[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1639 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1639

 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to assure 
   educational stability for children in foster care, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 18, 2015

  Mr. Franken (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. Hatch) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
          Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to assure 
   educational stability for children in foster care, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``Education Stability for Foster Youth 
Act''.

SEC. 2. EDUCATIONAL STABILITY FOR FOSTER CHILDREN.

    (a) State Plans.--Section 1111(b) of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
            ``(11) Ensuring collaboration for children in foster 
        care.--Each State plan shall describe the steps a State 
        educational agency will take to ensure collaboration with the 
        State agency responsible for administering the State plans 
        under parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 
        U.S.C. 621 et seq., 670 et seq.) to ensure the educational 
        stability of children in foster care, including assurances 
        that--
                    ``(A) any such child is enrolled or remains in such 
                child's school of origin unless a determination is made 
                that it is not in such child's best interest to attend 
                the school of origin, which decision shall be based on 
                all factors relating to the best interest of the child, 
                including consideration of the appropriateness of the 
                current educational setting and the proximity to the 
                school in which the child is enrolled at the time of 
                placement;
                    ``(B) when a determination is made that it is not 
                in the best interest of such child to remain in the 
                school of origin, such child is immediately enrolled in 
                a new school, even if such child is unable to produce 
                records normally required for enrollment;
                    ``(C) the enrolling school shall immediately 
                contact the school last attended by any such child to 
                obtain relevant academic and other records; and
                    ``(D) the State educational agency will designate 
                an employee to serve as a point of contact for child 
                welfare agencies and to oversee implementation of the 
                State agency responsibilities required under this 
                subparagraph, and such point of contact shall not be 
                the State's Coordinator for Education of Homeless 
                Children and Youths under section 722(d)(3) of the 
                McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
                11432(d)(3)).''.
    (b) Local Plans.--Section 1112(c)(1) of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (N), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in subparagraph (O), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(P)(i) collaborate with the State or local child 
                welfare agency and, by not later than 1 year after the 
                date of enactment of the Education Stability for Foster 
                Youth Act, develop and implement clear written 
                procedures governing how transportation to maintain 
                children in foster care in their school of origin when 
                in their best interest will be provided, arranged, and 
                funded for the duration of the time in foster care, 
                which procedures shall--
                            ``(I) acknowledge that children in foster 
                        care needing transportation to the school of 
                        origin will promptly receive transportation in 
                        a cost-effective manner and in accordance with 
                        section 475(1)(G) of the Social Security Act 
                        (42 U.S.C. 675(1)(G)); and
                            ``(II) ensure that, if there are additional 
                        costs incurred in providing transportation to 
                        maintain children in foster care in their 
                        schools of origin, the local educational agency 
                        will provide transportation to the school of 
                        origin if--
                                    ``(aa) the local child welfare 
                                agency agrees to reimburse the local 
                                educational agency for the cost of such 
                                transportation;
                                    ``(bb) the local educational agency 
                                agrees to pay for the cost of such 
                                transportation; or
                                    ``(cc) the local educational agency 
                                and the local child welfare agency 
                                agree to share the cost of such 
                                transportation; and
                    ``(ii) designate a point of contact if the 
                corresponding child welfare agency notifies the local 
                educational agency, in writing, that the agency has 
                designated an employee to serve as a point of contact 
                for the local educational agency.''.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF EDUCATIONAL STABILITY OF CHILDREN 
              IN FOSTER CARE.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the 
implementation of sections 1111(b)(11) and 1112(c)(1)(P) of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(11) 
and 6312(c)(1)(P)), including the progress made and the remaining 
barriers.

SEC. 4. DEFINITION OF HOMELESS CHILD OR YOUTH.

    (a) In General.--Section 725(2)(B)(i) of the McKinney-Vento 
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)(B)(i)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``or'' before ``are abandoned''; and
            (2) by striking ``or are awaiting foster care placement;''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act.
    (c) Application.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection (b), for a 
        covered State, the amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply 
        on the date that is 2 years after such date of enactment.
            (2) Definition.--In this subsection, the term ``covered 
        State'' means a State that has a statutory law that defines or 
        describes the phrase ``awaiting foster care placement'', for 
        purposes of a program under subtitle B of title VII of the 
        McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11431 et 
        seq.).
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