National Adoption and Foster Care Home Study Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4052 To establish a national, research-based, and comprehensive home study assess- ment process for the evaluation of prospective foster parents and adoptive parents and provide funding to States and Indian tribes to adopt such process. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 22, 2021 Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Mr. BACON, Ms. OMAR, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To establish a national, research-based, and comprehensive home study assessment process for the evaluation of prospective foster parents and adoptive parents and pro- vide funding to States and Indian tribes to adopt such process. 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 ‘‘National Adoption and 4 Foster Care Home Study Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4052.IH H4052 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4052 IH SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM FOR THE IMPLEMEN- 1 TATION OF A NATIONAL HOME STUDY PROC- 2 ESS. 3 Title II of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 4 and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 5111 et 5 seq.) is amended— 6 (1) in section 203(b) (42 U.S.C. 5113(b))— 7 (A) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘(in- 8 cluding’’ and inserting ‘‘(including the national 9 database established under section 203A(c) but 10 containing’’; 11 (B) in paragraph (10)(B), by striking 12 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 13 (C) in paragraph (11)(C), by striking the 14 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 15 (D) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(12) establish a demonstration program, not 17 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 18 National Adoption and Foster Care Home Study 19 Act, through which each participating State or In- 20 dian tribe— 21 ‘‘(A) adopts the uniform, research-based 22 home study methodology for the evaluation of 23 prospective foster parents and adoptive parents 24 developed by the Secretary under section 25 203A(a); and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4052.IH H4052 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4052 IH ‘‘(B) provides data gathered through oper- 1 ation of the program to the Secretary, as the 2 Secretary may require for purposes of the na- 3 tional database under section 203A(c).’’; 4 (2) by inserting after section 203 (42 U.S.C. 5 5113) the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 203A. NATIONAL HOME STUDY DEMONSTRATION PRO- 7 GRAMS; NATIONAL DATABASE. 8 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM METHODOLOGY.—Each demonstra- 9 tion program established by a State or Indian tribe in ac- 10 cordance with section 203(b)(12) shall use a uniform, re- 11 search-based home study methodology for the evaluation 12 of prospective foster parents and adoptive parents (devel- 13 oped by the Secretary after consultation with stakeholders 14 and professionals in the field of child welfare) that shall— 15 ‘‘(1) incorporate— 16 ‘‘(A) information gathering tools, includ- 17 ing— 18 ‘‘(i) an initial written questionnaire 19 that is a uniform set of closed-ended ques- 20 tions with a variety of possible answers 21 that provides significant family informa- 22 tion; 23 ‘‘(ii) a secondary in-person question- 24 naire that is administered in a private set- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4052.IH H4052 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4052 IH ting in the home, and, if applicable, with 1 both applicants present together; and 2 ‘‘(iii) guidelines that describe stand- 3 ardized questions that an individual serv- 4 ing as a reference for the applicant uses in 5 writing a reference letter, to be sent di- 6 rectly to such individual and not shared 7 with the applicant, and which is consistent 8 with the questionnaires described in 9 clauses (i) and (ii); 10 ‘‘(B) a written guidance document to assist 11 home study practitioners in performing a psy- 12 chosocial evaluation of the applicant that— 13 ‘‘(i) provides instructions on how to 14 systematically analyze information learned 15 from the information gathering tools de- 16 scribed in subparagraph (A) in order to 17 identify specific strengths and concerns of 18 the applicant; 19 ‘‘(ii) provides sufficient information 20 for the home study practitioner to deter- 21 mine the significance of behaviors and 22 events in the applicant’s life in relation to 23 being a successful foster care or adoption 24 provider; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4052.IH H4052 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4052 IH ‘‘(iii) includes a rating system that 1 will be incorporated into the home study 2 report described in subparagraph (C); and 3 ‘‘(C) a model home study report that may, 4 at the discretion of the Secretary, be cus- 5 tomized by a State or Indian tribe as necessary 6 to comply with State or tribal and local regula- 7 tions and requirements; 8 ‘‘(2) ensure ongoing training of home study cer- 9 tified personnel; and 10 ‘‘(3) designate a home study auditor to ensure 11 quality control and accuracy of information provided 12 to placing agencies. 13 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall make grants to 14 States and Indian tribes to enable and encourage the 15 States and Indian tribes to establish demonstration pro- 16 grams in accordance with section 203(b)(12). 17 ‘‘(c) NATIONAL DATABASE.—The Secretary shall es- 18 tablish a secure national database of home study reports 19 filed by home study practitioners using the home study 20 methodology described in subsection (a). Such database 21 shall be accessible only to State and tribal foster care and 22 adoption agencies, or a designated entity, as determined 23 by the lead agency in the State, to assist with the selection 24 of prospective foster parents and adoptive parents. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4052.IH H4052 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4052 IH ‘‘(d) CONDITION ON PARTICIPATION IN DEMONSTRA- 1 TION PROJECT.—As a condition for participating in the 2 demonstration program under section 203(b)(12), a State 3 or Indian tribe shall agree to recognize as valid all home 4 study reports listed in the database described in subsection 5 (c), including such reports filed by other States or Indian 6 tribes. 7 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall enter into a 8 contract with an independent entity to— 9 ‘‘(1) carry out a periodic evaluation of the home 10 study methodology established under subsection (a) 11 and the demonstration programs established in ac- 12 cordance with section 203(b)(12); and 13 ‘‘(2) submit to the Secretary a report that in- 14 cludes— 15 ‘‘(A) a description of the extent to which 16 such methodology— 17 ‘‘(i) meets the requirements of each of 18 paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection 19 (a); 20 ‘‘(ii) expedites the screening of care- 21 givers to promote more family-based care 22 over institutional care for children; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4052.IH H4052 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4052 IH ‘‘(iii) provides cost savings to State or 1 Indian tribe foster care and adoption sys- 2 tems; 3 ‘‘(iv) reduces the number of children 4 waiting for foster care or adoptive place- 5 ment; and 6 ‘‘(v) reduces the number of prospec- 7 tive families waiting for foster care or 8 adoptive placement; and 9 ‘‘(B) recommendations for expanding the 10 demonstration program and home study meth- 11 odology to all States and Indian tribes.’’; and 12 (3) in section 205(b) (42 U.S.C. 5115(b)), by 13 adding at the end the following: ‘‘The Secretary may 14 allocate such sums as the Secretary determines to be 15 appropriate from the funds appropriated under sub- 16 section (a) for activities under section 203(b)(12) 17 and 203A.’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:42 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4052.IH H4052 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS