The Hidden Foster Care Transparency Act requires states to measure and publicly report data on "hidden foster care arrangements"—situations where child protective services agencies separate children from their parents without a court order or formal foster care involvement. These arrangements include cases where caseworkers suggest parents place children with relatives or others during investigations, as well as informal kinship diversion or "safety planning" that bypass the court system. States must report detailed information to the federal government, including the number of children in such arrangements, types of allegations involved, services provided, how long separations lasted, and outcomes like whether children eventually reunified with parents or entered formal foster care. The Secretary of Health and Human Services will compile this state data into annual reports to Congress and the public, ensuring standardized data collection across states. The bill does not include specific new federal funding, but allows existing foster care program funds to be used for implementing the reporting requirements and providing states with technical assistance.
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