I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4472 
To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to require States to adopt 
a centralized electronic system to help expedite the placement of children 
in foster care or guardianship, or for adoption, across State lines, and 
to provide grants to aid States in developing such a system, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 4, 2016 
Mr. YOUNG of Indiana (for himself and Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois) in-
troduced 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 require 
States to adopt a centralized electronic system to help 
expedite the placement of children in foster care or 
guardianship, or for adoption, across State lines, and 
to provide grants to aid States in developing such a 
system, 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 ‘‘Modernizing the Inter-
state Placement of Children in Foster Care Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
(1) when a child in foster care cannot return 
safely home, the child deserves to be placed in a set-
ting that is best for that child, regardless of whether 
it is in the child’s State or another State; 
(2) the Interstate Compact on the Placement of 
Children (ICPC) was established in 1960 to provide 
a uniform legal framework for the placement of chil-
dren across State lines in foster and adoptive homes; 
(3) frequently, children waiting to be placed 
with an adoptive family, relative, or foster parent in 
another State spend more time waiting for this to 
occur than children who are placed with an adoptive, 
family, relative, or foster parent in the same State, 
because of the outdated, administratively burden-
some ICPC process; 
(4) no child should have to wait longer to be 
placed in a loving home simply because the child 
must cross a State line; 
(5) the National Electronic Interstate Compact 
Enterprise (NEICE) was launched in August 2014 
in Indiana, Nevada, Florida, South Carolina, Wis-
consin, and the District of Columbia, and is expected 
to be expanded into additional States to improve the 
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administrative process by which children are placed 
with families across State lines; 
(6) States using this centralized electronic 
interstate case processing system have reduced ad-
ministrative costs and the amount of staff time re-
quired to process these cases, and caseworkers can 
spend more time helping children instead of copying 
and mailing paperwork between States; 
(7) since NEICE was launched, placement time 
has decreased by 30 percent for interstate foster 
care placements; and 
(8) on average, States using this centralized 
electronic interstate case processing system have 
been able to reduce from 24 days to 13 days the 
time it takes to identify a family for a child and pre-
pare the paperwork required to start the ICPC proc-
ess. 
SEC. 3. STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 471(a)(25) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(25)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘provide’’ and insert ‘‘provides’’; 
and 
(2) by inserting ‘‘, which, not later than Octo-
ber 1, 2022, shall include a centralized electronic 
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interstate case processing system’’ before the 1st 
semicolon. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on the 1st day of the 
1st calendar quarter beginning on or after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply to pay-
ments under part E of title IV of the Social Security 
Act for calendar quarters beginning 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 
than legislation appropriating funds) is required in 
order for a State plan developed pursuant to part E 
of title IV of the Social Security Act to meet the ad-
ditional requirement imposed by the amendments 
made by subsection (a), the plan shall not be re-
garded as failing to meet any of the additional re-
quirements before the 1st day of the 1st calendar 
quarter beginning after the first regular 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, 
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each year of the session is deemed to be a separate 
regular session of the State legislature. 
SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CENTRAL-
IZED ELECTRONIC SYSTEM TO EXPEDITE THE 
INTERSTATE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN 
FOSTER CARE OR GUARDIANSHIP, OR FOR 
ADOPTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 437 of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 637) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(g) GRANTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CEN-
TRALIZED ELECTRONIC SYSTEM TO EXPEDITE
THE 
INTERSTATE PLACEMENT
OF CHILDREN
IN FOSTER 
CARE OR GUARDIANSHIP, OR FOR ADOPTION.— 
‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 
is to facilitate the development of a centralized elec-
tronic system for the exchange of data and docu-
ments to expedite the placements of children in fos-
ter, guardianship, or adoptive homes across State 
lines. 
‘‘(2) APPLICATION
REQUIREMENTS.—A State 
that desires a grant under this subsection shall sub-
mit to the Secretary an application containing the 
following: 
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‘‘(A) A description of the goals and out-
comes to be achieved during the period for 
which grant funds are sought, which goals and 
outcomes must result in— 
‘‘(i) reducing the time it takes for a 
child to be provided with a safe and appro-
priate 
permanent 
living 
arrangement 
across State lines; 
‘‘(ii) improving administrative proc-
esses and reducing costs in the foster care 
system; and 
‘‘(iii) the secure exchange of relevant 
case files and other necessary materials in 
real time, and timely communications and 
placement decisions regarding interstate 
placements of children. 
‘‘(B) A description of the activities to be 
funded in whole or in part with the grant 
funds, including the sequencing of the activities. 
‘‘(C) A description of the strategies for in-
tegrating programs and services for children 
who are placed across State lines. 
‘‘(D) Such other information as the Sec-
retary may require. 
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‘‘(3) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may 
make a grant to a State that complies with para-
graph (2). 
‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—A State to which a grant 
is made under this subsection shall use the grant for 
the development of the centralized electronic system 
described in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(5) EVALUATIONS.—Not later than 1 year 
after the final year in which grants are awarded 
under this subsection, the Secretary shall submit to 
the Congress, and make available to the general 
public by posting on a website, that contains the fol-
lowing information: 
‘‘(A) How using the centralized electronic 
system developed pursuant to paragraph (4) 
has changed the time it takes for children to be 
placed across State lines. 
‘‘(B) The number of cases subject to the 
Interstate Compact on the Placement of Chil-
dren that were processed through the central-
ized electronic system, and the number of inter-
state child placement cases that were processed 
outside the centralized electronic system, by 
each State in each year. 
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‘‘(C) The progress made by States in im-
plementing the centralized electronic system. 
‘‘(D) How using the centralized electronic 
system has affected various metrics related to 
child safety and well-being, including the time 
it takes for children to be placed across State 
lines. 
‘‘(E) How using the centralized electronic 
system has affected administrative costs and 
caseworker time spent on placing children 
across State lines. 
‘‘(6) DATA
INTEGRATION.—The Secretary, in 
consultation with the Secretariat for the Interstate 
Compact on the Placement of Children and the 
States, shall assess how the centralized electronic 
system developed pursuant to paragraph (4) could 
be used to better serve and protect children that 
come to the attention of the child welfare system, 
by— 
‘‘(A) connecting the system with other 
data systems (such as systems operated by 
State law enforcement and judicial agencies, 
systems operated by the Federal Bureau of In-
vestigation for the purposes of the Innocence 
Lost National Initiative, and other systems); 
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‘‘(B) simplifying and improving reporting 
related to paragraphs (34) and (35) of section 
471(a) regarding children or youth who have 
been identified as being a sex trafficking victim 
or children missing from foster care; and 
‘‘(C) improving the ability of States to 
quickly comply with background check require-
ments of section 471(a)(20), including checks of 
child abuse and neglect registries as required by 
section 471(a)(20)(B).’’. 
SEC. 5. CONTINUATION OF DISCRETIONARY FUNDING TO 
PROMOTE SAFE AND STABLE FAMILIES. 
Section 437(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
637(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘2016’’ and inserting 
‘‘2017’’. 
SEC. 6. RESERVATION OF FUNDS TO IMPROVE THE INTER-
STATE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN. 
Section 437(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
637(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) IMPROVING THE INTERSTATE PLACEMENT 
OF
CHILDREN.—The 
Secretary 
shall 
reserve 
$5,000,000 of the amount made available for fiscal 
year 2017 for grants under subsection (g), and the 
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amount so reserved shall remain available through 
fiscal year 2021.’’. 
Æ 
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