I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2847 
To make improvements to the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence 
Program and related provisions. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 8, 2017 
Mr. FASO (for himself, Mr. REED, and Ms. BASS) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To make improvements to the John H. Chafee Foster Care 
Independence Program and related provisions. 
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 ‘‘Improving Services for 
Older Youth in Foster Care Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE JOHN H. CHAFEE FOSTER 
CARE INDEPENDENCE PROGRAM AND RE-
LATED PROVISIONS. 
(a) AUTHORITY TO SERVE FORMER FOSTER YOUTH 
UP TO AGE 23.—Section 477 of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 677) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(5), by inserting ‘‘(or 23 
years of age, in the case of a State with a certifi-
cation under subsection (b)(3)(A)(ii) to provide as-
sistance and services to youths who have aged out 
of foster care and have not attained such age, in ac-
cordance with such subsection)’’ after ‘‘21 years of 
age’’; 
(2) in subsection (b)(3)(A)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ before ‘‘A certifi-
cation’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘children who have left fos-
ter care’’ and all that follows through the pe-
riod and inserting ‘‘youths who have aged out 
of foster care and have not attained 21 years of 
age.’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(ii) If the State has elected under section 
475(8)(B) to extend eligibility for foster care to 
all children who have not attained 21 years of 
age, or if the Secretary determines that the 
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State agency responsible for administering the 
State plans under this part and part B uses 
State funds or any other funds not provided 
under this part to provide services and assist-
ance for youths who have aged out of foster 
care that are comparable to the services and as-
sistance the youths would receive if the State 
had made such an election, the certification re-
quired under clause (i) may provide that the 
State will provide assistance and services to 
youths who have aged out of foster care and 
have not attained 23 years of age.’’; and 
(3) in subsection (b)(3)(B), by striking ‘‘chil-
dren who have left foster care’’ and all that follows 
through the period and inserting ‘‘youths who have 
aged out of foster care and have not attained 21 
years of age (or 23 years of age, in the case of a 
State with a certification under subparagraph (A)(i) 
to provide assistance and services to youths who 
have aged out of foster care and have not attained 
such 
age, 
in 
accordance 
with 
subparagraph 
(A)(ii)).’’. 
(b) 
AUTHORITY
TO
REDISTRIBUTE
UNSPENT 
FUNDS.—Section 477(d) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 677(d)) 
is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘or does not 
expend allocated funds within the time period speci-
fied under section 477(d)(3)’’ after ‘‘provided by the 
Secretary’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) 
REDISTRIBUTION
OF
UNEXPENDED 
AMOUNTS.— 
‘‘(A) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—To the 
extent that amounts paid to States under this 
section in a fiscal year remain unexpended by 
the States at the end of the succeeding fiscal 
year, the Secretary may make the amounts 
available for redistribution in the second suc-
ceeding fiscal year among the States that apply 
for additional funds under this section for that 
second succeeding fiscal year. 
‘‘(B) REDISTRIBUTION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall redistribute the amounts made avail-
able under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal 
year among eligible applicant States. In 
this subparagraph, the term ‘eligible appli-
cant State’ means a State that has applied 
for additional funds for the fiscal year 
under subparagraph (A) if the Secretary 
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determines that the State will use the 
funds for the purpose for which originally 
allotted under this section. 
‘‘(ii) AMOUNT
TO
BE
REDISTRIB-
UTED.—The amount to be redistributed to 
each eligible applicant State shall be the 
amount so made available multiplied by the 
State foster care ratio (as defined in sub-
section (c)(4), except that, in such sub-
section, ‘all eligible applicant States (as de-
fined in subsection (d)(5)(B)(i))’ shall be 
substituted for ‘all States’). 
‘‘(iii) TREATMENT OF REDISTRIBUTED 
AMOUNT.—Any amount made available to 
a State under this paragraph shall be re-
garded as part of the allotment of the 
State under this section for the fiscal year 
in which the redistribution is made. 
‘‘(C) TRIBES.—For purposes of this para-
graph, the term ‘State’ includes an Indian tribe, 
tribal organization, or tribal consortium that re-
ceives an allotment under this section.’’. 
(c) EXPANDING AND CLARIFYING THE USE OF EDU-
CATION AND TRAINING VOUCHERS.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 477(i)(3) of such 
Act (42 U.S.C. 677(i)(3)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘on the date’’ and all that 
follows through ‘‘23’’ and inserting ‘‘to remain 
eligible until they attain 26’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘, but in no event may a 
youth participate in the program for more than 
5 years (whether or not consecutive)’’ before 
the period. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
477(i)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 677(i)(1)) is 
amended by inserting ‘‘who have attained 14 years 
of age’’ before the period. 
(d) OTHER IMPROVEMENTS.—Section 477 of such 
Act (42 U.S.C. 677), as amended by subsections (a), (b), 
and (c) of this section, is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘INDE-
PENDENCE PROGRAM’’ and inserting ‘‘PROGRAM 
FOR
SUCCESSFUL
TRANSITION
TO
ADULT-
HOOD’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘identify children who 
are likely to remain in foster care until 18 
years of age and to help these children 
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make the transition to self-sufficiency by 
providing services’’ and inserting ‘‘support 
all youth who have experienced foster care 
at age 14 or older in their transition to 
adulthood through transitional services’’; 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘and post-secondary 
education’’ after ‘‘high school diploma’’; 
and 
(iii) by striking ‘‘training in daily liv-
ing skills, training in budgeting and finan-
cial management skills’’ and inserting 
‘‘training and opportunities to practice 
daily living skills (such as financial literacy 
training and driving instruction)’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘who are 
likely to remain in foster care until 18 years of 
age receive the education, training, and services 
necessary to obtain employment’’ and inserting 
‘‘who have experienced foster care at age 14 or 
older achieve meaningful, permanent connec-
tions with a caring adult’’; 
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘who are 
likely to remain in foster care until 18 years of 
age prepare for and enter postsecondary train-
ing and education institutions’’ and inserting 
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‘‘who have experienced foster care at age 14 or 
older engage in age or developmentally appro-
priate activities, positive youth development, 
and experiential learning that reflects what 
their peers in intact families experience’’; and 
(D) by striking paragraph (4) and redesig-
nating paragraphs (5) through (8) as para-
graphs (4) through (7); 
(3) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (2)(D), by striking ‘‘ado-
lescents’’ and inserting ‘‘youth’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) in subparagraph (D)— 
(I) by inserting ‘‘including train-
ing on youth development’’ after ‘‘to 
provide training’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘adolescents pre-
paring for independent living’’ and all 
that follows through the period and 
inserting ‘‘youth preparing for a suc-
cessful transition to adulthood and 
making a permanent connection with 
a caring adult.’’; 
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(ii) in subparagraph (H), by striking 
‘‘adolescents’’ each place it appears and in-
serting ‘‘youth’’; and 
(iii) in subparagraph (K)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘an adolescent’’ 
and inserting ‘‘a youth’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘the adolescent’’ 
each place it appears and inserting 
‘‘the youth’’; and 
(4) in subsection (f), by striking paragraph (2) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 
October 1, 2018, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of 
the Senate a report on the National Youth in Tran-
sition Database and any other databases in which 
States report outcome measures relating to children 
in foster care and children who have aged out of fos-
ter care or left foster care for kinship guardianship 
or adoption. The report shall include the following: 
‘‘(A) A description of the reasons for entry 
into foster care and of the foster care experi-
ences, such as length of stay, number of place-
ment settings, case goal, and discharge reason 
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of 17-year-olds who are surveyed by the Na-
tional Youth in Transition Database and an 
analysis of the comparison of that description 
with the reasons for entry and foster care expe-
riences of children of other ages who exit from 
foster care before attaining age 17. 
‘‘(B) A description of the characteristics of 
the individuals who report poor outcomes at 
ages 19 and 21 to the National Youth in Tran-
sition Database. 
‘‘(C) Benchmarks for determining what 
constitutes a poor outcome for youth who re-
main in or have exited from foster care and 
plans the executive branch will take to incor-
porate these benchmarks in efforts to evaluate 
child welfare agency performance in providing 
services to children transitioning from foster 
care. 
‘‘(D) An analysis of the association be-
tween types of placement, number of overall 
placements, time spent in foster care, and other 
factors, and outcomes at ages 19 and 21. 
‘‘(E) An analysis of the differences in out-
comes for children in and formerly in foster 
care at age 19 and 21 among States.’’. 
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(e) CLARIFYING DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED
TO 
FOSTER
YOUTH
LEAVING
FOSTER
CARE.—Section 
475(5)(I) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(I)) is amended 
by inserting after ‘‘REAL ID Act of 2005’’ the following: 
‘‘, and any official documentation necessary to prove that 
the child was previously in foster care’’. 
Æ 
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