Timely Mental Health for Foster Youth Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2033 To amend subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure that mental health screenings and assessments are provided to children and youth upon entry into foster care. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 18, 2021 Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Ms. BASS, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. NORTON, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. NADLER, and Mr. CARSON) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to ensure that mental health screenings and assessments are provided to children and youth upon entry into foster care. 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 ‘‘Timely Mental Health 4 for Foster Youth Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:18 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2033.IH H2033 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2033 IH SEC. 2. TIMELY MENTAL HEALTH SCREENINGS AND AS- 1 SESSMENTS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH 2 UPON ENTRY INTO FOSTER CARE. 3 (a) STATE AND TRIBAL PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Sec- 4 tion 422(b)(15)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 5 622(b)(15)(A)) is amended— 6 (1) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘and that require 7 that an initial mental health screening of any child 8 in foster care be completed not later than 30 days 9 after the date the child enters into foster care and, 10 in the case of any child in foster care for whom a 11 mental health issue is identified in such initial 12 screening, that a comprehensive assessment of the 13 mental health of the child be completed not later 14 than 60 days after the date the child enters into fos- 15 ter care’’ before the semicolon; and 16 (2) in clause (ii)— 17 (A) by striking ‘‘screenings’’ and inserting 18 ‘‘such screenings and assessments’’; and 19 (B) by inserting ‘‘which shall ensure an- 20 nual mental health screenings, including, as ap- 21 propriate, follow-up assessment and treatment, 22 for the duration of a child’s placement in the 23 foster care’’ before the semicolon. 24 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 25 422(b)(15)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(15)(A)) is 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:18 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2033.IH H2033 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2033 IH further amended, in the matter before clause (i), by strik- 1 ing ‘‘provides’’ and inserting ‘‘provide’’. 2 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 4 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 5 shall take effect on October 1, 2022. 6 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION 7 REQUIRED.—In the case of a State plan approved 8 under subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social 9 Security Act which the Secretary of Health and 10 Human Services determines requires State legisla- 11 tion (other than legislation appropriating funds) in 12 order for the plan to meet the additional require- 13 ments imposed by this section, the State plan shall 14 not be regarded as failing to comply with the re- 15 quirements of such subpart solely on the basis of the 16 failure of the plan to meet such additional require- 17 ments before the first day of the first calendar quar- 18 ter beginning after the close of the first regular ses- 19 sion of the State legislature that begins after the 20 date of enactment of this section. For purposes of 21 the previous sentence, in the case of a State that has 22 a 2-year legislative session, each year of such session 23 shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of 24 the State legislature. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:18 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2033.IH H2033 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2033 IH SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 1 The Administration for Children and Families and 2 the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the De- 3 partment of Health and Human Services shall provide 4 technical assistance to States on how to comply with the 5 amendments made by section 2(a) of this Act. The Admin- 6 istration for Children and Families and the Center for 7 Medicare and Medicaid Services should consult with other 8 relevant Federal agencies on the development of the tech- 9 nical assistance, which should take into account evidence- 10 based best practices. 11 SEC. 4. DATA COLLECTION. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 13 Human Services, in consultation with State and local pub- 14 lic officials responsible for administering child welfare pro- 15 grams, child welfare advocates, pediatric mental health ex- 16 perts, and researchers shall— 17 (1) identify data elements needed to track— 18 (A) the number of children receiving an 19 initial mental health screening required under 20 section 422(b)(15)(A)(i) of the Social Security 21 Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(15)(A)) (as amended by 22 section 2(a) of this Act); 23 (B) whether or not such required initial 24 mental health screening occurs within 30 days 25 of a child’s entry or re-entry into foster care; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:18 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2033.IH H2033 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2033 IH (C) the number of children who receive a 1 follow-up comprehensive assessment required 2 under section 422(b)(15)(A)(i) of the Social Se- 3 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(15)(A)) (as so 4 amended); 5 (D) whether or not such required follow-up 6 comprehensive assessment occurs within 60 7 days of a child’s entry or re-entry into foster 8 care; 9 (E) the number of children in foster care 10 who are referred for mental health services; and 11 (F) the number and characteristics of such 12 children who receive mental health services 13 after being referred for such services; and 14 (2) develop a plan to collect the information de- 15 scribed in paragraph (1) from States administering 16 a State plan under subpart 1 of part B of title IV 17 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) 18 beginning with the second fiscal year that begins 19 after the date of enactment of this Act. 20 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 12 21 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 22 retary of Health and Human Services shall submit to the 23 Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee 24 on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:18 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2033.IH H2033 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2033 IH report detailing the plan and timetable for collecting the 1 information described in subsection (a)(1) from States. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:18 May 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2033.IH H2033 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS