To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to identify obstacles to identifying and responding to reports of children missing from foster care and other vulnerable foster youth, to provide technical assistance relating to the removal of such obstacles, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed SenateMr. Cornyn (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Grassley, and Mrs. …
Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Grassley, and Mrs. …
Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Grassley, and Mrs. …
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill requires the HHS Secretary to conduct an evaluation of state and tribal protocols for identifying and responding to children missing from foster care. HHS must provide technical assistance including best practices for runaway tracking, recovery, and intervention services. The bill also requires HHS to help states improve screening of foster children who return after going missing to identify whether they were or are at risk of becoming sex trafficking victims. A report to Congress is due within 5 years.
Who Benefits and How
- Children and youth in foster care benefit from improved protocols to identify when they go missing and more effective recovery and intervention services.
- Foster youth who are trafficking victims or at-risk benefit from improved screening and identification leading to appropriate support services.
- State and tribal child welfare agencies receive federal technical assistance, best practices, and educational materials to improve their protocols.
- Anti-trafficking organizations gain from increased focus on foster care as a risk population for sex trafficking.
- Office on Trafficking in Persons gains consultation role in developing assistance materials.
Who Bears the Burden and How
- HHS/Administration for Children and Families must conduct evaluation, develop technical assistance materials, and report to Congress within 5 years.
- State child welfare agencies face increased expectations for protocol compliance and may need to modify policies and caseworker training.
- Tribal organizations and consortia face similar compliance expectations for their foster care programs.
Key Provisions
- HHS must evaluate state/tribal protocols for missing foster children under Section 471(a)(35)
- Evaluation must analyze compliance, effectiveness, and identify obstacles
- Must identify best practices for runaway tracking and recovery
- Technical assistance required for states and tribes
- Must improve screening of returned foster youth for sex trafficking risk
- Must help develop assessments and policies for trafficking identification
- Report to Congress within 5 years
- Consultation with Office on Trafficking in Persons required
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Requires HHS to evaluate state protocols for identifying and responding to children missing from foster care, provide technical assistance to improve these protocols, and enhance screening for sex trafficking victims among foster youth who return after going missing.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Strengthen federal oversight and technical assistance to improve state/tribal responses to missing foster children and trafficking victims"
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
- "otip"
- → Office on Trafficking in Persons
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology