I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5246 
To examine and improve the child welfare workforce, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 6, 2010 
Mr. KENNEDY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To examine and improve the child welfare workforce, 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 ‘‘Child Welfare Work-
force Study Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1)(A) Research indicates that child welfare 
staff face a variety of obstacles that hinder their ef-
fective work with children and families in the child 
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welfare system. These obstacles include barriers de-
scribed in subparagraphs (B) through (D). 
(B) High caseload and high workload levels pre-
vent child welfare staff from working intensively 
with children and families and monitoring their 
progress carefully. 
(C) Child welfare staff report an absence of suf-
ficient access to supervision, mentoring, and profes-
sional advancement. A lack of access to supervision, 
mentoring, and professional advancement contrib-
utes to staff burnout and turnover. 
(D) States report difficulty hiring and retaining 
quality child welfare staff. The average tenure of 
such a staff member is less than 2 years. In addition 
to the increased cost of hiring and training new 
child welfare staff, high turnover rates among such 
staff are associated with multiple placements of chil-
dren in foster care, longer lengths of stays in foster 
care, lower rates of permanency, and failed efforts at 
family reunification. Lengthy periods of foster care 
increase costs for child welfare agencies, as main-
taining children in foster care is more expensive 
than adoption, reunification, or other permanency 
options. 
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(2) Supervision, staff preparation and training, 
caseloads, workloads, data and accountability, work-
ing conditions, cultural competence, and leadership 
are key components of an effective child welfare 
workforce. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) CHILD WELFARE STAFF.—The term ‘‘child 
welfare staff’’ means— 
(A) employees of State, tribal, or local 
child welfare agencies, who are working with 
children and families that have contact with 
such a child welfare agency, in order to promote 
safety, permanence, and well-being for children 
and families; and 
(B) employees of State-licensed or State- 
approved nonprofit private agencies, who are 
working with children and families that have 
contact with a State, tribal, or local child wel-
fare agency in order to promote safety, perma-
nence, and well-being for children and families. 
(2) RELATED PROFESSIONALS.—The term ‘‘re-
lated professionals’’, used with respect to child wel-
fare staff, means individuals employed by public or 
nonprofit private agencies in child- and family-serv-
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ing fields including education, health, mental health, 
substance abuse prevention and treatment, juvenile 
justice, law enforcement, and domestic violence, who 
work with children and families that have contact 
with a State, tribal, or local child welfare agency. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
(4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-
ing provided in section 1101(a) of the Social Secu-
rity Act for purposes of part E of title IV of such 
Act. 
SEC. 4. DATA COLLECTION AND RESEARCH TO INCREASE 
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR OUTCOMES FOR CHIL-
DREN. 
(a) NATIONAL CHILD WELFARE STAFF STUDY.— 
(1) STUDY AND REPORT.—The Secretary shall 
enter into an agreement with the National Academy 
of Sciences, under which the National Academy of 
Sciences shall— 
(A) conduct a national study of child wel-
fare staff, highlighting promising approaches, 
to— 
(i) examine and provide findings re-
lated to the demographic and other charac-
teristics of child welfare staff, including 
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tion and Treatment Act and sections 
477(f) and 479 of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 677(f) and 679); 
(III) make recommendations on how 
States might collect data on child welfare 
staff, including data on the type of work 
staff are performing, and report the data 
to the Secretary, regularly and in a man-
ner that enables the data to be linked to 
the outcomes achieved for individual chil-
dren served by the State or local child wel-
fare agency involved, which shall include— 
(aa) a means of incorporating the 
data into the data collection system 
authorized under section 479 of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 679); 
and 
(bb) as appropriate, a means of 
linking the data to the information 
collected through the data collection 
systems 
authorized 
under 
section 
103(c)(1)(C) of the Child Abuse Pre-
vention and Treatment Act and under 
section 477(f) of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 677(f)); and 
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(IV) examine and provide findings re-
garding the impact of data collection pro-
cedures and requirements on child welfare 
staff, and make recommendations for col-
lecting data on child welfare staff in such 
a way that the attention and time of child 
welfare staff are not diverted from pro-
viding services to children and families in 
order to meet data collection requirements; 
and 
(B) not later that 18 months after the date 
on which the Secretary and the National Acad-
emy of Sciences enter into the agreement, sub-
mit a report containing the results of the study, 
including the findings and recommendations de-
scribed in subparagraph (A), to the Secretary. 
(2) CONSULTATION WITH INDIAN TRIBES AND 
TRIBAL
ORGANIZATIONS.—The agreement entered 
into by the Secretary and the National Academy of 
Sciences under paragraph (1) shall require that, in 
conducting the study described in that paragraph, 
the National Academy of Sciences shall consult with 
Indian tribes and tribal organizations (as defined in 
section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-
cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)) regarding 
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any aspects of the study that will address tribal-spe-
cific or unique issues, concerns, or special cir-
cumstances with respect to Indian children and their 
families. 
(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 
months after receiving the report submitted under 
paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary shall transmit the 
report to the appropriate committees of Congress, 
along with a description of how the Secretary plans 
to consult with State administrators, Indian tribes 
and tribal organizations, child welfare staff, and 
other appropriate stakeholders to issue the proposed 
regulations described in subsection (b)(1). 
(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
paragraph (1) such sums as are necessary for fiscal 
years 2011 and 2012. 
(b) COLLECTION
AND REPORTING
OF DATA
ON 
CHILD WELFARE STAFF.— 
(1) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—The Secretary 
shall consult with State administrators, child welfare 
staff, and other appropriate stakeholders and, not 
later than 12 months after receiving the report de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1)(B), shall issue proposed 
regulations, which shall— 
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(A) be based on the recommendations in 
the report; and 
(B) require States to collect data on child 
welfare staff, and report the data to the Sec-
retary, regularly and in a manner that enables 
the data to be linked to the outcomes achieved 
for individual children served by the State or 
local child welfare agency involved, which shall 
include— 
(i) a means of incorporating the data 
into the data collection system authorized 
under section 479 of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 679); and 
(ii) as appropriate, a means of linking 
the data to the information collected 
through the data collection systems author-
ized under section 103(c)(1)(C) of the 
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 
Act and under section 477(f) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677(f)). 
(2) FINAL
REGULATIONS.—Not later than 2 
years after receiving the report described in sub-
section (a)(1)(B), the Secretary shall issue final reg-
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ulations that meet the requirements of subpara-
graphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1). 
Æ 
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