To temporarily modify the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6766 To temporarily modify the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Success- ful Transition to Adulthood in response to the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 8, 2020 Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself, Mr. BACON, Ms. BASS, and Mr. MULLIN) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To temporarily modify the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood in re- sponse to the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6766.IH H6766 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6766 IH SECTION 1. TEMPORARY MODIFICATIONS TO THE JOHN H. 1 CHAFEE FOSTER CARE PROGRAM FOR SUC- 2 CESSFUL TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD IN RE- 3 SPONSE TO THE COVID–19 PANDEMIC. 4 (a) INCREASE IN FUNDING.— 5 (1) GENERALLY.—The dollar amount specified 6 in section 477(h)(1) of the Social Security Act for 7 fiscal year 2020 is deemed to be $483,000,000— 8 (A) of which $340,000,000 shall be avail- 9 able through the end of fiscal year 2021 for the 10 purpose described in section 477(a)(4) of such 11 Act; and 12 (B) the remainder of which shall be avail- 13 able as provided in such section 477(h)(1). 14 (2) EDUCATION AND TRAINING VOUCHERS.— 15 The dollar amount specified in section 477(h)(2) of 16 the Social Security Act for fiscal year 2020 is 17 deemed to be $220,000,000— 18 (A) of which $160,000,000 is authorized to 19 be available through the end of fiscal year 2021 20 for the purpose described in section 477(a)(5) 21 of such Act; and 22 (B) the remainder of which is authorized 23 to be available as provided in such section 24 477(h)(2). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6766.IH H6766 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6766 IH (b) INAPPLICABILITY OF STATE MATCHING RE- 1 QUIREMENT TO ADDITIONAL FUNDS.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—In making payments under 3 subsections (a)(4) and (e) of section 474 of the So- 4 cial Security Act from the additional funds, the per- 5 centage specified in subsections (a)(4)(A)(i) and 6 (e)(1) of such section are, respectively, deemed to be 7 100 percent. 8 (2) ADDITIONAL FUNDS DEFINED.—In para- 9 graph (1) of this subsection, the term ‘‘additional 10 funds’’ means the amounts deemed by subsection (a) 11 of this section to be specified in each of paragraphs 12 (1) and (2) of section 477(h) of the Social Security 13 Act, to the extent the amount involved exceeds the 14 amount specified in the respective paragraph without 15 regard to such subsection (a). 16 (c) FULL AND EXPEDITIOUS DISBURSEMENT OF 17 FUNDS.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services 18 shall fully disburse the amounts payable to States under 19 subsections (a)(4) and (e) of section 474 of the Social Se- 20 curity Act, and the amounts payable to Indian tribes, trib- 21 al organizations, and tribal consortia under section 477(j) 22 of such Act, for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 as expedi- 23 tiously as possible. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 May 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6766.IH H6766 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6766 IH (d) MAXIMUM AGE LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR 1 ASSISTANCE.—During fiscal years 2020 and 2021, a child 2 may be eligible for services and assistance under section 3 477 of the Social Security Act until the child attains 26 4 years of age, notwithstanding any contrary certification 5 made under such section. 6 (e) WAIVER OF LIMITATIONS ON PERCENTAGE OF 7 FUNDS USED FOR HOUSING ASSISTANCE; ELIGIBILITY 8 FOR FUNDS.—Notwithstanding sections 477(b)(3)(B) and 9 477(b)(3)(C) of the Social Security Act, a State may use 10 more than 30 percent of the funds paid to the State from 11 its allotment under section 477(c) of such Act for fiscal 12 year 2020 for room or board, and the funds may be used 13 for youth eligible for services under section 477 of such 14 Act who have attained 18 years of age and who experi- 15 enced foster care at 14 years of age or older. 16 (f) ELIMINATION OF CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.— 17 Section 477(i)(3) of the Social Security Act shall have no 18 force or effect during fiscal year 2020 or 2021. 19 SEC. 2. MEDICAID OUTREACH. 20 The agency of each State that is responsible for ad- 21 ministering the State plan approved under part E of title 22 IV of the Social Security Act, in consultation with such 23 other agencies as are appropriate or interested, shall es- 24 tablish and conduct an outreach program designed to in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:22 May 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6766.IH H6766 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6766 IH crease the enrollment of individuals who are eligible for 1 medical assistance under the State plan approved under 2 title XIX of such Act by reason of section 3 1902(a)(10)(A)(i)(IX) of such Act. 4 SEC. 3. TEMPORARY INCREASE IN FUNDING FOR HUD FAM- 5 ILY UNIFICATION PROGRAM. 6 In addition to any amounts otherwise made available 7 for fiscal year 2021 for the family unification program 8 under section 8(x) of the United States Housing Act of 9 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(x)), there is authorized to be ap- 10 propriated for fiscal year 2021, $20,000,000 for assist- 11 ance under such section for use only for youths eligible 12 for such assistance under paragraph (2)(B) of such sec- 13 tion. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:41 May 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6766.IH H6766 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS