[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2836 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2836

To amend subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to 
support the mental health and well-being of children and youth in, and 
           formerly in, foster care, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 19, 2023

   Mr. Casey introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to 
support the mental health and well-being of children and youth in, and 
           formerly in, foster care, 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 ``Foster Youth Mental Health Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL NAVIGATION PROGRAM TO SUPPORT THE MENTAL HEALTH AND 
              WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN, AND FORMERLY IN, 
              FOSTER CARE.

    Section 426 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 626) is amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by inserting ``special 
        projects,'' after ``training,'';
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ``and'' after 
                the semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (2), the following 
                new paragraph:
            ``(3) for grants by the Secretary, or contracts or 
        cooperative arrangements, for the operation of a national 
        navigation program to support the mental health and well-being 
        of children and youth in, and formerly in, foster care that 
        includes a 24-hour text line and toll-free hotline by which 
        children and youth in foster care, youth who are aging out of 
        foster care, children and youth formerly in foster care who 
        have not yet reached their 28th birthday, foster and adoptive 
        parents, kinship guardians, and parents of children in foster 
        care may request information on support for foster and adopted 
        youth mental health and well-being that is staffed by youth who 
        were formerly in foster care and individuals with expertise in 
        helping such populations navigate and access resources to 
        support their mental health and well-being, including with 
        respect to mental health and substance use disorder treatments 
        and services, insurance coverage and renewal, housing, 
        childcare, skills training and education, extracurricular 
        activities, and other critical services for children and youth 
        in foster care and youth who are aging out of foster care.''; 
        and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) National Navigation Program To Support the Mental Health and 
Well-Being of Children in, and Formerly in, Foster Care.--
            ``(1) Funding requirement.--Beginning with the first fiscal 
        year after fiscal year 2023 for which the amount appropriated 
        for the fiscal year to carry out this section exceeds the 
        amount appropriated for such purpose for fiscal year 2023 by at 
        least $5,000,000, the Secretary shall make grants, or enter 
        into contracts or cooperative arrangements, to carry out the 
        national navigation program to support the mental health and 
        well-being of children in, and formerly in, foster care in 
        accordance with subsection (a)(3).
            ``(2) Utilization.--The Secretary shall evaluate the 
        demographics of the children and parents who use or request 
        information from the national navigation program carried out in 
        accordance with subsection (a)(3) and shall identify the 
        demographics of children and parents who are not accessing the 
        program and increase outreach to make such children and parents 
        aware of the program.''.

SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT THE MENTAL 
              HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF FOSTER CARE YOUTH.

    Section 422(b)(15) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
622(b)(15)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking 
                ``provides'' and inserting ``provide''; and
                    (B) in clause (viii), by striking ``and'' after the 
                semicolon;
            (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C);
            (3) in subparagraph (C) (as redesignated by paragraph (2) 
        of this section), by striking ``subparagraph (A)'' and 
        inserting ``subparagraphs (A) and (B)''; and
            (4) by inserting after subparagraph (A), the following new 
        subparagraph:
            ``(B) contain assurances that not less than 10 percent of 
        expenditures for services and activities the State will fund 
        under the State program carried out pursuant to this subpart 
        shall be for developing and providing ongoing support for a 
        comprehensive mental health system for youth in a foster care 
        placement that meets the requirements of subparagraph (A) and--
                    ``(i) is established through partnerships with 
                pediatricians, mental health professionals, child-
                serving agencies, child advocates, family groups, 
                housing services, alternative programs that support 
                mental health and well-being, and other key 
                organizations to ensure youth in a foster care 
                placement have timely access to non-pharmaceutical 
                mental health and substance use disorder treatments and 
                services;
                    ``(ii) includes services and activities for youth 
                in a foster care placement who are at risk of 
                developing, or have, a mental health or substance use 
                disorder, at the prevention, early intervention, and 
                treatment stages;
                    ``(iii) includes processes for--
                            ``(I) recruiting, hiring, supervision, or 
                        training of individuals with lived experience 
                        to serve as peer specialists who deliver 
                        services to youth in a foster care placement as 
                        they navigate the child welfare system and 
                        other health and social services programs and 
                        who check in with such youth weekly;
                            ``(II) training of caseworkers and other 
                        staff working within the child welfare system 
                        with a series of trauma-informed and addiction-
                        based professional development training 
                        sessions to better connect youth with resources 
                        for treatment and services as they enter the 
                        child welfare system, including the therapeutic 
                        supports and community-based resources 
                        developed and implemented in accordance with 
                        subclause (III); and
                            ``(III) the development and implementation 
                        of protocols for assisting youth in a foster 
                        care placement with accessing therapeutic 
                        supports, including navigation to peer support, 
                        family therapy, and alternative therapies such 
                        as music or art therapy, play therapy, sports, 
                        mobile or virtual therapy, as well as 
                        community-based resources, such as parenting 
                        classes, community-provided financial and in-
                        kind material support, behavioral health care, 
                        and community engagement opportunities;
                    ``(iv) has procedures to address privacy concerns 
                which include requirements for private space to be made 
                available for mental health sessions, requirements for 
                the use of platforms with end-to-end encryption for the 
                exchange of sensitive health information that comply 
                with the regulations promulgated under section 264(c) 
                of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 
                Act of 1996, requirements for youth in a foster care 
                placement to be informed of confidentiality agreements 
                with counselors, therapists, and psychiatrists, and 
                provided with information regarding where and how to 
                file a grievance about each member of their care team, 
                and requirements to retrain mental health, child 
                welfare, or juvenile justice professionals who have 
                violated such confidentiality agreements on upholding 
                these requirements; and
                    ``(v) requires that, in the case of a youth in a 
                foster care placement who needs treatment for a mental 
                health condition or substance use disorder--
                            ``(I) the health and education information 
                        required for the youth's case plan under 
                        section 475(1)(C) includes documentation 
                        evidencing having discussed with the youth the 
                        youth's options for treatment of the mental 
                        health condition or substance use disorder and 
                        a plan for the delivery of such treatments, 
                        prior to, or as soon as practicable after, the 
                        start of treatment;
                            ``(II) procedures are in place to ensure 
                        continuity of care for a youth in a foster care 
                        placement who is being treated for a mental 
                        health condition or substance use disorder if 
                        the youth is moved to another placement 
                        setting, the youth's treatment is transferred 
                        to another provider, or the type of treatment 
                        is changed;
                            ``(III) the components of the transition 
                        plan development process required under section 
                        475(5)(H) that relate to the health care needs 
                        of children aging out of foster care, includes 
                        a plan for continuity of care when a youth in a 
                        foster care placement who is being treated for 
                        a mental health condition or substance use 
                        disorder leaves foster care; and
                            ``(IV) systems are in place to follow up 
                        with youth to ensure receipt and adequacy of 
                        needed mental health or substance use disorder 
                        services, with protocols to respond to concerns 
                        identified by foster youth and assist youth 
                        with accessing additional care as recommended 
                        by a health care professional; and''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 
on the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply to payments under 
subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social Security Act for calendar 
quarters beginning on or after such date, and without regard to whether 
regulations to implement the amendments are promulgated by such date.
    (b) Exception for State Plans Requiring State Law Amendments.--In 
the case of a State plan under subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the 
Social Security Act which the Secretary determines requires State 
legislation in order for the plan to meet the additional requirements 
imposed by the amendments made by this Act, the effective date of the 
amendments imposing the additional requirements shall be 3 months after 
the first day of the first calendar quarter beginning after the close 
of the first regular session of the State legislature that begins after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of the preceding 
sentence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legislative session, 
each year of the session shall be considered to be a separate regular 
session of the State legislature.
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