Child Protective Services Improvement Act

Bill: 108-hr-1534
Sponsor: Rep. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD-3]
Introduced: 2003-04-01 in the House
Policy area: Families
Subjects: Adoption
Aid to dependent children
Alcoholism
Appropriations
Cash welfare block grants
Child abuse
Child safety
Child welfare
College graduates
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Continuing education
Crime and Law Enforcement
Crime prevention
Department of Health and Human Services
Drug abuse
Drug abuse prevention
Drug abuse treatment
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Employee training
Evaluation research (Social action programs)
Family services
Family violence
Federal aid to Indians
Federal aid to education
Foster home care
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Grandparents
Grants-in-aid
Guardian and ward
Health
Higher education
Indian children
Judicial officers
Labor and Employment
Law
Lawyers
Legal education
Mental health services
Minorities
Occupational health and safety
Parent and child
Performance measurement
Recruiting of employees
Scholarships
Social Welfare
State courts
State employees
Wages
Welfare eligibility
Welfare waivers

Summary:
action_date: 2003-04-01
text: 
Child Protective Services Improvement Act - Amends title IV part B (Child-Welfare Services) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to entitle each qualified State (one that has in effect during a fiscal year a corrective action plan, and has documented for the Secretary of Health and Human Services the efforts made to develop community involvement in establishing such plan) to receive a grant from the Secretary for such fiscal year to carry out such plan.
 
Entitles each qualified State to receive a bonus in the same specified amount from the Secretary, if the Secretary determines that, in the preceding fiscal year, the State made significant progress in achieving the goals of the corrective action plan.
 
Requires the Secretary, acting through the Administration of Children and Families, to make grants to States to improve the quality of child welfare services by increasing the quality and capacity of their child welfare workforce or by increasing the coordination of their child welfare services. 
 
Provides for payment to States for expenditures for short-term training of staff of abuse and neglect courts and related persons, as well as persons employed by nonprofit child-serving agencies working with State or local agencies administering the State plan to keep children safe and provide permanent families for them.
 
Requires the Secretary to award grants to eligible States and directly to Indian tribes to promote joint activities (designed to meet specified criteria) among Federal, State, and local public child welfare and drug abuse prevention and treatment agencies (and similar agencies providing services to children in Indian tribes) that focus on families with alcohol or drug abuse problems who come to the attention of the child welfare system.
 
Amends SSA, with respect to qualifying children, to permit a State to opt to align eligibility requirements for foster care maintenance payments and adoption assistance with eligibility requirements of SSA title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF).
 
Amends title IV part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of SSA to allow each State with an approved plan, at State option, to enter into kinship guardianship assistance agreements to provide payments on behalf of children under age 18 to grandparents and other relatives who have assumed legal guardianship of the children for whom they have cared as foster parents and for whom they have committed to care for on a permanent basis.
 
Modifies requirements for child welfare demonstration projects to: (1) require the Secretary, under specified conditions, to consider authorizing projects designed to promote community partnerships for protecting children; (2) extend the Secretary's authority to approve demonstration projects through 2008; (3) remove the current cap (a maximum of ten per fiscal year) on the authorization of such projects; (4) prohibit a limit on the number of States that may be granted waivers to conduct same or similar projects or a limit on the number of waivers that may be granted to a single State for projects; (5) require the development of a streamlined process for consideration of amendments to and extensions of projects proposed by States; and (6) require the Secretary to make certain reports available to States or other interested parties concerning such projects.
 
Makes appropriations for abuse prevention and adoption activities.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-04-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Human Resources.
action_date: 2003-04-01
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2003-04-01
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2003-04-01
text: Introduced in House