Title: Partnership Grants to Strengthen Families Affected by Parental Substance Abuse Act
Policy area: Families

Summary:
Partnership Grants to Strengthen Families Affected by Parental Substance Abuse Act
This bill amends part B (Child and Family Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act to modify the grant program that provides funding to state and regional partnerships to prevent child abuse and neglect related to substance abuse. Specifically, the bill modifies the definition of "regional partnership," revises the grant application and grantee reporting process, and expands the grant program to include services to parents and families.
The bill reauthorizes program grants for FY2017-FY2021 in amounts between $250,000 (currently $500,000) and $1 million per grant per fiscal year.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2834 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2834

  To improve the well-being of, and improve permanency outcomes for, 
children and families affected by heroin, opioids, and other substance 
                                 abuse.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 8, 2017

 Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois (for himself and Mrs. Noem) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
                                 Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To improve the well-being of, and improve permanency outcomes for, 
children and families affected by heroin, opioids, and other substance 
                                 abuse.

    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 ``Partnership Grants to Strengthen 
Families Affected by Parental Substance Abuse Act''.

SEC. 2. ENHANCEMENTS TO GRANTS TO IMPROVE WELL-BEING OF FAMILIES 
              AFFECTED BY SUBSTANCE ABUSE.

    Section 437(f) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629g(f)) is 
amended--
            (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ``Increase the 
        Well-being of, and to Improve the Permanency Outcomes for, 
        Children Affected by'' and inserting ``Implement IV-E 
        Prevention Services, and Improve the Well-being of, and Improve 
        Permanency Outcomes for, Children and Families Affected by 
        Heroin, Opioids, and Other'';
            (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
            ``(2) Regional partnership defined.--In this subsection, 
        the term `regional partnership' means a collaborative agreement 
        (which may be established on an interstate, State, or 
        intrastate basis) entered into by the following:
                    ``(A) Mandatory partners for all partnership 
                grants.--
                            ``(i) The State child welfare agency that 
                        is responsible for the administration of the 
                        State plan under this part and part E.
                            ``(ii) The State agency responsible for 
                        administering the substance abuse prevention 
                        and treatment block grant provided under 
                        subpart II of part B of title XIX of the Public 
                        Health Service Act.
                    ``(B) Mandatory partners for partnership grants 
                proposing to serve children in out-of-home 
                placements.--If the partnership proposes to serve 
                children in out-of-home placements, the Juvenile Court 
                or Administrative Office of the Court that is most 
                appropriate to oversee the administration of court 
                programs in the region to address the population of 
                families who come to the attention of the court due to 
                child abuse or neglect.
                    ``(C) Optional partners.--At the option of the 
                partnership, any of the following:
                            ``(i) An Indian tribe or tribal consortium.
                            ``(ii) Nonprofit child welfare service 
                        providers.
                            ``(iii) For-profit child welfare service 
                        providers.
                            ``(iv) Community health service providers, 
                        including substance abuse treatment providers.
                            ``(v) Community mental health providers.
                            ``(vi) Local law enforcement agencies.
                            ``(vii) School personnel.
                            ``(viii) Tribal child welfare agencies (or 
                        a consortia of the agencies).
                            ``(ix) Any other providers, agencies, 
                        personnel, officials, or entities that are 
                        related to the provision of child and family 
                        services under a State plan approved under this 
                        subpart.
                    ``(D) Exception for regional partnerships where the 
                lead applicant is an indian tribe or tribal 
                consortia.--If an Indian tribe or tribal consortium 
                enters into a regional partnership for purposes of this 
                subsection, the Indian tribe or tribal consortium--
                            ``(i) may (but is not required to) include 
                        the State child welfare agency as a partner in 
                        the collaborative agreement;
                            ``(ii) may not enter into a collaborative 
                        agreement only with tribal child welfare 
                        agencies (or a consortium of the agencies); and
                            ``(iii) if the condition described in 
                        paragraph (2)(B) applies, may include tribal 
                        court organizations in lieu of other judicial 
                        partners.'';
            (3) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``2012 through 2016'' and 
                        inserting ``2017 through 2021''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``$500,000 and not more 
                        than $1,000,000'' and inserting ``$250,000 and 
                        not more than $1,000,000'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)--
                            (i) in the subparagraph heading, by 
                        inserting ``; planning'' after ``approval'';
                            (ii) in clause (i), by striking ``clause 
                        (ii)'' and inserting ``clauses (ii) and 
                        (iii)''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) Sufficient planning.--A grant 
                        awarded under this subsection shall be 
                        disbursed in two phases: a planning phase (not 
                        to exceed 2 years) and an implementation phase. 
                        The total disbursement to a grantee for the 
                        planning phase may not exceed $250,000, and may 
                        not exceed the total anticipated funding for 
                        the implementation phase.''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Limitation on payment for a fiscal year.--No 
                payment shall be made under subparagraph (A) or (C) for 
                a fiscal year until the Secretary determines that the 
                eligible partnership has made sufficient progress in 
                meeting the goals of the grant and that the members of 
                the eligible partnership are coordinating to a 
                reasonable degree with the other members of the 
                eligible partnership.'';
            (4) in paragraph (4)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B)--
                            (i) in clause (i), by inserting ``, 
                        parents, and families'' after ``children'';
                            (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ``safety 
                        and permanence for such children; and'' and 
                        inserting ``safe, permanent caregiving 
                        relationships for the children;'';
                            (iii) in clause (iii), by striking ``or'' 
                        and inserting ``increase reunification rates 
                        for children who have been placed in out-of-
                        home care, or decrease''; and
                            (iv) by redesignating clause (iii) as 
                        clause (v) and inserting after clause (ii) the 
                        following:
                            ``(iii) improve the substance abuse 
                        treatment outcomes for parents including 
                        retention in treatment and successful 
                        completion of treatment;
                            ``(iv) facilitate the implementation, 
                        delivery, and effectiveness of prevention 
                        services and programs under section 471(e); 
                        and'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``where 
                appropriate,''; and
                    (C) by striking subparagraphs (E) and (F) and 
                inserting the following:
                    ``(E) A description of a plan for sustaining the 
                services provided by or activities funded under the 
                grant after the conclusion of the grant period, 
                including through the use of prevention services and 
                programs under section 471(e) and other funds provided 
                to the State for child welfare and substance abuse 
                prevention and treatment services.
                    ``(F) Additional information needed by the 
                Secretary to determine that the proposed activities and 
                implementation will be consistent with research or 
                evaluations showing which practices and approaches are 
                most effective.'';
            (5) in paragraph (5)(A), by striking ``abuse treatment'' 
        and inserting ``use disorder treatment including medication 
        assisted treatment and in-home substance abuse disorder 
        treatment and recovery'';
            (6) in paragraph (7)--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph 
                (C); and
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 
                subparagraph (E) and inserting after subparagraph (C) 
                the following:
                    ``(D) demonstrate a track record of successful 
                collaboration among child welfare, substance abuse 
                disorder treatment and mental health agencies; and'';
            (7) in paragraph (8)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``establish indicators that 
                        will be'' and inserting ``review indicators 
                        that are''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``in using funds made 
                        available under such grants to achieve the 
                        purpose of this subsection'' and inserting 
                        ``and establish a set of core indicators 
                        related to child safety, parental recovery, 
                        parenting capacity, and family well-being. In 
                        developing the core indicators, to the extent 
                        possible, indicators shall be made consistent 
                        with the outcome measures described in section 
                        471(e)(6)''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 
                        inserting ``base the performance measures on 
                        lessons learned from prior rounds of regional 
                        partnership grants under this subsection, and'' 
                        before ``consult''; and
                            (ii) by striking clauses (iii) and (iv) and 
                        inserting the following:
                            ``(iii) Other stakeholders or 
                        constituencies as determined by the 
                        Secretary.'';
            (8) in paragraph (9)(A), by striking clause (i) and 
        inserting the following:
                            ``(i) Semiannual reports.--Not later than 
                        September 30 of each fiscal year in which a 
                        recipient of a grant under this subsection is 
                        paid funds under the grant, and every 6 months 
                        thereafter, the grant recipient shall submit to 
                        the Secretary a report on the services provided 
                        and activities carried out during the reporting 
                        period, progress made in achieving the goals of 
                        the program, the number of children, adults, 
                        and families receiving services, and such 
                        additional information as the Secretary 
                        determines is necessary. The report due not 
                        later than September 30 of the last such fiscal 
                        year shall include, at a minimum, data on each 
                        of the performance indicators included in the 
                        evaluation of the regional partnership.''; and
            (9) in paragraph (10), by striking ``2012 through 2016'' 
        and inserting ``2017 through 2021''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), the amendments made by 
this Act shall take effect on October 1, 2017.
    (b) Transition Rule.--
            (1) In general.--In the case of a State plan under part B 
        of title IV of the Social Security Act which the Secretary of 
        Health and Human Services determines requires State legislation 
        (other than legislation appropriating funds) in order for the 
        plan to meet the additional requirements imposed by the 
        amendments made by this Act, 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 requirements before the first day of the first 
        calendar quarter beginning after the close of the first regular 
        session of the State legislature that begins after the date of 
        enactment of this Act. For purposes of the previous sentence, 
        in the case of a State that has a 2-year legislative session, 
        each year of the session shall be deemed to be a separate 
        regular session of the State legislature.
            (2) Application to programs operated by indian tribal 
        organizations.--In the case of an Indian tribe, tribal 
        organization, or tribal consortium which the Secretary of 
        Health and Human Services determines requires time to take 
        action necessary to comply with the additional requirements 
        imposed by the amendments made by this Act (whether the tribe, 
        organization, or tribal consortium has a plan under section 
        479B of the Social Security Act or a cooperative agreement or 
        contract entered into with a State), the Secretary shall 
        provide the tribe, organization, or tribal consortium with such 
        additional time as the Secretary determines is necessary for 
        the tribe, organization, or tribal consortium to take the 
        action to comply with the additional requirements before being 
        regarded as failing to comply with the requirements.
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