Building Secure and Healthy Families Act of 2003

Bill: 108-hr-706
Sponsor: Rep. Stark, Fortney Pete [D-CA-13]
Introduced: 2003-02-11 in the House
Policy area: Social Welfare
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Agriculture and Food
Aid to dependent children
Caregivers
Cash welfare block grants
Child abuse
Child health
Child nutrition
Child safety
Child sexual abuse
Child support
Child welfare
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Crime and Law Enforcement
Custody of children
Day care
Demography
Department of Health and Human Services
Disabled
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Elementary and secondary education
Employee training
English language
Evaluation research (Social action programs)
Families
Family violence
Fathers
Federal advisory bodies
Federal aid to Indians
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Government statistics
Governmental investigations
Group homes
Health
Higher education
Homeless
Housing and Community Development
Identification devices
Immigrants
Immigration
Indian children
Indian women
Infants
Labor and Employment
Law
Learning disabilities
Low-income housing
Marriage
Mental health services
Minorities
Nonmarital births
Racial discrimination
Rape
Right of privacy
Sex crimes
Shelters for the homeless
Single people
Single-parent families
Social work
State laws
Students
Teenage pregnancy
Transportation and Public Works
Victims of crimes
Vocational and technical education
Vocational rehabilitation
Welfare eligibility
Welfare waivers
Welfare work participation
Wife abuse
Women
Youth services

Summary:
action_date: 2003-02-11
text: Building Secure and Healthy Families Act of 2003 - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to revise the TANF program, with changes: (1) replacing grants for States to reward a decrease in illegitimacy with grants to States to promote and support secure families; (2) adding nondiscrimination requirements pertaining to marital status and family structure and participation in activities or services funded under the new grant; (3) authorizing a State to assist a teenage parent who does not attend high school or another equivalent training program to come into compliance with TANF work and education requirements; (4) deeming teenage heads of household who maintain satisfactory school attendance to meet work participation requirements; (5) requiring certain certifications regarding domestic or sexual violence in State TANF plans; (6) prohibiting a State from penalizing an individual for TANF requirement noncompliance where domestic or sexual violence is a significant contributing factor in the noncompliance; (7) deeming a TANF recipient who provides appropriate care to a child or other relative who has a serious health condition or a disability as engaged in work for work participation rate purposes; and (8) eliminating the termination of TANF assistance for an entire family where an individual in the family has refused to engage in required work.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-02-27
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Human Resources.
action_date: 2003-02-11
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2003-02-11
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E180)
action_date: 2003-02-11
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2003-02-11
text: Introduced in House