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Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau Councilmember Janeese Lewis George 2
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Councilmember Christina Henderson Councilmember Trayon White, Sr. 6
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Councilmember Vincent C. Gray Councilmember Anita Bonds 10
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Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr. Councilmember Brooke Pinto 14
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Councilmember Zachary Parker 18
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A BILL 21
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 26
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To amend the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Act of 1977 to require the Child and 31
Family Services Agency to provide new luggage to youth in foster care, establish and 32
maintain a suply of new luggage, and develop procedures for the storage and 33
distribution of new luggage, to establish that such new luggage shall be the property of 34
the youth, to require the Child and Family Services Agency to consult with youth in 35
foster care and consider multiple factors when providing new luggage, to authorize the 36
Agency to solicit and accept gifts of new luggage, and to require the Agency to submit an 37
annual report. 38
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 40
act may be cited as the “Luggage for All Youth in Foster Care Amendment Act of 2024 (Lisa’s 41
Law)”. 42
Sec. 2. Title III of the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Act of 1977, effective 43
September 23, 1977 (D.C. Law 2-22; D.C. Official Code § 4-1303.01 et seq.), is amended by 44
adding a new section 313 to read as follows: 45
“Sec. 313. Luggage for youth in Agency custody 46
“(a)(1) For purposes of this section, the term “new luggage” means a rolling suitcase, 47
duffle bag, backpack, or carrying bag that is designed to hold and transport an individual’s 48
personal belongings and has not been previously used. 49
“(2) The term does not include disposable bags, including trash bags. 50
“(b) The Agency shall: 51
“(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (e) of this section, provide new 52
luggage to a youth in foster care who is: 53
“(A) entering foster care; 54
“(B) moving from one foster care placement to another; or 55
“(C) exiting foster care; 56
“(2) Establish and maintain a suply of new luggage to be used to transport the 57
personal belongings of youth in foster care; and 58
“(3) Develop procedures through rulemaking for the storage and distribution of 59
new luggage. 60
“(c) All new luggage provided to a youth under this section shall be considered the 61
personal property of the youth and may not be reclaimed by the Agency or retained by any 62
individual with whom the youth lives while in foster care. 63
“(d) When providing new luggage to a youth in foster care, the Agency shall consult with 64
the youth on their options for new luggage and consider: 65
“(1) The youth’s age; 66
“(2) The youth’s mobility; 67
“(3) The number, size, and weight of personal belongings to be transported; and 68
“(4) The youth’s personal preferences. 69
“(e) The Agency shall not be required to provide additional new luggage to a youth who 70
is in possession of luggage previously provided by the Agency unless the previously provided 71
luggage is unsuitable to hold and transport the youth’s personal belongings due to: 72
“(1) Poor condition of the luggage or; 73
“(2) A change in the conditions listed in subsection (d) of this section. 74
“(f) The Agency may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations of any kind and from 75
any source to carry out the provisions of this section. 76
“(g) Beginning on January 31 of the year after the aplicability date of this section, and 77
no later than January 31 of each year thereafter, the Agency shall submit a report to the Mayor, 78
the Council, and the Ombudsperson for Children, and publicly post the report on the Agency’s 79
website, that includes the following information: 80
“(1) The number of instances in the 2 most recent preceding calendar years in 81
which the Agency provided new luggage to a youth in foster care; 82
“(2)(A) The number of instances in the two most recent preceding calendar years 83
in which the Agency did not provide new luggage to a youth in foster care; 84
“(B) The reason for each instance in the previous calendar year in which 85
the Agency did not to provide youth in foster care with new luggage; 86
“(3)(A) The number of instances in the 2 most recent preceding calendar years in 87
which a disposable bag was used to transport the personal belongings of a youth in foster care 88
because the Agency did not provide new luggage to the youth in foster care; and 89
“(B) The reason for each instance in the previous calendar in which a 90
disposable bag was used to transport the personal belongings of a youth in foster care; 91
“(4) The number of instances in the 2 most recent preceding calendar years in 92
which the Agency did not provide new luggage to a youth who was already in possession of 93
luggage previously provided to the youth by the Agency due to the luggage being unsuitable to 94
hold and transport a youth’s personal belongings pursuant to subsection (e) of this section; and 95
“(5) The Agency’s: 96
“(A) New luggage suply inventory, including a comparison to the 2 most 97
recent preceding calendar years; 98
“(B) Solicitation procedures, including identification of and reasoning for 99
procedural changes from the previous calendar year; and 100
“(C) Inventory management procedures, including identification of and 101
reasoning for procedural changes from the previous calendar year.”. 102
Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement. 103
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal 104
impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 105
aproved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 106
Sec. 4. Effective date. 107
This act shall take effect after aproval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 108
Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto) and a 30-day period of congressional review 109
as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, aproved December 110
24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)). 111