I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1247 To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to include an act of unregulated custody transfer in the definition of child abuse and neglect, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 23, 2021 Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself and Mr. BACON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to include an act of unregulated custody transfer in the definition of child abuse and neglect, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Home Act of 4 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1247.IH H1247 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1247 IH (1) Adopted children may be most at risk of ex- 1 periencing an unregulated custody transfer because 2 the challenges associated with adoptions, including 3 the child’s mental health needs and the difficulties 4 many families face in acquiring support services, 5 may lead families to seek out unregulated custody 6 transfers. 7 (2) Many adopted children experience trauma, 8 and the disruption and placement in another home 9 by unregulated custody transfer creates additional 10 trauma and instability for the child. 11 (3) Children who experience an unregulated 12 custody transfer may be placed with families who 13 have not completed required child welfare or crimi- 14 nal background checks or clearances. 15 (4) Social services agencies and courts are often 16 unaware of the placement of children through un- 17 regulated custody transfer and therefore do not con- 18 duct assessments on the child’s safety and well-being 19 in such placements. 20 (5) Such lack of placement oversight places a 21 child at risk for future abuse and increases the like- 22 lihood that the child may experience— 23 (A) physical, sexual, or emotional abuse or 24 neglect; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1247.IH H1247 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1247 IH (B) contact with unsafe adults or youth; 1 and 2 (C) exposure to unsafe or isolated environ- 3 ments. 4 (6) The caregivers with whom a child is placed 5 through unregulated custody transfer often have no 6 legal responsibility with respect to such child, plac- 7 ing the child at risk for additional unregulated cus- 8 tody transfers. 9 (7) Such caregivers also may not have complete 10 records, including birth, medical, or immigration 11 records. 12 (8) A child adopted through intercountry adop- 13 tion may be at risk of not acquiring United States 14 citizenship if an unregulated custody transfer occurs 15 before the adoptive parents complete all necessary 16 steps to finalize the adoption of such child. 17 (9) Engaging in, or offering to engage in, un- 18 regulated custody transfer is a form of child abuse. 19 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF UNREGULATED CUSTODY TRANS- 20 FER. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Child Abuse Pre- 22 vention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 note) is 23 amended— 24 (1) in paragraph (2)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1247.IH H1247 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1247 IH (A) by striking ‘‘or an act or failure’’ and 1 inserting ‘‘an act or failure’’; and 2 (B) by inserting ‘‘, or an unregulated cus- 3 tody transfer’’ after ‘‘serious harm’’; 4 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 5 inserting a semicolon; 6 (3) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at 7 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 8 (4) by adding at the end the following new 9 paragraph: 10 ‘‘(9) the term ‘unregulated custody transfer’ 11 means the abandonment of a child by the child’s 12 parent, legal guardian, or a person or entity acting 13 on behalf, and with the consent, of such parent or 14 guardian— 15 ‘‘(A) by placing a child with a person who 16 is not— 17 ‘‘(i) the child’s parent, step-parent, 18 grandparent, adult sibling, adult uncle or 19 aunt, legal guardian, or other adult rel- 20 ative; 21 ‘‘(ii) a friend of the family who is an 22 adult and with whom the child is familiar; 23 or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1247.IH H1247 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1247 IH ‘‘(iii) a member of the federally recog- 1 nized Indian tribe of which the child is also 2 a member; 3 ‘‘(B) with the intent of severing the rela- 4 tionship between the child and the parent or 5 guardian of such child; and 6 ‘‘(C) without— 7 ‘‘(i) reasonably ensuring the safety of 8 the child and permanency of the placement 9 of the child, including by conducting an of- 10 ficial home study, background check, and 11 supervision; and 12 ‘‘(ii) transferring the legal rights and 13 responsibilities of parenthood or guardian- 14 ship under applicable Federal and State 15 law to a person described in subparagraph 16 (A).’’. 17 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (5) of 18 section 3 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 19 Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended by striking ‘‘450b’’ 20 and inserting ‘‘5304’’. 21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 22 this section shall take effect on the date that is 1 year 23 after the date of the enactment of this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1247.IH H1247 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1247 IH SEC. 4. REPORT AND GUIDANCE ON UNREGULATED CUS- 1 TODY TRANSFERS. 2 Section 204 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 3 Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 4 5114) is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘SEC. 204. REPORT AND GUIDANCE ON UNREGULATED CUS- 6 TODY TRANSFERS. 7 ‘‘(a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 9 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 10 Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 11 State, shall provide to the Committee on Education 12 and Labor of the House of Representatives, the 13 Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 14 Representatives, and the Committee on Health, Edu- 15 cation, Labor and Pensions of the Senate a report 16 on unregulated custody transfers of children, includ- 17 ing of adopted children. 18 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 19 paragraph (1) shall include— 20 ‘‘(A) the causes, methods, and characteris- 21 tics of unregulated custody transfers, including 22 the use of social media and the internet; 23 ‘‘(B) the effects of unregulated custody 24 transfer on children, including the lack of as- 25 sessment of a child’s safety and well-being by 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1247.IH H1247 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1247 IH social services agencies and courts due to such 1 unregulated custody transfer; 2 ‘‘(C) the prevalence of unregulated custody 3 transfers within each State and across all 4 States; and 5 ‘‘(D) recommended policies for preventing, 6 identifying, and responding to unregulated cus- 7 tody transfers, including of adopted children, 8 that include— 9 ‘‘(i) amendments to Federal and State 10 law to address unregulated custody trans- 11 fers; 12 ‘‘(ii) amendments to child protection 13 practices to address unregulated custody 14 transfers; and 15 ‘‘(iii) methods of providing the public 16 information regarding adoption and child 17 protection. 18 ‘‘(b) GUIDANCE TO STATES.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 20 the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec- 21 retary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, 22 shall issue guidance and technical assistance to 23 States related to preventing, identifying, and re- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1247.IH H1247 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1247 IH sponding to unregulated custody transfers, including 1 of adopted children. 2 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The guidance required under 3 paragraph (1) shall include— 4 ‘‘(A) education and training materials re- 5 lated to preventing, identifying, and responding 6 to unregulated custody transfers for employees 7 of State, local, and Tribal agencies that provide 8 child welfare services; 9 ‘‘(B) model State laws with respect to un- 10 regulated custody transfers; and 11 ‘‘(C) guidance on appropriate pre-adoption 12 training and post-adoption services for domestic 13 and international adoptive families to promote 14 child permanency. 15 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 ‘‘(1) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 17 the several States, the District of Columbia, and any 18 commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United 19 States. 20 ‘‘(2) UNREGULATED CUSTODY TRANSFER.— 21 The term ‘unregulated custody transfer’ has the 22 meaning given the term in section 3 of the Child 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1247.IH H1247 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1247 IH Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 1 5101 note).’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1247.IH H1247 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS