[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3873 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3873

      To provide funds to State courts for the provision of legal 
  representation to parents and legal guardians with respect to child 
                             welfare cases.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 1, 2012

  Ms. Moore introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To provide funds to State courts for the provision of legal 
  representation to parents and legal guardians with respect to child 
                             welfare cases.

    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 ``Enhancing the Quality of Parental 
Legal Representation Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In the Strengthening Abuse and Neglect Courts Act of 
        2000, the Congress found that ``under both Federal and State 
        law, the courts play a crucial and essential role in the 
        Nation's child welfare system and in ensuring safety, 
        stability, and permanence for abused and neglected children 
        under the supervision of that system''.
            (2) Child outcomes are improved and courts function more 
        effectively when all parties have quality legal representation. 
        Analysis of data from programs in New York and Michigan 
        revealed that more than 50 percent of children avoided 
        unnecessary foster care placement when all parties received 
        high quality representation. According to the American Bar 
        Association, a pilot program in the State of Washington to 
        improve representation for parents resulted in ``a 53.3 percent 
        increase in the rate of reunification''.
            (3) In New York, children placed in foster care whose 
        parents receive high quality legal representation spent on 
        average 4.5 months in placement compared to a statewide average 
        of 2\1/2\ years and re-entry rates of 1 percent compared to 15 
        percent statewide.
            (4) According to the American Bar Association, the cost per 
        family for high quality legal services in New York was 
        approximately $6,000 over the life of a case as compared to 
        anywhere from $29,000 to $66,000 for 1 year of foster care for 
        a child in New York City in 2010.
            (5) Training and standards of representation are necessary 
        to ensure qualified representation. According to the American 
        Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, parental 
        representation is ``often substandard, resulting in the failure 
        of due process in these cases. As a result, numerous children 
        are needlessly separated from their parents for extended 
        periods of time and in many cases families are permanently 
        severed through termination of parental rights orders'' and 
        most states have no standard training requirements for 
        attorneys representing parents in their state.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE COURT IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.

    (a) Provision of Legal Representation for Parents and Legal 
Guardians With Respect to Child Welfare Cases.--Section 438(a) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629h(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) to provide legal representation for parents and legal 
        guardians with respect to proceedings described in paragraph 
        (1).''.
    (b) Application.--Section 438(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 629h(b)) is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph 
                (B);
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of 
                subparagraph (C) and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) in the case of a grant for any purpose 
                described in subsection (a)(5)--
                            ``(i) a description of how the grant will 
                        be used to provide legal representation to 
                        parents and legal guardians;
                            ``(ii) a description of how the court will 
                        prioritize the provision of legal 
                        representation, including how and when 
                        attorneys will be assigned to represent a 
                        parent or legal guardian; and
                            ``(iii) a description of how courts and 
                        child welfare agencies on the local and State 
                        levels will collaborate and jointly plan for 
                        the collection and sharing of all relevant data 
                        and information to demonstrate how increased 
                        quality representation of parents and legal 
                        guardians with respect to child welfare cases 
                        will improve child and family outcomes.''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``or'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``and (C)'' 
                and inserting ``(C), and (D)''; and
                    (C) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 
                subparagraph (E); and
                    (D) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the 
                following:
                    ``(D) the purpose described in subsection (a)(5); 
                or''.
    (c) Amount of Grant.--Section 438(c)(1) is amended by striking 
``and (C)'' and inserting ``(C), and (D)''.
    (d) Allocation of Funds.--Section 438(c)(3)(A) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 629h(c)(3)(A)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (iii);
            (2) by redesignating clause (iv) as clause (v); and
            (3) by inserting after clause (iii) the following:
                            ``(iv) $10,000,000 for grants for the 
                        purpose described in subsection (a)(5); and''.
    (e) Funding.--Section 436 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 629g) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``$345,000,000'' and 
        inserting ``$355,000,000''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ``$30,000,000'' and 
        inserting ``$40,000,000''.
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