Increasing Opportunity for Former Foster Youth Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 3025 To establish innovation grants under the John H. Chafee Foster Care Pro- gram for Successful Transition to Adulthood to improve adulthood out- comes for youth aging out of foster care, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 11, 2019 Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To establish innovation grants under the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adult- hood to improve adulthood outcomes for youth aging out of foster care, 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 ‘‘Increasing Opportunity 4 for Former Foster Youth Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3025.IS S3025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 3025 IS SEC. 2. CHAFEE INNOVATION GRANTS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 477 of the Social Security 2 Act (42 U.S.C. 677) is amended by adding at the end the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(k) INNOVATION GRANTS TO IMPROVE ADULTHOOD 5 OUTCOMES FOR TRANSITION-AGE FOSTER YOUTH.— 6 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 7 is to support the development of programs that im- 8 prove outcomes for transition-age foster youth, spe- 9 cifically by identifying programs with evidence of ef- 10 fectiveness, determining if they can be replicated 11 with fidelity and demonstrate results, and scaling up 12 successful programs so more youth receive effective 13 services that help them to transition successfully to 14 adulthood. 15 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 16 ‘‘(A) ADULTHOOD OUTCOMES.—The term 17 ‘adulthood outcomes’ means outcomes in em- 18 ployment, education, housing, mental health, 19 physical health, financial stability, permanency, 20 and criminal involvement. 21 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi- 22 ble entity’ means— 23 ‘‘(i) a State child welfare agency; 24 ‘‘(ii) a local child welfare agency; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3025.IS S3025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 3025 IS ‘‘(iii) a tribal child welfare agency of 1 an Indian tribe or tribal organization oper- 2 ating a program under this part (including 3 as part of a tribal consortium), in accord- 4 ance with section 479B; or 5 ‘‘(iv) a non-governmental organization 6 that has experience working with transi- 7 tion-age foster youth. 8 ‘‘(C) MODERATE EVIDENCE OF EFFEC- 9 TIVENESS.—The term ‘moderate evidence of ef- 10 fectiveness’ means that the results of at least 1 11 well-designed and well-implemented quasi-exper- 12 imental study of a program demonstrates a sta- 13 tistically significant, sizable, and sustained ef- 14 fect on improving 1 or more adulthood out- 15 comes for transition-age foster youth and the 16 overall weight of the evidence shows meaningful 17 benefits for program participants. 18 ‘‘(D) PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE OF EFFEC- 19 TIVENESS.—The term ‘preliminary evidence of 20 effectiveness’ means that prior studies of a pro- 21 gram, key components of a program, or similar 22 programs suggest potential for sizable, and sus- 23 tained effects on improving adulthood outcomes 24 for transition-age foster youth but the overall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3025.IS S3025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 3025 IS weight of the evidence does not yet constitute 1 moderate or strong causal evidence of such ef- 2 fects. 3 ‘‘(E) STRONG EVIDENCE OF EFFECTIVE- 4 NESS.—The term ‘strong evidence of effective- 5 ness’ means that the results of at least 1 well- 6 designed and well-implemented experimental 7 study of a program demonstrates a statistically 8 significant, sizable, and sustained effect on im- 9 proving 1 or more adulthood outcomes for tran- 10 sition-age foster youth and the overall weight of 11 the evidence shows meaningful benefits for pro- 12 gram participants. 13 ‘‘(F) TRANSITION-AGE FOSTER YOUTH.— 14 The term ‘transition-age foster youth’ means 15 individuals who have experienced foster care at 16 age 14 or older. 17 ‘‘(3) INNOVATION GRANTS.— 18 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.— 19 The Secretary shall award the following types 20 of innovation grants to eligible entities to im- 21 prove adulthood outcomes for transition-age 22 foster youth through the development, valida- 23 tion, and dissemination of evidence-based effec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3025.IS S3025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 3025 IS tive programs for improving adulthood out- 1 comes for transition-age foster youth: 2 ‘‘(i) DEVELOPMENT GRANTS.—Devel- 3 opment grants to carry out programs with 4 preliminary evidence of effectiveness in im- 5 proving adulthood outcomes for transition- 6 age foster youth. 7 ‘‘(ii) VALIDATION GRANTS.—Valida- 8 tion grants to carry out programs with 9 moderate evidence of effectiveness in im- 10 proving adulthood outcomes for transition- 11 age foster youth. 12 ‘‘(iii) REPLICATION GRANTS.—Rep- 13 lication grants to carry out programs with 14 strong evidence of effectiveness in improv- 15 ing adulthood outcomes for transition-age 16 foster youth. 17 ‘‘(B) PROPORTION OF DIFFERENT TYPES 18 OF GRANTS AWARDED.—To the extent feasible 19 and practicable, the Secretary shall award de- 20 velopment, validation, and replication grants in 21 equal proportion, but shall award validation and 22 replication grants only to the extent the pro- 23 grams proposed to be carried out with such 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3025.IS S3025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 3025 IS grants meet the evidence requirements for the 1 applicable type of grant to be awarded. 2 ‘‘(C) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—The Secretary 3 shall award at least 10, but not more than 15, 4 innovation grants under this subsection. 5 ‘‘(D) TRIBAL CHILD WELFARE AGENCY.— 6 At least 1 innovation grant shall be reserved for 7 awarding to an eligible entity described in para- 8 graph (2)(B)(iii), unless no such eligible entity 9 meets the application requirements. 10 ‘‘(4) DURATION.—Each innovation grant 11 awarded under this subsection shall be awarded for 12 a period of not less than 5 years. 13 ‘‘(5) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of an 14 innovation grant awarded under this subsection shall 15 be proportional to the level of funding necessary to 16 implement and evaluate the proposed program at a 17 scale that can be evaluated rigorously, as described 18 in paragraph (5)(F). 19 ‘‘(6) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—In order 20 to be eligible for an innovation grant under this sub- 21 section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Sec- 22 retary an application containing the following: 23 ‘‘(A) PROGRAM DESIGN.—A description of 24 the proposed program to be carried out using 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3025.IS S3025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 3025 IS amounts awarded under the grant, including 1 the target population of transition-age foster 2 youth to be served by the program, which may 3 be 1 or more of the following populations: 4 ‘‘(i) Transition-age foster youth who 5 are homeless or at high risk of homeless- 6 ness. 7 ‘‘(ii) Transition-age foster youth with 8 emotional or behavioral challenges. 9 ‘‘(iii) Transition-age foster youth who 10 are not engaged in employment, education, 11 or training. 12 ‘‘(iv) Transition-age foster youth who 13 are expectant or parenting. 14 ‘‘(v) Transition-age foster youth expe- 15 riencing financial instability. 16 ‘‘(vi) Transition-age foster youth with 17 a history of juvenile justice or criminal in- 18 volvement or who are at risk of criminal 19 involvement. 20 ‘‘(vii) Transition-age foster youth 21 placed in another planned permanent living 22 arrangement subject to section 475A(a). 23 ‘‘(viii) Transition-age foster youth 24 who exited foster care without permanency. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3025.IS S3025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 3025 IS ‘‘(ix) Transition-age foster youth at 1 risk of experiencing negative outcomes in 2 adulthood not described in a preceding 3 clause of this subparagraph. 4 ‘‘(B) ADULTHOOD OUTCOMES MEAS- 5 URED.—A description of the adulthood out- 6 comes that would be measured under the pro- 7 gram. 8 ‘‘(C) PROGRAM MODEL.—The logic model 9 for the proposed program and whether the pro- 10 gram has strong, moderate, or preliminary evi- 11 dence. 12 ‘‘(D) COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP.—An 13 assurance that— 14 ‘‘(i) if the eligible entity is a State, 15 county, or tribal child welfare agency, the 16 eligible entity will establish 1 or more part- 17 nerships with non-governmental organiza- 18 tions or entities for purposes of collabo- 19 rating on the implementation and evalua- 20 tion of the program funded under the 21 grant; and 22 ‘‘(ii) if the eligible entity is a non-gov- 23 ernmental organization, the eligible entity 24 will establish a partnership with the State, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3025.IS S3025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 3025 IS or a county or tribal child welfare agency 1 on the implementation and evaluation of 2 the program funded under the grant. 3 ‘‘(E) FUNDING ASSURANCE.— 4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 5 (ii), an assurance that not less than 50 6 percent of the amounts expended by the el- 7 igible entity to carry out the program 8 funded under the innovation grant shall be 9 provided from non-Federal sources (which 10 may be in cash or in kind) composed of the 11 following: 12 ‘‘(I) Not less than 20 percent of 13 the amounts expended by the eligible 14 entity shall be derived from State ex- 15 penditures that are not from amounts 16 made available to the State by the 17 Federal Government or amounts ex- 18 pended as a condition of receiving 19 Federal funds (other than under this 20 subsection). 21 ‘‘(II) Not less than 30 percent of 22 amounts expended by the eligible enti- 23 ty shall be derived from expenditures 24 made by a collaborative partner of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3025.IS S3025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 3025 IS eligible entity that are not from 1 amounts made available to the part- 2 ner by the Federal Government or 3 amounts expended as a condition of 4 receiving Federal funds (other than 5 under this subsection). 6 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall be 7 applied to an eligible entity described in 8 paragraph (2)(B)(iii) by substituting ‘30 9 percent’ for ‘50 percent’ and without re- 10 gard to subclause (I). 11 ‘‘(F) PROGRAM EVALUATION.—Assurances 12 that the eligible entity will (in accordance with 13 guidelines proscribed by the Secretary in coordi- 14 nation with the Deputy Assistant Secretary for 15 Planning, Research and Evaluation) use such 16 amounts of the innovation grant awarded to the 17 entity as is adequate to— 18 ‘‘(i) have a rigorous, third-party eval- 19 uation of the program that employs experi- 20 mental designs, using random assignment 21 whenever feasible, and other research 22 methodologies that allow for the strongest 23 possible causal inferences when random as- 24 signment is not feasible; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3025.IS S3025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 3025 IS ‘‘(ii) conduct an analysis of costs and 1 benefits of the program; and 2 ‘‘(iii) adhere to an evaluation plan 3 that is developed with 1 or more collabo- 4 rative partners of the eligible entity. 5 ‘‘(G) OTHER INFORMATION OR ASSUR- 6 ANCES.—Such other information or assurances 7 as the Secretary may require. 8 ‘‘(7) PREFERENCE IN AWARDING GRANTS.—In 9 awarding innovation grants under this subsection, 10 the Secretary shall give preference to grant applica- 11 tions to carry out proposed interventions that have 12 prior evidence of meaningfully improving the great- 13 est number of outcomes. 14 ‘‘(8) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE; DISSEMINATION 15 OF FINDINGS.—The Secretary shall (directly, or by 16 contract or a cooperative agreement with 1 or more 17 organizations with relevant expertise)— 18 ‘‘(A) provide technical assistance to eligible 19 entities awarded innovation grants under this 20 subsection to ensure that— 21 ‘‘(i) implementation of the programs 22 funded under such grants adheres faith- 23 fully to the key elements of the program 24 models; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3025.IS S3025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 3025 IS ‘‘(ii) the third-party evaluations of 1 such programs are designed and imple- 2 mented with scientific rigor, as described 3 in paragraph (6)(F); and 4 ‘‘(B) ensure that findings from such eval- 5 uations are disseminated to support broad im- 6 plementation and scaling up of successful ap- 7 proaches. 8 ‘‘(9) FUNDING.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the 10 amounts made available for a fiscal year under 11 subsection (h) to carry out this section and paid 12 to States under section 474(a)(4), out of any 13 money in the Treasury of the United States not 14 otherwise appropriated, there are appropriated 15 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 16 through 2025 to carry out this subsection. 17 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Not more 18 than 5 percent of the amount appropriated 19 under subparagraph (A) to carry out this sub- 20 section for a fiscal year may be used to provide 21 technical assistance and disseminate findings 22 under paragraph (8).’’. 23 (b) REPORT.—Not later than October 1, 2022, and 24 periodically thereafter, the Secretary of Health and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Dec 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3025.IS S3025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 3025 IS Human Services shall submit to the Committee on Ways 1 and Means of the House of Representatives and the Com- 2 mittee on Finance of the Senate a report on the innovation 3 grants awarded under section 477(k) of the Social Secu- 4 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 677(k)) (as added by subsection (a)) 5 and the findings from the programs funded with such 6 grants as such findings become available, including the im- 7 pact of the interventions on outco [Text truncated for display. 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