Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Strengthening Courts for Kids and Families Act”.
Strengthening Courts for Kids and Families Act
A BILL
To reauthorize the Court Improvement Program for 5 years, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Clarification of support for legal services that support the stability and permanency of family reunification
Section 431(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629a(a)) is amended—
in paragraph (1)—
by striking “and” at the end of subparagraph (E);
by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (F) and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(G) civil legal services designed to stabilize and support families and to enable children to safely remain with, or be reunited with, their families.”
by adding at the end the following:
“(10) Civil legal services—The term civil legal services includes—
“(A) legal representation and related legal services that address barriers to family preservation or reunification or otherwise work to improve the strength and stability of families, such as legal services addressing issues related to domestic violence, housing, identity theft, wage theft or other employment concerns, unfair debt collection, disability rights, and child support; and
“(B) legal representation in proceedings mandated under part E but only to the extent that the legal representation is not supported under part E.”
Sec. 3 Increase in funding for court improvement program
Section 436 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629f) is amended—
in subsection (a), by striking “$345,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2022” and inserting “$375,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027”; and
in subsection (b)(2), by striking “$30,000,000” and inserting “$60,000,000”.
Sec. 4 Assessment of, and improvement in, handling of proceedings relating to foster care and adoption
Section 438 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629h) is amended—
in subsection (a)(1), by adding at the end the following:
“(F) that determine the appropriateness, and best practices for use, of technology to allow conduct of remote hearings, including to ensure maximum participation of individuals involved in proceedings and to enable courts to maintain operations in times of public health or other emergencies;”
in subsection (a)(2)(C), by striking “by training judges, attorneys, and other legal personnel” and inserting “through support for civil legal services and high-quality legal representation for children and their parents, and agencies”;
in subsection (a)(2)—
by striking “and” at the end of subparagraph (B);
by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (C) and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(D) to provide for training of judges, attorneys, and other legal personnel to improve parent, family, and youth engagement in child welfare proceedings, to support optimal use of remote hearing technology, to support implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act to reduce unnecessary use of congregate care for children in foster care and to reduce unnecessary entry of children into foster care, and for other purposes that improve the conduct of child welfare proceedings.”
in subsection (b)—
by striking “(C)” and inserting “(3)”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(4) a description of how the court will work with State and local child welfare agencies to improve the availability of civil legal services, and support for high quality legal representation for children and parents, including whenever possible with support provided under part E.”
in subsection (c)(3), by striking “$1,000,000” and inserting “$2,000,000”.
Sec. 5 Effective date
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on October 1, 2022.