H.R. 8997

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8997 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8997

To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act, to require 
States to guarantee legal representation to children and parents 
involved in child protection proceedings, under the program of Federal 
payments for foster care, prevention, and permanency, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 21, 2026

Ms. Scanlon introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act, to require 
States to guarantee legal representation to children and parents 
involved in child protection proceedings, under the program of Federal 
payments for foster care, prevention, and permanency, and for other 
purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Right to Representation Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT THAT STATES GUARANTEE LEGAL REPRESENTATION TO 
CHILDREN AND PARENTS INVOLVED IN CHILD PROTECTION 
PROCEEDINGS, UNDER THE PROGRAM OF FEDERAL PAYMENTS FOR 
FOSTER CARE, PREVENTION, AND PERMANENCY.

(a) State Plan Requirement.--Section 471(a) of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (36)(D);
(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (37) and 
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(38)(A) provides assurances that the State shall have in 
effect policies and administrative and judicial procedures that 
guarantee that, for the duration of any judicial proceeding 
involving an allegation of child abuse or neglect, including a 
dependency, adoption, guardianship, or termination of parental 
rights proceeding--
``(i) an attorney is made available to provide 
independent legal representation to any individual who 
is involved in the proceeding by reason of being a 
parent or guardian; and
``(ii) an attorney provides independent legal 
representation to any individual who is involved in the 
proceeding by reason of being a child and who is 
alleged or found to have been abused or neglected; and
``(B) for purposes of subparagraph (A), `independent legal 
representation' means that an attorney-client relationship 
exists between the client and the attorney, pursuant to the 
State's rules of professional responsibility for lawyers.''.
(b) Effective Date.--
(1) In general.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
shall take effect on October 1, 2026, and shall apply to 
payments under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 
for calendar quarters beginning on or after such date.
(2) Delay permitted if state legislation required.--If the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that State 
legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) is 
required in order for a State plan approved under part E of 
title IV of the Social Security Act to meet the additional 
requirements imposed by the amendments made by this Act, the 
plan shall not be regarded as failing to meet any of the 
additional requirements before the 1st day of the 1st calendar 
quarter beginning after the first regular session of the State 
legislature that begins after the effective date of this 
section. For purposes of the preceding sentence, if the State 
has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session is 
deemed to be a separate regular session of the State 
legislature.

SEC. 3. GAO REPORTS.

Every 2 years after the effective date of section 2, the 
Comptroller General shall prepare and submit to the Committee on Ways 
and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance 
of the Senate a written report that describes how section 471(a)(38) of 
the Social Security Act is being implemented.
<all>