I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7416 
To amend parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act to remove 
barriers and encourage kinship guardianship, foster, or adoptive place-
ments for children who cannot be safely cared for in their own homes, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 6, 2022 
Ms. BASS (for herself, Ms. SCANLON, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mrs. 
HAYES, and Mrs. LAWRENCE) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security 
Act to remove barriers and encourage kinship guardian-
ship, foster, or adoptive placements for children who 
cannot be safely cared for in their own homes, and 
for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Promoting Perma-
nency Through Kinship Families Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Reunification with parents, permanent 
placement with extended family members, and adop-
tion are all permanency options for children who are 
in, or at risk for entering or re-entering, foster care. 
(2) The estimated lifetime cost of foster youth 
who age out of foster care is approximately $6.9 bil-
lion. On an annual basis, approximately 23,000 
youth age out of foster care (reach the maximum 
age a State will support them without reunification 
with family or being placed in a permanent home) 
with no legal family ties. Over 20 percent of youth 
who age out of foster care become homeless, 60 per-
cent of sex trafficked youth come from foster care, 
and 25 percent of youth become involved in the 
criminal justice system within 2 years of aging out 
of foster care. When family reunification and kinship 
guardianship, foster, and adoptive placements are 
promoted and supported, children’s family connec-
tions and family relationships can reverse such ad-
verse adult outcomes. 
(3) Foster care is intended to be temporary. 
The best interests of children in safe, stable, and 
permanent placements are paramount. At the same 
time, absent aggravating circumstances, it is in the 
best interests of children for parents to be provided 
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individualized services, supports, and time needed to 
address the reasons for foster care or other tem-
porary placements of their children. 
(4) Where kinship placements can safely be 
made, extended family members available for such 
placements often face financial and other barriers 
related to access to health and mental health serv-
ices and supports, crisis stabilization services, and 
other service supports. 
(5) The United States has a unique and direct 
interest, as trustee, in protecting the best interests 
of Indian children including supporting safe and per-
manent placements that preserve a child’s sense of 
belonging and connection, including to extended 
family when reunification with parents is not safe or 
possible. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are to pro-
mote kinship care as an essential permanency option for 
children and youth, to remove barriers to children’s safe 
care by relatives and fictive kin when such children cannot 
be safely cared for by their parents, and to support the 
provision of resources and services to kin caregivers. 
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SEC. 3. PROMOTING PERMANENCY PLACEMENTS FOR 
CHILDREN AND YOUTH. 
(a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT RELATING TO PRO-
VISION
OF
CHILD
WELFARE
SERVICES.—Section 
422(b)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(7)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘provide for the diligent recruit-
ment’’ and inserting ‘‘substantiate with clear and con-
vincing data and analysis that the agency administering 
or supervising the administration of the plan is addressing 
disproportionality in the State child welfare system, and 
disparities in access to community-based services, array, 
and contracting, provide for locating and involving rel-
atives and fictive kin as a regular and ongoing part of 
case planning, for addressing barriers to family involve-
ment, and provide for the diligent recruitment’’. 
(b) FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION ASSISTANCE.— 
Section 471(a)(19) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(19)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘shall consider’’ and inserting 
‘‘shall make and document prompt, active, and continuous 
efforts to identify and locate relatives or fictive kin as a 
potential kinship guardianship, foster or adoptive place-
ment, and family support resources, and must consider’’. 
(c) CASE REVIEW.—Section 475(5)(A) of such Act 
(42 U.S.C. 675(5)(A)) is amended— 
(1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, and’’ and insert-
ing a semicolon; 
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(2) in clause (ii), by striking the comma at the 
end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iii) if the State determines that kin-
ship guardianship, foster, or adoptive 
placement with any relative or fictive kin is 
not in the child’s best interest or that the 
relative or fictive kin does not meet the re-
quirements of a relative caregiver, docu-
ments the basis for that determination 
with clear and convincing evidence; 
‘‘(iv) if the State determines that the 
child requires placement in an environment 
other than a home environment, ensures 
that the State shall make prompt, active, 
and continuous efforts to identify and lo-
cate relatives or fictive kin to serve as visi-
tation resources of the child and potential 
future placement resources; 
‘‘(v) if the State determines that ef-
forts to identify and locate relatives and 
fictive kin would be futile or inconsistent 
with the child’s best interests, documents 
the basis of its determination with clear 
and convincing evidence; and 
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‘‘(vi) if the child is residing in a kin-
ship placement, describes reasonable ef-
forts the State will make to maintain the 
child in the kinship home and not remove 
the child from the kinship home except to 
effectuate a permanency goal of reunifica-
tion or upon a showing by clear and con-
vincing evidence that remaining in the kin-
ship placement is contrary to the welfare 
of the child.’’. 
(d) GREATER FLEXIBILITY FOR STATES AND FAMI-
LIES.—Section 475(5)(E) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 675(5)(E)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(E) in the case of a child who has been 
in foster care under the responsibility of the 
State for 24 consecutive months, or, if a court 
of competent jurisdiction has determined a child 
to be an abandoned infant (as defined under 
State law) or has made a determination that 
the parent has committed murder of another 
child of the parent, committed voluntary man-
slaughter of another child of the parent, aided 
or abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to 
commit such a murder or such a voluntary 
manslaughter, or committed a felony assault 
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that has resulted in serious bodily injury to the 
child or to another child of the parent, the 
State may file or join a petition for modification 
or termination of parental rights and, concur-
rently, identify, recruit, process, and approve a 
qualified family (including the child’s extended 
family) for an adoption, only after dem-
onstrating by clear and convincing evidence that 
the State— 
‘‘(i) has demonstrated compelling rea-
sons why such modification or termination 
is in the best interest of the child; 
‘‘(ii) has provided to the family of the 
child such services, supports, and time 
needed to address the reasons for the 
child’s removal and enable the family to 
safely reunify; and 
‘‘(iii) if the child is living with a kin-
ship (including fictive kinship) caregiver, 
has provided a meaningful opportunity for 
such caregiver to express an opinion as to 
whether such modification or termination 
is in the best interests of the child and has 
documented such opinion in the case plan 
of the child; 
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except that, in the case of a child to whom this 
subparagraph applies solely because the child 
has been in foster care under the responsibility 
of the State for 24 consecutive months, the 
State may not file or join such a petition if a 
parent of the child is actively engaged in serv-
ices to address the reasons the child entered 
care (including treatment for substance use dis-
order, mental health concerns, or parenting 
skills), if based principally on the incarceration 
of a parent, or if based principally on the deten-
tion of the parent by the Department of Home-
land Security or the deportation of the par-
ent;’’. 
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect on the first day of the 
first fiscal year beginning on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and shall apply to payments 
under subpart 1 of part B and part E of title IV 
of the Social Security Act for calendar quarters be-
ginning on or after such date. 
(2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION 
REQUIRED.—If the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services determines that State legislation (other 
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than legislation appropriating funds) is required in 
order for a State plan developed pursuant to subpart 
1 of part B or part E of title IV of the Social Secu-
rity Act to meet the additional requirements imposed 
by the amendments made by this section, the plan 
shall not be regarded as failing to meet any of the 
additional requirements before the first day of the 
first calendar quarter beginning after the first reg-
ular session of the State legislature that begins after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. For purposes 
of the preceding sentence, if the State has a 2-year 
legislative session, each year of the session is deemed 
to be a separate regular session of the State legisla-
ture. 
(3) APPLICATION TO PROGRAMS OPERATED BY 
INDIAN TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS.—In the case of an 
Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium 
which the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
determines requires time to take action necessary to 
comply with the additional requirements imposed by 
the amendments made by this section (whether the 
tribe, organization, or tribal consortium has a plan 
under section 479B of the Social Security Act or a 
cooperative agreement or contract entered into with 
a State), the Secretary shall provide the tribe, orga-
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nization, or tribal consortium with such additional 
time as the Secretary determines is necessary for the 
tribe, organization, or tribal consortium to take the 
action to comply with the additional requirements 
before being regarded as failing to comply with the 
requirements. 
SEC. 4. CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECKS OF ALL KINSHIP 
CAREGIVERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 471(a)(20) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (B)— 
(A) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(B) in clause (iii), by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iv) have in place procedures to ensure 
that kinship placement is not denied based on 
past allegations or findings of abuse or neglect 
against a caregiver or household member in the 
absence of particularized information dem-
onstrating that the caregiver poses a current 
safety threat to the child or that placement of 
the child with the caregiver would be contrary 
to the welfare of the child.’’; 
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(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘on any 
relative guardian, and for checks’’ and all that fol-
lows through ‘‘under this part’’ and inserting ‘‘on 
any kinship caregiver, including in the case of a kin-
ship foster, guardianship, or adoptive placement, 
and for checks described in subparagraph (B) of this 
paragraph on any such kinship caregiver and any 
other adult living in the home of any such kinship 
caregiver, before the kinship caregiver may receive 
kinship guardianship assistance payments on behalf 
of the child under the State plan under this part un-
less the State reports to the Secretary the alter-
native criminal records checks the State conducts on 
any adult kinship caregiver, and why the checks 
specified in this subparagraph are not appropriate 
for the State, and procedures to ensure that a past 
criminal record does not serve as a bar to kinship 
licensing in the absence of particularized information 
demonstrating that the caregiver or household mem-
ber poses a current safety threat to the child or that 
placement of the child with the caregiver would be 
contrary to the welfare of the child.’’; and 
(3) by moving the margins for subparagraph 
(D) 2 ems to the left. 
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(b) NO EFFECT ON CHARACTER INVESTIGATIONS 
UNDER THE INDIAN CHILD PROTECTION AND FAMILY VI-
OLENCE PREVENTION ACT.—Nothing in this Act or the 
amendments made by this Act shall be construed to mod-
ify the requirements relating to character investigations 
of kin or extended family under the Indian Child Protec-
tion and Family Violence Prevention Act. 
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON IMPOSITION OF UPPER AGE LIMIT 
FOR KINSHIP CAREGIVERS. 
Section 471(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (36), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (37), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(38) provides that the State shall have in ef-
fect such laws and procedures as are necessary to 
ensure that the age of an individual who has at-
tained 18 years of age is disregarded in deter-
mining— 
‘‘(A) whether the individual is qualified to 
be a kinship caregiver for a child; and 
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‘‘(B) the appropriate placement for a child 
for whom placement with a kinship caregiver 
may be an appropriate option.’’. 
SEC. 6. MANDATORY PARTICIPATION IN KINSHIP GUARD-
IANSHIP ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 471(a)(28) of such Act 
(42 U.S.C. 671(a)(28)) is amended by striking ‘‘at the op-
tion of the State,’’. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 473(d)(3)(A)(i)(II) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(d)(3)(A)(i)(II)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘at least 6 consecutive months’’ and 
inserting ‘‘at least 3 consecutive months’’. 
SEC. 7. ELIMINATION OF THE AFDC ELIGIBILITY REQUIRE-
MENT FOR FOSTER CARE MAINTENANCE PAY-
MENTS FOR CHILDREN PLACED IN A FOSTER 
FAMILY HOME. 
Section 472(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
14 672(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 
subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Each State’’ and in-
serting ‘‘Subject to paragraph (5), each State’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) ELIMINATION OF THE AFDC ELIGIBILITY 
REQUIREMENT FOR CHILDREN PLACED IN A FOSTER 
FAMILY HOME.—Beginning on the first day of the 
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first fiscal year beginning on or after the date of the 
enactment of the Promoting Permanency Through 
Kinship Families Act, the AFDC eligibility require-
ment of paragraph (3) shall no longer apply with re-
spect to a child who has been removed from the 
home of a relative or a caretaker into foster care 
and placed in a foster family home. On and after 
such date, each State with a plan approved under 
this part shall make foster care maintenance pay-
ments on behalf of each child who has been removed 
from the home of a relative or caretaker into foster 
care and placed in a foster family home (without re-
gard to whether such removal and placement oc-
curred before, on, or after such date of enactment, 
if the removal and foster care placement met, and 
continues to meet, the requirements of paragraph 
(2).’’. 
SEC. 
8. 
PROMOTING 
SAFE 
AND 
STABLE 
FAMILIES 
THROUGH KINSHIP PLACEMENT SUPPORT 
SERVICES PROGRAMS. 
(a) ADDITION OF KINSHIP PLACEMENT SUPPORT 
SERVICES TO THE PROMOTING SAFE AND STABLE FAMI-
LIES PROGRAM.—Section 431(a) of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 629a(a)) is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(including 
adoptive and extended families)’’ and inserting ‘‘(in-
cluding kinship guardians, adoptive, and extended 
families).’’; 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(10) KINSHIP
PLACEMENT
SUPPORT
SERV-
ICES.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘kinship 
placement support services’ means the services 
and activities described in subparagraph (B) 
that are provided on behalf of children and 
youth in kinship care arrangements, including 
kinship guardianship placements, who are in, or 
at risk of entering or re-entering, foster care. 
‘‘(B) 
SERVICES
AND
ACTIVITIES
DE-
SCRIBED.—The services and activities described 
in this subparagraph are the following: 
‘‘(i) Crisis stabilization services, in-
cluding case management services designed 
to stabilize families in crisis such as trans-
portation, assistance with housing and util-
ity payments, and access to adequate 
health care, child care assistance, edu-
cational resources, and establishing a kin-
ship placement crisis stabilization fund for 
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purposes of making direct cash payments 
to kin caregivers for immediate needs of 
children placed with such caregivers in 
order to facilitate kinship placements and 
prevent the entry of children into foster 
care. 
‘‘(ii) Family finding, including inten-
sive family-finding efforts that utilize 
search technology to find biological family 
members for children in, or at risk of en-
tering, foster care. 
‘‘(iii) Re-establishing family relation-
ships and supporting family group deci-
sion-making. 
‘‘(iv) Other assistance or services re-
lated to strengthening and supporting kin-
ship families, including families led by sib-
lings, to improve the well-being of children 
and their kin caregivers, and, if requested, 
assistance in becoming a licensed foster 
family home.’’. 
(b) MAINTENANCE
OF EFFORT REQUIREMENT.— 
Section 432(a)(7) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 629b(a)(7)) is 
amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A)— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘assurances that Federal 
funds’’ and inserting ‘‘assurances that— 
‘‘(i) Federal funds’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(ii) the total amount of State ex-
penditures made for fiscal year 2023 and 
each fiscal year thereafter to support kin-
ship placements shall not be less than the 
total amount of such expenditures made 
for fiscal year 2022; and’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘and 
spending requirements’’ after ‘‘prohibition’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 430 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 629) is 
amended— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by inserting ‘‘kinship placement support serv-
ices,’’ after ‘‘family reunification services,’’; 
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 
(4) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; and 
(C) by inserting after paragraph (2), the 
following: 
‘‘(3) To support kinship placements to maintain 
family connections while ensuring the safety and 
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well-being of children and youth and the well-being 
of their kin caregivers.’’. 
(2) Paragraphs (4) and (5) of section 432(a) of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 629b(a)) are each amended by 
inserting ‘‘kinship placement support services,’’ after 
‘‘family reunification services,’’. 
Æ 
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