Adoption Opportunities Reauthorization Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2969 To expand adoption opportunities. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 3, 2019 Mr. JONES (for himself and Mr. ISAKSON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To expand adoption opportunities. 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 ‘‘Adoption Opportuni- 4 ties Reauthorization Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF 6 PURPOSE. 7 Section 201 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 8 Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 9 5111) is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Dec 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2969.IS S2969 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2969 IS (1) in the section, heading, by striking ‘‘AND 1 DECLARATION OF PURPOSE’’ and inserting ‘‘, 2 DECLARATION OF PURPOSE, AND DEFINITION’’; 3 (2) in subsection (a)— 4 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘2009, 5 some 424,000’’ and inserting ‘‘2018, some 6 437,000’’; 7 (B) in paragraph (3)— 8 (i) by striking subparagraphs (A) 9 through (D); and 10 (ii) by striking ‘‘services because the 11 children entering foster care—’’ and in- 12 serting ‘‘services;’’; 13 (C) in paragraph (6)— 14 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 15 ‘‘2009, there were 115,000’’ and inserting 16 ‘‘2018, there were 125,000’’; 17 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 18 (I) in clause (i), by striking 19 ‘‘2009’’ and inserting ‘‘2018’’; and 20 (II) in clause (ii), by striking 21 ‘‘more than 8’’ and inserting ‘‘less 22 than 8’’; and 23 (iii) in subparagraph (D)— 24 (I) in clause (i)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Dec 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2969.IS S2969 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2969 IS (aa) by striking ‘‘25 per- 1 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘17 per- 2 cent’’; and 3 (bb) by striking ‘‘2009’’ and 4 inserting ‘‘2018’’; and 5 (II) in clause (ii)— 6 (aa) by striking ‘‘30 per- 7 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘22 per- 8 cent’’; and 9 (bb) by striking ‘‘2009’’ and 10 inserting ‘‘2018’’; and 11 (D) in paragraph (9)(B), by striking ‘‘or 12 institutions’’; 13 (3) in subsection (b)— 14 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 15 (1)— 16 (i) by inserting ‘‘children with disabil- 17 ities, underserved or overrepresented chil- 18 dren and youth in the child welfare sys- 19 tem,’’ after ‘‘minority children,’’; and 20 (ii) by striking ‘‘including disabled in- 21 fants with life-threatening conditions,’’; 22 (B) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘; 23 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Dec 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2969.IS S2969 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2969 IS (C) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe- 1 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 2 (D) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(4) support the development and implementa- 4 tion of evidence-based and evidence-informed post- 5 legal adoption services for families that adopt chil- 6 dren in order to increase permanency.’’; and 7 (4) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this Act, the term ‘child with 9 special needs’ means a child with special needs as defined 10 in section 473(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 11 673(c)).’’. 12 SEC. 3. INFORMATION AND SERVICES. 13 Section 203 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 14 Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 15 5113) is amended— 16 (1) in subsection (a)— 17 (A) by striking ‘‘such purposes, including 18 services’’ and all that follows through the period 19 at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘such 20 purposes, including— 21 ‘‘(1) services to facilitate the adoption of older 22 children, minority children, children with disabilities, 23 underserved or overrepresented children and youth 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Dec 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2969.IS S2969 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2969 IS in the child welfare system, and children with special 1 needs; 2 ‘‘(2) services to families considering adoption of 3 children with special needs; and 4 ‘‘(3) post-legal adoption services for families to 5 provide permanent and caring home environments 6 for children who would benefit from adoption.’’; 7 (2) in subsection (b)— 8 (A) in paragraph (1)— 9 (i) by striking ‘‘on adoption, and’’ and 10 inserting ‘‘on adoption, including the eval- 11 uation of training and accessible education 12 materials;’’; and 13 (ii) by inserting ‘‘; and update such 14 training and education materials, as appro- 15 priate’’ before the semicolon; 16 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘chil- 17 dren with disabilities, underserved or overrepre- 18 sented children and youth in the child welfare 19 system,’’ after ‘‘minority children,’’; 20 (C) in paragraph (7), by inserting ‘‘chil- 21 dren with disabilities, underserved or overrepre- 22 sented children and youth in the child welfare 23 system,’’ after ‘‘minority children,’’; 24 (D) in paragraph (9)(D)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Dec 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2969.IS S2969 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2969 IS (i) by inserting ‘‘and disseminate’’ 1 after ‘‘identify’’; and 2 (ii) by striking ‘‘termination’’ and in- 3 serting ‘‘dissolution, and increase perma- 4 nency, including related to pre- and post- 5 legal adoption services’’; 6 (E) in paragraph (10)(A)— 7 (i) by redesignating clauses (iii) 8 through (ix) as clauses (iv) through (x), re- 9 spectively; 10 (ii) in clause (ii)— 11 (I) by inserting ‘‘, and finding 12 such family and relatives willing to 13 adopt such child to improve perma- 14 nency’’ before the semicolon; and 15 (II) by striking ‘‘such children, 16 including developing’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘such children; 18 ‘‘(iii) developing’’; 19 (iii) in clause (vi), as so redesignated, 20 by inserting ‘‘, including such groups for 21 individuals who may enter into kinship 22 caregiver arrangements’’ before the semi- 23 colon; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Dec 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2969.IS S2969 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2969 IS (iv) in clause (ix), as so redesignated, 1 by inserting ‘‘, including such groups for 2 kinship caregiver arrangements’’ before the 3 semicolon; and 4 (v) in clause (x), as so redesignated, 5 by striking ‘‘this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘this 6 title’’; and 7 (F) in paragraph (11)— 8 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 9 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘Tribes or Tribal 10 organizations,’’ after ‘‘States,’’; 11 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 12 ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 13 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 14 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 15 (iv) by adding at the end the fol- 16 lowing: 17 ‘‘(D) procedures to identify and support 18 potential kinship care arrangements.’’; 19 (3) in subsection (c)— 20 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘post 21 legal adoption’’ and inserting ‘‘post-legal adop- 22 tion’’; and 23 (B) in paragraph (2)(G), by inserting ‘‘, 24 including such parents, children, and siblings in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Dec 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2969.IS S2969 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2969 IS kinship care arrangements’’ before the semi- 1 colon; 2 (4) in subsection (d)— 3 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 4 ‘‘AND IMPROVING POST-LEGAL ADOPTION SUP- 5 PORT SERVICES’’ after ‘‘CARE’’; 6 (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘includ- 7 ing through the improvement of post-legal 8 adoption services,’’ after ‘‘free for adoption,’’; 9 (C) in paragraph (2)— 10 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 11 (I) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘, 12 including plans to assess the need for 13 and provide, as appropriate, post-legal 14 adoption services in order to improve 15 permanency’’ before the semicolon; 16 (II) in clause (ii), by inserting 17 ‘‘children with disabilities, under- 18 served or overrepresented children and 19 youth in the child welfare system,’’ 20 after ‘‘minority children,’’; 21 (III) in clause (iii), by striking 22 ‘‘programs and methods’’ and insert- 23 ing ‘‘programs supported under this 24 subsection, including methods’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:02 Dec 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2969.IS S2969 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2969 IS (IV) in clause (iv), by striking 1 ‘‘section 473 of the Social Security 2 Act (42 U.S.C. 673)’’ and inserting 3 ‘‘subpart B of part B of title IV of 4 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 5 629 et seq.) and part E of such title 6 IV (42 U.S.C. 670 et seq.)’’; and 7 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 8 (I) in clause (i), by inserting 9 ‘‘children with disabilities, under- 10 served or overrepresented children and 11 youth in the child welfare system,’’ 12 after ‘‘minority children,’’; and 13 (II) in clause (ii), by striking 14 ‘‘successful’’ and inserting ‘‘evidence- 15 based and evidence-informed’’; and 16 (D) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking ‘‘Pay- 17 ments under this subsection shall begin during 18 fiscal year 1989.’’; and 19 (5) in subsection (e)(1), by inserting ‘‘, such as 20 through the use of an electronic interstate case proc- 21 essing system’’ before the period. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Dec 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2969.IS S2969 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2969 IS SEC. 4. REPORTS. 1 The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and 2 Adoption Reform Act of 1978 is amended by striking sec- 3 tion 204 (42 U.S.C. 5114) and inserting the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 204. REPORTS. 5 ‘‘(a) REPORT ON THE OUTCOMES OF INDIVIDUALS 6 WHO WERE ADOPTED FROM FOSTER CARE.—Not later 7 than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Adoption 8 Opportunities Reauthorization Act of 2019, the Secretary 9 shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, 10 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 11 Education and Labor of the House of Representatives a 12 report on research regarding the outcomes of individuals 13 who were adopted from foster care as children. 14 ‘‘(b) REPORT ON ADOPTION DISRUPTION AND DIS- 15 SOLUTION.—No later than 18 months after the date of 16 enactment of the Adoption Opportunities Reauthorization 17 Act of 2019, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 18 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate 19 and the Committee on Education and Labor of the House 20 of Representatives a report on children who enter into fos- 21 ter care under the supervision of a State after prior final- 22 ization of an adoption or legal guardianship, including 23 cases involving adoption of foster youth. The Secretary 24 shall include in such report information, to the extent that 25 such information is available, regarding the incidence of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Dec 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2969.IS S2969 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2969 IS adoption disruption and dissolution and factors associated 1 with such circumstances, including whether affected indi- 2 viduals received pre- or post-legal adoption services.’’. 3 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 4 Section 205 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 5 Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 6 5115) is amended— 7 (1) in subsection (a), by striking 8 ‘‘$40,000,000’’ and all that follows through ‘‘2015’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘such sums as may be necessary for 10 fiscal years 2020 through 2026’’; and 11 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘30 percent’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘35 percent’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Dec 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2969.IS S2969 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS