II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1303 

To prohibit discrimination in adoption or foster care placements based on 

the sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status of any prospective adoptive or foster parent, or the sexual orientation or gender identity 

of the child involved. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 7, 2017 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. 

WYDEN, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To prohibit discrimination in adoption or foster care placements based on the sexual orientation, gender identity, 

or marital status of any prospective adoptive or foster 

parent, or the sexual orientation or gender identity of 

the child involved. 

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 ‘‘Every Child Deserves 

5 a Family Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1303 IS

1 (1) There is a shortage of qualified individuals 

2 willing to adopt or foster a child in the child welfare 

3 system. As a result, thousands of foster children 

4 lack a permanent and safe home. 

5 (2) In order to open more homes to foster chil6 dren, child welfare agencies should work to eliminate 

7 sexual orientation, gender identity, and marital sta8 tus discrimination and bias in adoption and foster 

9 care recruitment, selection, and placement proce10 dures. 

11 (3) Of the estimated 427,910 children in the 

12 United States foster care system, more than 

13 111,820 cannot return to their original families and 

14 are legally free for adoption. 

15 (A) 53,549 children were adopted in 2015, 

16 while 20,789 youth ‘‘aged out’’ of the foster 

17 care system. 

18 (B) Research shows that youth who ‘‘age 

19 out’’ of the foster care system are at a high risk 

20 for poverty, homelessness, incarceration, and 

21 early parenthood. 

22 (C) Increasing adoption rates, in addition 

23 to establishing permanency and decreasing risk 

24 factors for foster youth, can yield annual naVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 12, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303

rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1303 IS

1 tional cost savings between $3,300,000,000 and 

2 $6,300,000,000. 

3 (4) Experts agree that in many States, lesbian, 

4 gay, bisexual, and transgender youth experience dis5 crimination, harassment, and violence in the foster 

6 care system because of their sexual orientation or 

7 gender identity. 

8 (5) Approximately 60 percent of homeless les9 bian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth were pre10 viously in foster care. According to the Urban Jus11 tice Center, many of these young people reported 

12 that living on the streets felt ‘‘safer’’ than living in 

13 their group or foster home. 

14 (6) According to the Williams Institute, an esti15 mated 19 percent of same-sex couple households in16 clude children under 18 years of age. 

17 (7) The Williams Institute estimates that 

18 3,000,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 

19 people have had a child and as many as 6,000,000 

20 American adults and children have a lesbian, gay, 

21 bisexual, or transgender parent. Among adults under 

22 50 years of age living alone or with a spouse or 

23 partner, 48 percent of lesbian, bisexual, or 

24 transgender women are raising a child under 18 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1303 IS

1 years of age, and 20 percent of gay, bisexual, or 

2 transgender men are doing so. 

3 (8) As of 2013, same-sex couples are raising 

4 1.4 percent of adopted children with 2 parents and 

5 are fostering 1.7 percent of foster children living 

6 with 2 parents. A 2007 report from the Williams In7 stitute found that an additional 2,000,000 gay, les8 bian, and bisexual individuals are interested in adop9 tion. 

10 (9) According to the Williams Institute/Urban 

11 Institute, same-sex couples raising adopted children 

12 tend to be older than, just as educated as, and have 

13 access to the same economic resources as other 

14 adoptive parents. Studies confirm that children with 

15 same-sex parents have the same advantages and 

16 same expectations for health, social, and psycho17 logical adjustment, and development as children 

18 whose parents are heterosexual. 

19 (A) The practice of prohibiting applicants 

20 from becoming foster parents or adopting chil21 dren solely on the basis of sexual orientation, 

22 gender identity, or marital status has resulted 

23 in reducing the number of qualified adoptive 

24 and foster parents overall and denying gay, les25 bian, bisexual, and unmarried relatives the opVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 12, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303

rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1303 IS

1 portunity to become foster parents for their 

2 own kin, including grandchildren, or to adopt 

3 their own kin, including grandchildren, from 

4 foster care. 

5 (B) According to the Williams Institute, as 

6 of 2013, more than 3,400 children are currently 

7 in foster placements with same-sex couples. An8 other 22,000 children are being raised by same9 sex adoptive couples. If other States followed 

10 the minority of States and discriminated 

11 against qualified individuals because of their 

12 sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital 

13 status, foster care expenditures would increase 

14 between $87,000,000 and $130,000,000 per 

15 year in order to pay for additional institutional 

16 and group care, as well as to recruit and train 

17 new foster and adoptive parents. 

18 (10) Some States allow 1 member of an unmar19 ried couple to adopt, but do not recognize both mem20 bers of the unmarried couple as the child’s legal par21 ents. Recognition of joint adoption by unmarried 

22 couples provides children with the same rights and 

23 security that children of married parents enjoy. 

24 These protections include access to both parents’ 

25 health benefits, survivor’s, Social Security, and child 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1303 IS

1 support entitlements, legal grounds for either parent 

2 to provide consent for medical care, education, and 

3 other important decisions, as well as the establish4 ment of permanency for parents and child. 

5 (11) Professional organizations in the fields of 

6 medicine, psychology, law, and child welfare have 

7 taken official positions in support of the ability of 

8 qualified gay, lesbian, bisexual, and unmarried cou9 ples to foster and adopt a child, as supported by sci10 entific research showing sexual orientation as a non11 determinative factor in parental success. 

12 (12) Several States have passed, and a number 

13 of additional States have proposed, ‘‘conscience 

14 clause’’ laws that permit agencies and case workers 

15 to delay or deny placements to anyone with whom 

16 they have a religious or moral objection. 

17 (13) Discrimination against potential foster or 

18 adoptive parents based on sexual orientation, gender 

19 identity, or marital status is not in the best interests 

20 of children in the foster care system. 

21 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to de22 crease the length of time that children wait for perma23 nency with a loving family and to promote the best inter24 ests of children in the child welfare system by preventing 

25 discrimination in adoption and foster care placements 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1303 IS

1 based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital 

2 status. 

3 SEC. 3. EVERY CHILD DESERVES A FAMILY. 

4 (a) ACTIVITIES.— 

5 (1) PROHIBITION.—An entity that receives Fed6 eral assistance or contracts with an entity that re7 ceives Federal assistance, and is involved in adoption 

8 or foster care placements may not— 

9 (A) deny to any person the opportunity to 

10 become an adoptive or a foster parent on the 

11 basis of the sexual orientation, gender identity, 

12 or marital status of the person, or the sexual 

13 orientation or gender identity of the child in14 volved; 

15 (B) delay or deny the placement of a child 

16 for adoption or into foster care on the basis of 

17 the sexual orientation, gender identity, or mar18 ital status of any prospective adoptive or foster 

19 parent, or the sexual orientation or gender iden20 tity of the child; or 

21 (C) require different or additional 

22 screenings, processes, or procedures for adop23 tive or foster placement decisions on the basis 

24 of the sexual orientation, gender identity, or 

25 marital status of the prospective adoptive or 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1303 IS

1 foster parent, or the sexual orientation or gen2 der identity of the child involved. 

3 (2) DEFINITION OF PLACEMENT DECISION.—In 

4 this section, the term ‘‘placement decision’’ means 

5 the decision to place, or to delay or deny the place6 ment of, a child in a foster care or an adoptive 

7 home, and includes the decision of the agency or en8 tity involved to seek the termination of birth parent 

9 rights or otherwise make a child legally available for 

10 adoptive placement. 

11 (b) EQUITABLE RELIEF.—Any individual who is ag12 grieved by an action in violation of subsection (a) may 

13 bring an action seeking relief in a United States district 

14 court of appropriate jurisdiction. 

15 (c) FEDERAL GUIDANCE.—Not later than 6 months 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

17 Health and Human Services shall publish guidance to con18 cerned entities with respect to compliance with this sec19 tion. 

20 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In order to ensure 

21 compliance with, and ensure understanding of the legal, 

22 practice, and culture changes required by, this Act in mak23 ing foster care and adoption placement decisions, the Sec24 retary shall provide technical assistance to all entities cov25 ered by this Act, including— 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1303 IS

1 (1) identifying laws and regulations inconsistent 

2 with this Act and providing guidance and training to 

3 ensure the laws and regulations are brought into 

4 compliance within the prescribed period of time; 

5 (2) identifying casework practices and proce6 dures inconsistent with this Act and providing guid7 ance and training to ensure the practices and proce8 dures are brought into compliance within the pre9 scribed period of time; 

10 (3) providing guidance in expansion of recruit11 ment efforts to ensure consideration of all interested 

12 and qualified prospective adoptive and foster parents 

13 regardless of the sexual orientation, gender identity, 

14 or marital status of the prospective parent; 

15 (4) comprehensive cultural competency training 

16 for covered entities and prospective adoptive and fos17 ter parents; and 

18 (5) training judges and attorneys involved in 

19 foster care and adoption cases on the findings and 

20 purposes of this Act. 

21 (e) DEADLINE FOR COMPLIANCE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), an entity that receives Federal assistance 

24 and is involved with adoption or foster care place25 ments shall comply with this section not later than 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 1303 IS

1 6 months after publication of the guidance referred 

2 to in subsection (c), or 1 year after the date of en3 actment of this Act, whichever occurs first. 

4 (2) AUTHORITY TO EXTEND DEADLINE.—If a 

5 State demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Sec6 retary of Health and Human Services that it is nec7 essary to amend State statutory law in order to 

8 change a particular practice that is inconsistent with 

9 this section, the Secretary may extend the compli10 ance date for the State and any entities in the State 

11 that are involved with adoption or foster care place12 ments a reasonable number of days after the close 

13 of the 1st State legislative session beginning after 

14 the date the guidance referred to in subsection (c) 

15 is published. 

16 (3) AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD FUNDS.—If a 

17 State fails to comply with this section, the Secretary 

18 may withhold payment to the State of amounts oth19 erwise payable to the State under part B or E of 

20 title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 

21 et seq., 670 et seq.), to the extent the Secretary 

22 deems the withholding necessary to induce the State 

23 into compliance with this section. 

24 (f) GAO STUDY.— 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 1303 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

3 General of the United States shall conduct a study 

4 to determine whether the States have substantially 

5 complied with this Act, including specifically whether 

6 the States have— 

7 (A) eliminated policies, practices, or stat8 utes that deny to any otherwise qualified person 

9 the opportunity to become an adoptive or foster 

10 parent on the basis of the sexual orientation, 

11 gender identity, or marital status of the person, 

12 or the sexual orientation or gender identity of 

13 the child involved; 

14 (B) removed all program, policy, or statu15 tory barriers that delay or deny the placement 

16 of a child for adoption or into foster care on the 

17 basis of the sexual orientation, gender identity, 

18 or marital status of any qualified, prospective 

19 adoptive or foster parent, or the sexual orienta20 tion or gender identity of the child; and 

21 (C) eliminated all different or additional 

22 screenings, processes, or procedures for adop23 tive or foster placement decisions based on the 

24 sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital 

25 status of the prospective adoptive or foster parVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Jun 12, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1303.IS S1303

rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 1303 IS

1 ent, or the sexual orientation or gender identity 

2 of the child involved. 

3 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 

4 year after completing the study required by para5 graph (1), the Comptroller General shall submit to 

6 Congress a written report that contains the results 

7 of the study. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS