Grandfamilies Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2967 To provide greater support for grandfamilies and older caretaker relatives. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 23, 2019 Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, and Finan- cial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2967.IH H2967 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2967 IH SEC. 2. INCREASING ACCESS TO SOCIAL SECURITY BENE- 1 FITS FOR CHILDREN WHO LIVE WITH GRAND- 2 PARENTS OR OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Social Security Act 4 (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) is amended— 5 (1) in section 202(d)— 6 (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting ‘‘ex- 7 cept as provided in paragraph (9),’’ before ‘‘was 8 dependent’’; and 9 (B) by amending paragraph (9) to read as 10 follows: 11 ‘‘(9)(A) In the case of a child who is the child of an 12 individual under clause (3) of the first sentence of section 13 216(e) and is not a child of such individual under clause 14 (1) or (2) of such first sentence, the criteria specified in 15 subparagraph (B) shall apply instead of the criteria speci- 16 fied in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1). 17 ‘‘(B) The criteria of this subparagraph are that— 18 ‘‘(i) the child has been living with such indi- 19 vidual in the United States for a period of not less 20 than 12 months; 21 ‘‘(ii) the child has been receiving not less than 22 1⁄2 of the child’s support from such individual for a 23 period of not less than 12 months; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2967.IH H2967 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2967 IH ‘‘(iii) the period during which the child was liv- 1 ing with such individual began before the child at- 2 tained age 18. 3 ‘‘(C) In the case of a child who is less than 12 months 4 old, such child shall be deemed to meet the requirements 5 of subparagraph (B) if, on the date the child attains 1 6 year of age, such child has lived with such individual in 7 the United States and received at least 1⁄2 of the child’s 8 support from such individual for substantially all of the 9 period which began on the date of such child’s birth.’’; 10 and 11 (2) in section 216(e), in the first sentence— 12 (A) by striking ‘‘grandchild or 13 stepgrandchild of an individual or his spouse’’ 14 and inserting ‘‘grandchild, stepgrandchild, or 15 other first-degree, second-degree, third-degree, 16 fourth-degree, or fifth-degree relative of an indi- 17 vidual or the individual’s spouse’’; 18 (B) by striking ‘‘was no natural or adop- 19 tive parent’’ and inserting ‘‘is no living natural 20 or adoptive parent’’; 21 (C) by striking ‘‘was under a disability’’ 22 and inserting ‘‘is under a disability’’; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2967.IH H2967 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2967 IH (D) by striking ‘‘living at the time’’ and all 1 that follows through ‘‘, or (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘, 2 (B)’’; and 3 (E) by inserting ‘‘, or (C) the person has 4 been in the custody of such individual pursuant 5 to a court order for a period of not less than 6 12 months’’ before the first period. 7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 202(d)(1) 8 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)(1)) is amend- 9 ed— 10 (1) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A), (B), and 11 (C)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B) and 12 subparagraph (C) or paragraph (9) (as applicable)’’; 13 and 14 (2) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and (C)’’ 15 and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (B) and subparagraph 16 (C) or paragraph (9) (as applicable)’’. 17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 18 this section shall take effect on the first day of the first 19 fiscal year that begins after the date of enactment of this 20 Act. 21 SEC. 3. ELIMINATING BARRIERS TO TANF FOR CHILDREN 22 AND OLDER CARETAKER RELATIVES. 23 (a) BROADENING GOOD CAUSE EXCEPTION TO RE- 24 QUIREMENT TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON NONCUSTO- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2967.IH H2967 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2967 IH DIAL PARENTS.—Section 454(29)(A)(i) of the Social Se- 1 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 654(29)(A)(i)) is amended by strik- 2 ing ‘‘best interests of the child’’ and inserting ‘‘best inter- 3 ests of the child, including, if enforcement procedures 4 against a non-custodial parent of the child are initiated, 5 whether such procedures will impede the parent’s ability 6 to reunify with the child in the future’’. 7 (b) DISREGARD OF NONPARENT CARETAKER REL- 8 ATIVE INCOME, ASSETS, AND RESOURCES IN CHILD-ONLY 9 CASES.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 408(a) of the Social 11 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)) is amended by add- 12 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 13 ‘‘(13) DISREGARD OF INCOME, ASSETS, AND 14 RESOURCES FOR NONPARENT CARETAKER REL- 15 ATIVES IN CHILD-ONLY CASES.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a 17 minor child who does not reside in the same 18 household as a parent of the child, a State to 19 which a grant is made under section 403 shall 20 not take into account the income, assets, or re- 21 sources of such child’s nonparent caretaker rel- 22 ative who is not seeking assistance under the 23 State program funded under this part or any 24 other State program funded with qualified 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2967.IH H2967 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2967 IH State expenditures (as defined in section 1 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) on their own behalf in deter- 2 mining whether the child is eligible for assist- 3 ance under any such program, or in deter- 4 mining the amount or types of such assistance 5 to be provided to the child. 6 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A) 7 shall not apply in the case of a State pro- 8 gram— 9 ‘‘(i) that is operated specifically for 10 children living with nonparent caretaker 11 relatives; 12 ‘‘(ii) that provides monthly financial 13 assistance to a child living with a non- 14 parent caretaker relative in an amount 15 that is greater than the amount of assist- 16 ance that the child would receive on the 17 child’s own behalf under the State program 18 funded under this part; 19 ‘‘(iii) that is separate from the State 20 program funded under this part; and 21 ‘‘(iv) that is described in the State 22 plan submitted under section 402.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2967.IH H2967 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2967 IH (2) PENALTY.—Section 409(a) of the Social Se- 1 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)) is amended by adding 2 at the end the following new paragraph: 3 ‘‘(17) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO DISREGARD 4 INCOME, ASSETS, AND RESOURCES OF NONPARENT 5 CARETAKER RELATIVE IN CHILD-ONLY CASES.—If 6 the Secretary determines that a State to which a 7 grant is made under section 403 in a fiscal year has 8 violated section 408(a)(13) during the fiscal year, 9 the Secretary shall reduce the grant payable to the 10 State under section 403(a)(1) for the immediately 11 succeeding fiscal year by an amount equal to 3 per- 12 cent of the State family assistance grant.’’. 13 (c) ELIMINATING 5-YEAR CAP ON ASSISTANCE IN 14 CHILD-ONLY CASES.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 408(a)(7) of the So- 16 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)(7)) is amended 17 by adding at the end the following new subpara- 18 graph: 19 ‘‘(H) NO LIMIT FOR CHILD-ONLY CASES.— 20 A State shall not limit the number of months 21 of assistance under the State program funded 22 under this part or any other State program 23 funded with qualified State expenditures (as de- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2967.IH H2967 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2967 IH fined in section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) for a family in 1 which all adults in the family— 2 ‘‘(i) are nonparent caretaker relatives 3 of a child who does not reside in the same 4 household of the parent of the child; and 5 ‘‘(ii) do not receive assistance under 6 the State program funded under this part 7 or any other State program funded with 8 qualified expenditures (as defined in sec- 9 tion 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) on their own be- 10 half.’’. 11 (2) PENALTY.—Section 409(a) of the Social Se- 12 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)), as previously amend- 13 ed by this section, is amended— 14 (A) in paragraph (9), by inserting ‘‘(other 15 than subparagraph (H))’’ after ‘‘section 16 408(a)(7)’’; and 17 (B) by adding at the end the following new 18 paragraph: 19 ‘‘(18) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH 20 5-YEAR CAP EXEMPTIONS.—If the Secretary deter- 21 mines that a State to which a grant is made under 22 section 403 in a fiscal year has violated subpara- 23 graph (H) of section 408(a)(7) during the fiscal 24 year, the Secretary shall reduce the grant payable to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2967.IH H2967 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 2967 IH the State under section 403(a)(1) for the imme- 1 diately succeeding fiscal year by an amount equal to 2 3 percent of the State family assistance grant’’. 3 (d) EXEMPTION FROM WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR 4 NONPARENT CARETAKER RELATIVES IN CHILD-ONLY 5 CASES.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 408 of the Social 7 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608) is amended by adding 8 at the end the following new subsection: 9 ‘‘(h) STATE REQUIRED TO EXEMPT NONPARENT 10 CARETAKER RELATIVES FROM WORK PARTICIPATION IN 11 CHILD-ONLY CASES.—A State shall not require an indi- 12 vidual to engage in work if the individual— 13 ‘‘(1) is the nonparent caretaker relative of a 14 child who does not reside in the same household as 15 a parent of the child; and 16 ‘‘(2) resides in a household in which no adult 17 receives assistance under the State program funded 18 under this part or any other State program funded 19 with qualified expenditures (as defined in section 20 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) on their own behalf.’’. 21 (2) PENALTY.—Section 409(a) of the Social Se- 22 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)), as previously amend- 23 ed by this section, is amended by adding at the end 24 the following new paragraph: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2967.IH H2967 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 2967 IH ‘‘(19) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH 1 WORK PARTICIPATION EXEMPTIONS.—If the Sec- 2 retary determines that a State to which a grant is 3 made under section 403 in a fiscal year has violated 4 subsection (h) of section 408 during the fiscal year, 5 the Secretary shall reduce the grant payable to the 6 State under section 403(a)(1) for the immediately 7 succeeding fiscal year by an amount equal to 3 per- 8 cent of the State family assistance grant.’’. 9 (e) ELIMINATING 5-YEAR CAP ON ASSISTANCE FOR 10 OLDER CARETAKER RELATIVES.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 408(a)(7) of the So- 12 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a)(7)), as amended 13 by subsection (c)(1), is amended by adding at the 14 end the following new subparagraph: 15 ‘‘(I) NON-APPLICATION OF LIMIT TO 16 OLDER CARETAKER RELATIVES.— 17 ‘‘(i) NO LIMIT FOR OLDER CARE- 18 TAKER RELATIVES.—Subparagraph (A) 19 shall not apply and a State shall not limit 20 the number of months of assistance under 21 the State program funded under this part 22 or any other State program funded with 23 qualified State expenditures (as defined in 24 section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)) based on receipt 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2967.IH H2967 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 2967 IH of such assistance by an individual who is 1 an older caretaker relative (as defined for 2 purposes of paragraph (14)). 3 ‘‘(ii) DISREGARD OF MONTHS OF AS- 4 SISTANCE .—In determining the number of 5 months for which a family that includes an 6 adult who has received assistance under 7 the State program funded under this part 8 or any other State program funded with 9 qualified State expenditures (as defined in 10 section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)), the State shall 11 disregard any month for which such assist- 12 ance was provided with respect to the fam- 13 ily during which such adult was an older 14 caretaker relative (as defined for purposes 15 of paragraph (14)).’’. 16 (2) PENALTY.—Section 409(a) of the Social Se- 17 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 609(a)), as previously amend- 18 ed by this section, is amended— 19 (A) in paragraph (9), by inserting ‘‘or (I)’’ 20 after ‘‘subparagraph (H)’’; and 21 (B) in paragraph (18), by inserting ‘‘or 22 (I)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (H)’’. 23 (f) EXEMPTION FROM WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR 24 OLDER CARETAKER RELATIVES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2967.IH H2967 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 2967 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 408 of the Social 1 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608), by subsection (d)(1), 2 is amended by adding at the end the following new 3 subsection: 4 ‘‘(i) STATE REQUIRED TO EXEMPT OLDER CARE- 5 TAKER RELATIVES FROM WORK PARTICIPATION WHERE 6 CARETAKER RECEIVES ASSISTANCE.—A State shall not 7 require an individual to engage in work, and, at the option 8 of the State and on a case-by-case basis, may disregard 9 such individual in determining the participation rates 10 under section 407(a), if the individual— 11 ‘‘(1) is an older caretaker relative (as defined 12 for purposes of subsection (a)(14)); and 13 ‘‘(2) directly receives assistance on the individ- 14 ual’s own behalf under the State program funded 15 under this part or any other State program funded 16 with qualified expenditures (as defined in section 17 409(a)(7)(B)(i)).’’. 18 (2) PENALTY.—Paragraph (18) of section 19 409(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 20 609(a)), as added by subsection (d)(2), is amended 21 by inserting ‘‘or (i)’’ after ‘‘subsection (h)’’. 22 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—402(a)(1)(A) 23 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 602(a)(1)(A)) 24 is amended— 25 Ver [Text truncated for display. 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