II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3332 

To amend the adoption opportunities program to define unregulated custody 

transfers of children and to improve awareness and prevention of such 

transfers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2023 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the adoption opportunities program to define unregulated custody transfers of children and to improve 

awareness and prevention of such transfers, and for 

other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Safe Home Act of 

5 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2 UNREGULATED CUSTODY TRANSFERS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Child Abuse Pre3 vention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 

4 (42 U.S.C. 5111 et seq.) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating section 205 (42 U.S.C. 

6 5115) as section 206; and 

7 (2) by inserting after section 204 the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 205. SENSE OF CONGRESS, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, 

9 AND REPORT ON UNREGULATED CUSTODY 

10 TRANSFERS. 

11 ‘‘(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that— 

13 ‘‘(1) there are challenges associated with some 

14 adoptions (including the child’s mental health needs 

15 and the difficulties many families face in accessing 

16 support services) and some families may seek out an 

17 unregulated transfer of physical custody of an adop18 tive child without any formal supervision by child 

19 welfare agencies or courts; 

20 ‘‘(2) some adopted children experience trauma, 

21 and the disruption and placement in another home 

22 due to such a transfer may contribute to additional 

23 trauma and instability for such children; 

24 ‘‘(3) unregulated custody transfers may not in25 clude certain safety measures that are required as 

26 part of formal adoption proceedings, such as reVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:11 Nov 21, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3332.IS S3332

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1 quired child welfare or criminal background checks 

2 or clearances; 

3 ‘‘(4) child welfare agencies and courts may be 

4 unaware of the placement of children through un5 regulated custody transfers and, as a result, may not 

6 conduct assessments on children’s safety and well7 being in such subsequent placements; 

8 ‘‘(5) the lack of such assessments may result in 

9 the placement of children in homes in which the chil10 dren may be exposed to unsafe environments; 

11 ‘‘(6) the caregivers with whom a child is placed 

12 through an unregulated custody transfer may have 

13 no legal responsibility with respect to such child and 

14 may not have complete records, including the child’s 

15 birth, medical, or other records, with respect to such 

16 child; 

17 ‘‘(7) a child adopted through intercountry adop18 tion may be at risk of not acquiring United States 

19 citizenship if an unregulated custody transfer occurs 

20 before the adoptive parents complete all necessary 

21 steps to finalize the adoption of such child; and 

22 ‘‘(8) unregulated custody transfers pose signifi23 cant challenges for children who experience such 

24 transfers. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—For the purpose of this section, 

2 the term ‘unregulated custody transfer’— 

3 ‘‘(1) means the abandonment of a child, by the 

4 child’s parent or legal guardian, or a person or enti5 ty acting on behalf, and with the consent, of such 

6 parent or guardian— 

7 ‘‘(A) by placing the child with a person 

8 who is not— 

9 ‘‘(i) the child’s parent, stepparent, 

10 grandparent, adult sibling, legal guardian, 

11 or other adult relative; 

12 ‘‘(ii) a friend of the family who is an 

13 adult and with whom the child is familiar; 

14 or 

15 ‘‘(iii) a member of the federally recog16 nized Indian Tribe of which the child is 

17 also a member or eligible to be a member; 

18 ‘‘(B) with the intent of severing the rela19 tionship between the child and the parent or 

20 guardian of such child; and 

21 ‘‘(C) without— 

22 ‘‘(i) reasonably ensuring the safety of 

23 the child and permanency of the placement 

24 of the child, including by conducting an ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:11 Nov 21, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3332.IS S3332

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1 ficial home study, background check, and 

2 supervision; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) transferring the legal rights and 

4 responsibilities of parenthood or guardian5 ship under applicable Federal and State 

6 law to a person described in clause (i), (ii), 

7 or (iii) of subparagraph (A); and 

8 ‘‘(2) does not include the surrender of an infant 

9 to a safe haven by the parent or guardian of such 

10 infant, if such surrender is consistent with the safe 

11 haven law of the applicable State. 

12 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND PUBLIC AWARE13 NESS.—The Secretary, in coordination with the heads of 

14 other relevant Federal agencies— 

15 ‘‘(1) shall improve public awareness related to 

16 preventing adoption disruption and dissolution, in17 cluding preventing unregulated custody transfers of 

18 adopted children; and 

19 ‘‘(2) in carrying out paragraph (1), shall update 

20 Federal resources, including internet websites, to 

21 provide— 

22 ‘‘(A) employees of State, local, and Tribal 

23 agencies that provide child welfare services with 

24 education materials related to preventing, iden25 tifying, and responding to unregulated custody 


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1 transfers, including such materials containing 

2 information on adoption support and stability 

3 services for adoptive families and prospective 

4 adoptive families; and 

5 ‘‘(B) prospective adoptive families with in6 formation on accessing pre-adoption education 

7 and post-adoption services from State, local, 

8 and private resources to promote child perma9 nency. 

10 ‘‘(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

12 after the date of enactment of the Safe Home Act 

13 of 2023, the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec14 retary of State, shall prepare and submit to the 

15 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen16 sions of the Senate, the Committee on Finance of 

17 the Senate, the Committee on Education and the 

18 Workforce of the House of Representatives, and the 

19 Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 

20 Representatives, a report on unregulated custody 

21 transfers of children, including of adopted children. 

22 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

23 paragraph (1) shall include— 

24 ‘‘(A) information on the causes, methods, 

25 and characteristics of unregulated custody 


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1 transfers, including the use of social media and 

2 the internet; 

3 ‘‘(B) information on the effects of unregu4 lated custody transfer on children, including the 

5 effects of the lack of assessment of a child’s 

6 safety and well-being by social services agencies 

7 and courts due to such unregulated custody 

8 transfer; 

9 ‘‘(C) data on the prevalence of unregulated 

10 custody transfers within each State and across 

11 all States; 

12 ‘‘(D) recommended policies for preventing, 

13 identifying, and responding to unregulated cus14 tody transfers, including of adopted children, 

15 that include— 

16 ‘‘(i) suggested changes or updates to 

17 Federal and State law to address unregu18 lated custody transfers; 

19 ‘‘(ii) suggested changes or updates to 

20 child protection practices to address un21 regulated custody transfers; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) methods of providing to the pub23 lic information regarding adoption and 

24 child protection; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) a description of the activities carried 

2 out under subsection (c).’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

4 203(d)(3)(A) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treat5 ment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 

6 5113(d)(3)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 205(a)’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘section 206(a)’’. 

Æ 


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