[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2543 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2543

   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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 13, 2018

Ms. Heitkamp (for herself and Mr. Young) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 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.

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 and to 
Indian tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal consortia to develop and 
enhance kinship navigator programs, or to evaluate such programs, in 
order to promote the use of kinship navigator programs by all States 
and tribal 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) (as in effect on and after 
        October 1, 2018); and
            ``(2) the requirements described in subsection (b)(1).
    ``(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; and
                    ``(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) Applications.--In order to receive a grant under this 
section, a State, Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal 
consortium 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 included 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 
        471(a)(7) (as so in effect).
            ``(5) An assurance that the State, Indian tribe, tribal 
        organization, or tribal consortium 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.--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 for the 
        fiscal year (including, if it submits an application for a 
        grant for the fiscal year, Puerto Rico) 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
                            ``(ii) the proportion that the number of 
                        children in the State bears to the total number 
                        of children for all the States.
            ``(2) Allotments to certain territories.--In the case of 
        the allotments determined under paragraph (1) for the 
        jurisdictions of United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 
        Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, the Secretary may 
        reduce the amount of the allotment based on the need of each 
        such jurisdiction, but not below a minimum amount that the 
        Secretary determines is sufficient to enable such jurisdictions 
        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 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 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 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 or to an Indian tribe, tribal 
        organization, or tribal consortium 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.
            ``(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, 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) (as so in effect).
    ``(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) Effective October 1, 2018, 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) (as in effect on and 
                                after October 1, 2018) 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''.
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