[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2657 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2657

 To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to provide for 
opportunity passports and other assistance for youth in foster care and 
                    youth aging out of foster care.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 20, 2002

  Mrs. Clinton (for herself, Mr. Edwards, Ms. Landrieu, and Mr. Dodd) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
          Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to provide for 
opportunity passports and other assistance for youth in foster care and 
                    youth aging out of foster care.

    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 ``Opportunity Passport Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. OPPORTUNITY PASSPORTS.

    Section 105(a)(3) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5106(a)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Opportunity passports and other assistance.--
                            ``(i) Grants.--The Secretary may make 
                        grants to partnerships of public agencies or 
                        private nonprofit organizations in not more 
                        than 10 States to assist the partnerships in 
                        developing and implementing methods of 
                        providing long- and short-term financial 
                        security for youth in foster care and youth 
                        aging out of foster care.
                            ``(ii) Use of funds.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--A partnership 
                                that receives a grant under clause (i) 
                                shall use the funds made available 
                                through the grant to carry out 1 or 
                                more of the activities described in 
                                clauses (ii) through (v).
                                    ``(II) Opportunity passports.--The 
                                partnership may use the funds to 
                                develop and provide, for youth aging 
                                out of foster care, electronic 
                                opportunity passports, such as 
                                electronic cards or secure Internet 
                                databases that contain vital 
                                information, such as medical records, 
                                legal identification (analogous to a 
                                Social Security card or birth 
                                certificate), and school transcripts, 
                                to ensure that the youth can carry or 
                                readily access the vital information.
                                    ``(III) Individual development 
                                accounts.--The partnership may use the 
                                funds to establish and provide 
                                individual development accounts, to 
                                assist youth aging out of foster care 
                                to obtain postsecondary education, 
                                purchase a house, pay for medical care, 
                                operate a business, or purchase a car. 
                                In establishing and providing such an 
                                account, the partnership shall provide 
                                a small amount of seed money and shall 
                                require the account holder to attend 
                                money management training before 
                                receiving access to the account.
                                    ``(IV) Debit accounts for short-
                                term use.--The partnership may use the 
                                funds to establish and provide debit 
                                accounts, to assist youth aging out of 
                                foster care for short periods by 
                                enabling the youth to build credit 
                                histories and purchase essential items 
                                such as work uniforms and car 
                                insurance, in order to assist the youth 
                                in becoming self-sufficient. In 
                                establishing and providing such an 
                                account, the partnership shall provide 
                                a small amount of seed money and shall 
                                require the account holder to attend 
                                money management training before 
                                receiving access to the account.
                                    ``(V) Assistance from youth 
                                leadership boards and community 
                                partners.--The partnership may use the 
                                funds to establish a youth leadership 
                                board and provide assistance through 
                                the board, or to provide assistance 
                                through members of the partnership, to 
                                enable youth in foster care to 
                                negotiate agreements, obtain expedited 
                                access to education and training 
                                programs, obtain pre-approval for 
                                student loans or other student 
                                financial assistance, and become 
                                entrepreneurs.
            ``(iii) Definition.--In this subparagraph, the term `youth 
        aging out of foster care' means children who are--
                    ``(A) leaving foster care because such children 
                have attained the maximum age for foster care 
                eligibility in a State; and
                    ``(B) transitioning to independent living, as 
                determined by the Secretary.''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 112 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 
U.S.C. 5106h) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c);
            (2) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ``(other than 
        section 105(a)(3)(D))'' after ``title''; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b) Opportunity Passports.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out section 105(a)(3)(D) $10,000,000 for fiscal 
year 2003 and such sums as may be necessary for each subsequent fiscal 
year.''.
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