Family First Transition Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4980 To assist States, tribes, territories, counties, and cities in implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 5, 2019 Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mrs. WALORSKI, Ms. BASS, Mr. WENSTRUP, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. ESTES, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. BACON, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. SUOZZI, and Mr. PANETTA) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To assist States, tribes, territories, counties, and cities in implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Family First Transi- 4 tion Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. EVIDENCE STANDARD TRANSITION. 6 (a) TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF REQUIREMENT 7 THAT AT LEAST 50 PERCENT OF A STATE’S REIMBURSE- 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4980.IH H4980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4980 IH MENT FOR PREVENTION AND FAMILY SERVICES AND 1 PROGRAMS BE FOR PROGRAMS AND SERVICES THAT 2 MEET THE WELL-SUPPORTED PRACTICE REQUIRE- 3 MENT.—With respect to quarters in fiscal years 2020 and 4 2021, section 474(a)(6)(A) of the Social Security Act shall 5 be applied without regard to clause (ii) of such section. 6 (b) SUPPORTED PRACTICES TEMPORARILY TREATED 7 AS WELL-SUPPORTED PRACTICES.—With respect to quar- 8 ters in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, practices that meet 9 the criteria specified for supported practices in section 10 471(e)(4)(C) of the Social Security Act shall be considered 11 well-supported practices for purposes of section 12 474(a)(6)(A)(ii) of such Act. 13 SEC. 3. ENHANCED FUNDING FOR TRANSITION ACTIVITIES. 14 (a) TRANSITION FUNDING.— 15 (1) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any money in the 16 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appro- 17 priated, there are appropriated to the Secretary of 18 Health and Human Services (in this Act referred to 19 as the ‘‘Secretary’’) to carry out this subsection 20 $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, which shall re- 21 main available through fiscal year 2021. 22 (2) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 24 allot the amount appropriated by paragraph (1) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4980.IH H4980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4980 IH of this subsection in accordance with section 1 423 of the Social Security Act, and shall pay 2 each State to which an allotment is so made, 3 the total amount so allotted, subject to subpara- 4 graph (B) of this paragraph. 5 (B) RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR INDIAN 6 TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS.—Before 7 applying subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, 8 the Secretary shall reserve 3 percent of the 9 amount appropriated by paragraph (1) of this 10 subsection for allotment to the Indian tribes 11 and tribal organizations with a plan approved 12 under subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the So- 13 cial Security Act, based on each tribe or tribal 14 organization’s share of the total tribal child 15 population among all such tribes and tribal or- 16 ganizations. 17 (b) FUNDING CERTAINTY FOR STATES WITH EXPIR- 18 ING DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Out of any money in the 20 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appro- 21 priated, there are appropriated to the Secretary, for 22 payment to each State that was operating a dem- 23 onstration project approved under section 1130 of 24 the Social Security Act on September 30, 2019, for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4980.IH H4980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4980 IH each fiscal year specified in paragraph (2) of this 1 subsection, an amount equal to the amount (if any) 2 by which— 3 (A)(i) the applicable percentage for the fis- 4 cal year so specified of the maximum capped al- 5 location due to the State or sub-State jurisdic- 6 tion for fiscal year 2019 for foster care mainte- 7 nance, administration, or training costs, under 8 the demonstration project, as specified in sec- 9 tion 4.3 of the State waiver terms and condi- 10 tions document capped allocation payment table 11 in effect on August 31, 2019; or 12 (ii) if the terms and conditions do not 13 specify a maximum amount payable for fiscal 14 year 2019 for the State or sub-State jurisdic- 15 tion (due to the use of a comparison jurisdic- 16 tion to ensure cost neutrality), the final cost 17 neutrality limit for the State or sub-State juris- 18 diction for fiscal year 2018, as most recently re- 19 ported by the State or sub-State jurisdiction as 20 of September 30, 2019, for foster care mainte- 21 nance, administration or training costs under 22 the demonstration project that were included in 23 the waiver; exceeds 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4980.IH H4980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4980 IH (B) the total amount payable to the State 1 or sub-State jurisdiction under part E of title 2 IV of such Act for the fiscal year so specified 3 for foster care expenditures (whether payable 4 under paragraph (1) or (3) of section 474(a) of 5 such Act) that were maintenance, administra- 6 tion, or training costs of the demonstration 7 project taken into account by the Secretary in 8 determining the total amount referred to in 9 subparagraph (A) of this paragraph. 10 (2) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE DEFINED.—In 11 this paragraph, the term ‘‘applicable percentage’’ 12 means— 13 (A) 90 percent, in the case of fiscal year 14 2020; or 15 (B) 75 percent, in the case of fiscal year 16 2021. 17 (3) SPECIAL RULE.—The calculation under 18 paragraph (1) with respect to a State shall be made 19 without regard to— 20 (A) any change approved after August 31, 21 2019, in the capped allocation or the terms and 22 conditions referred to in subparagraph (A) with 23 respect to the State; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4980.IH H4980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4980 IH (B) any change made after such date to 1 the financial form submitted by the State that 2 is used in determining the capped allocation. 3 (4) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Each State 4 that receives funds under this subsection shall dis- 5 tribute the funds to jurisdictions in the State that 6 were operating demonstration projects under section 7 1130 of the Social Security Act in a manner con- 8 sistent with each sub-State jurisdiction’s propor- 9 tionate loss as compared with fiscal year 2019. 10 (5) RECONCILIATION PROCESS.—Each State 11 seeking a payment under this subsection shall report 12 expenditures pursuant to part E of title IV of the 13 Social Security Act in a manner determined by the 14 Secretary and the Secretary shall account for any 15 revisions to spending for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 16 after the end of the respective fiscal year that are 17 reported by the State agency administering the 18 State plan approved under such part, and received 19 by the Department of Health and Human Services, 20 within 2 years after the last day of the fiscal quarter 21 in which the expenditure was made. 22 (6) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The amounts 23 made available for payments to States under this 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4980.IH H4980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4980 IH subsection for a fiscal year shall remain available 1 through the end of the third succeeding fiscal year. 2 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the purposes 4 specified in part B of title IV of the Social Security 5 Act, a State may use funds provided under this sec- 6 tion for activities previously funded under a dem- 7 onstration project under section 1130 of such Act to 8 reduce any adverse fiscal impacts as jurisdictions 9 transition funding sources for the projects, and for 10 activities directly associated with the implementation 11 of title VII of division E of Public Law 115–123 12 (also known as the Family First Prevention Services 13 Act). 14 (2) LIMITATION.—None of the funds provided 15 under this section may be used to match Federal 16 funds under any program. 17 SEC. 4. REPORTING ON ENHANCED FUNDING FOR TRANSI- 18 TION ACTIVITIES. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each State to which funds are 20 paid under section 3 of this Act shall submit to the Sec- 21 retary, in a manner specified by the Secretary, a written 22 report on— 23 (1) how the grant is used to implement each 24 part of title VII of division E of Public Law 115– 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4980.IH H4980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4980 IH 123 (also known as the Family First Prevention 1 Services Act), with a separate statement with re- 2 spect to each such part; 3 (2) all programs, services, and operational costs 4 to which the grant is put; 5 (3) the characteristics of the families and chil- 6 dren served by use of the grant; and 7 (4)(A) the use by the State of amounts pro- 8 vided for each fiscal year to continue activities pre- 9 viously funded under a waiver provided under sec- 10 tion 1130 of the Social Security Act; and 11 (B)(i) the plan of the State to transition the ac- 12 tivities so that needed activities can be provided 13 under the State plan approved under part E of title 14 IV of the Social Security Act; or 15 (ii) if expenditures for the activities would not 16 be eligible for payment under the State plan ap- 17 proved under such part E— 18 (I) the reason therefor; and 19 (II) the funding sources the State plans to 20 use to cover the costs of needed activities. 21 (b) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.—For purposes 22 of subpart 2 of part B of title IV of the Social Security 23 Act, each report required by subsection (a) of this section 24 shall be considered to be required by section 432(a)(8) of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4980.IH H4980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4980 IH such Act, and shall contain such additional information 1 as the Secretary may require. 2 SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF STATE. 3 In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 4 the term in section 431(a)(4) of the Social Security Act. 5 SEC. 6. RENAMING OF TITLE IV–B–2 OF THE SOCIAL SECU- 6 RITY ACT. 7 The subpart heading for subpart 2 of part B of title 8 IV of the Social Security Act is amended by striking 9 ‘‘Promoting Safe and Stable Families’’ and in- 10 serting ‘‘MaryLee Allen Promoting Safe and 11 Stable Families Program’’. 12 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 13 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 14 take effect as if included in the Bipartisan Budget Act 15 of 2018 on the date of the enactment of such Act. 16 SEC. 8. TECHNICAL CORRECTION. 17 Section 50701 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 18 (42 U.S.C. 1305 note; Public Law 115–123) is amended 19 by striking ‘‘Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018’’ and insert- 20 ing ‘‘Family First Prevention Services Act’’. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4980.IH H4980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS