II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1178 

To realign structures and reallocate resources in the Federal Government 

in keeping with the core belief that families are the best protection 

for children and the bedrock of any society to bolster United States 

diplomacy targeted at ensuring that every child can grow up in a permanent, safe, nurturing, and loving family, and to ensure that intercountry 

adoption to the United States becomes a viable and fully developed 

option for providing families for children in need, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 18, 2017 

Mr. BLUNT (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. WICKER, Mr. BURR, Mr. 

COCHRAN, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. COTTON, Ms. WARREN, Mr. KING, and Mr. 

COONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To realign structures and reallocate resources in the Federal 

Government in keeping with the core belief that families 

are the best protection for children and the bedrock 

of any society to bolster United States diplomacy targeted at ensuring that every child can grow up in a 

permanent, safe, nurturing, and loving family, and to 

ensure that intercountry adoption to the United States 

becomes a viable and fully developed option for providing 

families for children in need, and for other purposes. 

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•S 1178 IS

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Vulnerable Children and Families Act of 2017’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is 

7 as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings; purposes. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—REALIGNMENT OF CERTAIN INTERNATIONAL CHILD 

WELFARE RESPONSIBILITIES AND FUNCTIONS 

Sec. 101. Redesignation of Office of Children’s Issues as Office of Vulnerable 

Children and Family Security. 

TITLE II—ANNUAL REPORTING 

Sec. 201. Annual report on implementation of action plan. 

TITLE III—PROMOTION OF A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH FOR 

CHILDREN IN ADVERSITY 

Sec. 301. USAID obligations for coordinating with Office of Vulnerable Children and Family Security. 

TITLE IV—FUNDING, RULE OF CONSTRUCTION, AND EFFECTIVE 

DATES 

Sec. 401. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 402. Rule of construction. 

Sec. 403. Effective dates. 

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find10 ings: 

11 (1) The people of the United States recognize 

12 and believe that children should grow up in perma13 nent, safe, and nurturing families in order to develop 

14 and thrive. 

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1 (2) Science shows that children, and particu2 larly infants, living in impersonal, socially deprived 

3 institutions may suffer lasting, and in many cases, 

4 irreversible damage, including— 

5 (A) reduced brain activity and brain size; 

6 (B) lower intelligence quotients; 

7 (C) serious behavioral and emotional prob8 lems; and 

9 (D) disturbed relationships with others. 

10 (3) Governments in other countries seek models 

11 that promote the placement of children who are liv12 ing outside family care in permanent, safe, and nur13 turing families, rather than in foster care or institu14 tions; but many governments lack the resources or 

15 infrastructure to adequately address this need. 

16 (4) Despite the efforts of countless governments 

17 and nongovernmental organizations, millions of chil18 dren remain uncounted and outside of the protec19 tion, nurturing care, permanence, safety, and love of 

20 a family. 

21 (5) No reliable data currently exists to define 

22 and document the number and needs of children in 

23 the world currently living without families, but avail24 able evidence demonstrates that there are millions of 

25 children in this situation needing immediate help. 

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1 (6) The Action Plan on Children in Adversity 

2 commits the United States Government to achieving 

3 a world in which all children grow up within protec4 tive family care and free from deprivation, exploi5 tation, and danger. To effectively and efficiently ac6 complish this goal, it is necessary to realign the 

7 United States Government’s current operational sys8 tem for assisting orphans and vulnerable children 

9 and processing intercountry adoptions. 

10 (7) Significant resources are already dedicated 

11 to international assistance for orphans and vulner12 able children, and a relatively small portion of these 

13 resources can be reallocated to achieve more timely, 

14 effective, nurturing, and permanent familial solu15 tions for children living without families, resulting in 

16 fewer children worldwide living in institutions or on 

17 the streets, more families preserved or reunified, and 

18 increased domestic and international adoptions. 

19 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

20 (1) to support the core value that families are 

21 the bedrock of any society; 

22 (2) to protect the fundamental human right of 

23 all children to grow up within the loving care of per24 manent, safe, and nurturing families; 

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1 (3) to address a critical gap in United States 

2 foreign policy implementation by authorizing a 

3 whole-of-government strategic approach to ensure 

4 coordination within and among the relevant Federal 

5 agencies for international policy and operational 

6 structures so that seeking permanent families for 

7 children living without families receives more promi8 nence, focus, and resources (through the reallocation 

9 of existing personnel and resources); 

10 (4) to harness the diplomatic and operational 

11 power of the United States Government in the inter12 national sphere by helping to identify and implement 

13 timely, permanent, safe, and nurturing familial solu14 tions for children living without families through ef15 fective implementation of the three core and three 

16 supporting objectives of the Action Plan on Children 

17 in Adversity; 

18 (5) to ensure that intercountry adoption by 

19 United States citizens becomes a viable and fully de20 veloped option for creating permanent families for 

21 children who need them; 

22 (6) to protect against abuses of children; and 

23 (7) to harmonize and strengthen existing inter24 country adoption processes under United States 

25 law— 

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1 (A) by ensuring that the same set of proce2 dures and criteria govern suitability and eligi3 bility determinations for prospective adoptive 

4 parents seeking to complete intercountry adop5 tions, whether or not the child is from a foreign 

6 state that is a party to the Hague Adoption 

7 Convention; and 

8 (B) by aligning the definitions of eligible 

9 children for Convention adoptions and non-Con10 vention adoptions to the maximum extent pos11 sible. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) ACTION PLAN ON CHILDREN IN ADVER15 SITY.—The term ‘‘Action Plan on Children in Adver16 sity’’ means the policy document entitled ‘‘United 

17 States Government Action Plan on Children in Ad18 versity: A Framework for International Assistance: 

19 2012–2017’’, released on December 19, 2012. 

20 (2) AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE.—The term ‘‘Am21 bassador-at-Large’’ means the individual appointed 

22 pursuant to section 101(b). 

23 (3) APPROPRIATE, PROTECTIVE, AND PERMA24 NENT FAMILY CARE.—The term ‘‘appropriate, pro25 tective, and permanent family care’’ means a nurVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 May 25, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1178.IS S1178
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1 turing, lifelong, commitment to a child by an adult, 

2 or adults with parental roles and responsibilities 

3 that— 

4 (A) provides physical and emotional sup5 port; 

6 (B) provides the child with a sense of be7 longing; and 

8 (C) generally involves full legal recognition 

9 of the child’s status as child of the parents and 

10 of the parents’ rights and responsibilities re11 garding the child. 

12 (4) CENTRAL AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘central 

13 authority’’ has the meaning given the term in sec14 tion 3 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 

15 U.S.C. 14902). 

16 (5) CHILDREN IN ADVERSITY.—The term ‘‘chil17 dren in adversity’’ means children and youth— 

18 (A) who are younger than 18 years of age; 

19 (B) who live outside of family care; and 

20 (C) whose safety, well-being, growth, and 

21 development are at significant risk due to inad22 equate care, protection, or access to essential 

23 services. 

24 (6) CONVENTION ADOPTION.—The term ‘‘Con25 vention adoption’’ has the meaning given the term in 

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1 section 3 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 

2 (42 U.S.C. 14902). 

3 (7) CONVENTION COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Con4 vention country’’ has the meaning given the term in 

5 section 3 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 

6 (42 U.S.C. 14902) and for which the Hague Adop7 tion Convention has entered into force. 

8 (8) GUARDIANSHIP.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘guardian10 ship’’ means a permanent legal relationship be11 tween an adult and a child, in which the adult 

12 is lawfully invested with the power, and charged 

13 with the duty, of taking care of the child. 

14 (B) PERMANENT GUARDIANSHIP.—While 

15 some forms of guardianship are not truly per16 manent, the form of guardianship referred to 

17 and supported under this Act is permanent 

18 guardianship. 

19 (C) KEFALA ORDER.—A Kefala order 

20 issued by a country that follows traditional Is21 lamic law does not qualify as an adoption under 

22 United States law, but may be a form of guard23 ianship in some circumstances. 

24 (D) FAMILY-LIKE GROUP HOMES.—Indi25 vidual parent-child relationships in a small, 

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1 family-like group home in which caretaking is 

2 provided only by one or more unpaid caretakers 

3 might, in some circumstances, qualify as a 

4 guardianship if legalized in that form. 

5 (E) PAID GUARDIANSHIP.—The term 

6 guardianship does not include a paid guardian7 ship. 

8 (9) HABITUAL RESIDENCE DETERMINATION.— 

9 The term ‘‘habitual residence determination’’ means 

10 a factual determination of where a prospective adop11 tive parent (or parents) resides and where the child 

12 resides for purposes of an intercountry adoption 

13 case. 

14 (10) HAGUE ADOPTION CONVENTION.—The 

15 term ‘‘Hague Adoption Convention’’ means the Con16 vention of Protection of Children and Cooperation in 

17 Respect of Intercountry Adoption, concluded at The 

18 Hague May 29, 1993. 

19 (11) INSTITUTIONAL CARE.—The term ‘‘institu20 tional care’’ means care provided in any nonfamily21 based group setting, including— 

22 (A) orphanages; 

23 (B) transit or interim care centers; 

24 (C) children’s homes; 

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1 (D) children’s villages or cottage com2 plexes; and 

3 (E) boarding schools used primarily for 

4 care purposes as an alternative to a children’s 

5 home. 

6 (12) KINSHIP CARE.—The term ‘‘kinship 

7 care’’— 

8 (A) means the full-time care, nurturing, 

9 and protection of children by relatives, members 

10 of their tribes or clans, godparents, stepparents, 

11 or any adult who has a kinship bond with a 

12 child, if such persons have the capacity and 

13 commitment to function as true parents for the 

14 child on a permanent basis; and 

15 (B) does not include paid kinship foster 

16 care. 

17 (13) NON-CONVENTION ADOPTION.—The term 

18 ‘‘non-Convention adoption’’ means— 

19 (A) an adoption by United States parents 

20 of a child from a non-Convention country in ac21 cordance with subparagraph (F) of section 

22 101(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality 

23 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)); 

24 (B) an adoption by United States parents 

25 of a child under the laws of the child’s country 

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1 of origin (generally when the parents are living 

2 in the child’s country of origin and therefore 

3 able legally to complete a domestic adoption); or 

4 (C) in certain circumstances (generally 

5 with respect to relative adoptions or adoptions 

6 by dual national parents), an adoption by 

7 United States parents of a child from a Con8 vention country if that country allows legal and 

9 valid adoptions to take place outside the scope 

10 of the Convention. 

11 (14) NON-CONVENTION COUNTRY.—The term 

12 ‘‘non-Convention country’’ means a country in which 

13 the Hague Adoption Convention has not entered into 

14 force, regardless of whether or not that country has 

15 signed the Convention. 

16 (15) SPECIAL ADVISOR.—The term ‘‘Special 

17 Advisor’’ means the Special Advisor for Assistance 

18 to Orphans and Vulnerable Children appointed pur19 suant to section 135(e) of the Foreign Assistance 

20 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152f(e)), who is also re21 ferred to as the Senior coordinator for the USAID 

22 Administrator on Children in Adversity and who 

23 leads the Center of Excellence for Children in Adver24 sity. 

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1 (16) UNPARENTED CHILDREN.—The term 

2 ‘‘unparented children’’ means children lacking the 

3 legally recognized, permanent, safe, and nurturing 

4 care of a parental figure or figures, either inside 

5 their country of origin, in the country of their habit6 ual residence, or elsewhere. 

7 TITLE I—REALIGNMENT OF CER8 TAIN INTERNATIONAL CHILD 

9 WELFARE RESPONSIBILITIES 

10 AND FUNCTIONS 

11 SEC. 101. REDESIGNATION OF OFFICE OF CHILDREN’S 

12 ISSUES AS OFFICE OF VULNERABLE CHIL13 DREN AND FAMILY SECURITY. 

14 (a) REDESIGNATION.—The Office of Children’s 

15 Issues of the Department of State is hereby redesignated 

16 as the Office of Vulnerable Children and Family Security 

17 (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘VCFS’’). 

18 (b) APPOINTMENT OF AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE.— 

19 The President, acting through the Secretary, shall appoint 

20 an Ambassador-at-Large to promote and support the fol21 lowing activities: 

22 (1) Oversight of the Office of Vulnerable Chil23 dren and Family Security. 

24 (2) The development and implementation in for25 eign countries of child welfare laws, regulations, 

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1 policies, best practices, and procedures in keeping 

2 with the goals articulated in the Action Plan on 

3 Children in Adversity, including— 

4 (A) the sound development of children 

5 through the integration of health, nutrition, and 

6 family support; 

7 (B) supporting and enabling families to 

8 care for children through family preservation, 

9 reunification, and support of kinship care, 

10 guardianship, and domestic and intercountry 

11 adoption; 

12 (C) facilitating the efforts of national gov13 ernments and partners to prevent, respond to, 

14 and protect children from violence, exploitation, 

15 abuse, and neglect; 

16 (D) supporting partners to build and 

17 strengthen holistic and integrated models to 

18 promote the best interests of the child; 

19 (E) building and maintaining strong evi20 dence base on which future activities to reach 

21 and assist the most vulnerable children can be 

22 effectively planned and implemented; and 

23 (F) integrating this plan with United 

24 States Government departments and agencies. 

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1 (3) Addressing the gap in United States Gov2 ernment diplomacy, policy, and operations with re3 spect to promoting appropriate, protective, and per4 manent family care for children living without fami5 lies by leading the development and implementation 

6 of policies that will ensure the timely provision of 

7 appropriate, protective, and permanent family care 

8 for children living without families through the full 

9 continuum of permanence solutions, including family 

10 preservation and reunification, kinship care, guard11 ianship, and domestic and intercountry adoption. 

12 (c) QUALIFICATIONS OF AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE.— 

13 The Ambassador-at-Large shall— 

14 (1) have experience in the development of poli15 cies and systems and the implementation of pro16 grams that promote the goals of the Action Plan on 

17 Children in Adversity; 

18 (2) be knowledgeable of international child wel19 fare, family permanence, and family creation 

20 through domestic and intercountry adoption; and 

21 (3) be committed to developing an integrated 

22 United States Government approach to international 

23 child welfare that places equal emphasis on— 

24 (A) early childhood survival and develop25 ment; 

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1 (B) family permanence; and 

2 (C) protection from abuse and exploitation. 

3 (d) FUNCTIONS.— 

4 (1) ADVISORY.—The Ambassador-at-Large 

5 shall serve as a primary advisor to the Secretary of 

6 State and the President in all matters related to vul7 nerable children and family security in foreign coun8 tries. 

9 (2) DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION.—Subject to 

10 the direction of the President and the Secretary of 

11 State, and in consultation and coordination with the 

12 Administrator of the United States Agency for 

13 International Development and the Secretary of 

14 Homeland Security, the Ambassador-at-Large shall 

15 represent the United States in matters relevant to 

16 international child welfare, family preservation and 

17 reunification, and provision of permanent, safe pa18 rental care through kinship, domestic and inter19 country adoption in— 

20 (A) contacts with foreign governments, 

21 nongovernmental organizations, intergovern22 mental agencies, and specialized agencies of the 

23 United Nations and other international organi24 zations of which the United States is a member; 

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1 (B) multilateral conferences and meetings 

2 relevant to family preservation, reunification, 

3 and creating appropriate, protective, and per4 manent care for unparented children; and 

5 (C) fulfillment of the diplomatic respon6 sibilities designated to the central authority 

7 under title I of the Intercountry Adoption Act 

8 of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14911 et seq.). 

9 (3) POLICY DEVELOPMENT WITH RESPECT TO

10 PERMANENCE FOR UNPARENTED CHILDREN.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Ambassador-at12 Large shall— 

13 (i) develop and advocate for policies 

14 and practices to ensure that children in 

15 foreign countries who are living without 

16 families find appropriate, protective, and 

17 permanent family care; 

18 (ii) give consideration to family pres19 ervation and reunification, kinship care, 

20 guardianship, and domestic and inter21 country adoption; and 

22 (iii) seek to develop and implement 

23 policies that lead to the use of all options 

24 for providing appropriate, protective, and 

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1 permanent family care to children living 

2 without families as quickly as possible. 

3 (B) ADVOCATE FOR CONCURRENT PLAN4 NING.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—In developing poli6 cies and programs under this Act, the Am7 bassador-at-Large shall advocate that all 

8 options for providing appropriate, protec9 tive, and permanent family care to children 

10 living without families must be considered 

11 concurrently and permanent solutions must 

12 be put in place as quickly as possible. Solu13 tions include family preservation and re14 unification, kinship care, guardianship, do15 mestic and intercountry adoption, and 

16 other culturally acceptable forms of care 

17 that will result in appropriate, protective, 

18 and permanent family care. Preference 

19 should be given to options that optimize 

20 the child’s well-being, which generally 

21 means options which provide children with 

22 fully protected legal status and parents 

23 with full legal status as parents, including 

24 full parental rights and responsibilities. 

25 The principle of subsidiarity, which gives 

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1 preference to in-country solutions, should 

2 be implemented within the context of a 

3 concurrent planning strategy, exploring in4 and out-of-country options simultaneously. 

5 If an in-country placement providing ap6 propriate, protective, and permanent care 

7 is not quickly available, and such an inter8 national home is available, encourage poli9 cies that allow the child to be placed in an 

10 international home without delay. 

11 (ii) INTERIM PLACEMENTS.—Nothing 

12 in this subsection may be construed to pre13 clude interim placements, including in kin14 ship care, foster care, and small group 

15 homes, to temporarily improve children’s 

16 living conditions in individual cir17 cumstances in which— 

18 (I) a permanent solution is not 

19 immediately available if ongoing ef20 forts are made to move the child from 

21 interim to permanent placement as 

22 soon as possible; and 

23 (II) the child’s best interests will 

24 be served. 

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1 (iii) EXCEPTIONS.—Exceptions to the 

2 general rule set forth in clauses (i) and (ii) 

3 may be made, as needed in individual 

4 cases, to serve the child’s best interests, in5 cluding the following: 

6 (I) Permanent guardianship may 

7 be preferable to adoption in certain 

8 cases where the child has developed a 

9 powerful bond to a loving guardian 

10 who prefers not to adopt because of 

11 the child’s ties to birth parents who 

12 love the child, but are not in a posi13 tion to provide appropriate nurturing. 

14 (II) Options generally viewed as 

15 interim solutions, such as foster care 

16 and small group homes, may be pref17 erable to family reunification when 

18 the parents are not in a position to 

19 provide appropriate nurturing. 

20 (III) For children with disabil21 ities, solutions to prevent institu22 tionalization and to assist with re23 integration into the community from 

24 institutions, include payment and supVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 May 25, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1178.IS S1178
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1 port to families, substitute families, 

2 small group homes, or kinship care. 

3 (C) BEST PRACTICES.—In developing poli4 cies and programs under this Act, the Ambas5 sador-at-Large shall identify and utilize evi6 dence-based programs and best practices in 

7 family preservation and reunification and provi8 sion of permanent parental care through guard9 ianship, kinship care, and domestic and inter10 country adoption as derived from a wide variety 

11 of domestic, foreign, and global policies and 

12 practices. 

13 (D) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Am14 bassador-at-Large, in consultation with other 

15 appropriate Federal agencies, shall provide 

16 technical assistance to governments of foreign 

17 countries to help build their child welfare capac18 ities, particularly pertaining to family-based 

19 permanence. Such assistance should aim to 

20 strengthen family preservation and reunification 

21 and the provision of appropriate, protective, and 

22 permanent family care through kinship care, 

23 guardianship, and domestic and intercountry 

24 adoption, including assistance with— 

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1 (i) drafting, disseminating, and imple2 menting legislation; 

3 (ii) developing implementing systems 

4 and procedures; 

5 (iii) establishing public, private, and 

6 faith- and community-based partnerships; 

7 (iv) developing workforce training for 

8 governmental and nongovernmental staff; 

9 and 

10 (v) infrastructure development and 

11 data collection techniques necessary to 

12 identify and document the number and 

13 needs of children living without appro14 priate, protective, and permanent family 

15 care. 

16 (4) RESPONSIBILITIES WITH RESPECT TO

17 INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The VCFS, in coordi19 nation with other offices of the Department of 

20 State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

21 Services, shall have lead responsibility for rep22 resenting the United States Government in dis23 cussions, negotiations, and diplomatic contacts 

24 pertaining to intercountry adoptions. 

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1 (B) CENTRAL AUTHORITY RESPONSIBILITY

2 UNDER THE INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION ACT OF

3 2000.—Section 101(b)(2) of the Intercountry 

4 Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14911(b)(2)) 

5 is amended by striking ‘‘Office of Children’s 

6 Issues’’ and inserting ‘‘Office of Vulnerable 

7 Children and Family Security’’. 

8 (C) DETERMINATIONS OF HAGUE ADOP9 TION CONVENTION COMPLIANCE.—The VCFS, 

10 in consultation with other offices of the Depart11 ment of State, and the Department of Home12 land Security, shall have lead responsibility for 

13 determining whether a Convention partner 

14 country has met its obligations under the 

15 Hague Adoption Convention and is eligible to 

16 participate in intercountry adoptions in accord17 ance with United States law. Such determina18 tions shall be documented in writing, based on 

19 standardized criteria, and available for public 

20 review and comment. 

21 (5) POLICY COORDINATION.—The Ambassador22 at-Large shall coordinate with the Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security and the Administrator of the 

24 United States Agency for International Development 

25 to maintain consistency in United States foreign and 

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1 domestic policy and operations with respect to chil2 dren living outside family care in foreign countries. 

3 (6) INFORMATION COORDINATION.—The Am4 bassador-at-Large shall transmit— 

5 (A) any intercountry adoption related case 

6 information received from the Central Authority 

7 of another Convention country to the Secretary 

8 of Homeland Security; and 

9 (B) any intercountry adoption related case 

10 information that the Secretary of Homeland Se11 curity requests to the central authority of an12 other Convention country. 

13 TITLE II—ANNUAL REPORTING 

14 SEC. 201. ANNUAL REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF AC15 TION PLAN. 

16 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Ambas18 sador-at-Large, in coordination with the Special Advisor, 

19 shall submit to Congress a report on implementation of 

20 the Action Plan on Children in Adversity, including the 

21 technical assistance provided under section 101(d)(3)(D). 

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1 TITLE III—PROMOTION OF A 

2 COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH 

3 FOR CHILDREN IN ADVER4 SITY 

5 SEC. 301. USAID OBLIGATIONS FOR COORDINATING WITH 

6 OFFICE OF VULNERABLE CHILDREN AND 

7 FAMILY SECURITY. 

8 (a) OBJECTIVES.—The Special Advisor shall work in 

9 consultation with the Ambassador-at-Large to promote 

10 greater United States Government coherence and account11 ability for whole-of-government assistance to children in 

12 adversity and ensure that United States foreign assistance 

13 and development programs are focused on— 

14 (1) the sound development of children through 

15 the integration of health, nutrition, and family sup16 port; 

17 (2) supporting and enabling families to care for 

18 children through family preservation, reunification, 

19 and support of kinship care, guardianship, and do20 mestic and intercountry adoption; 

21 (3) facilitating the efforts of national govern22 ments and partners to prevent, respond to, and pro23 tect children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and 

24 neglect; 

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1 (4) supporting partners to build and strengthen 

2 holistic and integrated child welfare and protection 

3 systems to promote the best interests of the child; 

4 (5) building and maintaining a strong evidence 

5 base on which future activities to reach and assist 

6 the most vulnerable children can be effectively 

7 planned and implemented; and 

8 (6) integrating the objectives set forth in para9 graphs (1) through (5) with Federal departments 

10 and agencies. 

11 (b) APPROACH.—The Special Advisor shall ensure 

12 that efforts to assist children in adversity through the Ac13 tion Plan on Children in Adversity are coordinated with 

14 the efforts by the Ambassador-at-Large in implementing 

15 its adoption strategy in priority countries. 

16 (c) REPEAL.—Section 135 of the Foreign Assistance 

17 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152f) is repealed. 

18 TITLE IV—FUNDING, RULE OF 

19 CONSTRUCTION, AND EFFEC20 TIVE DATES 

21 SEC. 401. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 (a) PROHIBITION ON NEW APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act may be 

24 construed as authorizing additional funds to be apVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 May 25, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1178.IS S1178
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1 propriated to carry out this Act or any amendments 

2 made by this Act. 

3 (2) USE OF EXISTING FUNDS.—This Act, and 

4 the amendments made by this Act, shall be carried 

5 out using amounts otherwise available for such pur6 poses, including unobligated balances of funds made 

7 available to carry out activities under the Foreign 

8 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.). 

9 (b) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS.— 

10 (1) SEGREGATED SERVICES.—No funds obli11 gated in accordance with this Act may be awarded 

12 for building, renovating, or refurbishing residential 

13 facilities that segregate children with disabilities 

14 from society. The limitation under this paragraph 

15 does not prohibit funding for small, community16 based group homes that house up to six children. 

17 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more 

18 than two percent of the amounts described in sub19 section (a)(2) may be used for administrative ex20 penses. 

21 (c) FOCUS OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance provided 

22 under this Act— 

23 (1) shall focus primarily on promoting inter24 national child welfare, as set forth in this Act, for 

25 all children in adversity; and 

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1 (2) may be provided on such terms and condi2 tions as the President determines appropriate. 

3 SEC. 402. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

4 Nothing in this Act shall be construed as precluding 

5 the provision of stipends or subsidies to those caring for 

6 children with disabilities. 

7 SEC. 403. EFFECTIVE DATES. 

8 (a) EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT.—Sections 104 

9 and 201 and titles III and IV shall take effect on the date 

10 of the enactment of this Act. 

11 (b) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE.—Sections 101, 

12 102, and 103 shall take effect on the date that is 1 year 

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ