I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7010 
To provide an incentive for States to extend child welfare support and services 
for youth through 21 years of age, and to allow youth to re-enter 
foster care after attaining 18 years of age, both without regard to 
the AFDC eligibility of their parents or legal guardians, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 17, 2024 
Ms. CHU (for herself and Mrs. HOUCHIN) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To provide an incentive for States to extend child welfare 
support and services for youth through 21 years of age, 
and to allow youth to re-enter foster care after attaining 
18 years of age, both without regard to the AFDC eligi-
bility of their parents or legal guardians, and for other 
purposes. 
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 ‘‘Increasing Access to 
Foster Care Through Age 21 Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that each additional year in ex-
tended foster care has— 
(1) significantly increased the probability that 
youth completed a high school credential by approxi-
mately 8 percent; 
(2) increased their expected probability of en-
rolling in college by between 10 percent and 11 per-
cent; 
(3) increased the number of quarters that youth 
have been employed between their 18th and 21st 
birthdays; 
(4) increased the amount of money youth have 
had in bank accounts by an average of approxi-
mately $404; 
(5) increased the odds that youth have de-
scribed a professional as a source of social support; 
(6) significantly decreased the amount of money 
youth have received in need-based public food assist-
ance by an average of more than $700; 
(7) decreased the odds of having experienced an 
additional economic hardship between the ages of 17 
and 21 by approximately 12 percent; 
(8) decreased the odds of being homeless or 
couch-surfing between the ages of 17 and 21 by ap-
proximately 28 percent; 
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(9) decreased the odds that youth have become 
pregnant or impregnated a female between the ages 
of 17 and 21 by approximately 28 percent; and 
(10) decreased the odds that youth have been 
arrested between the ages of 17 and 21 by approxi-
mately 41 percent and decreased the odds that 
youth have been convicted of a crime during the 
same period by approximately 40 percent. 
SEC. 3. EXTENDED CHILD WELFARE SUPPORT AND SERV-
ICES FOR YOUTH TRANSITIONING FROM FOS-
TER CARE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 475(8) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 675(8)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and (C)’’; 
(2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(B) At the option of the State and youth in-
volved, the term shall include a youth who is in fos-
ter care under the responsibility of the State.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) The term shall include a youth— 
‘‘(i)(I) with respect to whom an adoption 
assistance agreement is in effect under section 
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473 if the youth had attained 16 years of age 
before the agreement became effective; or 
‘‘(II) with respect to whom a kinship 
guardianship assistance agreement is in effect 
under section 473(d) if the youth had attained 
16 years of age before the agreement became 
effective; and 
‘‘(ii) who has not attained 19, 20, 21, or 
22 years of age, as the State may elect. 
‘‘(D) In this paragraph, the term ‘youth’ means 
an individual— 
‘‘(i) who has attained 18 years of age; and 
‘‘(ii) who has not attained 22 years of 
age.’’. 
(b) GUIDANCE AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The 
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide 
guidance and technical assistance to States on best prac-
tices for outreach to youth who are newly eligible for serv-
ices as a result of the enactment of this section. 
SEC. 4. PROMOTING THE RE-ENTRY OF YOUTH INTO EX-
TENDED FOSTER CARE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 471(a) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(36); 
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(2) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(37); and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(38) if the State exercises the option provided 
for in section 475(8), shall— 
‘‘(A) permit any youth who has attained 
18 years of age and meets the requirements of 
section 475(8)(C) to voluntarily re-enter foster 
care; and 
‘‘(B) facilitate the voluntary return of any 
such youth to foster care.’’. 
(b) GUIDANCE AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The 
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide 
guidance and technical assistance to States on best prac-
tices for outreach to youth who have left foster care and 
are otherwise eligible for re-entry into foster care. 
SEC. 5. PROVIDING FOR STATES TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES 
FOR TRANSITION-AGED YOUTH AND YOUNG 
ADULTS. 
Section 472(a)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 672(a)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘except in 
the case of a youth who has attained 18 years of age and 
meets the requirements of section 475(8)(C),’’ before ‘‘the 
child’’. 
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SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this 
Act shall take effect on the 1st day of the 1st fiscal year 
beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, and shall apply to payments under part E of title 
IV of the Social Security Act for calendar quarters begin-
ning on or after such date. 
(b) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION RE-
QUIRED.—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 Se-
curity Act to meet the additional requirements imposed 
by the amendments made by this Act, the plan shall not 
be regarded as failing to meet any of the additional re-
quirements before the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter 
beginning after the first regular session of the State legis-
lature that begins after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. For 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. 7. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. 
Within 90 days after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
through the Administration for Children and Families, 
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shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, develop 
and issue guidance to State and local agencies operating 
a program under a State plan approved under part E of 
title IV of the Social Security Act on how case workers 
can connect youth eligible for foster care by reason of an 
amendment made by section 3 or 4 of this Act to work-
force development programs under title I of the Workforce 
Innovation and Opportunity Act. 
Æ 
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