Suspend the Timeline not Parental Rights in a Public Health Crisis Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7976 To modify certain rules and procedures under the Federal foster care and adoption assistance program during a public health crisis. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 7, 2020 Ms. MOORE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To modify certain rules and procedures under the Federal foster care and adoption assistance program during a public health crisis. 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 ‘‘Suspend the Timeline 4 not Parental Rights in a Public Health Crisis Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7976.IH H7976 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7976 IH SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN RULES AND PROCE- 1 DURES UNDER THE FEDERAL FOSTER CARE 2 AND ADOPTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM DUR- 3 ING A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS. 4 (a) TIMELINE AND COMPELLING REASON.—Section 5 475(5)(E) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 6 675(5)(E)) is amended— 7 (1) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘, and any effect 8 of a public health crisis shall be considered such a 9 compelling reason’’ before the semicolon; 10 (2) by adding ‘‘except that’’ at the end of 11 clause (iii); 12 (3) by redesignating clauses (i) through (iii) (as 13 amended by the preceding paragraphs of this sub- 14 section) as subclauses (I) through (III), respectively; 15 (4) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(E)’’; and 16 (5) by adding after and below the end the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a child who has been 19 in foster care under the responsibility of the 20 State for 15 of the most recent 22 months, the 21 requirement in clause (i) that the State file a 22 petition to terminate the parental rights of the 23 child’s parents (or, if such a petition has been 24 filed by another party, seek to be joined as a 25 party to the petition), shall be suspended for 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7976.IH H7976 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7976 IH the duration of any public health crisis period 1 applicable with respect to the State;’’. 2 (b) REASONABLE EFFORTS.—Section 471(a)(15) of 3 such Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(15)) is amended— 4 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara- 5 graph (E); and 6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(G) the State agency shall ensure that— 8 ‘‘(i) in response to a public health cri- 9 sis, service or treatment providers develop 10 and implement alternative methods of 11 treatment, visitation, and providing serv- 12 ices, that are tailored to the individual 13 needs of a child or the family of a child to 14 meet the reasonable efforts requirements of 15 this paragraph; 16 ‘‘(ii) parents who participate in any 17 such alternative methods of treatment or 18 receipt of services shall qualify for comple- 19 tion of the services; and 20 ‘‘(iii) permanency plans for reunifica- 21 tion shall not be delayed by service or 22 treatment gaps that result from a public 23 health crisis; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7976.IH H7976 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7976 IH ‘‘(H) the removal a child during a public 1 health crisis meets the requirements of this 2 paragraph if the removal is based on a judicial 3 determination that removal is necessary to pro- 4 tect the child from imminent risk of serious 5 harm and is not necessary due to any effect of 6 a public health crisis;’’. 7 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 475 of such Act (42 8 U.S.C. 675) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(14) The term ‘public health crisis period’ 11 means, with respect to a State, a period that begins 12 when a state of emergency that applies to the State 13 is declared under a Federal or State law in response 14 to a threat to public health, and ends 1 year after 15 the last such state of emergency applicable to the 16 State is terminated. 17 ‘‘(15) The term ‘effect of a public health crisis’ 18 means consequences experienced by an individual 19 due to a threat to public health with respect to 20 which a state of emergency described in paragraph 21 (14) has been declared, including lack of medical, 22 educational, or therapeutic services for children, loss 23 of income, loss of employment, loss of contact be- 24 tween a parent and a child of the parent, housing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7976.IH H7976 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7976 IH instability, loss of housing, lack of access to child 1 care, exposure to or contracting an illness or infec- 2 tious disease, service closure, lack of access or di- 3 minished access to services, quarantine, shelter-in- 4 place order, and having to provide care for another 5 individual who is at risk of contracting, or has con- 6 tracted, an illness or infectious disease.’’. 7 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 9 this section shall take effect on the 1st day of the 10 1st fiscal year beginning on or after the date of the 11 enactment of this Act, and shall apply to payments 12 under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 13 for calendar quarters beginning on or after such 14 date. 15 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION 16 REQUIRED.—If the Secretary of Health and Human 17 Services determines that State legislation (other 18 than legislation appropriating funds) is required in 19 order for a State plan developed pursuant to part E 20 of title IV of the Social Security Act to meet the ad- 21 ditional requirements imposed by the amendments 22 made by this Act, the plan shall not be regarded as 23 failing to meet any of the additional requirements 24 before the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter begin- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7976.IH H7976 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7976 IH ning after the first regular session of the State legis- 1 lature that begins after the date of the enactment of 2 this Act. For purposes of the preceding sentence, if 3 the State has a 2-year legislative session, each year 4 of the session is deemed to be a separate regular 5 session of the State legislature. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:54 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7976.IH H7976 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS