Right to Representation Act

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

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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.
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