I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3438 
To provide for a temporarily enhanced Federal match for certain State or 
tribal child welfare data reporting expenditures. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 24, 2019 
Ms. BASS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To provide for a temporarily enhanced Federal match for 
certain State or tribal child welfare data reporting ex-
penditures. 
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 ‘‘Child Welfare Data 
Modernization Act’’. 
SEC. 2. TEMPORARILY ENHANCED FEDERAL MATCH FOR 
CERTAIN STATE OR TRIBAL EXPENDITURES 
FOR CHILD WELFARE DATA REPORTING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The percentages which shall be in 
effect under section 474(a)(3)(C) of the Social Security 
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Act with respect to eligible child welfare data reporting 
expenditures of a State, Indian tribe, tribal organization, 
or tribal consortium in the applicable period shall— 
(1) be 75 percent; and 
(2) apply with respect to the expenditures, with-
out regard to whether the systems for which the ex-
penditures are made may be used with respect to 
foster or adoptive children other than those on be-
half of whom foster care maintenance payments or 
adoption assistance payments are made under a 
State or tribal plan approved under this part. 
(b) TREATMENT OF DIGITAL SYSTEM AS MECHA-
NIZED SYSTEM.—The digital system described in sub-
section (c)(2) of this section shall be considered a mecha-
nized system for purposes of subparagraphs (C) and (D) 
of section 474(a)(3) of the Social Security Act. 
(c) MEANING OF TERMS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided in this subsection, the terms used in this sec-
tion shall have the meanings the terms would have 
if this section were in part E of title IV of the Social 
Security Act. 
(2) ELIGIBLE CHILD WELFARE DATA REPORT-
ING EXPENDITURES.—In subsection (a) of this sec-
tion, the term ‘‘eligible child welfare data reporting 
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expenditures’’ means expenditures as are for the 
planning, design, development, update, or installa-
tion of statewide or tribal digital data collection and 
information retrieval systems (including for hard-
ware components for the systems), but only to the 
extent that the systems— 
(A) meet the requirements imposed by the 
regulations prescribed under section 479(b)(2) 
of the Social Security Act, as in effect on Janu-
ary 13, 2017; 
(B) use cost-effective, innovative tech-
nologies to automate the collection of high-qual-
ity case management data, and promote the 
analysis, distribution, and use the data by 
workers, supervisors, administrators, research-
ers, and policymakers— 
(i) in accordance with the Comprehen-
sive Child Welfare Information System 
Final Rule (81 FR 35449); or 
(ii) by means of a statewide auto-
mated child welfare information system 
that meets the requirements of the regula-
tions 
prescribed 
under 
such 
section 
479(b)(2); 
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(C) include the information required to be 
collected and reported by section 471(e)(4)(E), 
and the data described in clauses (i) and (ii) of 
479A(a)(7)(A), of such Act; 
(D) to the extent practicable, are capable 
of interfacing with the State or tribal data col-
lection system that collects information relating 
to child abuse and neglect; 
(E) to the extent practicable, have the ca-
pability of interfacing with, and retrieving infor-
mation from, the State or tribal data collection 
system that collects information relating to the 
eligibility of individuals for assistance under a 
program funded under part A, for purposes of 
facilitating verification of income for purposes 
of eligibility for benefits under a State plan ap-
proved under this part; and 
(F) are determined by the Secretary to be 
likely to provide more efficient, economical, and 
effective administration of a State or tribal pro-
gram carried out under a plan developed under 
part B or approved under this part. 
(3) APPLICABLE
PERIOD.—In subsection (a), 
the term ‘‘applicable period’’ means the period that 
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begins with January 13, 2017, and ends with Sep-
tember 30, 2020. 
Æ 
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