text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Accountability in Foster Care Act''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      The Congress finds the following:
              (1) Key child welfare laws, such as the Adoption and Safe 
          Families Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-89) and the John H. Chafee 
          Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-169), 
          emphasize the importance of monitoring States performances in 
          providing for the safety, permanency, stability, and well-being 
          of children in and emancipated from the foster care system via 
          measurable outcome data.
              (2) Child welfare experts and government agents have 
          identified serious problems with current efforts to measure 
          program functioning related to children in foster care and 
          emancipated youth, including--
                      (A) Performance measures that prohibit examining 
                  children or success over time, overestimate the 
                  proportion of children reunified with families, and 
                  fail to consider the nature of the children (such as 
                  the severity of their problems, their age, and their 
                  urbanicity) served that could affect determinations of 
                  a State's success;
                      (B) The failure of the Department of Health and 
                  Human Services to implement the National Youth in 
                  Transition Database to monitor States' performance 
                  related to youth aging out of the foster care system, 
                  as mandated by the Foster Care Independence Act of 
                  1999; and
                      (C) Findings by the Government Accountability 
                  Office that effective Federal oversight of the child 
                  welfare system requires reliable information on States' 
                  implementation efforts and that the ability of the 
                  Administration of Children and Families to monitor 
                  State performance continues to be hindered by an 
                  absence of standard, comprehensive information within 
                  and across State plans on each State's goals, services, 
                  and youth outcomes as measured against baselines of 
                  past achievement.
  
  SEC. 3. ADVISORY PANEL ON THE ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE ANALYSIS AND 
                REPORTING SYSTEM.
  
      (a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
  enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall establish an Advisory 
  Panel (in this Act referred to as the ``Advisory Panel'') on the 
  Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (in this Act 
  referred to as ``AFCARS'') to revise and monitor the data collection, 
  analysis, and reporting system designed to be used to assess and 
  improve State performance in operating child protection and child 
  welfare programs pursuant to parts B and E of title IV of the Social 
  Security Act.
      (b) Functions.--The Advisory Panel established under subsection (a) 
  shall--
              (1) no later than 6 months after its appointment, make 
          written recommendations for changes in law or data collection 
          procedures necessary to revise AFCARS to enable the revised 
          AFCARS to--
                      (A) longitudinally track child-specific outcomes 
                  (including maltreatment in foster care, number of 
                  foster care placements, maltreatment in foster care, 
                  and time to reunification, adoption, or legal 
                  guardianship) for children in or who have exited the 
                  foster care system through emancipation, adoption, or 
                  legal guardianship, developing appropriate timeframes 
                  for following children after exiting the system;
                      (B) collect and analyze entry and exit cohort data;
                      (C) be integrated with the National Youth in 
                  Transition Database to promote efficiency in data 
                  collection and to allow States to examine the 
                  relationships between the experiences of youths while 
                  in care and later transition outcomes; and
                      (D) include outcome measures of child well-being 
                  (including education, health, mental health, and 
                  connection to adults);
              (2) monitor the implementation of these AFCARS improvements 
          and propose improvements to other State performance measures 
          related to provision of services to children and families, by--
                      (A) convening not less frequently than annually to 
                  evaluate the quality of the revised AFCARS and make 
                  recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human 
                  Services for continuing improvement in the quality of 
                  the system of data collection, analysis, and reporting;
                      (B) developing a uniform reporting format for the 
                  Child and Family Services Plan and the Annual Progress 
                  and Services Report in developing services for children 
                  and families; and
                      (C) proposing performance standards that allow for 
                  differences among States and characteristics among 
                  populations served (such as differences in the severity 
                  of problems faced by the population, age of the 
                  population, or urbanicity of the population) in 
                  understanding States performance; and
              (3) examining the feasibility of linking AFCARS and the 
          National Child Abuse and Neglect Data Systems (NCANDS) to 
          understand longitudinal outcomes of children who may be in both 
          systems.
      (c) Membership.--
              (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary of 
          Health and Human Services shall determine the membership and 
          organization of the Advisory Panel.
              (2) Qualifications.--The membership of the Advisory Panel 
          shall include--
                      (A) representatives of State and local governmental 
                  agencies with responsibility for foster care and 
                  adoption services, which may include caseworkers 
                  responsible for input data used for AFCARS or other 
                  Federal child welfare data reporting systems;
                      (B) representatives of research organizations and 
                  universities who focus on child welfare issues;
                      (C) representatives of private, nonprofit 
                  organizations with an interest in child protection and 
                  child welfare, including those with demonstrated 
                  expertise in developing effective child welfare 
                  assessment tools;
                      (D) representatives of Federal agencies responsible 
                  for the collection of child welfare data and 
                  statistics;
                      (E) representatives of families of former foster 
                  children, including adoptive parents or guardians; and
                      (F) representatives of juvenile, family, or 
                  dependency courts.
      (d) Use of Alternative Longitudinal Measures by States.--Until 
  final regulations providing for implementation of the recommendations 
  made pursuant to this section are promulgated, the Secretary shall 
  assess the extent to which a State is in compliance with a corrective 
  action plan pursuant to section 1123A of the Social Security Act 
  through use of such alternative longitudinal measures as the State may 
  select.
      (e) Permanency.--Section 14(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee 
  Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Advisory Board.
  
  SEC. 4. REGULATIONS TO REVISE THE ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE ANALYSIS AND 
                REPORTING SYSTEM.
  
      (a) Notice of Proposed Regulations.--Not later than 12 months after 
  the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 
  Human Services shall cause to be published in the Federal Register a 
  notice of proposed regulations to revise AFCARS which details the plans 
  and timetable for implementing the regulations described in subsection 
  (b).
      (b) Content of Proposed Regulations.--The proposed regulations 
  shall be based on the recommendations provided by the Advisory Panel, 
  and shall--
              (1) permit longitudinal analysis of child-specific 
          outcomes, including analysis of entry and exit cohort data for 
          children in and emancipated from foster care;
              (2) permit AFCARS to be integrated with the planned 
          National Youth in Transition Database; and
              (3) contain such other rules as may be necessary to ensure 
          that the revised AFCARS can perform the functions described in 
          section 3(b).
      (c) Final Regulations.--Not later than 6 months after the notice 
  required by subsection (a) is published, the Secretary of Health and 
  Human Services shall publish final regulations to revise AFCARS in the 
  manner described in this section.
target: Accountability in Foster Care Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish an Advisory Panel on the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) to revise and monitor the data collection, analysis, and reporting system designed to be used to assess and improve state performance in operating child protection and child welfare programs (pursuant to parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act).
  
  Directs the Secretary to publish notice of proposed regulations, based on Advisory Panel recommendations, and final regulations to revise AFCARS. Requires such regulations to: (1) permit longitudinal analysis of child-specific outcomes, including analysis of entry and exit cohort data for children in and emancipated from foster care; (2) permit AFCARS to be integrated with the planned National Youth in Transition Database; and (3) contain any other rules necessary to ensure that the revised AFCARS can perform specified functions.
feat_title: To strengthen the accountability of the child welfare system in its mandate to ensure the safety, permanence, and well-being of children who are victims of abuse and neglect.