,,ii  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #bibf  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #bb1 #bjah
 ,mr4 ,menendez 7for himself and ,mr4   
,scott7 introduced the following bill2  
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,finance  ,a ,,bill  ,to 
amend part ,b of title ,,iv of the      
,social ,security ,act to require the   
,secretary of ,health and ,human        
,services to conduct a family recovery  
and reunification program replication   
project to help reunify families and    
protect children with parents or        
guardians with a substance use disorder 
who have temporarily lost custody of    
their children4  #a4 ,short title  ,this
 ,act may be cited as the ,improving    
,recovery and ,reunifying ,families     
,act4  #b4 ,family ,recovery and        
,reunification ,program ,replication    
,project ,section #dce of the ,social   
,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #fbi;e7 is
 amended by adding at the end the       
following3  7e7 ,family ,recovery and   

,reunification ,program ,replication    
,project  7#a7 ,purpose ,the purpose of 
this subsection is to provide resources 
to the ,secretary to support the conduct
 and evaluation of a family recovery and
 reunification program replication      
project 7referred to in this subsection 
as the project7 and to determine the    
extent to which such programs may be    
appropriate for use at different        
intervention points 7such as when a     
child is at risk of entering foster care
 or when a child is living with a       
guardian while a parent is in           
treatment74 ,the family recovery and    
reunification program conducted under   
the project shall use a recovery coach  
model that is designed to help reunify  
families and protect children by working
 with parents or guardians with a       
substance use disorder who have         
temporarily lost custody of their       
children4  7#b7 ,program components ,the
 family recovery and reunification      
program conducted under the project     

shall adhere closely to the elements and
 protocol determined to be most         
effective in other recovery coaching    
programs that have been rigorously      
evaluated and shown to increase family  
reunification and protect children and1 
consistent with such elements and       
protocol1 shall provide such items and  
services as--  7,a7 assessments to      
evaluate the needs of the parent or     
guardian2  7,b7 assistance in receiving 
the appropriate benefits to aid the     
parent or guardian in recovery2  7,c7   
services to assist the parent or        
guardian in prioritizing issues         
identified in assessments1 establishing 
goals for resolving such issues that are
 consistent with the goals of the       
treatment provider1 child welfare       
agency1 courts1 and other agencies      
involved with the parent or guardian or 
their children1 and making a coordinated
 plan for achieving such goals2  7,d7   
home visiting services coordinated with 
the child welfare agency and treatment  

provider involved with the parent or    
guardian or their children2  7,e7 case  
management services to remove barriers  
for the parent or guardian to           
participate and continue in treatment1  
as well as to re-engage a parent or     
guardian who is not participating or    
progressing in treatment2  7,f7 access  
to services needed to monitor the       
parent's or guardian's compliance with  
program requirements2  7,g7 frequent    
reporting between the treatment         
provider1 child welfare agency1 courts1 
and other agencies involved with the    
parent or guardian or their children to 
ensure appropriate information on the   
parent's or guardian's status is        
available to inform decision-making2 and
  7,h7 assessments and recommendations  
provided by a recovery coach to the     
child welfare caseworker responsible for
 documenting the parent's or guardian's 
progress in treatment and recovery as   
well as the status of other areas       
identified in the treatment plan for the

 parent or guardian1 including a        
recommendation regarding the expected   
safety of the child if the child is     
returned to the custody of the parent or
 guardian that can be used by the       
caseworker and a court to make          
permanency decisions regarding the      
child4  7#c7 ,responsibilities of the   
secretary  7,a7 ,in general ,the        
,secretary shall1 through a grant or    
contract with #a or more entities1      
conduct an evaluation of the family     
recovery and reunification program under
 the project4  7,b7 ,requirements ,in   
identifying #a or more entities to      
conduct the evaluation of the family    
recovery and reunification program1 the 
,secretary shall--  7i7 determine that  
the area or areas in which the program  
will be conducted have sufficient       
substance use disorder treatment        
providers and other resources 7other    
than those provided with funds made     
available to carry out the project7 to  
successfully conduct the program2  7ii7 

determine that the area or areas in     
which the program will be conducted have
 enough potential program participants1 
and will serve a sufficient number of   
parents or guardians and their children1
 so as to allow for the formation of a  
control group1 evaluation results to be 
adequately powered1 and preliminary     
results of the evaluation to be         
available within #d years of the        
program's implementation2  7iii7 provide
 the entity or entities with technical  
assistance for the program design1      
including by working with #a or more    
entities that are or have been involved 
in recovery coaching programs that have 
been rigorously evaluated and shown to  
increase family reunification and       
protect children so as to make sure the 
program conducted under the project     
adheres closely to the elements and     
protocol determined to be most effective
 in such other recovery coaching        
programs2  7iv7 assist the entity or    
entities in securing adequate coaching1 

treatment1 child welfare1 court1 and    
other resources needed to successfully  
conduct the family recovery and         
reunification program under the project2
 and  7v7 ensure the entity or entities 
will be able to monitor the impacts of  
the program in the area or areas in     
which it is conducted for at least #e   
years after parents or guardians and    
their children are randomly assigned to 
participate in the program or to be part
 of the program's control group4  7#d7  
,evaluation requirements  7,a7 ,in      
general ,the ,secretary1 in consultation
 with the entity or entities conducting 
the family recovery and reunification   
program under the project1 shall conduct
 an evaluation to determine whether the 
program has been implemented effectively
 and resulted in improvements for       
children and families4 ,the evaluation  
shall have #c components3 a pilot phase1
 an impact study1 and an implementation 
study4  7,b7 ,pilot phase ,the pilot    
phase component of the evaluation shall 

consist of the ,secretary providing     
technical assistance to the entity or   
entities conducting the family recovery 
and reunification program under the     
project to ensure--  7i7 the program's  
implementation adheres closely to the   
elements and protocol determined to be  
most effective in other recovery        
coaching programs that have been        
rigorously evaluated and shown to       
increase family reunification and       
protect children2 and  7ii7 random      
assignment of parents or guardians and  
their children to be participates in the
 program or to be part of the program's 
control group is being carried out4     
7,c7 ,impact study ,the impact study    
component of the evaluation shall       
determine the impacts of the family     
recovery and reunification program      
conducted under the project on the      
parents and guardians and their children
 participating in the program4 ,the     
impact study component shall--  7i7 be  
conducted using an experimental design  

that uses a random assignment research  
methodology2  7ii7 consistent with      
previous studies of other recovery      
coaching programs that have been        
rigorously evaluated and shown to       
increase family reunification and       
protect children1 measure outcomes for  
parents and guardians and their children
 over multiple time periods1 but not for
 any period of less than #e years2 and  
7iii7 include measurements of family    
stability and parent1 guardian1 and     
child safety for program participants   
and the program control group that are  
consistent with measurements of such    
factors for participants and control    
groups from previous studies of other   
recovery coaching programs so as to     
allow results of the impact study to be 
compared with the results of such prior 
studies1 including with respect to      
comparisons between program participants
 and the program control group          
regarding--  7,i7 safe family           
reunification2  7,,ii7 time to          

reunification2  7,,iii7 permanency 7such
 as through measures of reunification1  
adoption1 or placement with guardians72 
7,,iv7 safety 7such as through measures 
of subsequent maltreatment72  7,v7      
parental or guardian treatment          
persistence and engagement2  7,,vi7     
parental or guardian substance use2     
7,,vii7 juvenile delinquency2  7,,viii7 
cost2 and  7,,ix7 other measurements    
agreed upon by the ,secretary and the   
entity or entities operating the family 
recovery and reunification program under
 the project4  7,d7 ,implementation     
study ,the implementation study         
component of the evaluation shall be    
conducted concurrently with the conduct 
of the impact study component and shall 
include1 in addition to such other      
information as the ,secretary may       
determine1 descriptions and analyses    
of--  7i7 the adherence of the family   
recovery and reunification program      
conducted under the project to other    
recovery coaching programs that have    

been rigorously evaluated and shown to  
increase family reunification and       
protect children2 and  7ii7 the         
difference in services received or      
proposed to be received by the program  
participants and the program control    
group4  7,e7 ,report ,the ,secretary    
shall publish on an internet website    
maintained by the ,secretary the        
following information3  7i7 ,a report on
 the pilot phase component of the       
evaluation4  7ii7 ,a report on the      
impact study component of the           
evaluation4  7iii7 ,a report on the     
implementation study component of the   
evaluation4  7iv7 ,a report that        
includes--  7,i7 analyses of the extent 
to which the program has resulted in    
increased reunifications1 case closures1
 net savings to the ,state or ,states   
involved1 or other outcomes2  7,,ii7 if1
 based on such analyses1 the ,secretary 
determines the program should be        
replicated1 a replication plan2 and     
7,,iii7 such recommendations for        

legislation and administrative action as
 the ,secretary determines appropriate4 
7#e7 ,authorization of appropriations   
,in addition to any amount otherwise    
made available to carry out this        
subpart1 there are authorized to be     
appropriated to the ,secretary1         
#ae1jjj1jjj for fiscal year #bjai to    
carry out the project1 which shall      
remain available through fiscal year    
#bjbf4  4