Title: Coordinating Assistance for TANF Recipients Act
Policy area: Social Welfare

Summary:
Coordinating Assistance for TANF Recipients Act
This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to make grants under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program for state demonstration projects that provide coordinated case management to help TANF recipients increase their employment and self-sufficiency.


[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2025 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2025

    To provide for the conduct of demonstration projects to provide 
       coordinated case management services for TANF recipients.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 26, 2017

   Mr. Young introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide for the conduct of demonstration projects to provide 
       coordinated case management services for TANF recipients.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Coordinating Assistance for TANF 
Recipients Act''.

SEC. 2. COORDINATED CASE MANAGEMENT DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.

    Section 403 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 603) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Coordinated Case Management Demonstration Projects.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall make grants to 
        States to conduct demonstration projects designed to implement 
        and evaluate strategies to provide coordinated case management 
        to help individuals receiving assistance under a State program 
        funded under this part or any other State program funded with 
        qualified State expenditures (as defined in section 
        409(a)(7)(B)(i)) increase their employment and self-
        sufficiency.
            ``(2) Application requirements.--The Secretary shall 
        require each State that applies for a grant under this 
        paragraph to do the following:
                    ``(A) Describe how, using the funds provided under 
                this paragraph, the State or its designee will ensure 
                an individual responsibility plan is developed in 
                accordance with section 408(b) for each recipient 
                referred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection.
                    ``(B) Describe how the State or its designee will 
                ensure the development of this plan is coordinated with 
                other programs and agencies providing benefits and 
                services to the individual to help the recipient 
                increase the employment and self-sufficiency of the 
                recipient.
                    ``(C) Describe how the State or its designee will 
                ensure the delivery of the benefits and services to the 
                recipient (which may include the use of home visiting 
                models).
                    ``(D) Describe how the State or its designee will 
                meet with the recipient at least monthly to review the 
                employment status of the recipient and status of the 
                participation of the recipient in other activities, the 
                benefits and services the recipient is receiving, and 
                the progress of the recipient toward meeting the goals 
                specified in the individual responsibility plan of the 
                recipient.
            ``(3) Use of funds.--A State to which a grant is made under 
        this subsection may use the grant for the following purposes:
                    ``(A) To support coordinated case managers in 
                completing the activities specified in paragraph (2).
                    ``(B) To provide short-term transitional benefits 
                and services to individuals who, due to increased 
                employment or earnings, may face disincentives to 
                increasing work or earnings due to the phase-out or 
                loss of certain benefits.
                    ``(C) To ensure that recipients of services under 
                the demonstration project have a choice between two or 
                more coordinated case management service providers 
                (which may include managed care organizations), 
                provided that such providers demonstrate experience and 
                expertise in case management, including the development 
                of individual assessment plans and coordinated service 
                management across various programs.
                    ``(D) To improve coordination between programs 
                serving recipients who are part of the demonstration 
                project.
                    ``(E) To improve coordination between information 
                technology and other systems to deliver better benefits 
                or services to the recipient, except that not more than 
                10 percent of the grant amount may be used for this 
                purpose.
            ``(4) Evaluation.--The Secretary, in consultation with each 
        State conducting a demonstration project under this subsection, 
        shall conduct a high-quality evaluation of the demonstration 
        project in accordance with the following:
                    ``(A) Evaluator qualifications.--The Secretary may 
                not enter into a contract with an evaluator unless the 
                evaluator has demonstrated experience in conducting 
                rigorous evaluations of program effectiveness 
                including, where available and appropriate, well-
                implemented randomized controlled trials.
                    ``(B) Methodologies to be used.--The evaluation of 
                a demonstration project shall use experimental designs 
                using random assignment or other reliable, evidence-
                based research methodologies that allow for the 
                strongest possible causal inferences when random 
                assignment is not feasible.
                    ``(C) Public disclosure.--The Secretary shall 
                publish the results of the evaluation on the website of 
                the Department of Health and Human Services in a 
                location easily accessible by the public.
                    ``(D) Limitation on cost of evaluations.--For 
                evaluations under this paragraph, the Secretary may not 
                obligate more than 20 percent of the funds reserved 
                under paragraph (6) for each fiscal year.
            ``(5) Recommendations to congress.--The Secretary shall 
        submit recommendations to the Congress on ways to improve case 
        management and better coordinate benefits and services across 
        programs.
            ``(6) Funding.--Of the amounts made available to carry out 
        subsection (b) for fiscal year 2019 and each succeeding fiscal 
        year, the Secretary shall reserve $300,000,000 to carry out 
        this subsection.
            ``(7) Availability of funds.--Funds provided to a State 
        under this subsection for a fiscal year shall be expended by 
        the State in the fiscal year or in the succeeding fiscal 
        year.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendment made by this Act shall take effect on October 1, 
2018.
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