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S 380 109th Congress Senate

Keeping Families Together Act

Official title: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a State family support grant program to end the practice of parents giving legal custody of their se… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a State family support grant program to end the practice of parents giving legal custody of their seriously emotionally disturbed children to State agencies for the purpose of obtaining mental health services for those children.

Introduced: September 19, 2005 Introduced by: Collins, Susan M. Republican · Maine See on congress.gov
Families Academic performanceCase managementChild healthChild welfare
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Community health servicesContinuing educationCrime and Law EnforcementCriminal statisticsCustody of childrenData banksDropoutsEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEducational accountabilityEducational statisticsElementary and secondary educationElementary educationFamily courtsFamily services
This bill died when the 109th Congress ended
It never became law before the 109th Congress (2005–2006) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 15, 2005
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Feb 15, 2005
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1420-1423)
Feb 15, 2005
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action February 15, 2005

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Keeping Families Together Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, to award competitive matching grants to States to establish systems of care to treat and provide services to all children who are in the custody of the State or at-risk of entering into the custody of the State for the purpose of receiving mental health services.

Requires State to use grant funds for certain activities, including to: (1) expand public health insurance programs to cover community-based mental health and family support services for such children and their families that will be sustainable after the grant has expired; (2) provide outreach and public education concerning available programs and activities; and (3) provide training and professional development for personnel who work with such children.

Requires the Administrator to establish a task force to examine: (1) problems of mental health in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems; (2) issues with respect to access by children and youth to mental health services; and (3) the role of Federal agencies in promoting access by children and youth to mental health services.

Amends Title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to permit the use of the Medicaid home and community-based services waiver to provide mental health services to children as an alternative to care in inpatient psychiatric hospitals.

 Related & companion bills 2
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 380: Keeping Families Together Act. 109th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/109-S-380/
MLA
"S. 380: Keeping Families Together Act." 109th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/109-S-380/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 380, 109th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/109-S-380/.
Markdown link
[S. 380: Keeping Families Together Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/109-S-380/)
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