42 U.S.C. § 627 | Kinship navigators

(a)

In general

section 1001 of title 20The Secretary of Health and Human Services may make matching grants to State, local, or tribal child welfare agencies, private nonprofit organizations that have experience in working with foster children or children in kinship care arrangements, and institutions of higher education (as defined under ), for the purpose of administering programs to help children who are in, or at risk of entering, foster care reconnect with family members through the implementation of a kinship navigator program to assist kinship caregivers in learning about, finding, and using programs and services to meet the needs of the children they are raising and their own needs, and to promote effective partnerships among public and private agencies to ensure kinship caregiver families are served, which program—

(1)

shall be coordinated with other State or local agencies that promote service coordination or provide information and referral services, including the entities that provide 2–1–1 or 3–1–1 information systems where available, to avoid duplication or fragmentation of services to kinship care families;

(2)

shall be planned and operated in consultation with kinship caregivers and organizations representing them, youth raised by kinship caregivers, relevant government agencies, and relevant community-based or faith-based organizations;

(3)

shall establish information and referral systems that link (via toll-free access) kinship caregivers, kinship support group facilitators, and kinship service providers to—

(A)

each other;

(B)

eligibility and enrollment information for Federal, State, and local benefits;

(C)

relevant training to assist kinship caregivers in caregiving and in obtaining benefits and services;

(D)

relevant legal assistance and help in obtaining legal services; and

(E)

connections to individualized assistance, as needed;

(4)

shall provide outreach to kinship care families, including by establishing, distributing, and updating a kinship care website, or other relevant guides or outreach materials;

(5)

shall promote partnerships between public and private agencies, including schools, community based or faith-based organizations, and relevant government agencies, to increase their knowledge of the needs of kinship care families and other individuals who are willing and able to be foster parents for children in foster care under the responsibility of the State who are themselves parents to promote better services for those families;

(6)

may establish and support a kinship care ombudsman with authority to intervene and help kinship caregivers access services; and

(7)

may support any other activities designed to assist kinship caregivers in obtaining benefits and services to improve their caregiving.

(b)

Applications

An entity desiring to receive a matching grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an application, at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including—

(1)

a description of how the grant will be used to implement the activities described in subsection (a);

(2)

a description of the types of children and families to be served, including how the children and families will be identified and recruited, and an initial projection of the number of children and families to be served;

(3)

section 676(d)(2) of this title section 671(e)(4)(C) of this title section 674(a)(7) of this title a description of how the entity will directly fund, or provide data to the Secretary for, an evaluation which will publish and submit information to the clearinghouse described in and which is designed to meet the requirements of , or a description of how the funds will be used to help the State transition to a program for which the State will seek reimbursement under ;

(4)

if the entity is a private organization—

(A)

documentation of support from the relevant local or State child welfare agency; or

(B)

a description of how the organization plans to coordinate its services and activities with those offered by the relevant local or State child welfare agency;

(5)

an assurance that the entity will cooperate fully with any evaluation provided for by the Secretary under this section; and

(6)

if the entity is a State, local or tribal child welfare agency—

(A)

documentation of support from a relevant community-based organization with experience serving kinship families when applicable; or

(B)

a description of how the organization plans to coordinate its services and activities with those offered by the relevant community-based organizations.

(c)

Limitations

(1)

Grant duration

The Secretary may award a grant under this section for a period of not less than 1 year and not more than 3 years.

(2)

Number of new grantees per year

The Secretary may not award a grant under this section to more than 30 new grantees each fiscal year.

(d)

Federal share

An entity to which a grant is made under this section may use the grant to pay not more than 75 percent of the cost of the activities to be carried out by the entity pursuant to this section.

(e)

Form of grantee contribution

A grantee under this section may provide not more than 50 percent of the amount which the grantee is required to expend to carry out the activities for which a grant is awarded under this section in kind, fairly evaluated, including plant, equipment, or services.

(f)

Use of grant

A grantee under this section shall use the grant in accordance with the approved application for the grant.

(g)

Reservation of funds for technical assistance

section 629g(b)(6) of this titleThe Secretary may reserve 2 percent of the funds made available under for each fiscal year to provide technical assistance to recipients of grants under this section.

Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531 Pub. L. 110–351, title I, § 102(a)Oct. 7, 2008122 Stat. 3953 Pub. L. 113–183, title II, § 221(a)Sept. 29, 2014128 Stat. 1942 Pub. L. 118–258, title I, § 110(b)(1)Jan. 4, 2025138 Stat. 2960(, title IV, § 427, as added , , ; amended –(d), , , 1943; , , .)

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

act Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531, title IV, § 427June 17, 1980Pub. L. 96–272, title I, § 103(b)94 Stat. 519Dec. 19, 1989Pub. L. 101–239, title X, § 10401(a)103 Stat. 2487 Pub. L. 103–432, title II, § 202(c)Oct. 31, 1994108 Stat. 4454Apr. 1, 1996A prior section 627, , as added , , ; amended , , , related to foster care protection required for additional payments, prior to repeal by , (e), , , effective with respect to fiscal years beginning on or after .

Amendments

Pub. L. 118–258, § 110(b)(1)(A)2025—, substituted “Kinship navigators” for “Family connection grants” in section catchline.

Pub. L. 118–258, § 110(b)(1)(B)(ii)Subsec. (a). , (iv)–(viii), struck out dash after “implementation of” and par. (1) designation before “a kinship navigator program”; redesignated subpars. (A) to (G) of former par. (1) as pars. (1) to (7), respectively; redesignated cls. (i) to (v) of former par. (1)(C) as subpars. (A) to (E), respectively, of par. (3); realigned margins; substituted “caregiving.” for “caregiving;” at end; and struck out former pars. (2) to (4) which related to implementation of intensive family-finding efforts, family group decision-making meetings, and residential family treatment programs, respectively.

Pub. L. 118–258, § 110(b)(1)(B)(i), substituted “administering programs to help” for “helping” in introductory provisions.

Pub. L. 118–258, § 110(b)(1)(B)(iii)Subsec. (a)(1)(C)(v). , added cl. (v), which was subsequently redesignated subpar. (E) of par. (3).

Pub. L. 118–258, § 110(b)(1)(C)(i)Subsec. (b)(1). , struck out “1 or more of” after “used to implement”.

Pub. L. 118–258, § 110(b)(1)(C)(ii)Subsec. (b)(3) to (5). , added par. (3) and redesignated former pars. (3) and (4) as (4) and (5), respectively.

Pub. L. 118–258, § 110(b)(1)(C)(iii)Subsec. (b)(6). –(v), added par. (6).

Pub. L. 118–258, § 110(b)(1)(D)Subsec. (d). , added subsec. (d) and struck out former subsec. (d) which related to federal contribution of a grant payment.

Pub. L. 118–258, § 110(b)(1)(E)section 629g(b)(6) of this titleSubsec. (g). , substituted “Reservation of funds for technical assistance” for “Reservations of funds” in heading, struck out par. (2) designation and heading “Technical assistance” before “The Secretary may reserve”, substituted “” for “subsection (h)”, and struck out par. (1). Prior to amendment, text of par. (1) read as follows: “The Secretary shall reserve 3 percent of the funds made available under subsection (h) for each fiscal year for the conduct of a rigorous evaluation of the activities funded with grants under this section.”

Pub. L. 118–258, § 110(b)(1)(F)Subsec. (h). , struck out subsec. (h). Text read as follows: “Out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, there are appropriated to the Secretary for purposes of making grants under this section $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2014.”

Pub. L. 113–183, § 221(b)section 1001 of title 202014—Subsec. (a). , struck out “and” before “private” and inserted “and institutions of higher education (as defined under ),” after “arrangements,” in introductory provisions.

Pub. L. 113–183, § 221(c)Subsec. (a)(1)(E). , inserted “and other individuals who are willing and able to be foster parents for children in foster care under the responsibility of the State who are themselves parents” after “kinship care families”.

Pub. L. 113–183, § 221(d)Subsec. (g)(1) to (3). , redesignated pars. (2) and (3) as (1) and (2), respectively, and struck out former par. (1). Prior to amendment, text of par. (1) read as follows: “The Secretary shall reserve $5,000,000 of the funds made available under subsection (h) for each fiscal year for grants to implement kinship navigator programs described in subsection (a)(1).”

Pub. L. 113–183, § 221(a)Subsec. (h). , substituted “2014” for “2013”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2025 Amendment

Pub. L. 118–258Oct. 1, 2025section 117 of Pub. L. 118–258 section 622 of this titleAmendment by effective , and applicable to payments under this part for calendar quarters beginning on or after such date, with delay permitted if either State legislation or tribal action is required to meet additional requirements, see , set out as a note under .

Effective Date of 2014 Amendment

Pub. L. 113–183, title II, § 221(e)Sept. 29, 2014128 Stat. 1943

October 1, 2013“The amendments made by this section [amending this section] shall take effect as if enacted on .”

, , , provided that:

Effective Date

Oct. 7, 2008section 601 of Pub. L. 110–351 section 671 of this titleSection effective , and applicable to payments under this part and part E of this subchapter for quarters beginning on or after such date, with delay permitted if State legislation is required to meet additional requirements, see , set out as an Effective Date of 2008 Amendment note under .