Title: Suspend the Timeline not Parental Rights in a Public Health Crisis Act
Policy area: Families

Summary:
Suspend the Timeline not Parental Rights in a Public Health Crisis Act
This bill temporarily suspends the requirement for a state to petition for the termination of parental rights for certain children in state foster care during a public health emergency and requires a state to make a reasonable effort to tailor services to the individual needs of a child or family in response to such an emergency.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7976 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7976

 To modify certain rules and procedures under the Federal foster care 
     and adoption assistance program during a public health crisis.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 7, 2020

  Ms. Moore introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To modify certain rules and procedures under the Federal foster care 
     and adoption assistance program during a public health crisis.

    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 ``Suspend the Timeline not Parental 
Rights in a Public Health Crisis Act''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN RULES AND PROCEDURES UNDER THE FEDERAL 
              FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM DURING A 
              PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS.

    (a) Timeline and Compelling Reason.--Section 475(5)(E) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(E)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (ii), by inserting ``, and any effect of a 
        public health crisis shall be considered such a compelling 
        reason'' before the semicolon;
            (2) by adding ``except that'' at the end of clause (iii);
            (3) by redesignating clauses (i) through (iii) (as amended 
        by the preceding paragraphs of this subsection) as subclauses 
        (I) through (III), respectively;
            (4) by inserting ``(i)'' after ``(E)''; and
            (5) by adding after and below the end the following:
                    ``(ii) in the case of a child who has been in 
                foster care under the responsibility of the State for 
                15 of the most recent 22 months, the requirement in 
                clause (i) that the State file a petition to terminate 
                the parental rights of the child's parents (or, if such 
                a petition has been filed by another party, seek to be 
                joined as a party to the petition), shall be suspended 
                for the duration of any public health crisis period 
                applicable with respect to the State;''.
    (b) Reasonable Efforts.--Section 471(a)(15) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
671(a)(15)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (E); and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(G) the State agency shall ensure that--
                            ``(i) in response to a public health 
                        crisis, service or treatment providers develop 
                        and implement alternative methods of treatment, 
                        visitation, and providing services, that are 
                        tailored to the individual needs of a child or 
                        the family of a child to meet the reasonable 
                        efforts requirements of this paragraph;
                            ``(ii) parents who participate in any such 
                        alternative methods of treatment or receipt of 
                        services shall qualify for completion of the 
                        services; and
                            ``(iii) permanency plans for reunification 
                        shall not be delayed by service or treatment 
                        gaps that result from a public health crisis; 
                        and
                    ``(H) the removal a child during a public health 
                crisis meets the requirements of this paragraph if the 
                removal is based on a judicial determination that 
                removal is necessary to protect the child from imminent 
                risk of serious harm and is not necessary due to any 
                effect of a public health crisis;''.
    (c) Definitions.--Section 475 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 675) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(14) The term `public health crisis period' means, with 
        respect to a State, a period that begins when a state of 
        emergency that applies to the State is declared under a Federal 
        or State law in response to a threat to public health, and ends 
        1 year after the last such state of emergency applicable to the 
        State is terminated.
            ``(15) The term `effect of a public health crisis' means 
        consequences experienced by an individual due to a threat to 
        public health with respect to which a state of emergency 
        described in paragraph (14) has been declared, including lack 
        of medical, educational, or therapeutic services for children, 
        loss of income, loss of employment, loss of contact between a 
        parent and a child of the parent, housing instability, loss of 
        housing, lack of access to child care, exposure to or 
        contracting an illness or infectious disease, service closure, 
        lack of access or diminished access to services, quarantine, 
        shelter-in-place order, and having to provide care for another 
        individual who is at risk of contracting, or has contracted, an 
        illness or infectious disease.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall 
        take effect on the 1st day of the 1st fiscal year beginning on 
        or after the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply 
        to payments under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 
        for calendar quarters beginning on or after such date.
            (2) Delay permitted if state legislation required.--If the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that State 
        legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) is 
        required in order for a State plan developed pursuant to part E 
        of title IV of the Social Security Act to meet the additional 
        requirements imposed by the amendments made by this Act, the 
        plan shall not be regarded as failing to meet any of the 
        additional requirements before the 1st day of the 1st calendar 
        quarter beginning after the first regular session of the State 
        legislature that begins after the date of the enactment of this 
        Act. For purposes of the preceding sentence, if the State has a 
        2-year legislative session, each year of the session is deemed 
        to be a separate regular session of the State legislature.
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