Find and Protect Foster Youth Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 1146) 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, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: S. 1146
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 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.
Mr. Speaker, every year, thousands of families open their hearts and welcome into their homes children who have suffered abuse, neglect, and abandonment. Right now, there are nearly 400,000 children in foster care.
Youth in the foster care system often have experienced serious trauma and are at high risk of going missing or running away from their foster care placements, which increases their likelihood of experiencing homelessness, human trafficking, and other exploitation.
Over the past year, the Committee on Ways and Means has been hard at work reforming aspects of our child welfare programs. The Find and Protect Foster Youth Act, introduced by Senator John Cornyn and Representative Tony Gonzales, will bring us one step closer to realizing that goal.
This legislation requires the Department of Health and Human Services and States to improve tracking for children in the foster care system who have run away or gone missing at some point, including screening youth for signs of human trafficking or other trauma.
Under Federal law, States are required to report missing foster children within 24 hours to law enforcement, yet some States still struggle to implement those protocols. This means that in some cases, kids missing from foster care are not being tracked or reported as missing in a timely manner.
This legislation also requires HHS to evaluate State protocols for shortcomings and share that information with Congress so we can implement the changes to better track and protect youth in our foster care system.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, our foster care system is a lifeline for thousands of children who have been displaced, abused, and neglected. Many of these children are at risk for going missing or running away from their foster homes, which puts them at risk of experiencing homelessness and human trafficking.
As Members of Congress, our responsibility to protect foster youth doesn't end once they are placed in a home. We must ensure that States have the tools and guidance to locate these children when they go missing in a timely manner and work to make sure every child has a safe and loving home.
This legislation will strengthen communication between States and the Federal Government to help them find and protect missing foster youth who are in crisis.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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