What This Bill Does
This bill creates a new International Children with Disabilities Protection Program within the State Department to help countries around the world develop policies and support services that keep children with disabilities living with their families instead of in institutions. The program will provide grants and training to organizations run by people with disabilities and their families to help them advocate for policies that protect children with disabilities and support their transition to independent living as adults.
##
Who It Affects
* Children with disabilities living in other countries
* Organizations run by people with disabilities and their families
* The U.S. State Department
* Foreign governments and policymakers
* The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
* Civil society organizations working on disability rights globally
##
Key Provisions
* The State Department establishes a grant program that awards money to eligible organizations to directly fund or provide subgrants to local disability rights organizations in selected countries (Sec. 6(a)(4))
* Grant recipients should give at least 50 percent of their grant money to local disability organizations, with 75 percent of that money going specifically to organizations of persons with disabilities (Sec. 6(a)(4)(D))
* The Secretary of State must provide annual briefings to Congress through fiscal year 2029 describing the programs, activities, and progress in advancing disability inclusion policies (Sec. 7(a))
* The State Department can fund capacity-building programs to develop leadership skills among people with disabilities and train policymakers on successful models of family inclusion and disability rights (Sec. 6(b))
* Programming by the State Department and USAID related to children, health, and education should work to avoid supporting residential institutions for children with disabilities except during conflicts or emergencies while protecting family connections (Sec. 8(a)(2)(B))
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What Changes
If this bill becomes law, the U.S. government will formally establish an international program focused on keeping children with disabilities in family settings rather than institutions. The State Department will begin awarding grants to organizations led by people with disabilities to help change policies and laws in other countries. The government will also create training programs and provide technical assistance to help develop disability rights leaders and policymakers globally. Congress will receive annual reports about which countries receive support and what progress is being made.
##
Important Definitions
* **Family**: Includes married and unmarried parents, single parents, adoptive families, kinship care (when extended family members care for children), extended family, and foster care (Sec. 4(2))
* **Organization of Persons with Disabilities**: A nonprofit organization where the majority of leadership and board members are people with disabilities, individuals who previously lived in institutions, or family members of children with disabilities (Sec. 4(3))
* **Residential Institution**: A facility where children live together in a non-family group arrangement that can be public or private, large or small, including orphanages, children's homes, group homes, infant homes, children's villages, and boarding schools used mainly for care (Sec. 4(4))
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II
Calendar No. 149
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 847
To establish the International Children with Disabilities Protection Program
within the Department of State, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 16, 2023
Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. BLACKBURN,
Mr. CARDIN, Mr. TILLIS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. KAINE, Ms. DUCKWORTH,
Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, and Mr. COONS) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Re-
lations
JULY 25, 2023
Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
A BILL
To establish the International Children with Disabilities Pro-
tection Program within the Department of State, 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 ‘‘International Children
4
with Disabilities Protection Act of 2023’’.
5
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
1
Congress makes the following findings:
2
(1) According to the United Nations Children’s
3
Fund (UNICEF), there are at least 240,000,000
4
children and youth with disabilities in the world, in-
5
cluding approximately 53,000,000 children under
6
age 5.
7
(2) Families and children with disabilities to-
8
gether make up nearly 2,000,000,000 people, or 25
9
percent of the world’s population.
10
(3) Millions of children, particularly children
11
with intellectual and other developmental disabilities,
12
are placed in large or small residential institutions
13
and most of those children are left to grow up with-
14
out the love, support, and guidance of a family. The
15
vast majority of children placed in residential insti-
16
tutions have at least one living parent or have ex-
17
tended family, many of whom would keep their chil-
18
dren at home if they had the support and legal pro-
19
tections necessary to do so.
20
(4) As described in the 2013 world report pub-
21
lished by UNICEF, many parents who wish to keep
22
their children with disabilities feel that they have no
23
choice but to give up their child to a residential in-
24
stitution because of prejudice and stigma against
25
disability, the lack of support and protection that
26
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•S 847 RS
families receive, and the fact that education and
1
community services are often inaccessible or inap-
2
propriate for children with disabilities.
3
(5) Extensive scientific research demonstrates
4
that placing children in residential institutions may
5
lead to psychological harm, increased developmental
6
disabilities, stunted growth, rapid spread of infec-
7
tious diseases, and high rates of mortality.
8
(6) Leading child protection organizations have
9
documented that children and adolescents raised
10
without families in residential institutions face high
11
risk of violence, trafficking for forced labor or the
12
sex industry, forced abortion or sterilization, and
13
criminal detention.
14
(7) The danger of family breakup and institu-
15
tionalization has grown enormously as a result of the
16
COVID–19 pandemic. According to a study pub-
17
lished in The Lancet, as of September 2022, a min-
18
imum of 10,500,000 children globally have lost a
19
parent or co-residing caregiver to COVID–19 and
20
are now at increased risk of placement in a residen-
21
tial institution.
22
(8)
The
disability
rights
movement
in
the
23
United States has been a world leader and an inspi-
24
ration to the growth of a global disability rights
25
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movement. The United States has many models of
1
practice that could be shared with countries around
2
the world to support laws, policies, and services to
3
promote the full inclusion of children with disabil-
4
ities in families around the world.
5
(9) The Advancing Protection and Care for
6
Children in Adversity strategy of the United States
7
Government (APCCA) and the Global Child Thrive
8
Act of 2020 (subtitle I of title XII of division A of
9
Public Law 116–283; 134 Stat. 3985) commit the
10
United States Government to investing in the devel-
11
opment, care, dignity, and safety of vulnerable chil-
12
dren and their families around the world, including
13
efforts to keep children with their families and re-
14
duce placement of children in residential institutions.
15
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
16
It is the sense of Congress that—
17
(1) stigma and discrimination against children
18
with disabilities, particularly intellectual and other
19
developmental disabilities, and lack of support for
20
community inclusion have left people with disabilities
21
and
their
families
economically
and
socially
22
marginalized;
23
(2) organizations of persons with disabilities
24
and family members of persons with disabilities are
25
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often too small to apply for or obtain funds from do-
1
mestic or international sources or ineligible to re-
2
ceive funds from such sources;
3
(3) as a result of the factors described in para-
4
graphs (1) and (2), key stakeholders have often been
5
left out of public policymaking on matters that af-
6
fect children with disabilities; and
7
(4) financial support, technical assistance, and
8
active engagement of people with disabilities and
9
their families is needed to ensure the development of
10
effective policies that protect families, ensure the full
11
inclusion in society of children with disabilities, and
12
promote the transition of children with disabilities to
13
independent living as adults.
14
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
15
In this Act:
16
(1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’
17
means the Department of State.
18
(2) FAMILY.—The term ‘‘family’’ includes mar-
19
ried and unmarried parents, single parents, adoptive
20
families, kinship care, extended family, and foster
21
care.
22
(3) ORGANIZATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABIL-
23
ITIES.—The term ‘‘organization of persons with dis-
24
abilities’’ means a nongovernmental civil society or-
25
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ganization with staff leadership and a board of di-
1
rectors the majority of which consists of—
2
(A) people with disabilities;
3
(B) individuals who were formerly placed
4
in a residential institution; or
5
(C) family members of children or youth
6
with disabilities.
7
(4)
RESIDENTIAL
INSTITUTION.—The
term
8
‘‘residential institution’’—
9
(A) means a facility where children live in
10
a collective arrangement that is not family-
11
based and that—
12
(i) may be public or privately man-
13
aged and staffed;
14
(ii) may be small or large; and
15
(iii) may or may not be designated for
16
children with disabilities; and
17
(B) includes an orphanage, a children’s in-
18
stitution, a group home, an infant home, a chil-
19
dren’s village or cottage complex, a boarding
20
school used primarily for care, and any other
21
residential setting for children.
22
SEC. 5. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
23
It is the policy of the United States to—
24
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(1) assist countries abroad in creating rights
1
protection programs for people with disabilities and
2
developing policies and social supports to ensure that
3
children with disabilities can grow up as members of
4
families and make the transition to independent liv-
5
ing as adults;
6
(2) promote the development of advocacy skills
7
and leadership abilities of people with disabilities
8
and family members of children and youth with dis-
9
abilities so that such individuals can effectively par-
10
ticipate in their local, regional, and national govern-
11
ments to promote policy reforms and programs to
12
support full inclusion in families of children with dis-
13
abilities;
14
(3) promote the development of laws and poli-
15
cies that—
16
(A) strengthen families and protect against
17
the unnecessary institutionalization of children
18
with disabilities; and
19
(B) create opportunities for youth with dis-
20
abilities to receive the resources and support
21
needed to achieve their full potential and transi-
22
tion to independent living as adults;
23
(4) promote participation by different groups of
24
people with disabilities and their families in advo-
25
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cating for disability rights and reforms to legal
1
frameworks; and
2
(5) promote the sustainable action needed to
3
bring about changes in law, policy, and programs to
4
ensure full family inclusion of children with disabil-
5
ities and the transition of children with disabilities
6
to independent living as adults.
7
SEC.
6.
INTERNATIONAL
CHILDREN
WITH
DISABILITIES
8
PROTECTION
PROGRAM
AND
CAPACITY
9
BUILDING.
10
(a) INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
11
PROTECTION PROGRAM.—
12
(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—There is
13
established
within
the
Bureau
of
Democracy,
14
Human Rights, and Labor of the Department a
15
grant and capacity-building program to be known as
16
the ‘‘International Children with Disabilities Protec-
17
tion Program’’ (in this section referred to as the
18
‘‘Program’’).
19
(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Program is
20
to assist organizations of persons with disabilities
21
and family members of children with disabilities in
22
communicating about and advocating for policies
23
that ensure the family inclusion and transition to
24
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independent living of children with disabilities to ad-
1
vance the policy described in section 5.
2
(3) CRITERIA.—The Secretary of State, in con-
3
sultation with leading civil society groups with exper-
4
tise in global disability rights, shall establish criteria
5
for—
6
(A) applications for grants awarded under
7
paragraph (4); and
8
(B) the selection of—
9
(i) the countries or regions targeted
10
under the Program;
11
(ii) priority activities funded through
12
grants awarded under paragraph (4); and
13
(iii) capacity-building needs of recipi-
14
ents of grants awarded under paragraph
15
(4).
16
(4) DISABILITY INCLUSION GRANTS.—
17
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State
18
may award grants to eligible implementing
19
partners to administer grant amounts directly
20
or through subgrants.
21
(B)
ELIGIBLE
IMPLEMENTING
PART-
22
NERS.—For purposes of this paragraph, an eli-
23
gible implementing partner is a nongovern-
24
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mental organization or other civil society orga-
1
nization that—
2
(i) has the capacity to administer
3
grant amounts—
4
(I) directly; or
5
(II) through subgrants that can
6
be effectively used by emerging new
7
organizations of persons with disabil-
8
ities; and
9
(ii) has expertise in disability rights.
10
(C) PRIORITY.—The Secretary of State
11
shall
prioritize
awarding
grants
under
this
12
paragraph to eligible implementing partners
13
with experience operating or administering sub-
14
grants in countries for which the Assistant Sec-
15
retary of State for Democracy, Human Rights,
16
and Labor, in consultation with the United
17
States Government Special Adviser and Senior
18
Coordinator for the Administrator of the United
19
States Agency for International Development
20
on Children in Adversity, has determined that
21
there are significant populations of children liv-
22
ing in residential institutions.
23
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(D)
SUBGRANTS.—An
eligible
imple-
1
menting partner that receives a grant under
2
this paragraph should seek to—
3
(i) provide not less than 50 percent of
4
the grant amount through subgrants to
5
local organizations of persons with disabil-
6
ities and other nongovernmental organiza-
7
tions working in country to advance the
8
policy described in section 5; and
9
(ii) provide, of any amount distributed
10
pursuant to clause (i)—
11
(I) 75 percent to organizations of
12
persons with disabilities; and
13
(II) 25 percent to other non-
14
governmental organizations.
15
(b) CAPACITY-BUILDING PROGRAMS.—The Secretary
16
of State is authorized to provide funds to nongovernmental
17
organizations with expertise in capacity building and tech-
18
nical assistance to develop capacity-building programs
19
to—
20
(1) develop disability leaders, legislators, policy-
21
makers, and service providers to plan and implement
22
programs to advance the policy described in section
23
5;
24
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(2) build the advocacy capacity and knowledge
1
of successful models of rights enforcement, family
2
support, and disability inclusion among disability,
3
youth, and allied civil society advocates, attorneys,
4
and professionals to advance the policy described in
5
section 5;
6
(3) create online programs to train policy-
7
makers, activists, and other individuals on successful
8
models of reform, services, and rights protection to
9
ensure that children with disabilities can live and
10
grow up with families and become full participants
11
in society, which—
12
(A) are available globally;
13
(B) offer low-cost or no-cost training ac-
14
cessible
to
persons
with
disabilities,
family
15
members of such persons, and other individuals
16
with potential to offer future leadership in the
17
advancement of the goals of family inclusion,
18
transition to independent living as adults, and
19
rights protection for children with disabilities;
20
and
21
(C) should be targeted to government p
[Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]