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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Children in foster care are more likely to find a permanent, loving, and stable home after a bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives advanced new legislation. The Recruiting Families Using Data Act (H.R. 579), introduced by Ways and Means committee members Representatives Randy Feenstra (IA-04) and Brendan Boyle (PA-02), will improve the recruitment and retention of foster families. Currently, many states face challenges in connecting the nearly 400,000 children in the nation’s welfare system with foster parents.

On the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) highlighted the need to bring more families into the foster care system:

“Thousands of loving parents open their homes every year to offer care and support for children in need. By doing so, they provide shelter for children who would otherwise be forced to stay in caseworker offices, hospitals, and hotels. However, many of these same parents, for any number of reasons, stop serving as foster families after only one year. In short, there is a dire need for more foster families in our communities.”

Background on Recruiting Families Using Data Act:

• Requires that states, as a condition of receiving funding, fulfill the current diligent recruitment requirement – established under Title IV-B of the Social Security Act – by developing and implementing a “Family Partnership Plan" that describes the process for identifying, recruiting, and retaining foster and adoptive families, including:
  • Using data to establish goals, assess needs, measure progress, and track permanency goals for children.
  • Establishing the use of ongoing family advisory boards to improve the retention of foster and adoptive families.
• Requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to include state-by-state data on foster and adoptive families to identify national trends in its annual child welfare outcomes report.
• The state plan must include the process for collecting and reporting data on foster family capacity and congregate care utilization, as well as the demographics and characteristics of foster families.
• A 2020 review by HHS revealed that many states fell short in submitting all required information and documentation.