[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7012 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7012
To amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide
grants to develop and enhance, or to evaluate, kinship navigator
programs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 2, 2018
Ms. Bass (for herself and Mr. Marino) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide
grants to develop and enhance, or to evaluate, kinship navigator
programs, 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 ``Supporting Kinship Connections
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) 2,500,000 children in the United States are living in
kinship care with grandparents or other relatives.
(2) With the rise of substance abuse, including heroin and
other opioid use, more kin caregivers are stepping up to raise
children who are in need of foster care and permanent homes.
(3) Grandparents and relatives residing in urban, rural,
and suburban households in every county of the United States
have stepped forward out of love and loyalty to care for
children during times in which parents are unable to do so.
(4) Kinship caregivers provide safety, promote well-being,
and establish stable households for vulnerable children.
(5) Kinship care enables a child to maintain family
relationships and cultural heritage and remain in the community
of the child.
(6) Kinship care is a national resource that provides
loving homes for children at risk.
(7) Kinship caregivers face daunting challenges to keep
countless children from entering foster care.
(8) Kinship navigator programs have been shown to
proactively provide support to kinship caregivers in an effort
to avert crises and potentially prevent more costly services.
(9) Kinship placement decreases the likelihood that
children will run away and end up on the streets where they are
at risk of trafficking.
(10) Children in kinship placements are less likely to be
moved from placement to placement.
(11) Children in kinship placements are less likely to
struggle with behavioral health and less likely to be
maltreated.
SEC. 3. GRANTS TO DEVELOP, ENHANCE, OR EVALUATE KINSHIP NAVIGATOR
PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--Section 427 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
627) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 427. KINSHIP NAVIGATOR PROGRAM GRANTS.
``(a) Authority.--The Secretary shall make grants to States, to
Indian tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal consortia, and to
community-based organizations to develop and enhance kinship navigator
programs, or to evaluate such programs, in order to promote the use of
kinship navigator programs by all such entities, and to advance the
knowledge and use of kinship navigator programs that meet--
``(1) the evidence-based practices criteria to qualify for
payments under section 474(a)(7); and
``(2) the requirements described in subsection (b)(1) of
this section.
``(b) Program Requirements.--
``(1) Mandatory requirements.--The requirements described
in this paragraph are the following:
``(A) The kinship navigator program is designed to
assist kinship caregivers in learning about, finding,
and using programs and services to meet the needs of
the children they are assisting or raising, and their
own needs, and to promote effective partnerships among
public and private agencies to ensure kinship caregiver
families are served.
``(B) The kinship navigator program is coordinated
with other State or local agencies that promote service
coordination or provide information and referral
services, including the entities that provide 2-1-1 or
3-1-1 information systems where available, to avoid
duplication or fragmentation of services to kinship
care families.
``(C) The kinship navigator program is planned and
operated in consultation with kinship caregivers and
organizations representing them, youth raised by
kinship caregivers, relevant government agencies, and
relevant community-based or faith-based organizations.
``(D) The kinship navigator program establishes
information and referral systems that link (via toll-
free access) kinship caregivers, kinship support group
facilitators, and kinship service providers to--
``(i) each other;
``(ii) eligibility and enrollment
information for Federal, State, and local
benefits;
``(iii) relevant training to assist kinship
caregivers in caregiving and in obtaining
benefits and services; and
``(iv) relevant legal assistance and help
in obtaining legal services.
``(E) The kinship navigator program provides
outreach to kinship care families, including by
establishing, distributing, and updating a kinship care
website, or other relevant guides or outreach
materials.
``(F) The kinship navigator program promotes--
``(i) partnerships between public and
private agencies, including schools and
universities, community-based or faith-based
organizations, and relevant government
agencies, to increase their knowledge of the
needs of kinship care families and other
individuals who are willing and able to assist
parents to help prevent children from entering
foster care or to be foster parents; and
``(ii) improved services for such families
and individuals.
``(2) Additional activities.--In addition to meeting the
requirements described in paragraph (1), a grant under this
section may be used to assist a kinship navigator program in--
``(A) establishing and supporting a kinship care
ombudsman with authority to intervene and help kinship
caregivers access services;
``(B) supporting any other activities designed to
assist kinship caregivers in obtaining benefits and
services to improve their caregiving, including in-
person supportive services;
``(C) negotiating, managing, and implementing
agreements to enable the kinship navigator program
obtain data from the information systems used to carry
out a State program funded under part A, or a State
plan developed in accordance with this subpart, or
approved under subpart 2 of this part; and
``(D) public education and awareness of kinship
placement and processes.
``(c) Applications.--In order to receive a grant under this
section, a State, Indian tribe, tribal organization, tribal consortium,
or community-based organization shall submit to the Secretary an
application, at such time and in such manner as the Secretary shall
require, that contains the following:
``(1) A description of how the grant will be used to
develop, enhance, or evaluate kinship navigator programs that
meets the requirements of subsection (b)(1), and whether the
State or tribal entity intends to carry out any of the
activities described in subsection (b)(2).
``(2) A description of how kinship caregivers and the
children they care for will be identified and an initial
projection of the number of children and kin caregivers that
will be served.
``(3) A description of how the State intends to make its
kinship navigator program available as broadly as possible,
including on a statewide basis whenever possible.
``(4) A description of how the State intends to sustain the
kinship navigator program after the end of the grant funding,
including through use of funding available under section
474(a)(7).
``(5) An assurance that the State, Indian tribe, tribal
organization, tribal consortium, or community-based
organization will cooperate fully with any evaluation provided
for by the Secretary with respect to grants made under this
section.
``(6) Any other information that the Secretary may require.
``(d) Grant Allotments and Payments.--
``(1) Allotments to states, tribes, or community-based
organizations.--Subject to the succeeding paragraphs of this
subsection, from the amounts appropriated to carry out this
section for a fiscal year, after the application of the amounts
reserved under subsection (e) for the fiscal year, the
Secretary shall allot to each State that has submitted an
application for a grant under this section (and to each Indian
tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium that has
submitted an application for a grant to be paid from an
allotment under this paragraph) for the fiscal year an amount
equal to the sum of--
``(A) $200,000; and
``(B) the product of--
``(i) the amount remaining after making the
reservations required under subsection (e), and
allotting the amount described in subparagraph
(A) to each such State and each such Indian
tribe, tribal organization, or tribal
consortium, for the fiscal year; and
``(ii) the proportion that the number of
children in the State, Indian tribe, tribal
organization, or tribal consortium for the
fiscal year bears to the total number of
children for all the States (and all the Indian
tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal
consortia provided with a grant paid from an
allotment under this paragraph) for the fiscal
year.
``(2) Allotments to certain territories.--In the case of an
allotment determined under paragraph (1) for the United States
Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Northern Mariana
Islands, the Secretary may reduce the amount of the allotment
based on the need of the territory, but not below a minimum
amount that the Secretary determines is sufficient to enable
the territory to carry out the purposes of a grant made under
this section.
``(3) Indian tribes or tribal consortia.--From the amount
reserved under subsection (e)(1) for a fiscal year, the
Secretary shall allot to each Indian tribe, tribal
organization, and tribal consortium that has submitted an
application for a grant under this section (other than from an
allotment under paragraph (1)) for the fiscal year an amount
that bears the same ratio to such reserved amount as the number
of children in the Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal
consortium for the fiscal year bears to the total number of
children in all Indian tribes and tribal organizations that
have submitted an application for a grant under this section
(other than from an allotment under paragraph (1)) for the
fiscal year, as determined by the Secretary on the basis of the
most current and reliable information available to the
Secretary. If a consortium of Indian tribes applies and is
approved for a grant under this section, the Secretary shall
allot to the consortium an amount equal to the sum of the
allotments determined for each Indian tribe and tribal
organization that is part of the consortium.
``(4) Payments.--Payments of grants under this section may
be made in advance or by way of reimbursement, and in such
installments, as the Secretary may determine, and shall be made
on such conditions as the Secretary finds necessary to carry
out the purposes of the grants.
``(5) Availability of funds.--Amounts allotted under this
subsection to a State, an Indian tribe, a tribal organization,
a tribal consortium, or a community-based organization for a
fiscal year shall remain available for expenditure through the
end of the succeeding fiscal year.
``(6) No matching payment required.--No matching payment
shall apply to the grants made under this section.
``(e) Reservations of Funds.--
``(1) Indian tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal
consortia.--The Secretary shall reserve 5 percent of the funds
appropriated for a fiscal year to carry out this section, for
grants to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal
consortia not provided a grant from an allotment under
subsection (d)(1) for the fiscal year.
``(2) Technical assistance, evaluations, and guidance.--The
Secretary shall reserve 5 percent of the funds appropriated for
a fiscal year to carry out this section to provide technical
assistance, evaluations emphasizing community-based
participatory methods that align programs with local knowledge
and community values, and guidance to grantees, and to carry
out, by grant, contract, or interagency agreement, cross-site
evaluations for purposes of identifying evidence-based
practices criteria that will qualify for payment under section
474(a)(7).
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to any amounts
otherwise appropriated to carry out this subpart, there are authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary for purposes of making grants under
this section, $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 and 2020, to
remain available until expended.
``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Indian tribe; tribal organization.--The terms `Indian
tribe' and `tribal organization' have the meanings given such
terms in section 428(c).
``(2) State.--The term `State' has the meaning given that
term in section 1101 for purposes of this title and includes
the Northern Mariana Islands.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 474(a)(7) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 674(a)(7)) is
amended by striking ``section 427(a)(1)'' and inserting
``section 427(b)(1)''.
(2) Section 476 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 676) is amended--
(A) in subsection (c)(2)(A)(ii)--
(i) in subclause (I), by striking ``and''
after the semicolon; and
(ii) by inserting after subclause (II) the
following:
``(III) Indian tribes, tribal
organizations, or tribal consortia
seeking to develop and enhance kinship
navigator programs, or to evaluate such
programs, in order to promote their use
by tribal entities, and to advance the
knowledge and use of kinship navigator
programs that meet the evidence-based
practices to qualify for payments under
section 474(a)(7) and the requirements
described in section 427(b)(1); and'';
and
(B) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ``section
427(a)(1)'' and inserting ``section 427(b)(1)''.
(c) Technical Amendments.--
(1) Section 428(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 628(c)) is
amended by striking ``by subsections (e) and (l) of section 4
of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
(25 U.S.C. 450b), respectively'' and inserting ``under section
4 of the Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act
(25 U.S.C. 5304)''.
(2) Section 479B(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 679c(a)) is
amended by striking ``450b'' and inserting ``5304''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take
effect on October 1, 2018.
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