CARE for Children Act

Summary#

This bill adds a new placement option called a "cottage family home" to Part E of Title IV of the Social Security Act. It defines what a cottage family home must be and lets States treat those homes as foster family homes. Children placed in cottage family homes are eligible for federal foster care maintenance payments, with no time limit on those payments. The bill lists specific standards for cottage family homes, including licensing, support for family contact, efforts to keep siblings together, access to age-appropriate activities, use of trauma-informed care, limits on seclusion and restraints, a way for children to report concerns, and regular quality-improvement feedback from children. Cottage family homes are described as single-family style residences with limits on bedroom occupancy and live-in parents who use the reasonable and prudent parent standard. The bill also preserves State flexibility to treat cottage family homes as foster family homes. The changes take effect when the act is enacted and apply to calendar quarters starting on or after that date. If State law changes are needed, States may have up to 6 months to comply.

What it means for you#

  • If you are a child placed in foster care, you could be placed in a cottage family home that must meet the listed standards.
  • If you are a caregiver or agency, you can operate or license a cottage family home and may receive federal foster care payments for children placed there.
  • If you are a sibling group, the bill encourages placement that supports keeping siblings together and regular contact.
  • If you are a parent or family of a placed child, the bill requires cottage family homes to support regular family contact and involvement in care plans except when a court directs otherwise.

Expenses#

  • The bill makes children placed in cottage family homes eligible for foster care maintenance payments, but the text does not include any federal cost estimates or budgets.
  • No publicly available information on estimated costs or savings is included in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

  • The bill’s stated purposes are to help address a shortage of appropriate foster homes, to develop resources to keep sibling groups together, and to provide checks and balances to ensure a child’s ongoing safety and well-being. The definitions and standards in the bill are intended to create family-style placements with child safety and family connections in mind.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.