Grandfamilies Technical Assistance Center Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 639 To establish a National Technical Assistance Center on Grandfamilies and Kinship Families IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 9, 2021 Mr. CASEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish a National Technical Assistance Center on Grandfamilies and Kinship Families Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Grandfamilies Tech- 4 nical Assistance Center Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER ON 6 GRANDFAMILIES AND KINSHIP FAMILIES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts otherwise 8 available, there is appropriated to the Secretary of Health 9 and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S639.IS S639 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 639 IS the Administration for Community Living, out of any 1 money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 2 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, to remain available 3 through September 30, 2025, to establish, directly or 4 through grants or contracts, a National Technical Assist- 5 ance Center on Grandfamilies and Kinship Families (in 6 this section referred to as the ‘‘Center’’) to provide train- 7 ing, technical assistance, and resources for government 8 programs, nonprofit and other community-based organiza- 9 tions, and Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and urban 10 Indian organizations, that serve grandfamilies and kinship 11 families to support the health and well-being of members 12 of grandfamilies and kinship families, including care- 13 givers, children, and their parents. The Center shall focus 14 primarily on serving grandfamilies and kinship families in 15 which the primary caregiver is an adult age 55 or older, 16 or the child has one or more disabilities. 17 (b) ACTIVITIES OF THE CENTER.—The Center 18 shall— 19 (1) engage experts to stimulate the development 20 of new and identify existing evidence-based, evi- 21 dence-informed, and exemplary practices or pro- 22 grams related to health promotion (including mental 23 health and substance use disorder treatment), edu- 24 cation, nutrition, housing, financial needs, legal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S639.IS S639 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 639 IS issues, disability self-determination, caregiver sup- 1 port, and other issues to help serve caregivers, chil- 2 dren, and their parents in grandfamilies and kinship 3 families; 4 (2) encourage and support the implementation 5 of the evidence-based, evidence-informed, and exem- 6 plary practices or programs identified under para- 7 graph (1) to support grandfamilies and kinship fam- 8 ilies and to promote coordination of services for 9 grandfamilies and kinship families across systems 10 that support them; 11 (3) facilitate learning across States, territories, 12 Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and urban In- 13 dian organizations for providing technical assistance, 14 resources, and training related to issues described in 15 paragraph (1) to individuals and entities across sys- 16 tems that directly work with grandfamilies and kin- 17 ship families; 18 (4) help government programs, nonprofit and 19 other community-based organizations, and Indian 20 Tribes, Tribal organizations, and urban Indian orga- 21 nizations, serving grandfamilies and kinship families, 22 to plan and coordinate responses to assist 23 grandfamilies and kinship families during national, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S639.IS S639 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 639 IS State, Tribal, territorial, and local emergencies and 1 disasters; and 2 (5) assist government programs, and nonprofit 3 and other community-based organizations, in pro- 4 moting equity and implementing culturally and lin- 5 guistically appropriate approaches as the programs 6 and organizations serve grandfamilies and kinship 7 families. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S639.IS S639 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS