Title: Strong Families Act of 2017
Policy area: Social Welfare

Summary:
Strong Families Act of 2017
This bill amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to reauthorize through FY2022, and otherwise revise, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.
Under current law, grantees were required, after three years of program implementation, to demonstrate improvement in specified benchmark areas. The bill requires grantees to continue to track and demonstrate, on a triennial basis, improvement in applicable benchmark areas. A grantee that fails to do so must develop and implement a corrective action plan, subject to approval by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS shall terminate a program grant made to a grantee that implements such a plan but continues to fail to demonstrate improvement.
As a condition for receiving grant funds under the program, a state must review and update its statewide needs assessment by October 1, 2020.
A grantee may use a portion of program grant funds to support a "pay-for-outcomes initiative" (a performance-based grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, awarded by a public entity, in which a commitment is made to pay for improved outcomes that result in social benefit and public-sector cost savings).
HHS must designate data-exchange standards applicable to the program.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1829 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1829

  To amend title V of the Social Security Act to extend the Maternal, 
           Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 19, 2017

  Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Casey, Mr. 
  Gardner, Mr. Cardin, and Mr. Brown) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title V of the Social Security Act to extend the Maternal, 
           Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.

    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 ``Strong Families Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. CONTINUING EVIDENCE-BASED HOME VISITING PROGRAM.

    Section 511(j)(1)(H) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
711(j)(1)(H)) is amended by striking ``fiscal year 2017'' and inserting 
``each of fiscal years 2017 through 2022''.

SEC. 3. CONTINUING TO DEMONSTRATE RESULTS TO HELP FAMILIES.

    (a) Require Service Delivery Models To Demonstrate Improvement in 
Applicable Benchmark Areas.--Section 511 of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 711) is amended in each of subsections (d)(1)(A) and (h)(4)(A) 
by striking ``each of''.
    (b) Demonstration of Improvements in Subsequent Years.--Section 
511(d)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 711(d)(1)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
                    ``(D) Demonstration of improvements in subsequent 
                years.--
                            ``(i) Continued measurement of improvement 
                        in applicable benchmark areas.--The eligible 
                        entity, after demonstrating improvements for 
                        eligible families as specified in subparagraphs 
                        (A) and (B), shall continue to track and 
                        report, not later than 30 days after the end of 
                        fiscal year 2020 and every 3 years thereafter, 
                        information demonstrating that the program 
                        results in improvements for the eligible 
                        families participating in the program in at 
                        least 4 of the areas specified in subparagraph 
                        (A) that the service delivery model or models 
                        selected by the entity are intended to improve.
                            ``(ii) Corrective action plan.--If the 
                        eligible entity fails to demonstrate 
                        improvement in at least 4 of the areas 
                        specified in subparagraph (A), as compared to 
                        eligible families who do not receive services 
                        under an early childhood home visitation 
                        program, the entity shall develop and implement 
                        a plan to improve outcomes in each of the areas 
                        specified in subparagraph (A) that the service 
                        delivery model or models selected by the entity 
                        are intended to improve, subject to approval by 
                        the Secretary. The plan shall include 
                        provisions for the Secretary to monitor 
                        implementation of the plan and conduct 
                        continued oversight of the program, including 
                        through submission by the entity of regular 
                        reports to the Secretary.
                            ``(iii) Technical assistance.--The 
                        Secretary shall provide an eligible entity 
                        required to develop and implement an 
                        improvement plan under clause (ii) with 
                        technical assistance to develop and implement 
                        the plan. The Secretary may provide the 
                        technical assistance directly or through 
                        grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements.
                            ``(iv) No improvement or failure to submit 
                        report.--If the Secretary determines after a 
                        period of time specified by the Secretary that 
                        an eligible entity implementing an improvement 
                        plan under clause (ii) has failed to 
                        demonstrate any improvement in at least 4 of 
                        the areas specified in subparagraph (A), or if 
                        the Secretary determines that an eligible 
                        entity has failed to submit the report required 
                        by clause (i), the Secretary shall terminate 
                        the grant made to the entity under this section 
                        and may include any unexpended grant funds in 
                        grants made to nonprofit organizations under 
                        subsection (h)(2)(B).''.
    (c) Including Information on Applicable Benchmarks in 
Application.--Section 511(e)(5) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 711(e)(5)) is 
amended by inserting ``that the service delivery model or models 
selected by the entity are intended to improve'' before the period at 
the end.

SEC. 4. REVIEWING STATEWIDE NEEDS TO TARGET RESOURCES.

    Section 511(b)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 711(b)(1)) 
is amended by striking ``Not later than'' and all that follows through 
``section 505(a))'' and inserting ``Each State shall, as a condition of 
receiving payments from an allotment for the State under section 502, 
conduct a statewide needs assessment (which may be separate from but in 
coordination with the statewide needs assessment required under section 
505(a) and which shall be reviewed and updated by the State not later 
than October 1, 2020)''.

SEC. 5. IMPROVING THE LIKELIHOOD OF SUCCESS IN HIGH-RISK COMMUNITIES.

    Section 511(d)(4)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
711(d)(4)(A)) is amended by inserting ``, taking into account the 
staffing, community resource, and other requirements to operate at 
least one approved model of home visiting and demonstrate improvements 
for eligible families'' before the period.

SEC. 6. OPTION TO FUND EVIDENCE-BASED HOME VISITING ON A PAY FOR 
              OUTCOME BASIS.

    (a) In General.--Section 511(c) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 711(c)) is amended by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 
paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively, and by inserting after paragraph 
(2) the following:
            ``(3) Authority to use grant for a pay for outcomes 
        initiative.--An eligible entity to which a grant is made under 
        paragraph (1) may use up to 25 percent of the grant for 
        outcomes or success payments related to a pay for outcomes 
        initiative that will not result in a reduction of funding for 
        services delivered by the entity under a childhood home 
        visitation program under this section while the eligible entity 
        develops or operates such an initiative.''.
    (b) Definition of Pay for Outcomes Initiative.--Section 511(k) of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 711(k)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
            ``(4) Pay for outcomes initiative.--The term `pay for 
        outcomes initiative' means a performance-based grant, contract, 
        cooperative agreement, or other agreement awarded by a public 
        entity in which a commitment is made to pay for improved 
        outcomes that result in social benefit and direct cost savings 
        or cost avoidance to the public sector. Such an initiative 
        shall include--
                    ``(A) a feasibility study that describes how the 
                proposed intervention is based on evidence of 
                effectiveness;
                    ``(B) a rigorous, third-party evaluation that uses 
                experimental or quasi-experimental design or other 
                research methodologies that allow for the strongest 
                possible causal inferences to determine whether the 
                initiative has met its proposed outcomes;
                    ``(C) an annual, publicly available report on the 
                progress of the initiative; and
                    ``(D) a requirement that payments are made to the 
                recipient of a grant, contract, or cooperative 
                agreement only when agreed upon outcomes are achieved, 
                except that this requirement shall not apply with 
                respect to payments to a third party conducting the 
                evaluation described in subparagraph (B).''.
    (c) Extended Availability of Funds.--Section 511(j)(3) of such Act 
(42 U.S.C. 711(j)(3)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(3) Availability.--Funds'' and inserting 
        the following:
            ``(3) Availability.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), funds''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Funds for pay for outcomes initiatives.--
                Funds made available to an eligible entity under this 
                section for a fiscal year (or portion of a fiscal year) 
                for a pay for outcomes initiative shall remain 
                available for expenditure by the eligible entity for 
                not more than 10 years after the funds are so made 
                available.''.

SEC. 7. DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS FOR IMPROVED INTEROPERABILITY.

    (a) In General.--Section 511(h) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 711(h)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Data exchange standards for improved 
        interoperability.--
                    ``(A) Designation and use of data exchange 
                standards.--
                            ``(i) Designation.--The head of the 
                        department or agency responsible for 
                        administering a program funded under this 
                        section shall, in consultation with an 
                        interagency work group established by the 
                        Office of Management and Budget and considering 
                        State government perspectives, designate data 
                        exchange standards for necessary categories of 
                        information that a State agency operating the 
                        program is required to electronically exchange 
                        with another State agency under applicable 
                        Federal law.
                            ``(ii) Data exchange standards must be 
                        nonproprietary and interoperable.--The data 
                        exchange standards designated under clause (i) 
                        shall, to the extent practicable, be 
                        nonproprietary and interoperable.
                            ``(iii) Other requirements.--In designating 
                        data exchange standards under this paragraph, 
                        the Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, 
                        incorporate--
                                    ``(I) interoperable standards 
                                developed and maintained by an 
                                international voluntary consensus 
                                standards body, as defined by the 
                                Office of Management and Budget;
                                    ``(II) interoperable standards 
                                developed and maintained by 
                                intergovernmental partnerships, such as 
                                the National Information Exchange 
                                Model; and
                                    ``(III) interoperable standards 
                                developed and maintained by Federal 
                                entities with authority over 
                                contracting and financial assistance.
                    ``(B) Data exchange standards for federal 
                reporting.--
                            ``(i) Designation.--The head of the 
                        department or agency responsible for 
                        administering a program referred to in this 
                        section shall, in consultation with an 
                        interagency work group established by the 
                        Office of Management and Budget, and 
                        considering State government perspectives, 
                        designate data exchange standards to govern 
                        Federal reporting and exchange requirements 
                        under applicable Federal law.
                            ``(ii) Requirements.--The data exchange 
                        reporting standards required by clause (i) 
                        shall, to the extent practicable--
                                    ``(I) incorporate a widely 
                                accepted, nonproprietary, searchable, 
                                computer-readable format;
                                    ``(II) be consistent with and 
                                implement applicable accounting 
                                principles;
                                    ``(III) be implemented in a manner 
                                that is cost-effective and improves 
                                program efficiency and effectiveness; 
                                and
                                    ``(IV) be capable of being 
                                continually upgraded as necessary.
                            ``(iii) Incorporation of nonproprietary 
                        standards.--In designating data exchange 
                        standards under this paragraph, the Secretary 
                        shall, to the extent practicable, incorporate 
                        existing nonproprietary standards, such as the 
                        eXtensible Mark up Language.
                            ``(iv) Rule of construction.--Nothing in 
                        this paragraph shall be construed to require a 
                        change to existing data exchange standards for 
                        Federal reporting about a program referred to 
                        in this section, if the head of the department 
                        or agency responsible for administering the 
                        program finds the standards to be effective and 
                        efficient.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act.
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