H.R. 4472 would amend title IV of the Social Security Act to require states, no later than October 1, 2026, to develop an automated system that would facilitate the placement of children in foster care, guardianship, or adoptive homes across state lines. The legislation also would authorize the appropriation of $200 million in 2017 for a program called Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Of that amount, $5 million would be reserved for HHS to make grants to states and tribal entities to develop the processing system. CBO estimates that implementing this legislation would cost $200 million over the 2017-2021 period, assuming appropriation of the authorized amount.
Because enacting the bill could affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply; however, the increased spending would not be significant, CBO estimates. Enacting H.R. 4472 would not affect revenues. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4472 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
H.R. 4472 would impose intergovernmental mandates, as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), on state governments because it would increase the stringency of conditions in the foster care program. CBO estimates, however, that the cost of the mandates would not exceed the threshold established in UMRA for intergovernmental mandates ($77 million in 2016, adjusted annually for inflation). The bill contains no private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA.
