HR 7529 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Fresh Starts for Foster Youth Act
H. R. 7529 To require States to consider legal issues affecting youth as part of case planning and to provide States with the option to use funds from the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood to support access to legal services and counseling.
Summary
This bill amends the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood to include legal counseling and access to legal services as eligible uses of program funds. The bill requires states to certify that their case planning processes take into consideration legal issues affecting youth in foster care, including matters related to housing, education, employment, family connections, court records, legal family relationships, and custody and permanency. States are given the option to use Chafee program funds to support access to legal services and counseling for current and former foster youth. The changes take effect one year after enactment, with flexibility for states that need to enact new state legislation to comply with the requirements. The bill aims to ensure that legal issues affecting foster youth are addressed as part of their transition to adulthood.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
3 cosponsors
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Danny K. Davis’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Danny K. Davis → · Outside spending →
Actions (6)
- May 11, 2026 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 557. · house
- May 11, 2026 Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-640. · house
- Apr 29, 2026 Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 42 - 0. · house
- Apr 29, 2026 Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held · house
- Feb 12, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. · house
- Feb 12, 2026 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 12, 2026
Mr. Davis of Illinois (for himself and Mr. LaHood) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
May 11, 2026
Additional sponsors: Mr. Schweikert and Mr. Lawler
May 11, 2026
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 12, 2026]
A BILL
To require States to consider legal issues affecting youth as part of case planning and to provide States with the option to use funds from the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood to support access to legal services and counseling.
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 “Fresh Starts for Foster Youth Act”.
SEC. 2. LEGAL CONSULTING AND ACCESS UNDER THE JOHN H. CHAFEE FOSTER CARE PROGRAM FOR SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD.
Section 477 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(4), by inserting “legal counseling access,” after “education,”; and
(2) in subsection (b)(3), by adding at the end the following:
“(L) A certification by the chief executive officer of the State that the relevant case planning and other processes employed by the State take into consideration certain legal issues affecting housing, education, entry into employment, and family connections of current and former foster youth and the efforts required to address the issues, including with respect to State court records, legal recognition of family relationships, and matters relating to custody and permanency.”.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) In General.—The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply to payments under section 477 of the Social Security Act pursuant to plans approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services on or after such date.
(b) 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 developed pursuant to section 477 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 date of the enactment of this Act. 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. Union Calendar No. 557
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7529
[Report No. 119-640]
A BILL
To require States to consider legal issues affecting youth as part of case planning and to provide States with the option to use funds from the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood to support access to legal services and counseling.
May 11, 2026
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
Comments