I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 579 
To amend parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act to improve 
foster and adoptive parent recruitment and retention, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 21, 2025 
Mr. FEENSTRA (for himself and Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security 
Act to improve foster and adoptive parent recruitment 
and retention, 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 ‘‘Recruiting Families 
Using Data Act of 2025’’. 
SEC. 2. STATE PLAN AMENDMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 422 of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 622) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(7), by inserting ‘‘through 
the development and implementation of a family 
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partnership plan which meets the requirements of 
subsection (d) for identification, recruitment, screen-
ing, licensing, support, and retention of foster and 
adoptive families’’ after ‘‘are needed’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) 
FAMILY
PARTNERSHIP
PLAN
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—For purposes of subsection (b)(7), the require-
ments for a family partnership plan (in this subsection 
referred to as the ‘plan’) are the following: 
‘‘(1) The plan is developed in consultation with 
birth, kinship, foster and adoptive families, commu-
nity-based service providers, technical assistance 
providers, and youth with lived experience with fos-
ter care and adoption. 
‘‘(2) The plan describes— 
‘‘(A) how the State plans to identify, no-
tify, engage, and support relatives (and others 
connected to the child) as potential placement 
resources for children; 
‘‘(B) how the State plans to develop and 
implement child-specific recruitment plans for 
every child in or entering foster care who needs 
a foster or adoptive family; 
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‘‘(C) how the State plans to authentically 
engage children and youth in recruitment ef-
forts on their behalf; 
‘‘(D) how the State plans to use data to 
establish goals, assess needs, measure progress, 
reduce unnecessary placements in congregate 
care, increase permanency, improve placement 
stability, increase the rate of kinship place-
ments, improve recruitment and retention of 
families for teens, sibling groups, and other spe-
cial populations, and align the composition of 
foster and adoptive families with the needs of 
children in or entering foster care; and 
‘‘(E) how that State will stand up or sup-
port foster family advisory boards for the pur-
pose of improving recruitment and retention of 
foster and adoptive families. 
‘‘(3) The plan provides that, not less than an-
nually, the State shall collect and report on the 
State’s actual foster family capacity and congregate 
care utilization, including the number, demo-
graphics, and characteristics of licensed foster fami-
lies, including prospective adoptive families, the 
number of such families that haven’t received a 
placement or are not being fully utilized and the rea-
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sons therefor, and the number, demographics, and 
characteristics of children placed in congregate care 
in-State and out-of-State. 
‘‘(4) The plan includes, and shall update not 
less than annually, a summary of the most recent 
feedback from foster and adoptive parents and youth 
regarding licensure, training, support, and reasons 
why parents stop fostering or why adoptive or legal 
guardianship placements out of foster care fail or 
foster and such adoptive of legal guardianship fami-
lies struggle to meet children’s needs. 
‘‘(5) The plan includes, and shall update annu-
ally, a report on the State’s analysis of specific chal-
lenges or barriers to recruiting, licensing, and uti-
lizing families who reflect the racial and ethnic back-
ground of children in foster care in the State, and 
the State’s efforts to overcome those challenges and 
barriers. 
‘‘(6) The plan includes such other information 
relating to foster and adoptive parent recruitment 
and retention as the Secretary may require.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the amendment made by this subsection 
shall take effect on October 1, 2026. 
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(2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION 
REQUIRED.—In the case of a State plan approved 
under subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social 
Security Act which the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services determines requires State legisla-
tion (other than legislation appropriating funds) in 
order for the plan to meet the additional require-
ments imposed by this subsection, the State plan 
shall not be regarded as failing to comply with the 
requirements of such part solely on the basis of the 
failure of the plan to meet such additional require-
ments before the first day of the first calendar quar-
ter beginning after the close of the first regular ses-
sion of the State legislature that begins after the 
date of enactment of this subsection. For purposes 
of the previous sentence, in the case of a State that 
has a 2-year legislative session, each year of such 
session shall be deemed to be a separate regular ses-
sion of the State legislature. 
SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF INFORMATION ON FOSTER AND 
ADOPTIVE FAMILIES IN ANNUAL CHILD WEL-
FARE OUTCOMES REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
Section 479A(a) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 679b(a)) is amended— 
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