Supporting Kinship Connections Act
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to provide grants for developing, enhancing, or evaluating kinship navigator programs; such programs help grandparents and other relative caregivers find and use services to meet the needs of the caregivers and the children they are raising.
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2543 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2543
To amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide
grants to develop and enhance, or to evaluate, kinship navigator
programs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 13, 2018
Ms. Heitkamp (for herself and Mr. Young) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide
grants to develop and enhance, or to evaluate, kinship navigator
programs, 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 ``Supporting Kinship Connections
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) 2,500,000 children in the United States are living in
kinship care with grandparents or other relatives.
(2) With the rise of heroin and other opioid-use, more kin
caregivers are stepping up to raise children who are in need of
foster care and permanent homes.
(3) Grandparents and relatives residing in urban, rural,
and suburban households in every county of the United States
have stepped forward out of love and loyalty to care for
children during times in which parents are unable to do so.
(4) Kinship caregivers provide safety, promote well-being,
and establish stable households for vulnerable children.
(5) Kinship care enables a child to maintain family
relationships and cultural heritage and remain in the community
of the child.
(6) Kinship care is a national resource that provides
loving homes for children at risk.
(7) Kinship caregivers face daunting challenges to keep
countless children from entering foster care.
(8) Kinship navigator programs have been shown to
proactively provide support to kinship caregivers in an effort
to avert crises and potentially prevent more costly services.
SEC. 3. GRANTS TO DEVELOP, ENHANCE, OR EVALUATE KINSHIP NAVIGATOR
PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--Section 427 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
627) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 427. KINSHIP NAVIGATOR PROGRAM GRANTS.
``(a) Authority.--The Secretary shall make grants to States and to
Indian tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal consortia to develop and
enhance kinship navigator programs, or to evaluate such programs, in
order to promote the use of kinship navigator programs by all States
and tribal entities, and to advance the knowledge and use of kinship
navigator programs that meet--
``(1) the evidence-based practices criteria to qualify for
payments under section 474(a)(7) (as in effect on and after
October 1, 2018); and
``(2) the requirements described in subsection (b)(1).
``(b) Program Requirements.--
``(1) Mandatory requirements.--The requirements described
in this paragraph are the following:
``(A) The kinship navigator program is designed to
assist kinship caregivers in learning about, finding,
and using programs and services to meet the needs of
the children they are assisting or raising, and their
own needs, and to promote effective partnerships among
public and private agencies to ensure kinship caregiver
families are served.
``(B) The kinship navigator program is coordinated
with other State or local agencies that promote service
coordination or provide information and referral
services, including the entities that provide 2-1-1 or
3-1-1 information systems where available, to avoid
duplication or fragmentation of services to kinship
care families.
``(C) The kinship navigator program is planned and
operated in consultation with kinship caregivers and
organizations representing them, youth raised by
kinship caregivers, relevant government agencies, and
relevant community-based or faith-based organizations.
``(D) The kinship navigator program establishes
information and referral systems that link (via toll-
free access) kinship caregivers, kinship support group
facilitators, and kinship service providers to--
``(i) each other;
``(ii) eligibility and enrollment
information for Federal, State, and local
benefits;
``(iii) relevant training to assist kinship
caregivers in caregiving and in obtaining
benefits and services; and
``(iv) relevant legal assistance and help
in obtaining legal services.
``(E) The kinship navigator program provides
outreach to kinship care families, including by
establishing, distributing, and updating a kinship care
website, or other relevant guides or outreach
materials.
``(F) The kinship navigator program promotes--
``(i) partnerships between public and
private agencies, including schools and
universities, community-based or faith-based
organizations, and relevant government
agencies, to increase their knowledge of the
needs of kinship care families and other
individuals who are willing and able to assist
parents to help prevent children from entering
foster care or to be foster parents; and
``(ii) improved services for such families
and individuals.
``(2) Additional activities.--In addition to meeting the
requirements described in paragraph (1), a grant under this
section may be used to assist a kinship navigator program in--
``(A) establishing and supporting a kinship care
ombudsman with authority to intervene and help kinship
caregivers access services; and
``(B) supporting any other activities designed to
assist kinship caregivers in obtaining benefits and
services to improve their caregiving, including in-
person supportive services.
``(c) Applications.--In order to receive a grant under this
section, a State, Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal
consortium shall submit to the Secretary an application, at such time
and in such manner as the Secretary shall require, that contains the
following:
``(1) A description of how the grant will be used to
develop, enhance, or evaluate kinship navigator programs that
meets the requirements of subsection (b)(1) and whether the
State or tribal entity intends to carry out any of the
activities included in subsection (b)(2).
``(2) A description of how kinship caregivers and the
children they care for will be identified and an initial
projection of the number of children and kin caregivers that
will be served.
``(3) A description of how the State intends to make its
kinship navigator program available as broadly as possible,
including on a Statewide basis whenever possible.
``(4) A description of how the State intends to sustain the
kinship navigator program after the end of the grant funding,
including through use of funding available under section
471(a)(7) (as so in effect).
``(5) An assurance that the State, Indian tribe, tribal
organization, or tribal consortium will cooperate fully with
any evaluation provided for by the Secretary with respect to
grants made under this section.
``(6) Any other information that the Secretary may require.
``(d) Grant Allotments and Payments.--
``(1) Allotments to states.--Subject to the succeeding
paragraphs of this subsection, from the amounts appropriated to
carry out this section for a fiscal year, after the application
of the amounts reserved under subsection (e) for the fiscal
year, the Secretary shall allot to each State that has
submitted an application for a grant under this section for the
fiscal year (including, if it submits an application for a
grant for the fiscal year, Puerto Rico) an amount equal to the
sum of--
``(A) $200,000; and
``(B) the product of--
``(i) the amount remaining after making the
reservations required under subsection (e) and
allotting the amount described in subparagraph
(A) to each such State; and
``(ii) the proportion that the number of
children in the State bears to the total number
of children for all the States.
``(2) Allotments to certain territories.--In the case of
the allotments determined under paragraph (1) for the
jurisdictions of United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American
Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, the Secretary may
reduce the amount of the allotment based on the need of each
such jurisdiction, but not below a minimum amount that the
Secretary determines is sufficient to enable such jurisdictions
to carry out the purposes of a grant made under this section.
``(3) Indian tribes or tribal consortia.--From the amount
reserved under subsection (e)(1) for a fiscal year, the
Secretary shall allot to each Indian tribe, tribal
organization, and tribal consortium that has submitted an
application for the fiscal year an amount that bears the same
ratio to such reserved amount as the number of children in the
Indian tribe, tribal organization, or tribal consortium bears
to the total number of children in all Indian tribes and tribal
organizations that have submitted an application for a grant
under this section for the fiscal year, as determined by the
Secretary on the basis of the most current and reliable
information available to the Secretary. If a consortium of
Indian tribes applies and is approved for a grant under this
section, the Secretary shall allot to the consortium an amount
equal to the sum of the allotments determined for each Indian
tribe and tribal organization that is part of the consortium.
``(4) Payments.--Payments of grants under this section may
be made in advance or by way of reimbursement, and in such
installments, as the Secretary may determine, and shall be made
on such conditions as the Secretary finds necessary to carry
out the purposes of the grants.
``(5) Availability of funds.--Amounts allotted under this
subsection to a State or to an Indian tribe, tribal
organization, or tribal consortium shall remain available for
expenditure through the end of the succeeding fiscal year.
``(6) No matching payment required.--No matching payment
shall apply to the grants made under this section.
``(e) Reservations of Funds.--
``(1) Indian tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal
consortia.--The Secretary shall reserve 5 percent of the funds
appropriated for a fiscal year to carry out this section for
grants to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal
consortia.
``(2) Technical assistance, evaluations, and guidance.--The
Secretary shall reserve 5 percent of the funds appropriated for
a fiscal year to carry out this section to provide technical
assistance, evaluations, and guidance to grantees and to carry
out, by grant, contract, or interagency agreement, cross-site
evaluations for purposes of identifying evidence-based
practices criteria that will qualify for payment under section
474(a)(7) (as so in effect).
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to any amounts
otherwise appropriated to carry out this subpart, there are authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary for purposes of making grants under
this section, $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 and 2020, to
remain available until expended.
``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Indian tribe; tribal organization.--The terms `Indian
tribe' and `tribal organization' have the meanings given such
terms in section 428(c).
``(2) State.--The term `State' has the meaning given that
term in section 1101 for purposes of this title and includes
the Northern Mariana Islands.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Effective October 1, 2018, section 474(a)(7) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 674(a)(7)) is amended by striking ``section
427(a)(1)'' and inserting ``section 427(b)(1)''.
(2) Section 476 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 676) is amended--
(A) in subsection (c)(2)(A)(ii)--
(i) in subclause (I), by striking ``and''
after the semicolon; and
(ii) by inserting after subclause (II) the
following:
``(III) Indian tribes, tribal
organizations, or tribal consortia
seeking to develop and enhance kinship
navigator programs, or to evaluate such
programs, in order to promote their use
by tribal entities, and to advance the
knowledge and use of kinship navigator
programs that meet the evidence-based
practices to qualify for payments under
section 474(a)(7) (as in effect on and
after October 1, 2018) and the
requirements described in section
427(b)(1); and''; and
(B) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ``section
427(a)(1)'' and inserting ``section 427(b)(1)''.
(c) Technical Amendments.--
(1) Section 428(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 628(c)) is
amended by striking ``by subsections (e) and (l) of section 4
of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
(25 U.S.C. 450b), respectively'' and inserting ``under section
4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
(25 U.S.C. 5304)''.
(2) Section 479B(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 679c(a)) is
amended by striking ``450b'' and inserting ``5304''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
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