Timely Mental Health for Foster Youth Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4420 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 SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Ms. BASS, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SOTO, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. MITCHELL, and Ms. MENG) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred 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 20:32 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4420.IH H4420 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4420 IH SEC. 2. TIMELY MENTAL HEALTH SCREENINGS AND AS- 1 SESSMENTS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH 2 UPON ENTRY INTO FOSTER CARE. 3 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Section 4 422(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), by striking ‘‘screenings’’ and 17 inserting ‘‘such screenings and assessments’’. 18 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 19 422(b)(15)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(15)(A)) is 20 further amended in the matter before clause (i), by strik- 21 ing ‘‘provides’’ and inserting ‘‘provide’’. 22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 24 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 25 shall take effect on October 1, 2020. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4420.IH H4420 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4420 IH (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION 1 REQUIRED.—In the case of a State plan approved 2 under subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social 3 Security Act which the Secretary of Health and 4 Human Services determines requires State legisla- 5 tion (other than legislation appropriating funds) in 6 order for the plan to meet the additional require- 7 ments imposed by this section, the State plan shall 8 not be regarded as failing to comply with the re- 9 quirements of such subpart solely on the basis of the 10 failure of the plan to meet such additional require- 11 ments before the first day of the first calendar quar- 12 ter beginning after the close of the first regular ses- 13 sion of the State legislature that begins after the 14 date of enactment of this section. For purposes of 15 the previous sentence, in the case of a State that has 16 a 2-year legislative session, each year of such session 17 shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of 18 the State legislature. 19 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 20 The Administration for Children and Families and 21 the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the De- 22 partment of Health and Human Services shall provide 23 technical assistance to States on how to comply with the 24 amendments made by section 2(a) of this Act. The Admin- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4420.IH H4420 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4420 IH istration for Children and Families and the Center for 1 Medicare and Medicaid Services should consult with other 2 relevant Federal agencies on the development of the tech- 3 nical assistance, which should take into account evidence- 4 based best practices. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:32 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4420.IH H4420 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS