AIDEN Child Welfare Survey

Full Title:
AIDEN (Advancing Integrated Data for Equitable National Child Welfare)

Summary#

This bill adds a new section to title 18 of the U.S. Code that requires the Attorney General to create and give a written survey to people committed to the Attorney General's custody. The survey asks whether, as a child, the person experienced any child welfare intervention (for example by caseworkers, schools, or police), what condition led to the intervention (for example physical or sexual abuse, substance exposure, or domestic violence), the type of intervention (in‑home services, foster care, juvenile detention, etc.), how foster care cases were resolved (reunification, guardianship, adoption, aging out), and what support services were received while in foster care. The bill requires the Attorney General to give the survey during intake for new commitments (after 90 days from enactment) and to give surveys to existing prisoners within 180 days. The Attorney General must annually send an anonymized report of the survey results to the Associate Commissioner of the Children's Bureau (HHS). The Children's Bureau must annually send the information to each State chief executive in a format consistent with existing child welfare data systems for use as an evidentiary resource. The bill also conditions future Department of Justice grant eligibility for States on creating and using a substantially similar survey and submitting anonymized reports to the Children's Bureau.

What it means for you#

  • If you are committed to federal custody: you will receive a survey asking about any child welfare interventions you knew about from when you were a minor. New commitments get the survey during intake; people already in custody will receive it within 180 days after the bill takes effect. The survey will include a notice about protections for personally identifiable information.
  • If you are a state official: to be eligible for certain Department of Justice grants, your State must create and give a similar survey to people in state custody and send anonymized results to the Children's Bureau.
  • If you work in child welfare planning: anonymized results will be shared annually with States to be used as an evidentiary resource for case planning and support service design.

Expenses#

No publicly available information on costs or budgetary estimates appears in the bill text.

Proponents' View#

The bill directs collection and annual, anonymized reporting of offender-reported child welfare history so States receive a data resource "for use by States as an evidentiary resource in evaluating child welfare agency case planning and support service frameworks." The text frames the measure as a way to provide integrated data for child welfare planning.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information on opponents' views appears in the bill text or provided metadata.