‘‘(iii) work to build a community 
structure for strengthening families across 
sectors, including work support, education, 
health (including mental health), and social 
supports; 
‘‘(iv) undergo a period of preparation 
and training before taking families into the 
infant-toddler court program; 
‘‘(v) provide a team of professionals 
that provides support to an individual fam-
ily to ensure the needs of individual chil-
dren within such family and such family as 
a whole are met; 
‘‘(vi) focus on infants and toddlers 
under the court’s jurisdiction or under in- 
home supervision; and 
‘‘(vii) as resources and team structure 
permit, work with families of infants and 
toddlers outside the child welfare system to 
provide preventive services to strengthen 
families of young children and avoid child 
welfare involvement; 
‘‘(E) supports parents’ strengths and 
needs in a compassionate, respectful, holistic, 
and individualized way; 
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‘‘(F) prevents children from entering and 
reentering the child welfare system; 
‘‘(G) addresses community service gaps 
and disparities using evidence-based strategies; 
‘‘(H) commits to working toward sustain-
ability for the infant-toddler court team pro-
gram; 
‘‘(I) removes barriers to racial equity and 
social justice, and prevents disparate outcomes 
for racial and ethnic minorities, Tribes, and les-
bian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer indi-
viduals; 
‘‘(J) integrates family support services to 
meet family needs in a comprehensive way, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(i) developmentally appropriate evi-
dence-based interventions for very young 
children and their families, including devel-
opmental 
screening, 
early 
intervention 
services, high-quality early care and learn-
ing programs such as Early Head Start, 
and multigenerational mental health treat-
ment focused on the child-caregiver rela-
tionship; and 
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‘‘(ii) assessments of parents’ needs, 
including past trauma, high-quality health 
services, including mental health services, 
for parents, including prenatal and post-
natal care, screening for depression, well- 
woman care, mental health treatment, and 
evidence-based 
substance 
use 
disorder 
treatment; 
‘‘(K) infuses a trauma-informed approach 
in the delivery of family support services that 
supports children, families, and professionals 
across systems of care; 
‘‘(L) provides for a continuum of parenting 
interventions and mental health and substances 
use prevention and treatment services con-
sistent with paragraph (7); 
‘‘(M) uses continuous quality improvement 
practices, including collecting project data ele-
ments established by the National Infant-Tod-
dler Court Team Resource Center under sub-
section (c) for case management and assessing 
progress; and 
‘‘(N) where placement of an infant or tod-
dler in foster care is necessary, uses— 
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‘‘(i) concurrent planning upon removal 
and limits the number of placements; 
‘‘(ii) mentoring and coparenting be-
tween birth and foster parents and kin 
caregivers and supports; 
‘‘(iii) 
preremoval 
conferences 
and 
monthly family team meetings to ensure 
support for family and child from the be-
ginning as well as timely action and serv-
ices to address child and family needs; and 
‘‘(iv) frequent, quality family time 
interaction or visitation in settings where 
families normally interact and coaches to 
support parent-child interactions. 
‘‘(c) NATIONAL INFANT-TODDLER COURT TEAM RE-
SOURCE CENTER GRANT.— 
‘‘(1) GRANT AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall 
award to an eligible entity a grant to establish a na-
tional center to carry out the activities specified in 
paragraph (3) to serve as a resource for infant-tod-
dler court teams (to be known as and referred to in 
this section as the ‘National Infant-Toddler Court 
Team Resource Center’). The term of a grant under 
this subsection shall be for not less than 3 years, re-
newable for up to 8 years. 
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‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity is eligible 
to receive a grant under this subsection if the entity 
is a national early childhood development organiza-
tion with— 
‘‘(A) recognized experience as a training 
organization in infant-toddler development, in-
fant-early childhood mental health, and other 
related topics; 
‘‘(B) experience working in collaboration 
with, and providing training to, court officials, 
child welfare agencies, attorneys, guardians, 
court-appointed special advocates, and other in-
dividuals and community organizations pro-
viding services to infants and toddlers in the 
child welfare system, including— 
‘‘(i) specific expertise in educating 
judges, attorneys, child welfare staff, and 
community service providers about the im-
pacts of child maltreatment and trauma on 
early development and family functioning; 
and 
‘‘(ii) experience in incorporating the 
expertise described in clause (i) into the 
court and child-family service systems to 
promote change in the way courts and 
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communities address cases involving mal-
treated infants and toddlers and support 
other families with infants and toddlers in 
need of family strengthening services; 
‘‘(C) the capacity to carry out the activities 
of the National Infant-Toddler Court Team Re-
source Center; 
‘‘(D) a proven ability to provide training 
and technical assistance, collect data and sup-
port its use for continuous quality improvement 
and evaluation, and other tasks; and 
‘‘(E) a demonstrated ability to bring the 
collective impact of other national organizations 
together to address the needs of infants and 
toddlers that touch the child welfare system or 
are in need of preventive services to strengthen 
families and avoid the child welfare system. 
‘‘(3) ACTIVITIES
OF
NATIONAL
INFANT-TOD-
DLER COURT TEAM RESOURCE CENTER.—The Na-
tional Infant-Toddler Court Team Resource Center 
shall carry out the following activities: 
‘‘(A) Provide technical assistance to States 
and communities with infant-toddler court 
teams receiving funding under subsection (a) 
established through the Infant-Toddler Court 
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Program, or through other means in building 
the systemic team structure to identify and ad-
dress the needs of at-risk children and families 
before maltreatment occurs. 
‘‘(B) Provide technical assistance and 
training to States and local jurisdictions— 
‘‘(i) in selecting sites, coordinating 
systems, planning, and implementing, en-
hancing, or stabilizing evidence-based in-
fant-toddler court teams, including embed-
ding a child development approach to pro-
mote the healthy development and mitigate 
trauma of infants and toddlers experi-
encing or at risk of experiencing maltreat-
ment and their families, so that such court 
teams meet the criteria specified in sub-
section (b)(7); and 
‘‘(ii) in determining how to use the 
court team community structure to inform 
and support the continuum of family 
strengthening services described in para-
graph (6). 
‘‘(C) Develop materials to guide judges in 
the decision-making process regarding infants 
and toddlers, and train members of local infant- 
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toddler court teams and others in the commu-
nity regarding the appropriate care of infants 
and toddlers, including the importance of— 
‘‘(i) understanding early brain devel-
opment, the impact of abuse and neglect 
and placement in foster care, and the need 
for preventing such occurrences; 
‘‘(ii) the social determinants of health; 
‘‘(iii) placement stability and caregiver 
continuity for very young children; 
‘‘(iv) supporting the parent-child rela-
tionship; 
‘‘(v) comprehensive services for chil-
dren and parents to reduce the recurrence 
of abuse and neglect; 
‘‘(vi) comprehensive services to mon-
itor and improve the health, development, 
and well-being of infants and toddlers in 
foster care or in in-home placements; 
‘‘(vii) for children placed in foster 
care, timely permanent placement frequent 
parent-child visitation, and concurrent 
planning; and 
‘‘(viii) implementing a comprehensive 
service delivery plan addressing the needs 
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of children and parents at the proximate 
time of a child’s removal from the care of 
the child’s biological parents. 
‘‘(D) Provide information to States, com-
munities, and courts around the United States 
seeking to adopt an infant-toddler court team 
approach grounded in the science of early child-
hood development, including information related 
to— 
‘‘(i) the incorporation of knowledge 
about infant and toddler development into 
the resolution of cases by judges with ju-
risdiction over children in foster care and 
by child welfare agencies overseeing chil-
dren under in-home supervision; and 
‘‘(ii) methods to change State and 
local government systems to better address 
the needs of infants and toddlers in the 
child welfare system and their families. 
‘‘(E) Coordinate and facilitate peer learn-
ing opportunities for judges, community coordi-
nators, and other personnel through commu-
nities of practice, learning communities, con-
ferences, and other means. 
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‘‘(F) Ensure local infant-toddler court 
teams collect and report data specified under 
subparagraph (H) and provide technical assist-
ance in— 
‘‘(i) ensuring quality data collection 
and reporting; and 
‘‘(ii) using the data collected for case 
and site monitoring, to establish a contin-
uous quality improvement process to iden-
tify areas that need strengthening, to de-
velop a plan for such improvements, and to 
monitor progress. 
‘‘(G) Provide technical assistance to States 
and communities— 
‘‘(i) in evidence-based methods to 
change policies and practices to better ad-
dress the needs of infants and toddlers ex-
periencing maltreatment and their families 
as well as infants, toddlers, and families in 
need of services to strengthen families and 
prevent the likelihood of entry into the 
child welfare system; and 
‘‘(ii) through onsite implementation 
assistance to local infant-toddler court 
teams tailored to the needs of each unique 
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jurisdiction, using a process of assessing 
and building on community strengths. 
‘‘(H) Define key metrics and collect data 
from local infant-toddler court teams related to 
the operation and outcomes of the projects sup-
ported by States receiving a grant under sub-
section (b) and other existing infant-toddler 
court team sites on elements that include— 
‘‘(i) data on child and parent demo-
graphics and relevant family history; 
‘‘(ii) adult health care services, includ-
ing prenatal and postnatal care, depression 
screening, mental health services, sub-
stance use treatment, and well-woman 
care; 
‘‘(iii) child services, including multi-
generational mental health treatment fo-
cused on the relationship, developmental 
screening, early intervention services, well- 
child care and medical homes, and early 
childhood education; 
‘‘(iv) family engagement activities, 
such as family team meetings and court 
hearings; 
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‘‘(v) 
family 
well-being, 
including 
health equity and health insurance; 
‘‘(vi) court practices, such as fre-
quency of hearings, family team meetings, 
and stakeholder meetings; and 
‘‘(vii) foster care practices that sup-
port development and stable relationships, 
including placement type, visitation fre-
quency, and permanency outcomes and 
timeliness, with an emphasis on reunifica-
tion. 
‘‘(I) Compile such data annually and re-
port to the Secretary together with information 
from State planning processes reported under 
subsection (b)(7)(B). 
‘‘(J) In developing data elements under 
subparagraph (H), consult with the organiza-
tion awarded a contract under paragraph (4). 
‘‘(4) EVALUATION.—The National Infant-Tod-
dler Court Team Resource Center shall enter into a 
contract with an organization experienced in con-
ducting a child welfare national evaluation over the 
course of the grant period of the effectiveness of 
local evidence-based infant-toddler court teams sup-
ported by States receiving a grant under subsection 
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(b) as well as other infant-toddler court team sites 
that may participate in such evaluation in— 
‘‘(A) linking children and families to ap-
propriate services and supports that prevent 
foster care placements, expedite permanency 
where placements occur, and strengthen fami-
lies in improving family well-being and support 
for positive child development; 
‘‘(B) preventing, or reducing the recur-
rence of, abuse and neglect; 
‘‘(C) promoting access to timely, high-qual-
ity primary health care and oral health care in 
a medical home for children and parents; 
‘‘(D) promoting quality parent education, 
mentoring, and coaching to strengthen par-
enting skills; 
‘‘(E) promoting timely assessment, referral 
to, and receipt of, mental health treatment and 
substance use treatment for parents of infants 
and toddlers; 
‘‘(F) promoting timely permanent place-
ments of maltreated infants and toddlers; and 
‘‘(G) reducing costs through system im-
provements. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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‘‘(1) The term ‘child welfare system’ includes 
all services and supports provided through a State’s 
child welfare system. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘State’ means each State of the 
United States, the District of Columbia, each terri-
tory or possession of the United States, and each 
federally recognized Indian Tribe (as defined in sec-
tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-
cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $25,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. 
‘‘(2) 
RESERVATION
OF
FUNDS.—Of 
the 
amounts made available under paragraph (1) for a 
fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve— 
‘‘(A) in the case of a fiscal year in which 
the amount made available under paragraph (1) 
does not exceed $15,000,000, not less than 
$5,000,000 for the National Infant-Toddler 
Court Team Resource Center established pursu-
ant to subsection (c); and 
‘‘(B) in the case of a fiscal year in which 
the amount made available under paragraph (1) 
equals or exceeds $15,000,000 but does not ex-
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ceed $25,000,000, not less than $7,000,000 for 
such Center.’’. 
SEC. 3. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 
Not later than 3 years after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, and not later than 5 years after such 
date of enactment, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 
a report addressing the implementation and effectiveness 
of the infant-toddler court teams pursuant to section 
330Z–3 of the Public Health Service Act, as added by sec-
tion 2, including— 
(1) a compilation of the data on local commu-
nity infant-toddler court teams included in the an-
nual report from the National Infant-Toddler Court 
Team Resource Center established pursuant to such 
section; and 
(2) interim or final results from the national 
evaluation of infant-toddler court teams conducted 
under such section. 
Æ 
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