[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2847 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2847

  To make improvements to the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence 
                    Program and related provisions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 8, 2017

Mr. Faso (for himself, Mr. Reed, and Ms. Bass) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To make improvements to the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence 
                    Program and related provisions.

    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 ``Improving Services for Older Youth 
in Foster Care Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE JOHN H. CHAFEE FOSTER CARE INDEPENDENCE 
              PROGRAM AND RELATED PROVISIONS.

    (a) Authority To Serve Former Foster Youth up to Age 23.--Section 
477 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(5), by inserting ``(or 23 years of 
        age, in the case of a State with a certification under 
        subsection (b)(3)(A)(ii) to provide assistance and services to 
        youths who have aged out of foster care and have not attained 
        such age, in accordance with such subsection)'' after ``21 
        years of age'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(3)(A)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(i)'' before ``A 
                certification'';
                    (B) by striking ``children who have left foster 
                care'' and all that follows through the period and 
                inserting ``youths who have aged out of foster care and 
                have not attained 21 years of age.''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(ii) If the State has elected under section 
                475(8)(B) to extend eligibility for foster care to all 
                children who have not attained 21 years of age, or if 
                the Secretary determines that the State agency 
                responsible for administering the State plans under 
                this part and part B uses State funds or any other 
                funds not provided under this part to provide services 
                and assistance for youths who have aged out of foster 
                care that are comparable to the services and assistance 
                the youths would receive if the State had made such an 
                election, the certification required under clause (i) 
                may provide that the State will provide assistance and 
                services to youths who have aged out of foster care and 
                have not attained 23 years of age.''; and
            (3) in subsection (b)(3)(B), by striking ``children who 
        have left foster care'' and all that follows through the period 
        and inserting ``youths who have aged out of foster care and 
        have not attained 21 years of age (or 23 years of age, in the 
        case of a State with a certification under subparagraph (A)(i) 
        to provide assistance and services to youths who have aged out 
        of foster care and have not attained such age, in accordance 
        with subparagraph (A)(ii)).''.
    (b) Authority To Redistribute Unspent Funds.--Section 477(d) of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 677(d)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4), by inserting ``or does not expend 
        allocated funds within the time period specified under section 
        477(d)(3)'' after ``provided by the Secretary''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Redistribution of unexpended amounts.--
                    ``(A) Availability of amounts.--To the extent that 
                amounts paid to States under this section in a fiscal 
                year remain unexpended by the States at the end of the 
                succeeding fiscal year, the Secretary may make the 
                amounts available for redistribution in the second 
                succeeding fiscal year among the States that apply for 
                additional funds under this section for that second 
                succeeding fiscal year.
                    ``(B) Redistribution.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Secretary shall 
                        redistribute the amounts made available under 
                        subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year among 
                        eligible applicant States. In this 
                        subparagraph, the term `eligible applicant 
                        State' means a State that has applied for 
                        additional funds for the fiscal year under 
                        subparagraph (A) if the Secretary determines 
                        that the State will use the funds for the 
                        purpose for which originally allotted under 
                        this section.
                            ``(ii) Amount to be redistributed.--The 
                        amount to be redistributed to each eligible 
                        applicant State shall be the amount so made 
                        available multiplied by the State foster care 
                        ratio (as defined in subsection (c)(4), except 
                        that, in such subsection, `all eligible 
                        applicant States (as defined in subsection 
                        (d)(5)(B)(i))' shall be substituted for `all 
                        States').
                            ``(iii) Treatment of redistributed 
                        amount.--Any amount made available to a State 
                        under this paragraph shall be regarded as part 
                        of the allotment of the State under this 
                        section for the fiscal year in which the 
                        redistribution is made.
                    ``(C) Tribes.--For purposes of this paragraph, the 
                term `State' includes an Indian tribe, tribal 
                organization, or tribal consortium that receives an 
                allotment under this section.''.
    (c) Expanding and Clarifying the Use of Education and Training 
Vouchers.--
            (1) In general.--Section 477(i)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        677(i)(3)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``on the date'' and all that 
                follows through ``23'' and inserting ``to remain 
                eligible until they attain 26''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``, but in no event may a youth 
                participate in the program for more than 5 years 
                (whether or not consecutive)'' before the period.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 477(i)(1) of such Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 677(i)(1)) is amended by inserting ``who have 
        attained 14 years of age'' before the period.
    (d) Other Improvements.--Section 477 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 677), 
as amended by subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section, is 
amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by striking ``independence 
        program'' and inserting ``program for successful transition to 
        adulthood'';
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``identify children who are 
                        likely to remain in foster care until 18 years 
                        of age and to help these children make the 
                        transition to self-sufficiency by providing 
                        services'' and inserting ``support all youth 
                        who have experienced foster care at age 14 or 
                        older in their transition to adulthood through 
                        transitional services'';
                            (ii) by inserting ``and post-secondary 
                        education'' after ``high school diploma''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``training in daily 
                        living skills, training in budgeting and 
                        financial management skills'' and inserting 
                        ``training and opportunities to practice daily 
                        living skills (such as financial literacy 
                        training and driving instruction)'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``who are likely 
                to remain in foster care until 18 years of age receive 
                the education, training, and services necessary to 
                obtain employment'' and inserting ``who have 
                experienced foster care at age 14 or older achieve 
                meaningful, permanent connections with a caring 
                adult'';
                    (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``who are likely 
                to remain in foster care until 18 years of age prepare 
                for and enter postsecondary training and education 
                institutions'' and inserting ``who have experienced 
                foster care at age 14 or older engage in age or 
                developmentally appropriate activities, positive youth 
                development, and experiential learning that reflects 
                what their peers in intact families experience''; and
                    (D) by striking paragraph (4) and redesignating 
                paragraphs (5) through (8) as paragraphs (4) through 
                (7);
            (3) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)(D), by striking 
                ``adolescents'' and inserting ``youth''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (D)--
                                    (I) by inserting ``including 
                                training on youth development'' after 
                                ``to provide training''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``adolescents 
                                preparing for independent living'' and 
                                all that follows through the period and 
                                inserting ``youth preparing for a 
                                successful transition to adulthood and 
                                making a permanent connection with a 
                                caring adult.'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (H), by striking 
                        ``adolescents'' each place it appears and 
                        inserting ``youth''; and
                            (iii) in subparagraph (K)--
                                    (I) by striking ``an adolescent'' 
                                and inserting ``a youth''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``the adolescent'' 
                                each place it appears and inserting 
                                ``the youth''; and
            (4) in subsection (f), by striking paragraph (2) and 
        inserting the following:
            ``(2) Report to congress.--Not later than October 1, 2018, 
        the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means 
        of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of 
        the Senate a report on the National Youth in Transition 
        Database and any other databases in which States report outcome 
        measures relating to children in foster care and children who 
        have aged out of foster care or left foster care for kinship 
        guardianship or adoption. The report shall include the 
        following:
                    ``(A) A description of the reasons for entry into 
                foster care and of the foster care experiences, such as 
                length of stay, number of placement settings, case 
                goal, and discharge reason of 17-year-olds who are 
                surveyed by the National Youth in Transition Database 
                and an analysis of the comparison of that description 
                with the reasons for entry and foster care experiences 
                of children of other ages who exit from foster care 
                before attaining age 17.
                    ``(B) A description of the characteristics of the 
                individuals who report poor outcomes at ages 19 and 21 
                to the National Youth in Transition Database.
                    ``(C) Benchmarks for determining what constitutes a 
                poor outcome for youth who remain in or have exited 
                from foster care and plans the executive branch will 
                take to incorporate these benchmarks in efforts to 
                evaluate child welfare agency performance in providing 
                services to children transitioning from foster care.
                    ``(D) An analysis of the association between types 
                of placement, number of overall placements, time spent 
                in foster care, and other factors, and outcomes at ages 
                19 and 21.
                    ``(E) An analysis of the differences in outcomes 
                for children in and formerly in foster care at age 19 
                and 21 among States.''.
    (e) Clarifying Documentation Provided to Foster Youth Leaving 
Foster Care.--Section 475(5)(I) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 675(5)(I)) is 
amended by inserting after ``REAL ID Act of 2005'' the following: ``, 
and any official documentation necessary to prove that the child was 
previously in foster care''.
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