Legislative Updates

111th Congress - Child Welfare Bills

The U.S. Congress has begun considering key legislation that could help protect children in 2009 and beyond. Below is a summary of several bills that are of particular interest to us. Please continue to check our website for an updated status of these bills, as well as additional ones as they are introduced -- and watch for our Action Alerts, so you can make your voice heard in Washington!

List Bills by Topic

Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (HR 2)

Sponsor: Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
Status: Signed into law Feb. 4, 2009.

Summary: This bill would enroll 4 million more children and adults to cover more than 11 million individuals and allow $32.8 billion in new spending over five years. Specifically, this bill would:

• Allow states to cover children and families with income up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level ($63,600 for a family of four).
• Give states permission to waive a waiting period of five years to enroll immigrant children who are in the United States legally.
• Reduce barriers to enrollment by eliminating the requirement that people present legal documentation of their citizenship. Instead, it would require them to provide their name and Social Security number and declare their legal residency. States would then be required to verify their eligibility.
• Make it easier for parents to seek preventive care for their children, lowering health-care costs overall by replacing emergency room care with access to critical health services.
• Increase the cigarette tax to 62 cents per pack to help pay for the expansion.

Read the bill.

Homeless Children and Youth Act of 2009 (HR 29)

Sponsor: Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Financial Services.

Summary: Expands HUD’s definition of “homeless” to include homeless children and youths who are already considered homeless by other federal programs.

Read the bill.

Medicaid Newborn Coverage Act of 2009 (HR 180)

Sponsor: Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Summary: Would waive the requirement for proof of citizenship during first year of life for children born in the United States to a Medicaid-eligible mother. (This essentially codifies a rule released by the Department of Health and Human Services in 2007 that declares Medicaid will automatically deem a newborn eligible for one year of coverage if emergency Medicaid covered the mother's labor and delivery.)

Read the bill.

MediKids Health Insurance Act of 2009 (HR 194 / S 958)

Sponsor: Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) and Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV)
Status: Pending in House Committees on Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means and Senate Committee on Finance.

Summary: This bill would create a new federal health insurance program for children. Modeled after Medicare, MediKids would provide comprehensive benefits appropriate to children, simplified cost-sharing, prescription drug coverage and mental health parity. Every child would be automatically enrolled in MediKids at birth and maintain that eligibility through age 23. The cost, adjusted for income, would be applied to the family’s annual tax bill, unless the family opted for other coverage and provided proof of that coverage. Parents would retain the choice to enroll eligible kids in private plans or other government programs, such as Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP); however, if a lapse in the other insurance coverage occurred, MediKids would automatically fill the gap.

Read the bill.

Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless Veterans With Children Reintegration Grant Act of 2009 (HR 293)

Sponsor: Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

Summary: This bill would establish a $10 million grant program to provide reintegration services through programs and facilities that emphasize services for homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children. Grants would be used to provide job training, counseling, placement services (including job readiness and literacy and skills training) and child care services to expedite the reintegration of homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children into the labor force.

Read the bill.

Legal Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act of 2009 (HR 319)

Sponsor: Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Status: Included in SCHIP reauthorization (HR 2) signed into law on Feb. 4, 2009.

Summary: This bill would give states the option of covering legal immigrants under Medicaid and SCHIP. (Currently, states cannot give coverage to non-citizens, regardless of their legal status.)

Read the bill. 

National Adoption Day & National Adoption Month (H Res. 358 & 831 / S Res. 291)

Sponsors: Rep. Virginia Brown-Waite (R-FL) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Status: House resolution passed on October 28, 2009 and Senate resolution passed on November 3, 2009.

Summary: This resolution supports the goals and ideals of National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month by promoting national awareness of adoption and the children in foster care awaiting families and encourages people to seek improved safety, permanency and well-being for all children.

Read the bill.

Year of the Safe Child (H Res 376)

Sponsor: Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Summary: Would designate 2009 as “The Year of the Safe Child” to raise awareness and encourage the prevention of unintentional injuries among the Nation’s children.

Read the bill.

Homeless Youth Housing (HR 475/S 249)

Sponsor: Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
Status: Pending in House Committee on Ways and Means and pending in Senate Committee on Finance.

Summary: Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow formerly homeless students under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to qualify for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit while attending school full-time.

Read the bill.

Universal Prekindergarten Act (HR 555)

Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Education and Labor.

Summary: Creates a grant program to assist states in establishing a universal prekindergarten program to ensure that all children 3, 4 and 5 years old have access to high-quality, full-day, full-calendar-year prekindergarten education. States must match federal funds by at least 20 percent.

Read the bill.

Vision Care for Kids Act of 2009 (HR 577/S 259)

Sponsor: Rep. Gene Green (D-TX) and Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO).
Status: HR 577 passed the House of Representatives on March 31, 2009, and both bills are pending in Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Summary: Establishes a grant program to provide vision care to children who are not covered under a health insurance policy that provides coverage for vision services and are not eligible to receive coverage of vision care under any other federal or state benefit program. States must match federal funds by at least 25 percent.

Read the bill.

White House Conference on Children and Youth in 2010 Act (HR 618 / S 938)

Sponsor: Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Education and Labor and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Summary: Requires the president to call a White House Conference on Children and Youth in 2010 to encourage improvements in each state and local child welfare system and to develop recommendations for actions to implement those policies.

Read the bill.

Providing Resources Early for Kids Act of 2009 (HR 702)

Sponsor: Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Education and Labor.

Summary: This bill would create a grant program to assist states in providing high-quality prekindergarten programs serving children from birth to 3 years old. The programs would aim to increase the hours per day and weeks per year families have access to prekindergarten, increase the number of highly trained early educators in preschool classrooms, improve the student-to-teacher ratios in preschools and provide vital comprehensive services such as health screenings and nutritional assistance.

Read the bill.

Children’s Program of All-inclusive, Coordinated Care (ChiPACC) Act of 2009 (HR 722)

Sponsor: Rep. James P. Moran (D-VA)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Summary: This bill would provide a waiver under Medicaid for seriously ill children to receive hospice services rather than relying on emergency room visits for care. The bill would also provide each enrolled child an individualized treatment plan that includes and manages medical and support services currently available in Medicaid with counseling, respite and other care that have previously only been available as hospice services.

Read the bill.

All Healthy Children Act of 2009 (HR 747)

Sponsor: Rep. Robert C. Scott (D-VA)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Summary: This bill would provide health insurance coverage for children and pregnant women by combining the children and pregnant woman health coverage under Medicaid and SCHIP into a new All Healthy Children program.

Read the bill.

Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009 (HR 911)

Sponsor: Rep. George Miller (D-CA)
Status: Pending in Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Summary: Increases federal oversight of public and private teen residential programs by establishing minimum standards of protection and safety for the residents of such facilities.

Read the bill.

2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act (HR 1105)

On March 11, 2009, the president signed the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill into law. This measure will fund the government through Sept. 30, 2009, at a cost of $410 billion. Labor, health and human services and education funding contains $152.3 billion in discretionary spending. 
 
Funding highlights include:

• $110 million for the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
• $1.7 billion for the Social Services Block Grant
• $36.5 million for adoption incentives
• $2.1 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant
• $7.1 billion for Head Start
• $374 million for preschool grants:
• $115 million for runaway and homeless youth
• $1.7 billion for McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants

Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act (HR 1215)

Sponsor: Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Status: Pending in House Committees on Homeland Security and Judiciary.

Summary: Would implement critically needed reforms to our immigration detention system by:

• Ensuring that all detainees can communicate with their lawyers and obtain needed medical care.
• Expanding legal orientation programs so that detainees understand their rights and the likelihood of winning their cases.
• Protecting children who are arrested on their own and held in Department of Homeland Security custody at border stations, by increasing training for the Border Patrol officers, and facilitating speedy transfers of children to safer, better-equipped facilities.
• Expanding the use of alternatives to detention by allowing vulnerable populations -- including asylum seekers, torture victims, families, pregnant women and the elderly -- to be released using secure, proven methods of supervision.
• Expanding oversight and accountability provisions.

Read the bill.

Rural Early Education Access Act (HR 1755)

Sponsor: Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Education and Labor

Summary: This bill would create a grant program to assist states in establishing, enhancing or expanding high-quality preschool programs for children ages 3 through 5 in rural areas.

Read the bill.

Protecting Incentives for the Adoption of Children with Special Needs Act of 2009 (HR 1840/S 735)

Sponsors: Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Status: Signed into law May 15, 2009

Summary: This bill would ensure that states receive adoption incentive payments for fiscal year 2008 in accordance with the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008.

Read the bill.

School Choice for Foster Kids Act (HR 2072)

Sponsor: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Ways and Means.

Summary: Allows States to use funds from the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program to provide vouchers to cover tuition costs at private schools, and transportation costs to and from public schools, for foster children of all ages. (Currently, education vouchers are designated only for students 16 to 23 years old.)

Read the bill.

Read Rep. Bachmann’s blog about the bill and American Humane.

Prepare All Kids Act of 2009 (HR 2184 / S 839)

Sponsor: Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Education and Labor and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Summary: This bill would create a grant program to assist states in establishing, expanding or enhancing voluntary high-quality full-day prekindergarten programs available to 3- to 5-year olds for at least one year preceding kindergarten. The bill’s target population is children from families at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill also sets aside a minimum of 15 percent of the funds for funding high-quality early childhood development programs for children ages 0 through 3.

Read the bill.

Education Begins at Home Act (HR 2205 / S 244)

Sponsor: Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Education and Labor and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Summary: Establishes the first dedicated federal funding stream solely for quality, voluntary home-visiting programs for parents with young children.

Read the bill.

Essential Oral Health Care Act of 2009 (HR 2220)

Sponsor: Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Summary: Would improve essential oral health care for lower-income individuals under the Maternal and Child Health Program and the Medicaid Program.

Read the bill.

Early Support for Families Act (HR 2667)

Sponsor: Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Ways and Means.

Summary: Would establish the first dedicated federal funding stream solely for quality, voluntary home visiting programs for parents with young children.

Read the bill.

Healthy Schools Act of 2009 (HR 2840/S 1034)

Sponsor: Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Energy & Commerce and Senate Finance

Summary: Would mandate that school-based health centers be reimbursed for the essential services they provide to children and adolescents under SCHIP and Medicaid.

Read the bill.

Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections (HELP) for Separated Children Act (HR 3531)

Sponsor: Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
Status: Pending in House Committees on Judiciary and Ways & Means

Summary: Would provide nationwide protocols to protect the rights of children, families and communities impacted by immigration enforcement and help keep children with their parents or caregivers and out of foster care while their parent’s or caregiver’s case is pending. It will help to ensure that that vulnerable populations apprehended during immigration enforcement activities are identified, treated with dignity and released or placed into alternatives to detention programs. The bill also provides for nationwide due process protections and requires the Department of Homeland Security to avoid apprehending illegal immigrants in the vicinity of 16 different areas that include day care centers, schools, school bus stops, colleges, places of worship, etc.

Read the bill.

Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act of 2009 (HR 2979/S 1309)

Sponsor: Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Status: Pending in House Committees on Agriculture, Education & Labor, Energy & Commerce, Ways & Means and Senate Finance

Summary: Would promote responsible fatherhood by improving collection and distribution of child support, authorizing grants to promote economic opportunities for low-income parents and grants that support healthy family partnerships for domestic violence intervention.

Read the bill.

Children’s Budget Act (HR 3772)

Sponsor: Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL)
Status: Pending in House Committee on the Budget

Summary: Would require the President's budget to include a detailed, separate analysis of all the sources of federal funding for children's programs and how the federal budget impacts children's programs.

Read the bill.

Children’s Mental Health Parity Act (S 77)

Sponsor: Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
Status: Included in SCHIP reauthorization (HR 2) signed into law on Feb. 4, 2009.

Summary: This bill would provide for equal coverage of mental-health care for all children enrolled in SCHIP. This bill would also eliminate a provision in current law that authorizes states to lower the amount of mental-health coverage they provide to children to only 75 percent of the coverage provided in other health-care plans used by states.

Read the bill.

Kids Come First Act of 2009 (S 142)

Sponsor: Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
Status: Pending in Senate Committee on Finance.

Summary: This bill would establish a federal-state partnership to mandate health coverage for every child up to age 21. The federal government would pay for the most expensive part: automatically enrolling in Medicaid all children in low-income families. In return, the states would pay to expand coverage to children in higher-income families. This bill would also give states the option of covering legal immigrants, would create an intergovernmental task force to conduct a campaign to enroll children of small-business employees who are eligible for SCHIP and Medicaid but are not currently enrolled, and would be fully paid for by raising taxes on incomes above $372,950.

Read the bill. 

Early Education Act of 2009 (S 206)

Sponsor: Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Status: Pending in Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Summary: Creates a grant program to help states expand the education system to include at least 1 year of early education prior to the year a child enters kindergarten. States must match federal funds by at least 50 percent.

Read the bill.

Ready to Learn Act (S 240)

Sponsor: Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)
Status: Pending in Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

Summary: This bill would create a grant program to assist states in establishing and administering full-day voluntary prekindergarten programs for 4-year-olds in order to promote school readiness for children. The bill’s target population is children from families at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level with limited English proficiency.

Read the bill.

Community Health Workers Act of 2009 (S 319)

Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Status: Pending in Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Summary: This bill would create a grant program to promote positive health behaviors for women and children through community health workers in target populations, especially ethnic minority women and children in medically underserved communities.

Read the bill.

Resource Family Recruitment and Retention Act of 2009 (S 410)

Sponsor: Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Status: Pending in Senate Committee on Finance.

Summary: Would help create a standard of consistency in best policies and practices for states and agencies on behalf of foster, kinship and adoptive parents. It would also establish a grant program to better allow states develop methods of providing support and increasing the number of well-informed and empowered foster, kinship and adoptive parents in the child welfare system.

Read the bill.

Foster Care Mentoring Act of 2009 (S 986)

Sponsor: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Status: Pending in Senate Committee on Finance.

Summary: Would provide mentoring for children in foster care by creating a grant program to support the establishment or expansion and operation of programs using a network of public and private community entities.

Read the bill.

Medicaid Services Restoration Act (S 1217)

Sponsor: Sen. Debbie A. Stabenow (D-MI)
Status: Pending in Senate Committee on Finance.

Summary: Would help ensure that vital Medicaid services and options are protected for vulnerable populations such as children and youth involved in our nation’s child welfare and foster care systems, individuals with disabilities, and children and adults with mental illness.  The legislation would also provide a transparent funding stream for the evidence-informed and highly effective placement for children and youth with serious medical, psychological, emotional and social needs known as therapeutic foster care (TFC).

Read the bill.

Keeping Parents and Communities Engaged Act (HR 3343 / S 1411)

Sponsor: Rep. Donald Paine (D-NJ) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Status: Pending in House Committee on Education & Labor and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Summary: This bill would create a grant program to expand parent and community involvement in schools, and to provide the integrated supports and comprehensive services children need to learn and stay in school.

Read the bill.

Amendment to Senate Budget Resolution (S Con Res 13)

Sponsor: Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Status: Accepted into budget resolution.

Status: This amendment to the Senate budget resolution would provide a deficit-neutral reserve fund for making improvements to child welfare programs, including efforts to recruit and retain foster families.

American Humane remains committed to working with Congress and with other coalitions to continually urge the federal government to institute policies that recognize the needs of children and ensure that they are protected from abuse and neglect.