSISTANCE.—The assistance 
provided under this subsection shall include the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) Assisting States, Indian tribes, tribal 
organizations, and tribal consortia, with devel-
oping oversight mechanisms to assess their 
compliance with section 471(a)(35)(A)(iii). 
‘‘(B) Assisting States, Indian tribes, tribal 
organizations, and tribal consortia in devel-
oping— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:16 Apr 12, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2426.IH
H2426
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(i) assessments for screening chil-
dren who return to foster care after run-
ning away or otherwise being absent from 
foster care for risk of becoming victims of 
sex trafficking; and 
‘‘(ii) effective and robust policies re-
lating to the use of the assessments. 
‘‘(C) Working with States, Indian tribes, 
tribal organizations, and tribal consortia to im-
prove or modify policies and procedures devel-
oped under section 471(a)(9)(C). 
‘‘(D) Providing technical assistance on how 
States, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and 
tribal consortia may best use data collected pur-
suant to section 479 for oversight of, and to en-
sure compliance with, the requirements of para-
graphs (9)(C) and (35)(A)(iii) of section 
471(a). 
‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall, to 
the extent practicable, consult with internal and ex-
ternal offices with expertise on sex trafficking, in-
cluding the Office on Trafficking in Persons of the 
Administration for Children and Families, on the de-
velopment and dissemination to States, Indian 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:16 Apr 12, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2426.IH
H2426
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal consortia of 
the assistance required under this subsection.’’. 
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act 
for fiscal year 2023, which shall remain available through 
fiscal year 2027. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:16 Apr 12, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H2426.IH
H2426
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB