I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2477 
To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to require the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct research on indica-
tors of child well-being. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 24, 2007 
Mr. FATTAH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act 
to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to conduct research on indicators of child well-being. 
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 ‘‘State Child Well-Being 
Research Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The well-being of children is a paramount 
concern for our Nation and for every State, and 
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most programs for children and families are man-
aged at the State or local level. 
(2) Child well-being varies over time and across 
social, economic, and geographic groups, and can be 
affected by changes in the circumstances of families, 
by the economy, by the social and cultural environ-
ment, and by public policies and programs at the 
Federal, State, and local level. 
(3) States, including small States, need infor-
mation about child well-being that is specific to their 
State and that is up-to-date, cost-effective, and con-
sistent across States and over time. 
(4) Regular collection of child well-being infor-
mation at the State level is essential so that Federal 
and State officials can track child well-being over 
time. 
(5) Information on child well-being is necessary 
for all States, particularly small States that do not 
have State-level data in other federally supported 
databases. Information is needed on the well-being 
of all children, not just children participating in 
Federal programs. 
(6) Telephone surveys of parents represent a 
relatively cost-effective strategy for obtaining infor-
mation on child well-being at the State level for all 
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States, including small States, and can be conducted 
alone or in mixed mode strategy with other survey 
techniques. 
(7) Data from telephone surveys of the popu-
lation are currently used to monitor progress toward 
many important national goals, including immuniza-
tion of preschool children with the National Immuni-
zation Survey, and the identification of health care 
issues of children with special needs with the Na-
tional Survey of Children with Special Health Care 
Needs. 
(8) A State-level telephone survey, alone or in 
combination with other techniques, can provide in-
formation on a range of topics, including children’s 
social and emotional development, education, health, 
safety, family income, family employment, and child 
care. Information addressing marriage and family 
structure can also be obtained for families with chil-
dren. Information obtained from such a survey 
would not be available solely for children or families 
participating in programs but would be representa-
tive of the entire State population and consequently, 
would not only inform welfare policymaking, but pol-
icymaking on a range of other important issues, 
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