Child Welfare Oversight and Accountability Act of 2017

Child Welfare Oversight and Accountability Act of 2017

This bill address foster care services in state child welfare programs, including the use of private, for-profit foster care services.

Specifically, the bill:

• supports states placing children with family members, including by providing financial support to states for all children placed with family members, not just children removed from poor families;
• expands oversight of state child welfare systems, including by requiring states to annually review child fatalities from maltreatment;
• establishes workload and training standards for child welfare workers;
• requires states to assess and report to the Department of Health and Human Services on the performance of foster care providers; and
• gives an individual who is or was a child in foster care the right to seek relief in civil court if a state fails to meet certain case plan and case review requirements.