Create Accountable Respectful Environments (CARE) for Children Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3852 To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to address or assist in resolving the shortage of appropriate foster homes for children, to develop resources to keep sibling groups together, and to provide for a system of checks and balances to ensure a child’s ongoing safety and well-being, by providing for the placement of a foster child in cottage family homes and making a child so placed eligible for foster care maintenance payments. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 6, 2023 Mr. DUNN of Florida (for himself, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. SOTO, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mr. BEAN of Florida, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. WALTZ, Mrs. CAMMACK, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. C. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida, and Mr. MOSKOWITZ) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to address or assist in resolving the shortage of appro- priate foster homes for children, to develop resources to keep sibling groups together, and to provide for a system of checks and balances to ensure a child’s ongoing safety and well-being, by providing for the placement of a foster child in cottage family homes and making a child so placed eligible for foster care maintenance payments. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3852.IH H3852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3852 IH 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 ‘‘Create Accountable 4 Respectful Environments (CARE) for Children Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PLACEMENT OF FOSTER CHILDREN IN COTTAGE 6 FAMILY HOMES. 7 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Section 8 471(a)(37) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 9 671(a)(37)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or a cottage family 10 home’’ before the comma. 11 (b) ELIGIBILITY OF COTTAGE FAMILY HOMES FOR 12 FOSTER CARE MAINTENANCE PAYMENTS.—Section 13 472(a)(2)(C) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 672(a)(2)(C)) is 14 amended by inserting ‘‘a cottage family home,’’ before 15 ‘‘with a parent’’. 16 (c) DEFINITION OF COTTAGE FAMILY HOME.—Sec- 17 tion 472(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 672(c)) is amended 18 by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(3) COTTAGE FAMILY HOME.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘cottage 21 family home’ means a home— 22 ‘‘(i) that is operated by a public or 23 private child care agency licensed or ap- 24 proved by the State in which the home is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3852.IH H3852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3852 IH situated as an agency that meets the 1 standards established for the licensing or 2 approval; 3 ‘‘(ii) that encourages and supports the 4 child and the family of the child in main- 5 taining a strong connection through reg- 6 ular contact and involvement in a plan of 7 care, except to the extent otherwise di- 8 rected by a court of law; 9 ‘‘(iii) that is able to serve as a re- 10 source to facilitate sibling groups being 11 placed together where daily contact and 12 interaction strengthens family ties; 13 ‘‘(iv) that provides children access to 14 activities or items that are age or develop- 15 mentally-appropriate, including the ability 16 to participate in extracurricular, social, or 17 other home and community activities with 18 the same freedom afforded to their peers 19 who are living at home with their families; 20 ‘‘(v) that has and implements a trau- 21 ma-informed approach in the care of chil- 22 dren; 23 ‘‘(vi) that prohibits the use of seclu- 24 sion or mechanical or chemical restraints 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3852.IH H3852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3852 IH and permits only short-term physical re- 1 straint if approved in the policies of the 2 agency to prevent injury to self or others, 3 and prohibits any prone physical restraint; 4 ‘‘(vii) that provides a system for a 5 child to alert a staff member if the child 6 has a concern, feels unfairly denied rights, 7 or is subject to a threat of mistreatment; 8 ‘‘(viii) that has a continuous quality 9 improvement methodology that regularly 10 solicits information from children con- 11 cerning their perceptions of the quality of 12 care and opinions about the strengths and 13 weaknesses of the program; 14 ‘‘(ix) that is in a single-family style 15 residence with no more than 2 children per 16 bedroom unless it is in the best interest of 17 the children; and 18 ‘‘(x) in which the children are under 19 the care of live-in parents that use the rea- 20 sonable and prudent parent standard and 21 provide 24-hour substitute care of children 22 placed away from their parents or other 23 caretakers. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3852.IH H3852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3852 IH ‘‘(B) PRESERVATION OF STATE FLEXI- 1 BILITY.—The Secretary may not prohibit, limit, 2 or penalize, by regulation or order, or bring an 3 action in any court to challenge, any action or 4 determination of a State or political subdivision 5 of a State to— 6 ‘‘(i) treat a cottage family home as a 7 foster family home for purposes of this 8 part; or 9 ‘‘(ii) treat an entity as a cottage fam- 10 ily care home for purposes of this part, as 11 the State deems necessary to serve the best 12 interests of children or families.’’. 13 (d) NO TIME LIMIT ON FOSTER CARE MAINTE- 14 NANCE PAYMENTS FOR CHILDREN PLACED IN A COTTAGE 15 FAMILY HOME.—Section 472(k)(2) of such Act (42 16 U.S.C. 672(k)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the 17 following: 18 ‘‘(D) A cottage family home.’’. 19 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 21 this section shall take effect on the date of the en- 22 actment of this Act, and shall apply to payments 23 under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3852.IH H3852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3852 IH for calendar quarters beginning on or after such 1 date. 2 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION 3 REQUIRED.—If the Secretary of Health and Human 4 Services determines that State legislation (other 5 than legislation appropriating funds) is required in 6 order for a State plan under part E of title IV of 7 the Social Security Act to meet the additional re- 8 quirements imposed by the amendments made by 9 this section, the plan shall not be regarded as failing 10 to meet any of the additional requirements before 11 the date that is 6 months after the date of the en- 12 actment of this Act. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Jul 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3852.IH H3852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS