[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 20, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H4966-H4968]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PARTNERSHIP GRANTS TO STRENGTHEN FAMILIES AFFECTED BY PARENTAL
SUBSTANCE ABUSE ACT
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 2834) to improve the well-being of, and improve permanency
outcomes for, children and families affected by heroin, opioids, and
other substance abuse, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2834
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 ``Partnership Grants to
Strengthen Families Affected by Parental Substance Abuse
Act''.
SEC. 2. ENHANCEMENTS TO GRANTS TO IMPROVE WELL-BEING OF
FAMILIES AFFECTED BY SUBSTANCE ABUSE.
Section 437(f) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
629g(f)) is amended--
(1) in the subsection heading, by striking ``Increase the
Well-being of, and to Improve the Permanency Outcomes for,
Children Affected by'' and inserting ``Implement IV-E
Prevention Services, and Improve the Well-being of, and
Improve Permanency Outcomes for, Children and Families
Affected by Heroin, Opioids, and Other'';
(2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
``(2) Regional partnership defined.--In this subsection,
the term `regional partnership' means a collaborative
agreement (which may be established on an interstate, State,
or intrastate basis) entered into by the following:
``(A) Mandatory partners for all partnership grants.--
``(i) The State child welfare agency that is responsible
for the administration of the State plan under this part and
part E.
``(ii) The State agency responsible for administering the
substance abuse prevention and treatment block grant provided
under subpart II of part B of title XIX of the Public Health
Service Act.
``(B) Mandatory partners for partnership grants proposing
to serve children in out-of-home placements.--If the
partnership proposes to serve children in out-of-home
placements, the Juvenile Court or Administrative Office of
the Court that is most appropriate to oversee the
administration of court programs in the region to address the
population of families who come to the attention of the court
due to child abuse or neglect.
``(C) Optional partners.--At the option of the partnership,
any of the following:
``(i) An Indian tribe or tribal consortium.
``(ii) Nonprofit child welfare service providers.
``(iii) For-profit child welfare service providers.
``(iv) Community health service providers, including
substance abuse treatment providers.
``(v) Community mental health providers.
``(vi) Local law enforcement agencies.
``(vii) School personnel.
``(viii) Tribal child welfare agencies (or a consortia of
the agencies).
``(ix) Any other providers, agencies, personnel, officials,
or entities that are related to the provision of child and
family services under a State plan approved under this
subpart.
``(D) Exception for regional partnerships where the lead
applicant is an indian tribe or tribal consortia.--If an
Indian tribe or tribal consortium enters into a regional
partnership for purposes of this subsection, the Indian tribe
or tribal consortium--
``(i) may (but is not required to) include the State child
welfare agency as a partner in the collaborative agreement;
``(ii) may not enter into a collaborative agreement only
with tribal child welfare agencies (or a consortium of the
agencies); and
``(iii) if the condition described in paragraph (2)(B)
applies, may include tribal court organizations in lieu of
other judicial partners.'';
(3) in paragraph (3)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``$500,000 and not
more than $1,000,000'' and inserting ``$250,000 and not more
than $1,000,000'';
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) in the subparagraph heading, by inserting ``;
planning'' after ``approval'';
(ii) in clause (i), by striking ``clause (ii)'' and
inserting ``clauses (ii) and (iii)''; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(iii) Sufficient planning.--A grant awarded under this
subsection shall be disbursed in two phases: a planning phase
(not to exceed 2 years) and an implementation phase. The
total disbursement to a grantee for the planning phase may
not exceed $250,000, and may not exceed the total anticipated
funding for the implementation phase.''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) Limitation on payment for a fiscal year.--No payment
shall be made under subparagraph (A) or (C) for a fiscal year
until the Secretary determines that the eligible partnership
has made sufficient progress in meeting the goals of the
grant and that the members of the eligible partnership are
coordinating to a reasonable degree with the other members of
the eligible partnership.'';
(4) in paragraph (4)--
(A) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) in clause (i), by inserting ``, parents, and families''
after ``children'';
(ii) in clause (ii), by striking ``safety and permanence
for such children; and'' and inserting ``safe, permanent
caregiving relationships for the children;'';
(iii) in clause (iii), by striking ``or'' and inserting
``increase reunification rates for children who have been
placed in out-of-home care, or decrease''; and
(iv) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (v) and
inserting after clause (ii) the following:
``(iii) improve the substance abuse treatment outcomes for
parents including retention in treatment and successful
completion of treatment;
``(iv) facilitate the implementation, delivery, and
effectiveness of prevention services and programs under
section 471(e); and'';
(B) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``where
appropriate,''; and
(C) by striking subparagraphs (E) and (F) and inserting the
following:
``(E) A description of a plan for sustaining the services
provided by or activities funded under the grant after the
conclusion of the grant period, including through the use of
prevention services and programs under section 471(e) and
other funds provided to the State for child welfare and
substance abuse prevention and treatment services.
``(F) Additional information needed by the Secretary to
determine that the proposed activities and implementation
will be consistent with research or evaluations showing which
practices and approaches are most effective.'';
(5) in paragraph (5)(A), by striking ``abuse treatment''
and inserting ``use disorder treatment including medication
assisted treatment and in-home substance abuse disorder
treatment and recovery'';
(6) in paragraph (7)--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (C); and
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (E)
and inserting after subparagraph (C) the following:
``(D) demonstrate a track record of successful
collaboration among child welfare, substance abuse disorder
treatment and mental health agencies; and'';
(7) in paragraph (8)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) by striking ``establish indicators that will be'' and
inserting ``review indicators that are''; and
(ii) by striking ``in using funds made available under such
grants to achieve the purpose of this subsection'' and
inserting ``and establish a set of core indicators related to
child safety, parental recovery, parenting capacity, and
family well-being. In developing the core indicators, to the
extent possible, indicators shall be made consistent with the
outcome measures described in section 471(e)(6)''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by inserting ``base
the performance measures on lessons learned from prior rounds
of regional partnership grants under this subsection, and''
before ``consult''; and
(ii) by striking clauses (iii) and (iv) and inserting the
following:
``(iii) Other stakeholders or constituencies as determined
by the Secretary.''; and
(8) in paragraph (9)(A), by striking clause (i) and
inserting the following:
``(i) Semiannual reports.--Not later than September 30 of
each fiscal year in which a recipient of a grant under this
subsection is paid funds under the grant, and every 6 months
thereafter, the grant recipient shall submit to the Secretary
a report on the services provided and activities carried out
during the reporting period, progress made in achieving the
goals of the program, the number of children, adults, and
families receiving services, and such additional information
as the Secretary determines is necessary. The report due not
later than September 30 of the last such fiscal year shall
include, at a minimum, data on each of the performance
[[Page H4967]]
indicators included in the evaluation of the regional
partnership.''.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), the amendments
made by this Act shall take effect on October 1, 2017.
(b) Transition Rule.--
(1) In general.--In the case of a State plan under part B
of title IV of the Social Security Act which the Secretary of
Health and Human Services determines requires State
legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) in
order for the plan to meet the additional requirements
imposed by the amendments made by this Act, the State plan
shall not be regarded as failing to comply with the
requirements of such part solely on the basis of the failure
of the plan to meet such additional requirements before 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 enactment of this Act. For
purposes of the previous sentence, in the case of a State
that has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the
session shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of
the State legislature.
(2) Application to programs operated by indian tribal
organizations.--In the case of an Indian tribe, tribal
organization, or tribal consortium which the Secretary of
Health and Human Services determines requires time to take
action necessary to comply with the additional requirements
imposed by the amendments made by this Act (whether the
tribe, organization, or tribal consortium has a plan under
section 479B of the Social Security Act or a cooperative
agreement or contract entered into with a State), the
Secretary shall provide the tribe, organization, or tribal
consortium with such additional time as the Secretary
determines is necessary for the tribe, organization, or
tribal consortium to take the action to comply with the
additional requirements before being regarded as failing to
comply with the requirements.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
South Dakota (Mrs. Noem) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Danny K.
Davis) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from South Dakota.
General Leave
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on H.R. 2834, currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from South Dakota?
There was no objection.
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Partnership Grants to
Strengthen Families Affected by Parental Substance Abuse Act. I applaud
Mr. Davis for all of the excellent work he has done on this issue.
Most substantiated child abuse and neglect cases involve substance
abuse by a parent or a guardian. This is something we are seeing all
too often in places like my home State of South Dakota. Substance
abuse, especially alcohol and meth, result in far too many instances of
child abuse, domestic abuse, and other kinds of violent crime and
behavior.
Historically, a lack of coordination and collaboration has hindered
the ability of those working in the fields of child welfare and
substance abuse, and even the courts, from fully supporting families in
substance abuse crisis.
Families involved with child welfare have complex needs. No two cases
are alike. It is for this reason that improving outcomes for parents
and children require a coordinated effort among all systems.
This bill strengthens the Regional Partnership Grants program, which
provides funding to State and regional grantees seeking to provide
evidence-based services to prevent child abuse and neglect related to
substance abuse. Most importantly, this bill updates the RPG program to
specifically address the opioid and heroin epidemics.
By ensuring better coordination, this bill will also encourage States
to address the well-being of the family as a whole, using evidence-
based approaches to help parents and children at the same time, so many
children can stay safely at home with their families.
Finally, this bill is noncontroversial and it is bipartisan.
Provisions in this bill were contained in the Family First Prevention
Services Act last Congress, which passed the House by a voice vote. The
Family First Act, as you recall, was supported by over 500 State and
local organizations representing a wide range of practitioners and
advocacy organizations.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to stand with Mr. Davis in
supporting this bill today.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
I strongly support H.R. 2834, the Partnership Grants to Strengthen
Families Affected by Parental Substance Abuse Act.
I am pleased to join with Congresswoman Noem in leading this bill to
strengthen families by addressing parental substance abuse and
decreasing the number of children entering foster care. Our bill is
common sense. It takes the research lessons from the smaller scale
Regional Partnership Grants and expands those efforts to the State
level.
We know that substance abuse underlies a substantial percentage of
child welfare cases, affecting between one-third to two-thirds of
children in care. Aside from neglect, alcohol or other drug use is the
number one reason for removal from the home. In 2014, over 77,000
youths were removed from their homes due to drug abuse.
What is exciting is that we have strong empirical evidence that
working with parents experiencing substance abuse significantly helps
children and families; specifically, working with these families helps
children to experience fewer days in foster care, higher reunification
rates, less recurrence of child maltreatment, and better permanency
over time.
H.R. 2834 provides the opportunity to scale up these successes from
smaller, targeted interventions into full State interventions, while
building the research to better inform Federal policy overall.
My home State of Illinois has led the Nation in addressing substance
abuse issues in child welfare. We know that we need to do more to
address this problem, but we know what works and we know we can work
bipartisanly to support families in addressing substance abuse so that
we can increase permanency and safety.
When I ask foster youth what policymakers could do to make child
welfare better, they almost always say: ``You could have helped my mom
and dad.'' That is what we do today.
I urge passage of this important legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentlewoman from California, (Ms. Bass).
Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2834, the
Partnership Grants to Strengthen Families Affected by Parental
Substance Abuse Act.
This piece of legislation is responsive to countless pleas of youth
and families seeking necessary assistance and support without
fracturing critical family bonds and relationships.
The majority of children who are removed from home are actually
removed for neglect and not physical or sexual abuse. Over 60 percent
of children are removed for neglect, and neglect is secondary to
substance abuse, mental health issues, and abject poverty.
In the 1990s, when the crack cocaine epidemic hit, we didn't
understand much about addiction, and so we were angry. We punished the
mothers. We imprisoned the mothers. We took the children away, and we
didn't realize that actually not addressing the underlying substance
abuse issue would really be more harmful to the children than removing
them and putting them into foster care.
Now that we are experiencing another epidemic related to drugs, both
with meth and with heroin, at least our knowledge base has grown a lot.
We have drug courts. We have evidence-based treatments. We have a lot
of ways that we can address families.
One of the things that we have learned is that, if you can put the
entire family in treatment, then, that way, one, the parents are not
separated from their children, the children can get help, and the
parents can get help as well.
What often happens if you remove the child from the parent is that
you set the parent up to relapse or to never actually go into treatment
because they will cycle into depression, and they will continue their
cycle of addiction.
[[Page H4968]]
We have had many children who actually wound up growing up in foster
care because their parents were removed ask us, why didn't we help the
family, why didn't we help their parents. Sadly, what has happened to
many of these children, when they grow up, they continue the same cycle
of going into depression, winding up in addiction.
Over the years, the National Foster Youth Institute in conjunction
with the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth have organized many
different delegations and trips around the country looking at the
different foster care systems. Our very first listening tour was in Los
Angeles, and we visited a program called SHIELDS for Families.
SHIELDS for Families is a very large drug treatment program that has
functioned for over 20 years by keeping the entire family together, and
some of these families can remain in residential care for as long as a
year. They have been able to reduce the number of children who were
removed and go into the foster care system because they provide
treatment for the family as a whole.
This bill would modify the award criteria for Health and Human
Services to consider whether a partnership has a track record of
selective collaboration among child welfare, substance abuse disorder
treatment, and mental health agencies. Simply put, this bill is
designed to keep families together.
I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2834.
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, over a decade of research shows the successes of helping
families involved in the child welfare system who struggle with
substance abuse. Through this research, we know that there are seven
common ingredients that help improve families' outcomes: a system of
identifying families, earlier access to assessment and treatment
services, increased management of recovery services and compliance,
increased judicial oversight, responses to participant behavior based
on proven contingency management approaches, collaborative approaches
across service systems and courts, and improved family-centered
services and repair of parent-child relationships.
{time} 1730
Again, Mr. Speaker, it has been a pleasure for my staff and I to have
the opportunity to work with Mrs. Noem and her staff in preparing this
legislation.
And I might note that on Saturday of this past week, a group of us in
Illinois took two busloads of children to a special program run by the
Illinois Department of Corrections at the Sheridan Correctional Center
to see their fathers, who were all involved in a special program
established for individuals who were incarcerated for crimes dealing
with substance and who, themselves, were substance users. This
experience was so exciting in terms of these individuals finding help,
and their children being able to interact with them, even though they
were incarcerated.
So someone asked me what was I going to do for Father's Day, and I
told them after we returned that I have had my Father's Day experience.
If we can help these individuals to rid themselves of the tremendous
habits and difficulty that they have of substance use, then Father's
Day would be good enough.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from South Dakota (Mrs. Noem),
and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I, again, want to applaud Mr. Davis for all of his work
on this issue. I know he is passionate and has a big heart for our
children, especially those that are in difficult situations such as we
are discussing today.
This bill will help us protect the fundamental element of our
society, and that is the family. It will keep families together. It
will empower courts and child welfare workers to coordinate for the
good of children, and I am proud to support this bill.
I ask for the support of this legislation that is before us, Mr.
Speaker, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hollingsworth). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentlewoman from South Dakota (Mrs. Noem) that
the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2834, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________