CONNECT Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1033 To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award competitive grants to enhance collaboration between State child welfare and juvenile justice systems. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 25, 2021 Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award com- petitive grants to enhance collaboration between State child welfare and juvenile justice systems. 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 ‘‘Childhood Outcomes 4 Need New Efficient Community Teams’’ or the ‘‘CON- 5 NECT Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Apr 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1033.IS S1033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1033 IS SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO AWARD COMPETITIVE GRANTS TO 1 ENHANCE COLLABORATION BETWEEN STATE 2 CHILD WELFARE AND JUVENILE JUSTICE 3 SYSTEMS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart 1 of part B of title IV 5 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) is 6 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 7 ‘‘SEC. 429A. GRANTS TO STATES TO ENHANCE COLLABORA- 8 TION BETWEEN STATE CHILD WELFARE AND 9 JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEMS. 10 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to au- 11 thorize the Secretary, in collaboration with the Attorney 12 General and the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile 13 Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the Department of 14 Justice, to make grants to State child welfare and juvenile 15 justice agencies to collaborate in the collection of data re- 16 lating to dual status youth and to develop practices, poli- 17 cies, and protocols to confront the challenges presented 18 and experienced by dual status youth. 19 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability 21 of appropriations, from amounts reserved under sec- 22 tion 423(a)(2) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall 23 award competitive grants jointly to a State child wel- 24 fare agency and a State juvenile justice agency to 25 facilitate or enhance collaboration between the child 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Apr 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1033.IS S1033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1033 IS welfare and juvenile justice systems of the State in 1 order to carry out programs to address the needs of 2 dual status youth and their families. 3 ‘‘(2) LENGTH OF GRANTS.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A grant shall be 5 awarded under this section for a period of not 6 less than 2, and not more than 5, fiscal years, 7 subject to subparagraph (B). 8 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION OF GRANT.—On applica- 9 tion of the grantee, the Secretary may extend 10 for not more than 2 fiscal years the period for 11 which a grant is awarded under this section. 12 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 13 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—In order for a State to be 14 eligible for a grant under this section, it shall submit 15 an application, to be approved by the Secretary, that 16 includes— 17 ‘‘(A) a description of the proposed leader- 18 ship collaboration group (including the member- 19 ship of such group), and how such group will 20 manage and oversee a review and analysis of 21 current practices while working to jointly ad- 22 dress enhanced practices to improve outcomes 23 for dual status youth; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Apr 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1033.IS S1033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1033 IS ‘‘(B) a description of how the State pro- 1 poses to— 2 ‘‘(i) identify dual status youths; 3 ‘‘(ii) identify individuals who are at 4 risk of becoming dual status youths; 5 ‘‘(iii) identify common characteristics 6 shared by dual status youths in the State; 7 and 8 ‘‘(iv) determine the prevalence of dual 9 status youths in the State; 10 ‘‘(C) a description of current and proposed 11 practices and procedures that the State intends 12 to use to— 13 ‘‘(i) screen and assess dual status 14 youths for risks and treatment needs; 15 ‘‘(ii) provide targeted and evidence- 16 based services, including educational, be- 17 havioral health, and pro-social treatment 18 interventions for dual status youths and 19 their families; and 20 ‘‘(iii) provide for a lawful process to 21 enhance or ensure the abilities of the State 22 and any relevant agencies to share infor- 23 mation and data about dual status youths 24 while maintaining confidentiality and pri- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Apr 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1033.IS S1033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1033 IS vacy protections under State and Federal 1 law; and 2 ‘‘(D) a certification that the State has in- 3 volved local governments, as appropriate, in the 4 development, expansion, modification, oper- 5 ation, or improvement of proposed policy and 6 practice reforms to address the needs of dual 7 status youths. 8 ‘‘(2) NO SUPPLANTATION OF OTHER FUNDS.— 9 Any amounts paid to a State under a grant under 10 this section shall be used to supplement and not 11 supplant other State expenditures on dual status 12 youths or children involved with either the child wel- 13 fare or juvenile justice systems. 14 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION.—Up to 10 percent of the 15 amount made available to carry out this section for 16 a fiscal year shall be made available to the Secretary 17 to evaluate the effectiveness of the projects funded 18 under this section, using a methodology that— 19 ‘‘(A) includes random assignment when- 20 ever feasible, or other research methods that 21 allow for the strongest possible causal infer- 22 ences when random assignment is not feasible; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Apr 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1033.IS S1033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1033 IS ‘‘(B) generates evidence on the impact of 1 specific projects, or groups of projects with 2 identical (or similar) practices and procedures. 3 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—A State child welfare agency 4 and a State juvenile justice agency receiving a grant 5 under this section shall jointly submit to the Sec- 6 retary, the Attorney General, and the Administrator 7 of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 8 Prevention of the Department of Justice, a report 9 on the evaluation of the activities carried out under 10 the grant at the end of each fiscal year during the 11 period of the grant. Such report shall include— 12 ‘‘(A) a description of the scope and nature 13 of the dual status youth population in the 14 State, including the number of dual status 15 youth; 16 ‘‘(B) a description of the evidence-based 17 practices and procedures used by the agencies 18 to carry out the activities described in clauses 19 (i) through (iii) of paragraph (1)(C); and 20 ‘‘(C) an analysis of the effects of such 21 practices and procedures, including information 22 regarding— 23 ‘‘(i) the collection of data related to 24 individual dual status youths; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Apr 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1033.IS S1033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1033 IS ‘‘(ii) aggregate data related to the 1 dual status youth population, including— 2 ‘‘(I) characteristics of dual status 3 youths in the State; 4 ‘‘(II) case processing timelines; 5 and 6 ‘‘(III) information related to case 7 management, the provision of targeted 8 services, and placements within the 9 foster care or juvenile justice system; 10 and 11 ‘‘(iii) the extent to which such prac- 12 tices and procedures have contributed to— 13 ‘‘(I) improved educational out- 14 comes for dual status youths; 15 ‘‘(II) fewer delinquency referrals 16 for dual status youths; 17 ‘‘(III) shorter stays in intensive 18 restrictive placements for dual status 19 youths; or 20 ‘‘(IV) such other outcomes for 21 dual status youths as the State child 22 welfare agency and State juvenile jus- 23 tice agency may identify. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Apr 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1033.IS S1033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1033 IS ‘‘(d) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The 1 Secretary may support State child welfare agencies and 2 State juvenile justice agencies by offering a program, de- 3 veloped in consultation with organizations and agencies 4 with subject matter expertise, of training and technical as- 5 sistance to assist such agencies in developing programs 6 and protocols that draw on best practices for serving dual 7 status youth in order to facilitate or enhance— 8 ‘‘(1) collaboration between State child welfare 9 agencies and State juvenile justice agencies; and 10 ‘‘(2) the effectiveness of such agencies with re- 11 spect to working with Federal agencies and child 12 welfare and juvenile justice agencies from other 13 States. 14 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 15 of enactment of this section, and every 3 years thereafter, 16 the Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Adminis- 17 trator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 18 Prevention of the Department of Justice shall jointly sub- 19 mit to the Committee on Finance and the Committee on 20 the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on Ways 21 and Means and the Committee on Education and Labor 22 of the House of Representatives, a report on the grants 23 provided under this section. 24 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Apr 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1033.IS S1033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1033 IS ‘‘(1) DUAL STATUS YOUTH.—The term ‘dual 1 status youth’ means a child who has come into con- 2 tact with both the child welfare and juvenile justice 3 systems and occupies various statuses in terms of 4 the individual’s relationship to such systems. 5 ‘‘(2) LEADERSHIP COLLABORATION GROUP.— 6 The term ‘leadership collaboration group’ means a 7 group composed of senior officials from the State 8 child welfare agency, the State juvenile justice agen- 9 cy, and other relevant youth and family-serving pub- 10 lic agencies and private organizations, including, to 11 the extent practicable, representatives from the 12 State judiciary branch. 13 ‘‘(3) STATE JUVENILE JUSTICE AGENCY.—The 14 term ‘State juvenile justice agency’ means the agen- 15 cy of the State or Indian tribe responsible for ad- 16 ministering grant funds awarded under the Juvenile 17 Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 18 U.S.C. 11101 et seq.). 19 ‘‘(4) STATE CHILD WELFARE AGENCY.—The 20 term ‘State child welfare agency’ means the State 21 agency responsible for administering the program 22 under this subpart, or, in the case of a tribal organi- 23 zation that is receiving payments under section 428, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Apr 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1033.IS S1033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1033 IS the tribal agency responsible for administering such 1 program.’’. 2 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 423(a) of 3 such Act (42 U.S.C. 623(a)) is amended— 4 (1) by striking ‘‘The sum appropriated’’ and in- 5 serting the following: 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 7 the sum appropriated’’; and 8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(2) GRANTS TO STATES TO ENHANCE COL- 10 LABORATION BETWEEN STATE CHILD WELFARE AND 11 JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEMS.—For each fiscal year 12 beginning with fiscal year 2022 for which the 13 amount appropriated under section 425 for the fiscal 14 year exceeds $270,000,000— 15 ‘‘(A) the Secretary shall reserve from such 16 excess amount such sums as are necessary for 17 making grants under section 429A for such fis- 18 cal year; and 19 ‘‘(B) the remainder to be applied under 20 paragraph (1) for purposes of making allot- 21 ments to States for such fiscal year shall be de- 22 termined after the Secretary first allots 23 $70,000 to each State under such paragraph 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Apr 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1033.IS S1033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1033 IS and reserves such sums under subparagraph 1 (A) of this paragraph.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:50 Apr 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1033.IS S1033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS