I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7042 
To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to expand foster parent training 
and authorize new appropriations to support the obtainment of a driver’s 
license. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 28, 2020 
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself and Mr. BACON) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to expand 
foster parent training and authorize new appropriations 
to support the obtainment of a driver’s license. 
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 ‘‘Foster Youth and 
Driving Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FOSTER PARENT TRAINING RELATED TO PRE-
PARING A CHILD TO DRIVE. 
Section 471(a)(24) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 671(a)(24)) is amended— 
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(1) by striking ‘‘and knowledge and skills’’ and 
inserting ‘‘knowledge and skills’’; and 
(2) by inserting before the semicolon at the end 
the following: ‘‘and, when appropriate to the age or 
other circumstance of the child, knowledge and skills 
related to preparing the child to drive, including as-
suring opportunity for practice driving hours and as-
sistance in obtaining a driver’s license and auto-
motive insurance and in applying as needed for driv-
ing and transportation assistance as described in 
section 477(k)’’. 
SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO INCLUDE A PLAN FOR DRIVING 
PREPARATION IN CASE PLAN. 
Section 475(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
675(1)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (G)(ii), by moving sub-
clause (II) 2 ems to the right; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(H) A plan for assuring that the child, 
when appropriate to the age or other cir-
cumstance of the child, receives assistance, 
knowledge, and skills related to preparing to 
drive, including opportunity for practice driving 
hours and assistance in obtaining a driver’s li-
cense and automotive insurance and in applying 
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as needed for driving and transportation assist-
ance as described in section 477(k).’’. 
SEC. 4. DRIVING AND TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) PURPOSE.—Section 477(a) of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 677(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(8) to provide driving and transportation as-
sistance to children in foster care and certain former 
foster care recipients who have attained the appro-
priate age and circumstances to begin receiving such 
assistance.’’. 
(b) DRIVING AND TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE.— 
Section 477 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(k) FUNDS FOR DRIVING AND TRANSPORTATION 
ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The following conditions 
shall apply to a State driving and transportation as-
sistance program under this section: 
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‘‘(A) Assistance under the program shall 
be available to youth who have experienced fos-
ter care at age 14 or older, as described in sub-
section (a)(1). 
‘‘(B) The State may allow youths partici-
pating in the assistance program on the date 
they attain 21 years of age to remain eligible 
until they attain 26 years of age, as long as the 
State is satisfied that they are working or en-
rolled in a postsecondary education or other 
employment training program and are making 
satisfactory progress toward completion of that 
program. 
‘‘(C) The assistance provided for an indi-
vidual under this section— 
‘‘(i) may include vehicle insurance 
costs, driver’s education class and testing 
fees, practice lessons, practice hours, li-
cense fees, roadside assistance, deductible 
assistance, assistance in purchasing an 
automobile, and any other costs related to 
obtaining a driver’s license and driving le-
gally in the State; and 
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‘‘(ii) shall not exceed the lesser of 
$4,000 per year or the total cost of the 
items described in clause (i). 
‘‘(D) The State shall ensure that, in the 
case of a youth in foster care under the age of 
18 participating in the assistance program, the 
youth’s foster parent (if any) may authorize an-
other adult to provide any authorization re-
quired by the State to be provided by a parent 
or guardian in order for such a youth to obtain 
a driver’s license or permit or take driving les-
sons. 
‘‘(E) The State shall work to remove bar-
riers to obtaining a driver’s license and appro-
priate insurance for youth under the age of 18, 
such as addressing liability and insurance laws 
to allow minor youth to more easily obtain a li-
cense. 
‘‘(F) The amount of assistance under this 
section shall be disregarded for purposes of de-
termining the recipient’s eligibility for, or the 
amount of, any other Federal or federally sup-
ported assistance, except that the State agency 
shall take appropriate steps to prevent duplica-
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tion of benefits under this and other Federal or 
federally supported programs. 
‘‘(G) The State shall coordinate the pro-
gram with other appropriate programs, includ-
ing those described under subsection (b)(3)(F), 
to support current and former youth in their 
transition to adulthood. 
‘‘(H) The State shall work to streamline 
processes for communicating program eligibility 
and shall conduct public awareness efforts to 
ensure that foster youth are aware of the assist-
ance available under the program. 
‘‘(I) The State agrees to submit such an-
nual data to the Secretary as the Secretary may 
require, including data specifying the number of 
individuals, of those in foster care or formerly 
in foster care who have attained from 15 to 26 
years of age, who (as appropriate to the age 
and other circumstances of the individual)— 
‘‘(i) are eligible for a driver’s license; 
‘‘(ii) have completed a driver’s edu-
cation course; 
‘‘(iii) have completed driver’s training 
hours; 
‘‘(iv) have obtained a learner’s permit; 
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‘‘(v) have obtained a driver’s license; 
‘‘(vi) own a vehicle or otherwise have 
access to a vehicle to drive; and 
‘‘(vii) have automotive liability insur-
ance. 
‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall annually 
submit a report to the Committee on Ways and 
Means of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Finance of the Senate on the State 
driving and transportation assistance program under 
this subsection, and shall make such report publicly 
available. Such report shall include a compilation of 
the State data submitted to the Secretary under 
paragraph (1)(I).’’. 
(c) CERTIFICATION.—Section 477(b)(3) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677(b)(3)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(L) A certification by the chief executive 
officer of the State that the State driving and 
transportation assistance program under this 
section is in compliance with the conditions 
specified in subsection (k)(1), including a state-
ment describing methods the State will use— 
‘‘(i) to ensure that the total amount 
of driving and transportation assistance to 
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a youth under this section and under other 
Federal and federally supported programs 
does not exceed the limitation specified in 
subsection (k)(1)(C)(ii); and 
‘‘(ii) to avoid duplication of benefits 
under this and any other Federal or feder-
ally assisted benefit program.’’. 
(d) INCREASED AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIA-
TIONS.—Section 477(h) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 677(h)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) an additional $36,000,000, which are au-
thorized to be available for payments to States for 
driving and transportation assistance in accordance 
with subsection (k)(1).’’. 
(e) ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.—Section 477(c) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677(c)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para-
graph (5); and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(4) DRIVING
AND
TRANSPORTATION
ASSIST-
ANCE ALLOTMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—From the amount, if 
any, appropriated pursuant to subsection (h)(3) 
for a fiscal year and remaining after the res-
ervation described in subparagraph (B), the 
Secretary may allot to each State with an appli-
cation approved under subsection (b) for the 
fiscal year an amount equal to the State foster 
care ratio multiplied by the amount so specified. 
‘‘(B) RESERVATIONS FOR INDIAN TRIBES 
AND
TRIBAL
ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary 
shall reserve up to 3 percent of the amount ap-
propriated each year pursuant to subsection 
(h)(3) for payments to Indian tribes and tribal 
organizations to be used in accordance with 
subsection (k).’’. 
(f) DISCRETIONARY GRANTS.—Section 474 of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 674) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘section 
477(a)(6)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 477(a)(5)’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as 
subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(f) DISCRETIONARY GRANTS
FOR DRIVING
AND 
TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE.—From amounts appro-
priated pursuant to section 477(h)(3), the Secretary may 
make a grant to a State with a plan approved under this 
part, for a calendar quarter, in an amount equal to the 
lesser of— 
‘‘(1) 80 percent of the amounts expended by 
the State during the quarter to carry out programs 
for the purposes described in section 477(a)(8); or 
‘‘(2) the amount, if any, allotted to the State 
under section 477(c)(4)(A) for the fiscal year in 
which the quarter occurs, reduced by the total of the 
amounts payable to the State under this subsection 
for such purposes for all prior quarters in the fiscal 
year.’’. 
(g) PAYMENTS
TO
INDIAN
TRIBAL
ORGANIZA-
TIONS.—Section 477 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
677), as amended by subsection (b), is further amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(l) PAYMENTS TO INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL OR-
GANIZATIONS FOR DRIVING AND TRANSPORTATION AS-
SISTANCE PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An Indian tribe or tribal 
organization (as such terms are defined for purposes 
of section 428(c)) which has a plan for child welfare 
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services approved under subpart 1 of part B of this 
title and which operates a foster care program may 
apply for an allotment out of any amounts reserved 
for a fiscal year under subsection (c)(4)(B) to carry 
out programs for the purposes described in sub-
section (a)(8). 
‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—An Indian tribe or tribal 
organization desiring an allotment under paragraph 
(1) of this subsection shall submit an application to 
the Secretary to directly receive such allotment that 
includes a plan which— 
‘‘(A) satisfies such requirements of sub-
sections (b)(3) and (k) as the Secretary deter-
mines are appropriate in consultation with the 
tribe or tribal organization; 
‘‘(B) contains a description of the Indian 
tribe or tribal organization’s consultation proc-
ess regarding the programs to be carried out 
under the plan with each State in which the In-
dian tribe or tribal organization is located; and 
‘‘(C) contains an explanation of the results 
of such consultation, particularly with respect 
to— 
‘‘(i) determining the eligibility for 
driving and transportation assistance bene-
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