Grandfamilies Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1660 To provide greater support for grandfamilies and older caretaker relatives. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 23 (legislative day, MAY 22), 2019 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. HASSAN, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To provide greater support for grandfamilies and older caretaker relatives. 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 Act of 4 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. INCREASING ACCESS TO SOCIAL SECURITY BENE- 6 FITS FOR CHILDREN WHO LIVE WITH GRAND- 7 PARENTS OR OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Social Security Act 9 (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1660.IS S1660 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1660 IS (1) in section 202(d)— 1 (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting ‘‘ex- 2 cept as provided in paragraph (9),’’ before ‘‘was 3 dependent’’; and 4 (B) by amending paragraph (9) to read as 5 follows: 6 ‘‘(9)(A) In the case of a child who is the child of an 7 individual under clause (3) of the first sentence of section 8 216(e) and is not a child of such individual under clause 9 (1) or (2) of such first sentence, the criteria specified in 10 subparagraph (B) shall apply instead of the criteria speci- 11 fied in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1). 12 ‘‘(B) The criteria of this subparagraph are that— 13 ‘‘(i) the child has been living with such indi- 14 vidual in the United States for a period of not less 15 than 12 months; 16 ‘‘(ii) the child has been receiving not less than 17 1⁄2 of the child’s support from such individual for a 18 period of not less than 12 months; and 19 ‘‘(iii) the period during which the child was liv- 20 ing with such individual began before the child at- 21 tained age 18. 22 ‘‘(C) In the case of a child who is less than 12 months 23 old, such child shall be deemed to meet the requirements 24 of subparagraph (B) if, on the date the child attains 1 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1660.IS S1660 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1660 IS year of age, such child has lived with such individual in 1 the United States and received at least 1⁄2 of the child’s 2 support from such individual for substantially all of the 3 period which began on the date of such child’s birth.’’; 4 and 5 (2) in section 216(e), in the first sentence— 6 (A) by striking ‘‘grandchild or 7 stepgrandchild of an individual or his spouse’’ 8 and inserting ‘‘grandchild, stepgrandchild, or 9 other first-degree, second-degree, third-degree, 10 fourth-degree, or fifth-degree relative of an indi- 11 vidual or the individual’s spouse’’; 12 (B) by striking ‘‘was no natural or adop- 13 tive parent’’ and inserting ‘‘is no living natural 14 or adoptive parent’’; 15 (C) by striking ‘‘was under a disability’’ 16 and inserting ‘‘is under a disability’’; 17 (D) by striking ‘‘living at the time’’ and all 18 that follows through ‘‘, or (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘, 19 (B)’’; and 20 (E) by inserting ‘‘, or (C) the person has 21 been in the custody of such individual pursuant 22 to a court order for a period of not less than 23 12 months’’ before the first period. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1660.IS S1660 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1660 IS (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 202(d)(1) 1 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)(1)) is amend- 2 ed— 3 (1) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A), (B), and 4 (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B) and 5 subparagraph (C) or paragraph (9) (as applicable)’’; 6 and 7 (2) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and (C)’’ 8 and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (B) and subparagraph 9 (C) or paragraph (9) (as applicable)’’. 10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 11 this section shall take effect on the first day of the first 12 fiscal year that begins after the date of enactment of this 13 Act. 14 SEC. 3. ELIMINATING BARRIERS TO TANF FOR CHILDREN 15 AND OLDER CARETAKER RELATIVES. 16 (a) BROADENING GOOD CAUSE EXCEPTION TO RE- 17 QUIREMENT TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON NONCUSTO- 18 DIAL PARENTS.—Section 454(29)(A)(i) of the Social Se- 19 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 654(29)(A)(i)) is amended by strik- 20 ing ‘‘best interests of the child’’ and inserting ‘‘best inter- 21 ests of the child, including, if enforcement procedures 22 against a non-custodial parent of the child are initiated, 23 whether such procedures will impede the parent’s ability 24 to reunify with the child in the future’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1660.IS S1660 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1660 IS (b) DISREGARD OF NONPARENT CARETAKER REL- 1 ATIVE INCOME, ASSETS, AND RESOURCES IN CHILD-ONLY 2 CASES.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 408(a) of the Social 4 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)) is amended by add- 5 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 6 ‘‘(13) DISREGARD OF INCOME, ASSETS, AND 7 RESOURCES FOR NONPARENT CARETAKER REL- 8 ATIVES IN CHILD-ONLY CASES.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a 10 minor child who does not reside in the same 11 household as a parent of the child, a State to 12 which a grant is made under section 403 shall 13 not take into account the income, assets, or re- 14 sources of such child’s nonparent caretaker rel- 15 ative who is not seeking assistance under the 16 State program funded under this part or any 17 other State program funded with qualified 18 State expenditures (as defined in section 19 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) on their own behalf in deter- 20 mining whether the child is eligible for assist- 21 ance under any such program, or in deter- 22 mining the amount or types of such assistance 23 to be provided to the child. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1660.IS S1660 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1660 IS ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) 1 shall not apply in the case of a State pro- 2 gram— 3 ‘‘(i) that is operated specifically for 4 children living with nonparent caretaker 5 relatives; 6 ‘‘(ii) that provides monthly financial 7 assistance to a child living with a non- 8 parent caretaker relative in an amount 9 that is greater than the amount of assist- 10 ance that the child would receive on the 11 child’s own behalf under the State program 12 funded under this part; 13 ‘‘(iii) that is separate from the State 14 program funded under this part; and 15 ‘‘(iv) that is described in the State 16 plan submitted under section 402.’’. 17 (2) PENALTY.—Section 409(a) of the Social Se- 18 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)) is amended by adding 19 at the end the following new paragraph: 20 ‘‘(17) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO DISREGARD 21 INCOME, ASSETS, AND RESOURCES OF NONPARENT 22 CARETAKER RELATIVE IN CHILD-ONLY CASES.—If 23 the Secretary determines that a State to which a 24 grant is made under section 403 in a fiscal year has 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1660.IS S1660 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1660 IS violated section 408(a)(13) during the fiscal year, 1 the Secretary shall reduce the grant payable to the 2 State under section 403(a)(1) for the immediately 3 succeeding fiscal year by an amount equal to 3 per- 4 cent of the State family assistance grant.’’. 5 (c) ELIMINATING 5-YEAR CAP ON ASSISTANCE IN 6 CHILD-ONLY CASES.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 408(a)(7) of the So- 8 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)(7)) is amended 9 by adding at the end the following new subpara- 10 graph: 11 ‘‘(H) NO LIMIT FOR CHILD-ONLY CASES.— 12 A State shall not limit the number of months 13 of assistance under the State program funded 14 under this part or any other State program 15 funded with qualified State expenditures (as de- 16 fined in section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) for a family in 17 which all adults in the family— 18 ‘‘(i) are nonparent caretaker relatives 19 of a child who does not reside in the same 20 household of the parent of the child; and 21 ‘‘(ii) do not receive assistance under 22 the State program funded under this part 23 or any other State program funded with 24 qualified expenditures (as defined in sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1660.IS S1660 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1660 IS tion 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) on their own be- 1 half.’’. 2 (2) PENALTY.—Section 409(a) of the Social Se- 3 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)), as previously amend- 4 ed by this section, is amended— 5 (A) in paragraph (9), by inserting ‘‘(other 6 than subparagraph (H))’’ after ‘‘section 7 408(a)(7)’’; and 8 (B) by adding at the end the following new 9 paragraph: 10 ‘‘(18) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH 11 5-YEAR CAP EXEMPTIONS.—If the Secretary deter- 12 mines that a State to which a grant is made under 13 section 403 in a fiscal year has violated subpara- 14 graph (H) of section 408(a)(7) during the fiscal 15 year, the Secretary shall reduce the grant payable to 16 the State under section 403(a)(1) for the imme- 17 diately succeeding fiscal year by an amount equal to 18 3 percent of the State family assistance grant’’. 19 (d) EXEMPTION FROM WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR 20 NONPARENT CARETAKER RELATIVES IN CHILD-ONLY 21 CASES.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 408 of the Social 23 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608) is amended by adding 24 at the end the following new subsection: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1660.IS S1660 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1660 IS ‘‘(h) STATE REQUIRED TO EXEMPT NONPARENT 1 CARETAKER RELATIVES FROM WORK PARTICIPATION IN 2 CHILD-ONLY CASES.—A State shall not require an indi- 3 vidual to engage in work if the individual— 4 ‘‘(1) is the nonparent caretaker relative of a 5 child who does not reside in the same household as 6 a parent of the child; and 7 ‘‘(2) resides in a household in which no adult 8 receives assistance under the State program funded 9 under this part or any other State program funded 10 with qualified expenditures (as defined in section 11 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) on their own behalf.’’. 12 (2) PENALTY.—Section 409(a) of the Social Se- 13 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)), as previously amend- 14 ed by this section, is amended by adding at the end 15 the following new paragraph: 16 ‘‘(19) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH 17 WORK PARTICIPATION EXEMPTIONS.—If the Sec- 18 retary determines that a State to which a grant is 19 made under section 403 in a fiscal year has violated 20 subsection (h) of section 408 during the fiscal year, 21 the Secretary shall reduce the grant payable to the 22 State under section 403(a)(1) for the immediately 23 succeeding fiscal year by an amount equal to 3 per- 24 cent of the State family assistance grant.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1660.IS S1660 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1660 IS (e) ELIMINATING 5-YEAR CAP ON ASSISTANCE FOR 1 OLDER CARETAKER RELATIVES.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 408(a)(7) of the So- 3 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)(7)), as amended 4 by subsection (c)(1), is amended by adding at the 5 end the following new subparagraph: 6 ‘‘(I) NON-APPLICATION OF LIMIT TO 7 OLDER CARETAKER RELATIVES.— 8 ‘‘(i) NO LIMIT FOR OLDER CARE- 9 TAKER RELATIVES.—Subparagraph (A) 10 shall not apply and a State shall not limit 11 the number of months of assistance under 12 the State program funded under this part 13 or any other State program funded with 14 qualified State expenditures (as defined in 15 section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) based on receipt 16 of such assistance by an individual who is 17 an older caretaker relative (as defined for 18 purposes of paragraph (14)). 19 ‘‘(ii) DISREGARD OF MONTHS OF AS- 20 SISTANCE .—In determining the number of 21 months for which a family that includes an 22 adult who has received assistance under 23 the State program funded under this part 24 or any other State program funded with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1660.IS S1660 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1660 IS qualified State expenditures (as defined in 1 section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)), the State shall 2 disregard any month for which such assist- 3 ance was provided with respect to the fam- 4 ily during which such adult was an older 5 caretaker relative (as defined for purposes 6 of paragraph (14)).’’. 7 (2) PENALTY.—Section 409(a) of the Social Se- 8 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)), as previously amend- 9 ed by this section, is amended— 10 (A) in paragraph (9), by inserting ‘‘or (I)’’ 11 after ‘‘subparagraph (H)’’; and 12 (B) in paragraph (18), by inserting ‘‘or 13 (I)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (H)’’. 14 (f) EXEMPTION FROM WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR 15 OLDER CARETAKER RELATIVES.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 408 of the Social 17 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608), by subsection (d)(1), 18 is amended by adding at the end the following new 19 subsection: 20 ‘‘(i) STATE REQUIRED TO EXEMPT OLDER CARE- 21 TAKER RELATIVES FROM WORK PARTICIPATION WHERE 22 CARETAKER RECEIVES ASSISTANCE.—A State shall not 23 require an individual to engage in work, and, at the option 24 of the State and on a case-by-case basis, may disregard 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1660.IS S1660 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1660 IS such individual in determining the participation rates 1 under section 407(a), if the individual— 2 ‘‘(1) is an older caretaker relative (as defined 3 for purposes of subsection (a)(14)); and 4 ‘‘(2) directly receives assistance on the individ- 5 ual’s own behalf under the State program funded 6 under this part or any other State program funded 7 with qualified expenditures (as defined in section 8 409(a)(7)(B)(i)).’’. 9 (2) PENALTY.—Paragraph (18) of section 10 409(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 11 609(a)), as added by subsection (d)(2), is amended 12 by inserting ‘‘or (i)’’ after ‘‘subsection (h)’’. 13 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—402(a)(1)(A) 14 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 602(a)(1)(A)) 15 is amended— 16 (A) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘and subject 17 to subsection (h) and (i) of section 408’’ before 18 the period; and 19 (B) in clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘and [Text truncated for display. 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