[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2771 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2771

 To require the President to call a White House Conference on Children 
                           and Youth in 2010.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 13, 2008

 Ms. Landrieu (for herself, Mr. Hagel, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Bayh, 
 Mr. Kerry, Mr. Casey, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Johnson) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the President to call a White House Conference on Children 
                           and Youth in 2010.

    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 ``White House Conference on Children 
and Youth in 2010 Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) In 2005 there were over 3,000,000 reports of child 
        abuse and neglect. Only 60 percent of the children from the 
        substantiated reports received follow-up services, and 20 
        percent of such children were placed in foster care as a result 
        of an investigation.
            (2) Each year there are nearly 900,000 substantiated 
        reports of child abuse and neglect.
            (3) Each year approximately 60 percent of such 
        substantiated reports are reports of neglect, 30 percent are 
        physical or sexual abuse reports, and more than 20 percent are 
        reports that involve other forms of abuse.
            (4) Almost 500,000 children (including youth) were in 
        foster care at the end of fiscal year 2004 and nearly 800,000 
        spent at least some time in foster care during the year.
            (5) While 51,000 children are adopted from the foster care 
        system each year, more than 117,000 children are waiting to be 
        adopted.
            (6) Each year approximately 22,000 youth leave the foster 
        care system not because they have found permanent placements, 
        but because they have reached the age at which foster care 
        ends.
            (7) The child welfare system includes State and local 
        governments, tribal governments, child welfare agencies, child 
        welfare caseworkers, private agencies, social workers, the 
        courts, volunteer court-appointed special advocates, mental 
        health and health care professionals, educators, and advocates.
            (8) There is an overrepresentation of certain populations, 
        including Native Americans and African-Americans, in the child 
        welfare system.
            (9) The number of children being raised by grandparents and 
        other relatives is increasing and exceeds 6,000,000 children. 
        The Government recognized that kinship care is a permanency 
        option through the enactment of the Adoption and Safe Families 
        Act of 1997.
            (10) The State courts make key decisions in the lives of 
        children involved in the child welfare system, including 
        decisions about whether children have been victims of child 
        abuse, whether parental rights should be terminated, and 
        whether children should be reunified with their families, 
        adopted, or placed in other settings.
            (11) The child welfare system will never fully address its 
        primary mission unless the courts are an integral and 
        functioning component of a statewide system of care and 
        protection.
    (b) Policy.--It is the policy of Congress that--
            (1) the Government should work jointly with the States and 
        their residents to develop recommendations and plans for action 
        to meet the challenges and needs of children and families 
        involved with the child welfare system, consistent with this 
        Act;
            (2) in developing such recommendations and plans, the 
        persons involved should emphasize the role of the Government, 
        State and local child welfare systems, State and local family 
        court systems, child welfare advocates, guardians, and other 
        key participants in such child welfare systems, with a goal of 
        enhancing and protecting the lives and well-being of children 
        and families who are involved with such child welfare systems; 
        and
            (3) Federal, State, and local programs and policies should 
        be developed to reduce the number of children who are abused 
        and neglected, to reduce the number of children in foster care, 
        and to dramatically increase the number of children in 
        permanent placements through family reunification, kinship 
        placement, and adoption.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF THE CONFERENCE.

    (a) Authority To Call the Conference.--The President shall call a 
White House Conference on Children and Youth in 2010 (referred to in 
this Act as ``the Conference''), to be convened not later than 18 
months after the selection of the last member of the Policy Committee 
established in section 4, to encourage improvements in each State and 
local child welfare system, and to develop recommendations for actions 
to implement the policy set forth in section 2(b).
    (b) Planning and Direction.--The Secretary shall plan, convene, and 
conduct the Conference in cooperation with the heads of other 
appropriate Federal entities, including the Attorney General, the 
Secretary of Education, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development.
    (c) Purposes of the Conference.--The purposes of the Conference 
are--
            (1) to identify the problems and challenges of child abuse 
        and neglect, and the needs of the children and families 
        affected by decisions made through the child welfare system;
            (2) to strengthen the use of research-based best practices 
        that can prevent child abuse and neglect with a special focus 
        on younger children;
            (3) to strengthen the use of research-based best practices 
        that can increase placement permanency for children removed 
        from their homes, including practices involving family 
        reunification, kinship placement, and adoption;
            (4) to promote the role of State and local family courts in 
        each State child welfare system;
            (5) to develop recommendations that will reduce the number 
        of children who are in out-of-home care and who fail to leave 
        foster care before the age of majority, and recommendations 
        that will reduce the overrepresentation of certain populations 
        in the child welfare system;
            (6) to examine the role of the Government in building an 
        equal partnership with State, local, and tribal entities in 
        order to assist with, and encourage, State, local, and tribal 
        coordination;
            (7) to develop such specific and comprehensive 
        recommendations for State-level executive and legislative 
        action as may be appropriate for maintaining and improving the 
        well-being of children in such system; and
            (8) to review the status of recommendations regarding child 
        welfare made by previous White House conferences.

SEC. 4. POLICY COMMITTEE.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a Policy Committee, which 
shall be comprised of 17 members to be selected as follows:
            (1) Presidential appointees.--Nine members shall be 
        selected by the President and shall consist of--
                    (A) 3 members who are officers or employees of the 
                Federal Government; and
                    (B) 6 members, who may be officers or employees of 
                the Federal Government, with experience in the field of 
                child welfare, including providers and children 
                directly affected by the child welfare system.
            (2)  House of representatives appointees.--
                    (A) Majority appointees.--Two members shall be 
                selected by the Speaker of the House of 
                Representatives, after consultation with the 
                chairpersons of the Committee on Education and Labor, 
                and the Committee on Ways and Means, of the House of 
                Representatives.
                    (B) Minority appointees.--Two members shall be 
                selected by the minority leader of the House of 
                Representatives, after consultation with the ranking 
                minority members of such committees.
            (3) Senate appointees.--
                    (A) Majority appointees.--Two members shall be 
                selected by the majority leader of the Senate, after 
                consultation with the chairpersons of the Committee on 
                Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the 
                Committee on Finance, of the Senate.
                    (B) Minority appointees.--Two members shall be 
                selected by the minority leader of the Senate, after 
                consultation with the ranking minority members of such 
                committees.
    (b) Period of Appointment; Vacancies.--Members shall be appointed 
for the life of the Policy Committee. Any vacancy in the Policy 
Committee shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same 
manner as the original appointment.
    (c) Voting; Chairperson.--
            (1) Voting.--The Policy Committee shall act by the vote of 
        a majority of the members present.
            (2) Chairperson.--The President shall select a chairperson 
        from among the members of the Policy Committee. The chairperson 
        may vote only to break a tie vote of the other members of the 
        Policy Committee.
    (d) Duties of Policy Committee.--
            (1) Meetings.--The Policy Committee shall hold its first 
        meeting at the call of the Secretary, not later than 30 days 
        after the last member is selected. Subsequent meetings of the 
        Policy Committee shall be held at the call of the chairperson 
        of the Policy Committee.
            (2) General duties.--Through meetings, hearings, and 
        working sessions, the Policy Committee shall--
                    (A) make recommendations to the Secretary to 
                facilitate the timely convening of the Conference;
                    (B) submit to the Secretary a proposed agenda for 
                the Conference not later than 90 days after the first 
                meeting of the Policy Committee;
                    (C) determine the number of delegates to be 
                selected in accordance with section 5 and the manner by 
                which the delegates are to be selected in accordance 
                with such section;
                    (D) select delegates for the Conference; and
                    (E) establish other advisory committees as needed 
                to facilitate Conference participation of--
                            (i) professionals with direct experience 
                        providing services to children and families in 
                        the child welfare system; and
                            (ii) children and families in the child 
                        welfare system.
    (e) Powers of the Policy Committee.--
            (1) Information from federal agencies.--The Policy 
        Committee may secure directly from any Federal department or 
        agency such information as the Policy Committee considers 
        necessary to carry out this Act. Upon request of the 
        chairperson of the Policy Committee, the head of such 
        department or agency shall furnish such information to the 
        Policy Committee.
            (2) Postal services.--The Policy Committee may use the 
        United States mails in the same manner and under the same 
        conditions as other departments and agencies of the Federal 
        Government.
    (f) Personnel.--
            (1) Travel expenses.--The members of the Council shall not 
        receive compensation for the performance of services for the 
        Council, but shall be allowed travel expenses, including per 
        diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees 
        of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United 
        States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of 
        business in the performance of services for the Council. 
        Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States Code, 
        the Secretary may accept the voluntary and uncompensated 
        services of members of the Council.
            (2) Detail of government employees.--Any Federal Government 
        employee may be detailed to the Council without reimbursement, 
        and such detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil 
        service status or privilege.

SEC. 5. CONFERENCE DELEGATES.

    To carry out the purposes of the Conference, the Secretary shall 
convene delegates for the conference, who shall be fairly balanced in 
terms of their points of view with respect to child welfare, without 
regard to political affiliation or past partisan activity, who shall 
include--
            (1) the directors of child welfare systems of the States;
            (2) members of the State and local family court systems, 
        representatives of the State bar associations, and attorneys 
        specializing in family law;
            (3) elected officials of State and local governments; and
            (4) advocates (including national and State organizations), 
        guardians, experts in the field of child welfare, families and 
        children (including youth) affected by the child welfare 
        system, and the general public.

SEC. 6. CONFERENCE ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) Administration.--In conducting and planning the Conference, the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) request the cooperation and assistance of the heads of 
        such other Federal entities as may be appropriate, including 
        the detailing of personnel;
            (2) furnish all reasonable assistance, including financial 
        assistance, not less than 18 months before the Secretary 
        convenes the Conference, to State child welfare systems, State 
        and local family court systems, and other appropriate 
        organizations, to enable them to organize and conduct State-
        level child welfare conferences in conjunction with and in 
        preparation for participation in the Conference;
            (3) prepare and make available for public comment a 
        proposed agenda, for the Conference, that reflects to the 
        greatest extent possible the major child welfare issues facing 
        child welfare systems and the courts, consistent with the 
        policy set forth in section 2(b);
            (4) prepare and make available background materials that 
        the Secretary determines to be necessary for the use of 
        delegates to the Conference; and
            (5) employ such additional personnel as may be necessary to 
        carry out this Act without regard to provisions of title 5, 
        United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive 
        service, and without regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of 
        chapter 53 of such title, relating to classification and 
        General Schedule pay rates.
    (b) Duties.--In carrying out the Secretary's responsibilities and 
functions under this section, the Secretary shall ensure that--
            (1) the conferences held under subsection (a)(2) will--
                    (A) be conducted so as to ensure broad 
                participation of individuals and groups; and
                    (B) include conferences on Native Americans--
                            (i) to identify conditions that adversely 
                        affect Native American children in the child 
                        welfare system and to identify Native American 
                        families who are at risk of entering such 
                        system;
                            (ii) to propose solutions to ameliorate 
                        such conditions; and
                            (iii) to provide for the exchange of 
                        information relating to the delivery of 
                        services to Native American children in the 
                        child welfare system and to Native American 
                        families who are at risk of entering such 
                        system;
            (2) the proposed agenda for the Conference under subsection 
        (a)(3) is--
                    (A) published in the Federal Register not less than 
                180 days before the Conference is convened; and
                    (B) made available for public comment for a period 
                of not less than 60 days;
            (3) the final agenda for the Conference, prepared after the 
        Secretary takes into consideration comments received under 
        paragraph (2), is published in the Federal Register, and 
        transmitted to the chief executive officers of the States, not 
        later than 30 days after the close of the public comment period 
        required by paragraph (2);
            (4) the personnel employed under subsection (a)(5) are 
        fairly balanced in terms of their points of view with respect 
        to child welfare and are appointed without regard to political 
        affiliation or past partisan activity;
            (5) the recommendations of the Conference are not 
        inappropriately influenced by any public official or special 
        interest, but instead are the result of the independent and 
        collective judgment of the delegates of the Conference; and
            (6) before the Conference is convened--
                    (A) current and adequate statistical data 
                (including decennial census data) and other information 
                on the well-being of children in the United States; and
                    (B) such information as may be necessary to 
                evaluate Federal programs and policies relating to 
                children;
        which the Secretary may obtain by making grants to or entering 
        into agreements with, public agencies or nonprofit 
        organizations, are readily available in advance of the 
        Conference to the delegates.

SEC. 7. REPORT OF THE CONFERENCE.

    (a) Proposed Report.--
            (1) Preparation.--After consultation with the Policy 
        Committee, the Secretary shall prepare a proposed report of the 
        Conference containing--
                    (A) the results of the Conference, which shall 
                include a statement of comprehensive coherent national 
                policy on State child welfare systems (including the 
                courts involved); and
                    (B) recommendations of the Conference for the 
                implementation of such policy.
            (2) Publication and submission.--The proposed report shall 
        be published in the Federal Register, and submitted to the 
        chief executive officers of the States, not later than 60 days 
        after the Conference adjourns.
    (b) Response to Proposed Report.--The Secretary shall solicit 
recommendations about and other comments on the proposed report, to be 
submitted not later than 180 days after the publication of the report. 
The Secretary shall request that the chief executive officers of the 
States submit to the Secretary, not later than 180 days after receiving 
the proposed report, their views and findings on the proposed report.
    (c) Final Report.--Not later than 90 days after receiving the 
comments, and the views and findings of the chief executive officers of 
the States, under subsection (b), the Secretary shall--
            (1) prepare a final report of the Conference, which shall 
        include--
                    (A) a statement of the policy and recommendations 
                of the Conference;
                    (B) a compilation of the comments, and the views 
                and findings of the chief executive officers of the 
                States; and
                    (C)(i) the recommendations of the Secretary for a 
                comprehensive coherent national policy on State child 
                welfare systems (including the courts involved), after 
                taking into consideration the comments, views, and 
                findings; and
                    (ii) the recommendations of the Secretary for the 
                administrative and legislative action necessary to 
                implement the recommendations described in clause (i); 
                and
            (2) publish the final report in the Federal Register and 
        transmit the report to the President and to Congress.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS AND REFERENCES.

    (a) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services.
            (2) State.--The term ``State'' means any of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, 
        and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas.
    (b) References.--In this Act, a reference to a child welfare system 
of a State includes a reference to a child welfare system of a tribal 
government.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 
to carry out this Act.
    (b) Limitation on Appropriations.--Authority provided in this Act 
to make expenditures or to enter into contracts under which the United 
States is obligated to make outlays shall be effective only to the 
extent that amounts are provided, and only to the extent of the amounts 
provided, in advance in appropriations Acts.
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