[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2426 Reported in House (RH)]

<DOC>





                                                 Union Calendar No. 315
118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 2426

                          [Report No. 118-385]

 To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to require the 
    Secretary of Health and Human Services to identify obstacles to 
 identifying and responding to reports of children missing from foster 
care and other vulnerable foster youth, to provide technical assistance 
   relating to the removal of such obstacles, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2023

 Mr. Tony Gonzales of Texas (for himself, Ms. Brown, Mrs. Houchin, Ms. 
Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Bacon, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Newhouse, and Ms. 
   Scanlon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

                           February 13, 2024

 Additional sponsors: Ms. Mace, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Casten, Mr. Doggett, 
  Mr. Trone, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Stanton, Mr. Lawler, Mr. 
Langworthy, Mr. Valadao, Mr. Estes, Mr. Nunn of Iowa, Mr. Fitzpatrick, 
                            and Mrs. Hinson

                           February 13, 2024

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
 [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 
                               30, 2023]


_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to require the 
    Secretary of Health and Human Services to identify obstacles to 
 identifying and responding to reports of children missing from foster 
care and other vulnerable foster youth, to provide technical assistance 
   relating to the removal of such obstacles, 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 ``Find and Protect Foster Youth Act''.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATING OBSTACLES TO IDENTIFYING AND RESPONDING TO REPORTS 
              OF CHILDREN MISSING FROM FOSTER CARE AND OTHER VULNERABLE 
              FOSTER YOUTH.

    Section 476 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 676) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Evaluation of Protocols Relating to Children Missing From 
Foster Care and Other Vulnerable Youth; Technical Assistance.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct an 
        evaluation of the protocols established by States in accordance 
        with the requirements of section 471(a)(35) and, to the extent 
        applicable, by Indian tribes or tribal organizations (as 
        defined in section 479B(a)) or tribal consortia with a plan 
        approved under section 471 in accordance with section 479B.
            ``(2) Requirements.--The evaluation shall include the 
        following:
                    ``(A) A review of relevant aspects of reports 
                submitted by States, Indian tribes, tribal 
                organizations, and tribal consortia under this part and 
                part B, and data and other information reported 
                pursuant to the system established under section 479.
                    ``(B) Analysis of the extent to which States, 
                Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal 
                consortia comply with, and enforce, the protocols 
                required by section 471(a)(35).
                    ``(C) Analysis of the effectiveness of such 
                protocols.
                    ``(D) Identification of obstacles for States, 
                Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal 
                consortia to identifying and responding to reports of 
                children missing from foster care and other vulnerable 
                foster youth.
                    ``(E) Identification of best practices for 
                identifying such children and youth and intervening 
                with effective services.
            ``(3) Technical assistance.--The Secretary shall provide 
        States, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal 
        consortia with information, advice, educational materials, and 
        technical assistance relating to eliminating identified 
        obstacles to identifying and responding to reports of children 
        missing from foster care and other vulnerable foster youth and 
        providing such children and youth with effective services. Such 
        assistance may include dissemination of--
                    ``(A) processes and tools to identify and examine 
                risk factors and potential trends related to children 
                who go missing from foster care and other vulnerable 
                youth;
                    ``(B) best practices for runaway tracking and 
                recovery; and
                    ``(C) guidelines for intervention, including with 
                respect to services, types of providers, and placement 
                settings.
            ``(4) Report.--Not later than 5 years after the date of 
        enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall submit a 
        report to Congress on the results of the evaluation conducted 
        under this subsection and the technical assistance provided in 
        accordance with paragraph (3).''.

SEC. 3. IMPROVING SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT OF CHILDREN RETURNED TO 
              FOSTER CARE AFTER GOING MISSING TO DETERMINE WHETHER THEY 
              WERE, OR ARE AT RISK OF BECOMING, VICTIMS OF SEX 
              TRAFFICKING.

    Section 476 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 676), as amended 
by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Improving Identification of, and Services for, Children Who 
Return to Foster Care After Running Away or Otherwise Being Absent From 
Foster Care and Who Are, or Are at Risk of Being, Victims of Sex 
Trafficking.--
            ``(1) Assistance.--
                    ``(A) Screening after a return to foster care.--The 
                Secretary shall provide States, Indian tribes, tribal 
                organizations, and tribal consortia, with information, 
                advice, educational materials, and technical assistance 
                to improve compliance with section 471(a)(35)(A)(iii).
                    ``(B) Improving other requirements.--The 
                information, advice, educational materials, and 
                technical assistance provided may include information, 
                advice, educational materials, and technical assistance 
                to improve or modify policies and procedures (including 
                relevant training for caseworkers) developed by States, 
                Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal 
                consortia under section 471(a)(9)(C), including the 
                following:
                            ``(i) Identifying, through screening, 
                        whether the State has reasonable cause to 
                        believe the child or youth is, or is at risk of 
                        being, a victim of sex trafficking.
                            ``(ii) Documenting the results of such 
                        screening in agency records.
                            ``(iii) Determining appropriate services 
                        for a child or youth for whom the State 
                        determines there is reasonable cause to 
                        identify the child or youth as a victim of sex 
                        trafficking, or as at risk of being a victim of 
                        sex trafficking.
                            ``(iv) Documenting in agency records the 
                        determination of appropriate services for a 
                        child or youth described in clause (iii).
            ``(2) Forms of assistance.--The assistance provided under 
        this subsection shall include the following:
                    ``(A) Assisting States, Indian tribes, tribal 
                organizations, and tribal consortia, with developing 
                oversight mechanisms to assess their compliance with 
                section 471(a)(35)(A)(iii).
                    ``(B) Assisting States, Indian tribes, tribal 
                organizations, and tribal consortia in developing--
                            ``(i) assessments for screening children 
                        who return to foster care after running away or 
                        otherwise being absent from foster care for 
                        risk of becoming victims of sex trafficking; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) effective and robust policies 
                        relating to the use of the assessments.
                    ``(C) Working with States, Indian tribes, tribal 
                organizations, and tribal consortia to improve or 
                modify policies and procedures developed under section 
                471(a)(9)(C).
                    ``(D) Providing technical assistance on how States, 
                Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal 
                consortia may best use data collected pursuant to 
                section 479 for oversight of, and to ensure compliance 
                with, the requirements of paragraphs (9)(C) and 
                (35)(A)(iii) of section 471(a).
            ``(3) Consultation.--The Secretary shall, to the extent 
        practicable, consult with internal and external offices with 
        expertise on sex trafficking, including the Office on 
        Trafficking in Persons of the Administration for Children and 
        Families, on the development and dissemination to States, 
        Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and tribal consortia of 
        the assistance required under this subsection.''.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums 
as are necessary to carry out this Act for fiscal year 2024, which 
shall remain available through fiscal year 2027.

SEC. 5. IDENTIFYING AND ADDRESSING CONDITIONS THAT LEAD TO YOUTH 
              RUNNING AWAY FROM FOSTER CARE.

    The Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the 
Congress a written report that--
            (1) contains a rigorous analysis of administrative data to 
        determine the characteristics of youth who run away from foster 
        care and other relevant information about foster care runaway 
        episodes;
            (2) includes information from interviews with recent foster 
        youth runaways regarding their reasons for running away and 
        what happened after they ran away, including any screening or 
        other protocol followed by the State;
            (3) includes a systematic review of research and evidence 
        related to foster youth runaways;
            (4) sets forth best practices for making foster care safe 
        for youth and reducing the number of foster youth runaways; and
            (5) makes recommendations to advance child welfare 
        practices, after convening and consulting with a group of child 
        welfare practitioners and professionals to inform the 
        recommendations.
                                                 Union Calendar No. 315

118th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 2426

                          [Report No. 118-385]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to require the 
    Secretary of Health and Human Services to identify obstacles to 
 identifying and responding to reports of children missing from foster 
care and other vulnerable foster youth, to provide technical assistance 
   relating to the removal of such obstacles, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           February 13, 2024

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed