I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5364 
To provide States with flexibility to use Federal IV–E funding for State 
child welfare programs to improve safety, permanency, and well-being 
outcomes for all children who need child welfare services. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 26, 2016 
Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself, Mr. MARINO, Ms. BASS, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. 
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, and Mrs. DIN-
GELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To provide States with flexibility to use Federal IV–E fund-
ing for State child welfare programs to improve safety, 
permanency, and well-being outcomes for all children who 
need child welfare services. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘All 
Kids Matter Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
TITLE I—FLEXIBILITY TO PROVIDE SERVICES TAILORED TO A 
CHILD’S AND FAMILY’S NEEDS 
Sec. 101. Prevention, intervention, and support services before, during, and 
after placement in foster care. 
Sec. 102. State option for simplified reimbursement of IV–E administrative 
costs. 
TITLE II—FLEXIBILITY TO SERVE ALL CHILDREN IN NEED 
Sec. 201. Elimination of income barrier to serving all children in need of foster 
care maintenance payments. 
Sec. 202. Elimination of barriers to permanency for older youth in foster care. 
TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 
Sec. 301. Application to States with waivers and territories. 
Sec. 302. Dissemination of best practices. 
Sec. 303. Effective date. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Our Nation values the potential of all of our 
children to thrive and ultimately contribute to the 
success of the country. 
(2) Scientific research makes it clear that chil-
dren do best when they are part of healthy families. 
(3) The results of States operating child welfare 
programs under waivers of requirements of title IV– 
E of the Social Security Act provide further evidence 
that vulnerable children and families can often safely 
be kept together and out of foster care when they 
are provided with appropriate early intervention 
services, preventive services, and support services. 
(4) A modern child welfare system would not 
only allow, but would encourage, States and Indian 
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tribes to utilize evidence-based programs to keep 
families safely together, only using foster care for 
cases where children’s safety and well-being are com-
promised. 
(5) The changes made by this Act will mod-
ernize the title IV–E foster care program to include 
the coverage of State-based support activities that 
focus on keeping a child safely in his or her home, 
and if foster care is necessary, moving a child to 
permanency as quickly as possible. 
TITLE I—FLEXIBILITY TO PRO-
VIDE SERVICES TAILORED TO 
A 
CHILD’S 
AND 
FAMILY’S 
NEEDS 
SEC. 101. PREVENTION, INTERVENTION, AND SUPPORT 
SERVICES BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER 
PLACEMENT IN FOSTER CARE. 
(a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—Section 471 of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 671) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (15)(B), by inserting ‘‘, 
which shall include the State identifying and 
providing prevention, intervention, and support 
services (as defined in section 475(13)) as ap-
propriate,’’ after ‘‘reasonable efforts’’; 
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(B) in paragraph (34)(B), by striking 
‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 
(C) in paragraph (35)(B), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 
and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(36) provides, not later than 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this paragraph, that all at-risk 
children (as defined in section 475(14)), children in 
foster care, and children who have left foster care to 
return home through reunification or reinstatement 
of parental rights or for kinship guardianship or 
adoption, shall be provided with a standard array of 
child welfare services consistent with subsection 
(e)(1); and 
‘‘(37) provides, not later than 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this paragraph, and not less 
than every 2 or 3 years thereafter (as required by 
the Secretary with respect to a State on the basis 
of the Secretary’s determination of the State’s suc-
cess in keeping children safe and at home or on a 
path toward permanency), that the State shall sub-
mit, as part of the State plan required under sub-
section (a), and shall update and revise as nec-
essary— 
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‘‘(A) a description of the State activities 
and the delivery mechanisms for achieving— 
‘‘(i) increased permanency for all in-
fants, children, and youth by reducing the 
time in foster placements when possible 
and promoting a successful transition to 
adulthood for older youth; 
‘‘(ii) increased positive outcomes for 
infants, children, youth, and families in 
their homes and communities, including 
tribal communities, and improving the 
safety and well-being of infants, children, 
and youth; and 
‘‘(iii) the prevention of child abuse 
and neglect and the re-entry of infants, 
children, and youth into foster care; 
‘‘(B) a description of the performance 
benchmarks for assessing the State’s progress 
in achieving the goals described in subpara-
graph (A); 
‘‘(C) a description of the standard array of 
child welfare services for at-risk children, chil-
dren in foster care, and children who have left 
foster care to return home through reunification 
or reinstatement of parental rights or for kin-
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