Sponsors (26)
Introduced August 15, 2025 by W. Greg Steube · Last progress August 15, 2025
The bill expands access to family-style, trauma-informed cottage foster homes and stabilizes funding for longer placements—benefiting foster children and state programs—but it raises federal/state costs and compliance burdens and may increase variability in oversight and standards.
Children in foster care: more can be placed in cottage family homes that qualify for Title IV-E payments, expanding access to family-style, trauma-informed placements.
State governments and children: Title IV-E maintenance payments for cottage family placements are available without the usual time limit, providing steadier, longer-term funding support for extended placements.
Children in cottage family homes: gain protections such as trauma-informed care, prohibition on seclusion/restraints, and access to activities comparable to peers, improving safety and well-being.
Taxpayers and state budgets: expanding Title IV-E eligibility and removing time limits could increase federal and state foster care spending, creating budgetary tradeoffs for taxpayers and other programs.
Children and state governments: allowing states to treat cottage family homes as foster family homes may reduce uniform federal oversight and lead to variability in standards across placements, risking inconsistent protections for kids.
State governments and nonprofit providers: meeting licensing, staffing, and program standards for cottage family homes will create new costs for compliance.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds 'cottage family home' as a Title IV‑E eligible foster care placement, defines standards, lets states treat them as foster family homes, and exempts them from the IV‑E time limit.
Adds a new foster care placement type called a "cottage family home," defines program standards for that placement, and makes cottage family homes eligible for Title IV‑E foster care benefits. States may treat cottage family homes as foster family homes without additional HHS restrictions, and cottage family homes are exempted from the usual Title IV‑E time limitation on foster care maintenance payments. The changes take effect on enactment for calendar quarters beginning on or after that date, with up to a six‑month implementation delay if a State needs to pass authorizing legislation.