116 HR 3507 IH: Julia Carson Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act of 2019 U.S. House of Representatives 2019-06-26 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I116th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 3507IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESJune 26, 2019Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois (for himself and Mr. Carson of Indiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concernedA BILLTo amend title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure funding for grants to promote responsible fatherhood and strengthen low-income families, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title; table of contents

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Julia Carson Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act of 2019. (b)

Table of contents

The table of contents of this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Title I—Promoting Responsible Fatherhood and Strengthening Low-Income Families Sec. 101. Healthy marriage promotion and responsible fatherhood programs. Sec. 102. Grants supporting healthy family partnerships for domestic violence intervention and preventions. Sec. 103. Procedures to address domestic violence. Sec. 104. Grants to States for family strengthening commissions. Title II—Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Sec. 201. TANF work participation improvements. Sec. 202. TANF Employment Fund. Sec. 203. Sense of Congress. Title III—Child Support Sec. 301. Full family distribution and ban on recovery of Medicaid costs for births. Sec. 302. State assessments of barriers to employment and financial support of children. Sec. 303. Public reporting on consequences for nonpayment. Sec. 304. Early intervention to ensure regular payment of support and prevent overdue support. Sec. 305. Improved collection and distribution of child support. Sec. 306. Services and activities to support noncustodial parenting time. Title IV—Revenue Provision Sec. 401. Increase in credit percentage under earned income tax credit for eligible individuals with no qualifying children. Title V—Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Sec. 501. Collection of child support under the supplemental nutrition assistance program.

2.

Findings

Congress makes the following findings: (1)Fathers play a significant and underappreciated role in the development of their children, with research demonstrating that a supportive and involved father strengthens a child’s emotional, physical, intellectual, and behavioral development. Children with positive relationships with fathers, even if they do not live in the same household, have stronger mental health, economic success, and academic achievement with lower rates of youth delinquency, school dropout, and teen pregnancy. (2)Economic stability also leads to positive outcomes for children, including stronger emotional well-being, physical health, and academic success. (3)Family patterns in the United States have resulted in fewer children living with their fathers. The October 2016 Child Trends report on family structure shows the proportion of all children who have not attained the age of 18 living with both parents has decreased over the past half century, from 85 percent in 1960 to 65 percent in 2015, with 23 percent of such children living with their mother only and 4 percent of such children living with their father only in 2015. (4)A 2015 United States Census analysis of children’s living arrangements and characteristics showed that a child in a father-absent home is more than 5 times more likely to live in poverty than a child in a married-couple family. (5)Father engagement does not depend on living in the same house as the child, with many nonresidential fathers being actively involved with their children and supportive of their children’s mothers. However, low-income fathers experience multiple challenges to contributing financially and emotionally to their children due to limited education and job skills, unstable employment opportunities, child support enforcement policies, incarceration, and strained relationships with the children’s mothers. Multiple approaches are needed to address these barriers to create opportunities for fathers to sustain their engagement and closeness with their children and families. (6)Federal programs should encourage responsible fatherhood and healthy families by increasing the upward economic mobility of custodial and noncustodial parents so that they can actively participate in financial support and child-rearing as well as maintain positive, healthy, and nonviolent relationships with their children and coparents, including improving compliance with child support obligations and cooperative parenting.