SEC. 2. ELIMINATING OBSTACLES TO IDENTIFYING AND RE-
SPONDING TO CHILDREN MISSING FROM 
FOSTER CARE AND OTHER VULNERABLE FOS-
TER 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-
tion reported pursuant to the system estab-
lished under section 479. 
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‘‘(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 chil-
dren missing from foster care and other vulner-
able foster youth. 
‘‘(E) Identification of best practices for 
identifying such children and youth and inter-
vening with effective services. 
‘‘(3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, 
through the capacity building services initiative of 
the Children’s Bureau of the Office of the Adminis-
tration for Children & Families, shall provide States, 
Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal con-
sortia with information, advice, educational mate-
rials, and technical assistance relating to eliminating 
identified obstacles to identifying and responding to 
children missing from foster care and other vulner-
able foster youth and providing such children and 
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youth with effective services. Such assistance may 
include, but is not limited to, 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 3 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). 
‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed as authorizing the 
Secretary to establish new or additional require-
ments for States, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, 
and tribal consortia relating to eliminating identified 
obstacles to identifying and responding to children 
missing from foster care and other vulnerable foster 
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youth and providing such children and youth with 
effective services.’’. 
Æ 
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