zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Reconnecting Youth to Prevent Homelessness Act of 2007 - Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require State part E plans to provide that the state shall have in effect such laws and procedures as are necessary to ensure that: (1) a child may not be placed in foster care under state responsibility solely because the family with which the child is living is homeless or living in substandard housing; and (2) the state will work with the family and state housing authorities to secure permanent housing for any family that includes a minor child and is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Requires the Comptroller General to report to appropriate congressional committees on state policies and practices regarding: (1) access to federally funded child welfare services by children who have attained age 13; and (2) consideration of runaway and homeless situations as risk assessment factors for determining the appropriateness of placement in the child welfare system. Requires state part E plans to describe state policies and procedures regarding runaway or missing foster children. Provides for extension of child welfare services to emancipated youth between ages 18 and 21. Revises the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program. Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) to revise the requirement that the state provide adult-supervised living arrangements for teenage parents not yet living in such an arrangement. Suspends the five-year time limit on TANF assistance for parents under age 21 who are involved in education or training. Prohibits the imposition of sanctions under TANF with respect to minor parents unless the state has established procedures that help TANF recipients understand, avoid, or end sanctions, and has applied the procedures to the recipient. Requires the Secretary to study and report to Congress on: (1) TANF recipients who are parents and have not attained age 20; and (2) a representative sample of low-income teen parents who are not TANF recipients. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include homeless youth as a qualified targeted population for the work opportunity business income tax credit.

Date: 2007-11-15
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Social welfare
Advocates Dedicated to Older Child Parental Tax Credit (ADOPT) Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a $2,000 tax credit for costs associated with the adoption of a child who has reached nine years of age before the adoption decree becomes final. Allows the credit each year until such child attains the age of 19.

Date: 2007-12-06
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to require each state through its state educational agency (SEA) and its local educational agency (LEA), in collaboration with its state and local child welfare agencies, to provide children and youths in out of home care with certain educational protection and services, including: (1) guarantee that they will not be segregated in a separate or stigmatized school or separate program within a school based on their status of being in out of home care; and (2) equal access to the state-funded and LEA-funded preschool programs, appropriate secondary education and support services, and before- and after-school programs for which they are eligible, including extracurricula activities. Requires SEA- or LEA-provided transportation to the school of origin for such a child or youth only in certain circumstances, and only if the SEA or LEA is reimbursed by the responsible child welfare agency or other entity.

Date: 2007-12-19
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Social welfare
Best Buddies Empowerment for People with Intellectual Disabilities Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to, or enter into agreements with, Best Buddies (a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with intellectual disabilities mesh with mainstream society) to promote the expansion of Best Buddies and the design and implementation of its education and outreach programs, including character education and volunteer programs, that can be integrated into classroom instruction. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to repeal authority for the Fund for the Improvement of Education: (1) educational, cultural, apprenticeship, and exchange programs for Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and their historical whaling and trading partners in Massachusetts; and (2) program of grants to a national nonprofit educational organization for the improvement of student understanding of personal finance and economics through effective teaching of economics in the nation's classrooms.

Date: 2007-12-19
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Education
White House Conference on Children and Youth in 2010 Act - Directs the President to call a White House Conference on Children and Youth in 2010 to: (1) encourage improvements in each state and local child welfare system; and (2) develop recommendations for actions to implement express policy regarding federal, state, and local programs.

Date: 2008-02-14
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Families
Investment in Kids' Instruction, Development and Support Act, or the Invest in KIDS Act - Amends part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to revise requirements for foster care and adoption assistance and for child welfare services. Authorizes a state foster care and adoption assistance plan, at state option, to include a child and family services component. Eliminates certain income eligibility requirements for foster care and adoption assistance. Authorizes: (1) Indian tribes to receive federal funds for such assistance; and (2) separate standards for foster family homes in which a foster parent is a relative of the foster child that protect the child's safety and provide for criminal records checks. Requires application to all children in state custody of state plan standards for foster family homes and child care institutions. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administration of Children and Families, to make child welfare service quality improvement grants to states. Provides for an increased payment rate to states for short-term training of certain child welfare agency staff and court personnel. Allows state coverage of children in foster care after age 18 and up to age 21. Provides for state-optional kinship guardianship assistance payments for children. Authorizes the Secretary to make family connection grants to states. Extends the adoption incentives program for five years, and increases incentives payments for special needs adoptions and older child adoptions. Requires state plans to provide for siblings removed from their homes to be placed in the same foster care placement, unless contrary to their safety or well-being. Requires a state child welfare services plan to provide for development of a plan for the ongoing oversight and coordination of health care services for any child in a foster care placement. Requires case plans to include a plan for ensuring the educational stability of the child in foster care.

Date: 2008-02-14
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Social welfare
Birthparent Assistance Act of 2008 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide certain post-legal adoption services, counseling, and a nationally-available hotline for birthparents who have placed a child for adoption.

Date: 2008-03-14
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Families
Housing Protection and Foster Care Prevention Act of 2008 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to exclude payments under certain qualified post-foster care guardianship assistance programs from consideration as income with respect to eligibility for low-income rent reductions in assisted housing.

Date: 2008-03-14
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Housing and community development
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the dollar limitation on employment-related expenses that qualify for the tax credit for expenses for household and dependent care services necessary for gainful employment (dependent care tax credit); (2) repeal the requirement that a disabled dependent and the taxpayer share the same residence to qualify for such credit; (3) require the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations to qualify retirees for such credit; and (4) make such credit refundable.Makes permanent the increases in the dependent care tax credit enacted by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.

Date: 2008-03-14
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Taxation
Crime Victims Employment Leave Act- Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to entitle an eligible employee to up to 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period to attend court proceedings relating to the prosecution of a person for a violent crime (including domestic violence) committed against the employee or his or her spouse, parent, son, daughter, or other next of kin.

Date: 2008-04-17
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Labor and employment
Adoption Information Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require family planning service projects or programs, as a condition of receiving certain grants or contracts, to assure the Secretary of Health and Human Services that they will provide each person who inquires about their services with a pamphlet containing a comprehensive list of adoption centers in their state.Directs the Secretary to prepare, annually update, and distribute such pamphlets to such projects or programs.

Date: 2008-05-05
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Health
Birthmother Assistance Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a child tax credit to the birthmother of a child who is formally placed for adoption and to the taxpayer who adopts such child.

Date: 2008-05-08
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Taxation
National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Network Act - Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence to work in collaboration with the American Bar Association Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service and other organizations to create, recruit lawyers for, and provide training, mentoring, and technical assistance for a National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Network.Requires the Office on Violence Against Women of the Department of Justice to designate five states in which to implement the pilot program of a National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Referral Project and distribute funds under this Act.Requires the Attorney General to award grants to national domestic violence legal technical assistance providers to expand their services to provide training and ongoing technical assistance to volunteer attorneys in the National Domestic Violence Volunteer Network, statewide legal coordinators, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and Internet-based legal referral organizations.Authorizes the Attorney General to: (1) award grants to the National Domestic Violence Hotline to provide information about statewide legal coordinators and legal services; and (2) award grants to Internet-based non-profit organizations with a demonstrated expertise on domestic violence to provide state-specific information about statewide legal coordinators and legal services through the Internet. Directs the National Institute of Justice to study and report to Congress on the scope and quality of legal representation and advocacy for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, including the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate services.Directs the Attorney General to establish the Domestic Violence Legal Advisory Task Force.

Date: 2008-05-20
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act - Amends the federal criminal code to impose criminal penalties on anyone who transmits in interstate or foreign commerce a communication intended to coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to another person, using electronic means to support severe, repeated, and hostile behavior.

Date: 2008-05-22
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Elder Serve Act of 2008 - Directs the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Office of Victims of Crime of the Department of Justice (DOJ), to carry out a three-year Elder Serve Coordinating Councils grant program to provide grants to eligible entities to establish pilot programs to facilitate and coordinate Emergency Crisis Response Team programs to provide short-term emergency services for victims of elder abuse. Requires grant recipients, within one year, to establish counseling, mental health screening, legal advocacy, job placement assistance, and family bereavement counseling programs for such victims.

Date: 2008-05-22
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Schoolchildren's Health Protection Act - Amends the General Education Provisions Act to prohibit the provision of federal education funding to state or local educational agencies that provide unemancipated minors with postcoital emergency contraception or prescriptions for such contraception on the premises of elementary or secondary schools.

Date: 2008-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Education
Adoption Improvement Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a pilot program of grants to child welfare agencies to effect long-range improvements in the adoption process by increasing prospective adoptive parent access to adoption information and strengthening agency responsiveness to prospective adoptive parents. Requires the Secretary also to: (1) research, through grant or contract, the successes and challenges of the programs established under the pilot program grants; and (2) include in the national annual review of child welfare agencies an examination of each state's progress regarding adoption information accessibility and agency responsiveness to prospective adoptive parents.

Date: 2008-07-10
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Families
Federal Youth Coordination Act of 2008 - Amends the Tom Osborne Federal Youth Coordination Act to establish in the Executive Office of the President the White House Office of National Youth Policy, headed by a Director, to: (1) develop, coordinate, promulgate, oversee the implementation of, and evaluate the National Youth Strategy to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of youth services; (2) review and make recommendations with respect to the budgets for federal youth services to ensure the adequacy of those budgets; (3) coordinate the youth services provided by federal departments and agencies and coordinate federal interagency youth services; (4) consult, coordinate with, facilitate joint efforts among, and support state, local, and tribal governments, nongovernmental entities, and youth, particularly disadvantaged youth, with respect to improving youth services; and (5) make grants and provide training and technical assistance to states to support state Youth Services Coordinating Entities and state Youth Advisory Boards. Requires the Director to submit to the President and Congress, and make available to the public, a National Youth Strategy that shall set forth a comprehensive plan for that year to improve outcomes for youth in the United States, particularly disadvantaged youth. Requires coordination of federal departments and agencies with the White House Office. Places the existing National Youth Development Council within the White House Office to assist the Director by coordinating: (1) the youth services provided by federal departments and agencies; and (2) federal interagency youth services. Requires the Council also to assist in the development, coordination, implementation, evaluation, and promulgation of the Strategy. Establishes within the White House Office the National Youth Advisory Board.

Date: 2008-09-23
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Families
Care for Life Act of 2008 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) an Office of Pregnancy Support Services to encourage and assist pregnant women throughout pregnancy and following childbirth by providing services that will alleviate the financial, social, emotional, and other difficulties that may otherwise compel them to seek an abortion. Requires: (1) development of a Pregnancy Care Information Service as a publicly accessible database; (2) an annual nationwide conference on best practices in pregnancy support services and the key burdens or adverse circumstances facing pregnant women; (3) establishment and operation of a toll-free number for service referrals; and (4) a public outreach campaign regarding such services. Authorizes the awarding of competitive grants to provide pregnancy support services. Prohibits any preexisting condition exclusion or other discrimination in coverage or premiums against a woman because she is pregnant if the woman has had at least 12 months of health insurance coverage before seeking individual market coverage. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize grants to or contracts with higher education institutions and other public and private nonprofit institutions and agencies to establish and operate pregnant and parenting student services offices or agencies solely to provide pregnancy support services. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the tax credit for adoption expenses; (2) make such tax credit refundable; and (3) increase the exclusion from gross income for employer-paid adoption expenses.

Date: 2008-09-25
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Children's Budget Act - Requires the President's annual budget to Congress to include a detailed, separate analysis for the prior fiscal year, the current fiscal year, the fiscal year for which the budget is submitted, and the ensuing fiscal year identifying the amounts of gross and net appropriations or obligational authority and outlays directed to children and children's programs within the United States and territories.

Date: 2008-09-29
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Elimination of Single Parent Tax Act of 2008 - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act to prohibit states from charging child support recipients for the collection of child support.

Date: 2008-11-19
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Social welfare
Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act - Grants the consent of Congress to the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (Agreement), the multistate agreement for the administration and collection of sales and use taxes adopted on November 12, 2002. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Agreement provides sufficient simplification and uniformity to warrant federal authorizations to states that are parties to it (member states) to require remote sellers (sellers without a physical presence in the taxing state) to collect and remit the sales and use taxes of such states and their local taxing jurisdictions.Authorizes each member state, after 10 states (comprising at least 20% of all states imposing a sales tax) have petitioned for and become member states, to require all sellers, except those sellers with gross remote taxable sales nationwide of less than $5 million, to collect and remit sales and use taxes on remote sales owed to such member state under the terms of the Agreement. Permits a federally recognized Indian tribe that imposes a generally applicable sales tax to petition to become a member state. Allows any person affected by the Agreement to petition the Governing Board established by the Agreement for a determination of any issue arising under the Agreement. Provides for judicial review of Governing Board determinations by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Sets forth minimum simplification requirements for the Agreement.Expresses the sense of Congress that member states should work with each other to prevent double taxation where a foreign country has imposed a transaction tax on a digital good or service.

Date: 2007-05-22
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Taxation
Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require an abortion provider, before beginning any abortion of a pain-capable unborn child (defined as an unborn child who has reached a probable stage of development of 20 weeks after fertilization), to: (1) make a specified statement to the pregnant woman that Congress has determined that there is substantial evidence that the process will cause the unborn child pain, and that the mother has the option of having pain-reducing drugs administered directly to the child; (2) provide to the woman an Unborn Child Pain Awareness Brochure (unless she waives receipt) and an Unborn Child Pain Awareness Decision Form; and (3) obtain on the form the woman's signature and her explicit request for or refusal of the administration of drugs to the child. Creates an exception for certified medical emergencies. Establishes penalties for willfully failing to comply with this Act, including civil penalties, medical license suspension, or both. Authorizes: (1) specified officials to bring suit in federal court; and (2) private rights of action by a parent or guardian of a woman who is an unemancipated minor. Requires each state and state medical licensing authority to promulgate procedures for the revocation or suspension of a provider's license upon a court finding that the provider has violated this Act. Subjects a state that fails to implement such procedures to loss of Medicaid funding.

Date: 2007-01-22
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Health
Foster Care Mentoring Act of 2007 - Amends title IV part B (Child-Welfare Services) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to states to support the establishment or expansion and operation of programs using networks of public and private community entities to provide mentoring for children in foster care. Authorizes a grant award directly to a political subdivision if the subdivision serves a substantial number of foster care youth. Prescribes program implementation guidelines, including: (1) application requirements; (2) training; (3) screening; (4) educational requirements; (5) federal and nonfederal share of funds for the program; (6) considerations in awarding grants; and (7) use of funds. Sets forth a maximum grant amount to be awarded to a state or political subdivision. Authorizes the Secretary to award a competitive grant to an eligible entity to establish a National Hotline Service or website to provide information to individuals interested in becoming mentors to youth in foster care. Instructs the Secretary of Education to implement a program to provide for the discharge or cancellation of the federal student loan indebtedness of an eligible mentor.

Date: 2007-01-24
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Families
Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2008 or the KIDS Act of 2008 - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) require sex offenders to provide to the National Sex Offender Registry all Internet identifiers (i.e., email addresses and other designations used for self-identification or routing in Internet communication or posting) used by such offenders; (2) specify requirements for keeping Internet identifier information current; (3) exempt Internet identifiers provided by a sex offender from public disclosure; and (4) establish procedures to notify sex offenders of changes in requirements for providing Internet identifier information. Requires the Attorney General to establish and maintain a secure system to allow social networking websites to compare information contained in the National Sex Offender Registry with the Internet identifiers of users of their websites. Allows social networking websites to use such system to conduct searches as frequently as the Attorney General may allow. Authorizes the Attorney General to deny, suspend, or terminate use of the system by a social networking website for misuse.Prohibits the Attorney General and social networking websites from releasing to the public any list of the Internet identifiers of sex offenders.Exempts a social networking website from civil claims in federal or state court arising from: (1) use of the National Sex Offender Registry unless such website engages in actual malice, intentional misconduct, or reckless disregard to a substantial risk of causing injury without legal justification; and (2) any decision not to compare its database with the online identifiers contained in the National Sex Offender Registry.Amends the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 to revise the minimum standards, under a pilot program, for electronic monitoring of sex offenders to eliminate requirements that the tracking device: (1) contain cellular technology in a single unit; and (2) provide two- and three-way voice communication.

Date: 2007-01-30
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Kinship Caregiver Support Act - Authorizes the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services to make grants for kinship navigator programs to state agencies, metropolitan agencies, or tribal organizations with experience in addressing needs of kinship caregivers or children and connecting them with services and assistance.Amends part E (Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to authorize all states to opt to enter agreements to provide kinship guardianship assistance payments on behalf of children to grandparents and other relatives who have assumed legal guardianship of children for whom they have cared as foster parents and have committed to care for on a permanent basis. Allows states to use part E funds to make such payments under specified conditions. Provides that adoptive parents of children with special needs remain eligible for adoption assistance, even if they receive kinship guardianship assistance. Authorizes the use of foster care independence program funds to provide independent living services and education and training vouchers for children who exit foster care to kinship guardianship or adoption after age 16. Authorizes kinship guardianship demonstration projects.Requires states to: (1) notify all adult grandparents and other adult relatives (with exceptions due to family or domestic violence) when a child is removed from custody of a parent or parents; and (2) explain the options the relative has to participate in the child's care and placement.Allows state agencies to establish separate standards for foster family homes in which a foster parent is a relative of the foster child.

Date: 2007-02-16
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Families
Amends the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to include certain former nuclear weapons program workers in the Special Exposure Cohort under the energy employees occupational illness compensation program. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) modify regulations and procedures to conform to amendments under this Act; and (2) initiate a petition to include workers employed at the Bethlehem Steel site in Lackawanna, New York, as a class to be included in the Special Exposure Cohort.

Date: 2007-03-06
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Labor and employment
Survivors' Empowerment and Economic Security Act - Sets forth entitlement standards and implementation guidelines for employee use of emergency leave to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking (domestic or sexual violence). Permits victims of domestic or sexual violence to substitute existing leave in lieu of emergency leave. Authorizes state use of funds under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) to provide nonrecurrent short-term emergency benefits for victims of domestic or sexual violence on emergency leave. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit denial of unemployment compensation to individuals separated from employment due to their experience of domestic or sexual violence. Amends the Social Security Act to require training of unemployment compensation and TANF personnel to provide necessary services to victims of domestic or sexual violence.Victims' Employment Sustainability Act - Prohibits certain discriminatory employer practices against victims of domestic or sexual violence. Victims of Abuse Insurance Protection Act - Prohibits denial or restriction of insurance coverage (including termination of health insurance coverage) based on the status of the applicant or insured as a victim of domestic or sexual violence.

Date: 2007-04-17
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Labor and employment
Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Responsibility, and Opportunity Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to local educational agencies, state and local public health agencies, and nonprofit private entities for projects to provide education on preventing teen pregnancies. Gives priority to communities with significantly above averages rates of teen pregnancy. Requires the Secretary to establish criteria to evaluate such projects. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to increase authorized appropriations for community learning centers. Authorizes appropriations for physical education programs. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reauthorize appropriations for TRIO and GEARUP programs. Authorizes the Secretary to make matching grants to public or nonprofit private entities for demonstrating innovative approaches to prevent teen pregnancies.

Date: 2007-04-17
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Families
Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007- Amends the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 to extend the grant program for drug-endangered children through FY2009.

Date: 2007-04-25
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Adoption Equality Act of 2007 - Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to revise requirements for children with special needs in the adoption assistance program. Requires that the child be in the care of a public or licensed private child placement agency or Indian tribal organization pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement, relinquishment, or involuntary removal of the child from the home, where the state has determined that continuation in the home would be contrary to the child's safety or welfare. Specifies related requirements.Prohibits adoption assistance to parents with respect to a child who is not a U.S. citizen or resident, and who was adopted outside of the United States or brought into the United States for the purposes of being adopted.

Date: 2007-05-23
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Social welfare
Foster Care Continuing Opportunities Act - Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to give states the option for youth to elect to remain in foster care after attaining age 18 until attaining age 19, 20, or 21.

Date: 2007-05-24
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Social welfare
Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act Reauthorization Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise provisions requiring centers to provide appropriate information, training, and technical assistance on youth suicide to require such information, training, and assistance on suicide among all ages, particularly for youth. Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2012 for research, training, and technical assistance centers related to mental health, substance abuse, and the justice system and suicide.Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure that a state does not receive more than one grant or cooperative agreement for the development of youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies at any one time. (Current law requires the Secretary to ensure that each state is awarded only one such grant or cooperative agreement.) Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2012 for such grants or cooperative agreements.Reauthorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2012 for grants to institutions of higher education for services to students with mental and behavioral health problems.

Date: 2007-05-24
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Health
National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Network Act - Amends the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 to authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence to work in collaboration with the American Bar Association Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service and other organizations to create, recruit lawyers for, and provide training, mentoring, and technical assistance for a National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Network. Authorizes appropriations for such grants for FY2008-FY2013. Requires the Commission on Domestic Violence, in developing and implementing the national volunteer attorney network, to partner, when possible, and for fair compensation, with one or more national domestic violence organizations with demonstrated expertise in providing training and technical assistance to a national audience. Requires the Office on Violence Against Women of the Department of Justice to designate five states in which to implement the pilot program of a National Domestic Violence Volunteer Attorney Referral Project and distribute funds under this Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 to fund at least one statewide coordinator position and other costs associated with the position in the five pilot program states. Requires the Attorney General to award grants to national domestic violence legal technical assistance providers to expand their services to provide training and ongoing technical assistance to volunteer attorneys in the National Domestic Violence Volunteer Network, statewide legal coordinators, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and Internet-based legal referral organizations. Authorizes appropriations for such providers for FY2008-FY2013. Authorizes the Attorney General to: (1) award grants to the National Domestic Violence Hotline to provide information about statewide legal coordinators and legal services; and (2) award grants to Internet-based nonprofit organizations with a demonstrated expertise on domestic violence to provide state-specific information about statewide legal coordinators and legal services through the Internet. Authorizes appropriations for both kinds of grant for FY2008-FY2013. Directs the National Institute of Justice to study and report to Congress on the scope and quality of legal representation and advocacy for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, including the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate services. Directs the Attorney General to establish the Domestic Violence Legal Advisory Task Force. Authorizes appropriations for the Task Force for FY2008-FY2013.

Date: 2007-05-24
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act of 2007 - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) with respect to: (1) funding for responsible fatherhood programs; (2) requirements to ensure procedures to address domestic violence; (3) activities promoting responsible fatherhood; (4) grants to healthy family partnerships for domestic violence prevention, for services for families and individuals affected by domestic violence, and for developing and implementing best practices; and (5) elimination of separate TANF work participation rate for two-parent families. Amends SSA title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to prohibit a state from collecting any amount owed it by reason of costs it has incurred for the birth of a child for whom support rights have been assigned. Requires a state to make a full distribution of collected child support to the family. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to states for an employment demonstration project involving a court- or state child support agency-supervised program for noncustodial parents so they can pay child support obligations. Directs the Secretary of Labor to award grants for transitional jobs programs and for public-private career pathways partnerships. Conditions continued approval of a state plan under part D upon state assessment of its policies with respect to barriers to employment and financial support of children.Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 with respect to: (1) deductions from family income for child support received in order to qualify for food stamps; (2) verification of child support payments; and (3) inclusion of economic opportunities programs in qualifying work programs.Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) modify the earned income tax credit; (2) provide an additional tax credit for certain workers required to make child support payments; (3) revise the formula to increase the earned income tax credit for joint returns; and (4) require information pertaining to the customer's adjusted basis in broker's returns in the case of securities transactions. Amends the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 with respect to the effective date of leasing provisions of the Act.Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the economic substance doctrine.

Date: 2007-06-14
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Social welfare
Amends title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of the Social Security Act to provide for the mandatory revocation of passports of individuals who are more than $2,500 in arrears in child support payments.

Date: 2007-07-13
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Social welfare
International Child Marriage Prevention and Protection Act of 2007 - Requires the Secretary of State to develop a comprehensive strategy to reduce the incidences of child marriage by further integrating this issue into U.S. development efforts. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on such strategy and on child marriage and related U.S. assistance programs. Authorizes the President to provide assistance for programs to reduce the incidences of child marriage and promote the empowerment of girls, including support for the treatment and reduction of fistula in countries with high rates of such surgery. Requires the Secretary to work through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other appropriate agencies as part of their ongoing research and data collection activities concerning child marriage. Requires the Secretary to include in the Department of State's Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices a section for each country where child marriage is prevalent, outlining the status of the practice.

Date: 2007-08-03
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: International affairs
Focusing Investments and Resources for a Safe Transition Act, or FIRST Act - Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make competitive grants to and enter into contracts with states (or state partners) to enable them to establish Individual Development Accounts for qualified foster youth to assist them in achieving self-support for housing, education, vocational training, and specified other purposes after leaving foster care.

Date: 2007-11-13
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Families
Adoption Improvement Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a pilot program of grants to child welfare agencies to effect long-range improvements in the adoption process by increasing prospective adoptive parent access to adoption information and strengthening agency responsiveness to prospective adoptive parents.Requires the Secretary also to: (1) research, through grant or contract, the successes and challenges of the programs established under the pilot program grants; and (2) include in the national annual review of child welfare agencies an examination of each state's progress regarding adoption information accessibility and agency responsiveness to prospective adoptive parents.

Date: 2007-11-16
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Families
Pregnant Women Support Act - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to increase public awareness of resources available to pregnant women to carry their pregnancy to term and new parents. Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary to make grants for the purchase of ultrasound equipment for examinations of pregnant women. Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit a health insurance issuer offering individual coverage from imposing a preexisting condition exclusion or a waiting period or otherwise discriminating against a woman on the basis that she is pregnant. Provides for continuation coverage for newborns. Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act to allow states to extend health care coverage to an unborn child. Requires health facilities that perform abortions to obtain informed consent from a pregnant woman seeking an abortion. Provides for the collection and dissemination of information on Down syndrome and other prenatally diagnosed conditions. Allows the Secretary to make grants to public institutions of higher education to establish and operate pregnant and parenting student services offices. Requires the Secretary to provide for programs to work with pregnant or parenting teens to complete high school. Authorizes grants for services to pregnant women who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking. Requires states to require a pregnancy determination for homicide victims. Requires group homes for pregnant and parenting women to provide counseling on adoption and parenting skills. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase and make refundable the tax credit for adoption expenses. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC program). Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to increase the eligibility threshold for food stamps. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. Authorizes grants to provide to eligible mothers education on the health needs of their infants through visits to their homes by registered nurses. Authorizes grants for collecting and reporting abortion surveillance data.

Date: 2007-12-04
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Health
Reconnecting Youth to Prevent Homelessness Act of 2007 - Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require State part E plans to provide that the state shall have in effect such laws and procedures as are necessary to ensure that: (1) a child may not be placed in foster care under state responsibility solely because the family with which the child is living is homeless or living in substandard housing; and (2) the state will work with the family and state housing authorities to secure permanent housing for any family that includes a minor child and is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Requires the Comptroller General to report to appropriate congressional committees on state policies and practices regarding: (1) access to federally funded child welfare services by children who have attained age 13; and (2) consideration of runaway and homeless situations as risk assessment factors for determining the appropriateness of placement in the child welfare system. Requires state part E plans to describe state policies and procedures regarding runaway or missing foster children. Provides for extension of child welfare services to emancipated youth between ages 18 and 21. Revises the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program. Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) to revise the requirement that the state provide adult-supervised living arrangements for teenage parents not yet living in such an arrangement. Suspends the five-year time limit on TANF assistance for parents under age 21 who are involved in education or training. Prohibits the imposition of sanctions under TANF with respect to minor parents unless the state has established procedures that help TANF recipients understand, avoid, or end sanctions, and has applied the procedures to the recipient. Requires the Secretary to study and report to Congress on: (1) TANF recipients who are parents and have not attained age 20; and (2) a representative sample of low-income teen parents who are not TANF recipients. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include homeless youth as a qualified targeted population for the work opportunity business income tax credit.

Date: 2008-01-28
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Social welfare
White House Conference on Children and Youth in 2010 Act - Directs the President to call a White House Conference on Children and Youth in 2010 to: (1) encourage improvements in each state and local child welfare system; and (2) develop recommendations for actions to implement express policy regarding federal, state, and local programs.

Date: 2008-03-13
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Families
Partnership for Children and Families Act - Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to revise the eligibility requirements for adoption assistance and foster care maintenance payments, eliminating certain income criteria.Allows each state with an approved part E plan to apply to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) receive foster care maintenance payment savings achieved (in a "child welfare reinvestment fund") by reducing the total number of days children in the state experience in foster care during the fiscal year; and (2) use the savings to provide children with family preservation services, family support services, time-limited family reunification services, and adoption promotion and support services, and to train the staff of state and local child welfare agencies in effective service practices.

Date: 2008-04-22
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Families
Child Welfare Workforce Improvement Act - Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to study and report to the Secretary and Congress on child welfare staff.Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary to treat as necessary for proper and efficient state administration all state expenditures for training the child welfare workforce.Allows funds from private nonprofit educational institutions to be considered as the state's share in claiming federal reimbursement for such expenditures, without regard to certain requirements.

Date: 2008-04-30
Topic: Law and Crime (Family Issues)
Subject: Families