Youth and family engagement in child welfare program planning

Section 432(b)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629b(b)(1)) is amended to read as follows:

(1)

In general

The Secretary shall approve a plan that meets the requirements of subsection (a) only if—(A)the plan was developed jointly by the Secretary and the State, and the State, in developing the plan, consulted with—(i)appropriate public and nonprofit private agencies;(ii)community-based organizations involved in providing services for children and families in the areas of family preservation, family support, family reunification, foster care, kinship, and adoption promotion and support;(iii)parents with child welfare experience, foster parents, adoptive parents, and kinship caregivers; and(iv)children, youth, and young adults with experience in the child welfare system, including State boards and councils comprised of youth with the experience who represent the diversity of children in the State to whom the plan would apply; and(B)the State has made publicly accessible on a website of the State agency a report that outlines how the State has implemented the suggestions of the children and youth referred to in subparagraph (A)(iv);