I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5053

To offer States an incentive to improve decisions in contested adoption cases.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 27, 2000

Mr. KLINK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on the Judiciary

A BILL

To offer States an incentive to improve decisions in contested

adoption cases.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Defense of Children

5 Adoption Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) every child deserves to have a permanent

9 and loving home;
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1 (2) adoption provides the joy of parenthood to

2 parents who may not otherwise be able to have chil3 dren;

4 (3) thousands of children await adoption every

5 year;

6 (4) many children wait for years before they are

7 adopted;

8 (5) all children deserved to be treated as indi9 viduals in the adoption process; and

10 (6) State courts often lack the resources to pro11 vide children with adequate representation.

12 (b) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—The purpose of this

13 Act is to help States provide well-trained advocates to rep14 resent the child’s best interest in contested adoptions.

15 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO STATE COURTS FOR AID IN DECIDING

16 CONTESTED ADOPTIONS.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make a grant

18 to an eligible State court, in an amount determined under

19 subsection (b), for the purpose of aiding State courts in

20 handling contested adoption cases.

21 (b) AMOUNT OF GRANT; MATCHING GRANT.—The

22 amount of the grant to be made under this section to an

23 eligible State court for a fiscal year shall be the lesser of—

24 (1) 3 times the sum described in subsection

25 (d)(1)(B); or
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1 (2) the amount that bears the same ratio to the

2 amount appropriated pursuant to subsection (e) for

3 the fiscal year as the number of individuals in the

4 State who have not attained 18 years of age (deter5 mined on the basis of the most recently available

6 census data) bears to the total number of such indi7 viduals in all States with an eligible State court for

8 the fiscal year.

9 (c) USE OF GRANT.—An eligible State court to which

10 a grant is made under this section in a fiscal year may

11 use such funds to pay not more than 75 percent of the

12 costs incurred by the courts of the State during the fiscal

13 year to reduce the number of adoption cases pending in

14 the State courts by providing child advocates, such as

15 guardian ad litems, to represent children in the adoption

16 process.

17 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

18 (1) ELIGIBLE STATE COURT.—The term ‘‘eligi19 ble State court’’ means, with respect to a State and

20 a fiscal year, a court that—

21 (A) is the highest court in a qualified

22 State;

23 (B) that obtained from the State a com24 mitment that the State will provide a sum cer25 tain to the court for the fiscal year which is to
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1 be used by the courts of the State for the han2 dling of contested adoption cases;

3 (C) has submitted to the Secretary, at

4 such time, in such form, and including such in5 formation and assurances as the Secretary may

6 require, an application for a grant under this

7 section; and

8 (D) whose application for the grant is ap9 proved by the Secretary.

10 (2) QUALIFIED STATE.—The term ‘‘qualified

11 State’’ means a State that—

12 (A) has in effect a State plan approved

13 under part E of title IV of the Social Security

14 Act; and

15 (B) has in effect such laws and procedures

16 as may be necessary to ensure that, in a con17 tested adoption case, the courts of the State are

18 required to consider all relevant factors,

19 including—

20 (i) the importance of providing perma21 nency, stability, and continuity of relation22 ships for the child;

23 (ii) whether the child will be able to

24 enter into a more stable and permanent

25 family relationship, taking into account the
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1 conditions of the child’s current placement,

2 the likelihood of future placements, and

3 the results of prior placements;

4 (iii) the age and health of the child at

5 the time the best interest determination is

6 made, and if applicable, at the time the

7 child was removed from the home;

8 (iv) the wishes of the child in any case

9 in which the child’s age and maturity

10 makes this feasible;

11 (v) the duration of the separation of

12 the child from a parent;

13 (vi) the likelihood of safe reunification

14 with a parent within a reasonable period of

15 time;

16 (vii) the child interaction and relation17 ship with the child’s parents, siblings, and

18 any other person who may significantly af19 fect the child’s best interest;

20 (viii) the child’s adjustment to the

21 child’s current home, school, and commu22 nity;

23 (ix) the mental and physical health of

24 all persons involved in the situation; and
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1 (x) whether any person involved in the

2 situation—

3 (I) has been convicted of, has

4 pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to,

5 has threatened to commit, or has been

6 accused of a criminal offense involving

7 an act that resulted in the abuse or

8 neglect of a child, or of abusing or as9 saulting an individual who, at the

10 time of the abuse or assault, was a

11 member of the person’s family or

12 household; or

13 (II) in a case in which a child

14 has been adjudicated to have been

15 abused or neglected, has been deter16 mined to have caused the abuse or ne17 glect.

18 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

19 the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

20 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ shall have the

21 same meaning such term has in part E of title IV

22 of the Social Security Act.

23 (e) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO24 PRIATIONS.—For grants under this section, there are au-
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1 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $50,000,000

2 for each of fiscal years 2000 through 2003.

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