II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1527 

To enhance pre- and post-adoptive support services. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. BLUNT, and Ms. LANDRIEU) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To enhance pre- and post-adoptive support services. 

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 ‘‘Supporting Adoptive 

5 Families Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADOPTION SUPPORT SERVICES. 

7 (a) ENSURING WELL-BEING OF ADOPTED CHILDREN

8 AND ADOPTIVE FAMILIES.—Section 421 of the Social Se9 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 621) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

11 end; 


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para2 graph (6); and 

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol4 lowing new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(5) ensuring the well-being of adopted children 

6 and their adoptive families and promoting efforts to 

7 prevent such children from entering the foster care 

8 system through the provision of pre- and post-adop9 tive support services; and’’. 

10 (b) PRE- AND POST-ADOPTIVE SUPPORT SERV11 ICES.—Paragraph (8) of section 431(a) of such Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 629a(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(8) ADOPTION PROMOTION AND SUPPORT

14 SERVICES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘adoption 

16 promotion and support services’ means services 

17 and activities designed to encourage more adop18 tions out of the foster care system and support 

19 domestic adoptions and adoptions from other 

20 countries, consistent with promoting the best 

21 interests of adopted children and their adoptive 

22 families. Such services and activities may in23 clude pre- and post-adoptive support services, 

24 as described in subparagraph (B), that are deVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:20 Sep 21, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527

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1 signed to support adopted children and their 

2 adoptive families. 

3 ‘‘(B) PRE- AND POST-ADOPTIVE SUPPORT

4 SERVICES.—The term ‘pre- and post-adoptive 

5 support services’ means the following: 

6 ‘‘(i) Pre-adoptive support services, 

7 which may include— 

8 ‘‘(I) direct services, including 

9 training, educational support, coun10 seling, and other services for adoptive 

11 parents and families that address 

12 caregiver interests and concerns re13 garding common behavioral issues, 

14 such as— 

15 ‘‘(aa) issues relating to emo16 tional, behavioral, or develop17 mental health needs; 

18 ‘‘(bb) issues relating to at19 tachment, identity, abandonment, 

20 cultural differences, grief, and 

21 loss; and 

22 ‘‘(cc) issues resulting from 

23 birth defects due to fetal alcohol 

24 syndrome or any other substance 


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1 abuse-related developmental dis2 order; 

3 ‘‘(II) the provision of educational 

4 resources for adoptive parents regard5 ing the geographic, ethnic, and cul6 tural background of the adopted child; 

7 ‘‘(III) peer-to-peer mentoring and 

8 support groups that permit a newly 

9 adoptive parent to communicate and 

10 learn from more experienced adoptive 

11 parents, including programs that en12 hance communication between adop13 tive parents with children of similar 

14 geographic, ethnic, or cultural back15 grounds; and 

16 ‘‘(IV) the provision of informa17 tional resources for adoptive parents, 

18 including— 

19 ‘‘(aa) resources available 

20 through Federal and State agen21 cies, including information re22 garding benefits for children with 

23 a medical condition or a physical, 

24 mental, or emotional disability; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) newsletters, Web sites, 

2 and other informational resources 

3 regarding adoption-related serv4 ices; 

5 ‘‘(cc) the establishment of 

6 lending libraries containing infor7 mation and resources for adop8 tive parents; and 

9 ‘‘(dd) conferences, discus10 sion groups, and seminars that 

11 are available to adoptive parents 

12 and other relevant stakeholders. 

13 ‘‘(ii) Post-adoptive support services, 

14 which may include— 

15 ‘‘(I) continued provision to adop16 tive parents of pre-adoptive support 

17 services described in clause (i); 

18 ‘‘(II) the provision of accessible 

19 and reliable respite services for adop20 tive parents; 

21 ‘‘(III) direct services and coun22 seling for adopted children, including, 

23 as appropriate— 

24 ‘‘(aa) support services for an 

25 adopted child with emotional, beVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:20 Sep 21, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527

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1 havioral, or developmental health 

2 needs; 

3 ‘‘(bb) support services that 

4 address issues relating to attach5 ment, identity, abandonment, cul6 tural differences, grief, and loss; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(cc) treatment services that 

9 are specialized for adopted chil10 dren, including psychiatric resi11 dential services, outpatient men12 tal health services, social skills 

13 training, intensive in-home super14 vision services, recreational ther15 apy, suicide prevention, and sub16 stance abuse treatment; 

17 ‘‘(IV) peer-to-peer mentoring and 

18 support groups that allow adopted 

19 children to communicate and socialize 

20 with other adopted children, including 

21 programs that provide for communica22 tion between adopted children from 

23 similar geographic, ethnic, or cultural 

24 backgrounds; and 


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1 ‘‘(V) crisis and family preserva2 tion services, including crisis coun3 seling and a 24-hour emergency hot4 line for adoptive parents.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR ADOPTION SUPPORT SERVICES. 

6 Paragraph (8) of section 473(a) of the Social Secu7 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(8) With respect to the amount of savings (if 

9 any) in State expenditures under this part resulting 

10 from the application of paragraph (2)(A)(ii) to all 

11 applicable children for a fiscal year, a State shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) spend a significant portion of such 

13 amount to provide pre- and post-adoptive sup14 port services (as defined in section 

15 431(a)(8)(B)); 

16 ‘‘(B) spend the remainder of such amount 

17 to provide to children or families any other 

18 services that may be provided under this part 

19 or part B; and 

20 ‘‘(C) on an annual basis, submit to the 

21 Secretary a report that provides a detailed ac22 count of any services that were funded pursuant 

23 to this paragraph.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. FEDERAL GRANT PROGRAM FOR POST-ADOPTION 

2 MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. 

3 Subpart 3 of part B of title V of the Public Health 

4 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–31 et seq.) is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 520L. POST-ADOPTION MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

8 the Administrator, shall award grants or cooperative 

9 agreements to eligible entities to— 

10 ‘‘(1) develop and implement State-sponsored 

11 Statewide or tribal post-adoption mental health serv12 ice programs for all adopted children; 

13 ‘‘(2) support public organization and private 

14 nonprofit organizations actively involved in State15 sponsored Statewide or tribal post-adoption mental 

16 health service programs; 

17 ‘‘(3) collect and analyze data on State-spon18 sored Statewide or tribal post-adoption mental 

19 health service programs that can be used to monitor 

20 the effectiveness of such services and for research, 

21 technical assistance, and policy development; 

22 ‘‘(4) develop and provide educational and train23 ing opportunities concerning the mental health needs 

24 of adopted children and their families for use by 

25 teachers, social workers, and other community men26 tal health service providers; and 


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1 ‘‘(5) develop and provide materials for potential 

2 adoptive parents, both for domestic adoptions and 

3 adoptions from other countries, describing the pos4 sible need for post-adoption mental health services 

5 and available resources. 

6 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term 

8 ‘eligible entity’ means— 

9 ‘‘(A) a State; 

10 ‘‘(B) a public organization or private non11 profit organization designated by a State to de12 velop or direct the State-sponsored Statewide 

13 post-adoption mental health service program 

14 under a grant under this section; and 

15 ‘‘(C) a Federally recognized Indian tribe or 

16 tribal organization (as defined in the Indian 

17 Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

18 Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.)) or an urban In19 dian organization (as defined in the Indian 

20 Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1601 

21 et seq.)) that is actively involved in the develop22 ment and continuation of a post-adoption men23 tal health service program. 

24 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—In carrying out this section, 

25 the Secretary shall ensure that each State is awardVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:20 Sep 21, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1527.IS S1527

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1 ed only 1 grant or cooperative agreement under this 

2 section. For purposes of the preceding sentence, a 

3 State shall be considered to have been awarded a 

4 grant or cooperative agreement if the eligible entity 

5 involved is the State or an entity designated by the 

6 State under paragraph (1)(B). Nothing in this para7 graph shall be construed to apply to entities de8 scribed in paragraph (1)(C). 

9 ‘‘(c) PREFERENCE.—In providing assistance under a 

10 grant or cooperative agreement under this section, the 

11 Secretary shall give preference to eligible entities that have 

12 demonstrated success in increasing the level of adoption 

13 competency among mental health providers, adoption law14 yers, social workers, case workers, and adoptive parents. 

15 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENT FOR DIRECT SERVICES.—Not 

16 less than 85 percent of funds received under a grant or 

17 cooperative agreement under this section shall be used to 

18 provide direct services, of which not less than 5 percent 

19 shall be used for activities authorized under subsection 

20 (a)(3). 

21 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this sec23 tion, the Secretary shall collaborate with relevant 

24 Federal agencies and adoption-related working 

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1 ter care agencies and private adoption agencies in 

2 other countries. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this sec4 tion, the Secretary shall consult with— 

5 ‘‘(A) State and social service agencies en6 gaged in the placement of children for adoption, 

7 domestically or from other countries; 

8 ‘‘(B) local and national organizations that 

9 serve foster and adopted youth; 

10 ‘‘(C) health and education specialists who 

11 focus on adoption and foster care medicine; 

12 ‘‘(D) youth who have been in foster care or 

13 adopted, domestically or from other countries; 

14 ‘‘(E) families and friends of youth who 

15 have been in foster care or adopted, domesti16 cally or from other countries; and 

17 ‘‘(F) qualified professionals who possess 

18 the specialized knowledge, skills, experience, 

19 and relevant attributes needed to serve adopted 

20 children and their families. 

21 ‘‘(3) POLICY DEVELOPMENT.—In carrying out 

22 this section, the Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) coordinate and collaborate on policy 

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1 ment of Health and Human Services agencies 

2 and adoption-related working groups; and 

3 ‘‘(B) consult on policy development at the 

4 Federal level with those in the private sector 

5 engaged in the recruitment of foster and adop6 tive parents, the placement of children in foster 

7 care and for adoption, and the provision of 

8 post-adoption services. 

9 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION AND REPORT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) EVALUATIONS BY ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

11 Not later than 18 months after receipt of a grant or 

12 cooperative agreement under this section, an eligible 

13 entity shall submit to the Secretary the results of an 

14 evaluation to be conducted by the entity concerning 

15 the effectiveness of the activities carried out under 

16 the grant or agreement. 

17 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

18 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

19 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 

20 report concerning the results of— 

21 ‘‘(A) the evaluations conducted under 

22 paragraph (1); and 

23 ‘‘(B) an evaluation conducted by the Sec24 retary to analyze the effectiveness and efficacy 


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1 of the activities conducted with grants, collabo2 rations, and consultations under this section. 

3 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) ADOPTED CHILD.—The term ‘adopted 

5 child’ means an individual who is under 21 years of 

6 age and was adopted from foster care, through a 

7 private placement agency, or from another country. 

8 ‘‘(2) ADOPTION COMPETENCY.—The term 

9 ‘adoption competency’ means an understanding of— 

10 ‘‘(A) the nature of adoption as a form of 

11 family formation and the different types of 

12 adoption; 

13 ‘‘(B) relevant emotional and physical 

14 issues involved in the adoption process, includ15 ing issues relating to separation, loss, attach16 ment, abuse, trauma, and neglect; 

17 ‘‘(C) common developmental challenges as18 sociated with adoption; 

19 ‘‘(D) the characteristics and skills that 

20 allow for successful adoptive families; 

21 ‘‘(E) proper sensitivity with respect to the 

22 different geographic, ethnic, or cultural back23 grounds of adopted children and adoptive fami24 lies; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) the necessary skills for effectively ad2 vocating on behalf of birth and adoptive fami3 lies. 

4 ‘‘(3) POST-ADOPTION MENTAL HEALTH SERV5 ICES.—The term ‘post-adoption mental health serv6 ices’ includes— 

7 ‘‘(A) direct services, including training, 

8 educational support, counseling, and other serv9 ices for adoptive parents and families that ad10 dress caregiver interests and concerns regarding 

11 child behavioral issues that are common among 

12 adopted children and children in foster care, in13 cluding, as appropriate— 

14 ‘‘(i) caring for an adopted child with 

15 emotional, behavioral, or developmental 

16 health needs; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) providing for the emotional needs 

18 of an adopted child, including issues relat19 ing to attachment, identity, abandonment, 

20 cultural differences, grief, and loss; 

21 ‘‘(B) peer-to-peer mentoring and support 

22 groups that permit a newly adoptive parent to 

23 communicate and learn from more experienced 

24 adoptive parents; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the provision of informational re2 sources and available services for adoptive par3 ents; 

4 ‘‘(D) direct services, including counseling, 

5 peer-to-peer mentoring and support groups, and 

6 other services for adopted children that address 

7 common behavioral and adjustment issues, in8 cluding, as appropriate— 

9 ‘‘(i) support services for an adopted 

10 child with emotional, behavioral, or devel11 opmental health needs; 

12 ‘‘(ii) support services that address the 

13 emotional needs of an adopted child, in14 cluding issues relating to attachment, iden15 tity, abandonment, cultural differences, 

16 grief, and loss; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) treatment services that are spe18 cialized for adopted children, including 

19 psychiatric residential services, outpatient 

20 mental health services, social skills train21 ing, intensive in-home supervision services, 

22 recreational therapy, suicide prevention, 

23 and substance abuse treatment; 

24 ‘‘(E) peer-to-peer mentoring and support 

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1 nicate and socialize with other adopted children; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(F) crisis intervention and family preser4 vation services. 

5 ‘‘(h) FUNDING FOR POST-ADOPTION MENTAL

6 HEALTH SERVICES.—From amounts appropriated to 

7 carry out titles III, V, or XIX of the Public Health Service 

8 Act for each fiscal year, $20,000,000 shall be used by the 

9 Secretary in each such fiscal year to fund services and 

10 programs authorized under this section.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. DATA COLLECTION ON ADOPTION DISRUPTION AND 

12 DISSOLUTION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 479 of the Social Security 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 679) is amended by adding at the end the 

15 following new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(d)(1) Not later than 12 months after the date of 

17 enactment of the Supporting Adoptive Families Act, the 

18 Secretary shall, as part of the data collection system es19 tablished under this section, promulgate final regulations 

20 providing for the collection and analysis of information re21 garding children who enter into State custody as a result 

22 of the disruption of a placement for adoption or the dis23 solution of an adoption, which shall require States to col24 lect and report— 


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1 ‘‘(A) information on children who are adopted 

2 within the United States or from other countries and 

3 who enter into State custody as a result of the dis4 ruption of a placement for adoption or the dissolu5 tion of an adoption, including— 

6 ‘‘(i) the number of children who enter into 

7 State custody as a result of— 

8 ‘‘(I) the disruption of placement for 

9 adoption; or 

10 ‘‘(II) the dissolution of an adoption; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(ii) for each child identified under clause 

13 (i)— 

14 ‘‘(I) as applicable, the country of birth 

15 for any child who was not born in the 

16 United States; 

17 ‘‘(II) the length of the adoption place18 ment prior to disruption or dissolution; 

19 ‘‘(III) the age of the child at the time 

20 of the disruption or dissolution; 

21 ‘‘(IV) the reason for the disruption or 

22 dissolution; and 

23 ‘‘(V) the agencies who handled the 

24 placement for adoption; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) such other information as determined ap2 propriate by the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(2) The information described in paragraph (1) 

4 shall be used— 

5 ‘‘(A) to consolidate and expand the collection of 

6 information on adoption disruption and dissolution; 

7 ‘‘(B) to improve research and data collection 

8 systems in order to more accurately determine and 

9 measure the rates, outcomes, and causes of adoption 

10 disruption and dissolution; 

11 ‘‘(C) to identify pre- and post-adoptive support 

12 services (including services described in section 

13 431(a)(8)(B)) that result in lower rates of disrup14 tion and dissolution of adoptions; 

15 ‘‘(D) to develop an understanding of the rela16 tionship between the rate of incidence of adoption 

17 disruptions and dissolutions and the support services 

18 that are provided to adoptive families in order to 

19 identify and develop effective evidence-based strate20 gies, programs, and support services that help to 

21 prevent adoption disruption and dissolution; and 

22 ‘‘(E) to develop and enhance training and edu23 cational services regarding strategies for prevention 

24 of adoption disruption and dissolution. 


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1 ‘‘(3)(A) Not later than 6 months after the date of 

2 enactment of the Supporting Adoptive Families Act, the 

3 Secretary shall, subject to subparagraph (B), establish an 

4 advisory committee to study methods to effectively collect 

5 data regarding disruption and dissolution of adoptions 

6 that are not included in the data collection system estab7 lished under this section, including— 

8 ‘‘(i) data on children whose adoptions are 

9 disrupted or dissolved but do not enter into 

10 State custody as a result of such disruption or 

11 dissolution; 

12 ‘‘(ii) data on adoption displacements, 

13 whereby an adopted child is temporarily placed 

14 out of the home of an adoptive parent in order 

15 to receive medical, mental health, behavioral, or 

16 other forms of treatment; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) such other data as determined appro18 priate by the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(B) The membership and organization of the 

20 advisory committee described in subparagraph (A) 

21 shall be determined by the Secretary and shall in22 clude— 

23 ‘‘(i) State and child welfare agencies that 

24 are engaged in the placement of children for 

25 adoption domestically or from other countries; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) local and national organizations that 

2 serve adopted children and children in foster 

3 care; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) members of State and local judiciary 

5 and court staff. 

6 ‘‘(C) Not later than 12 months after establish7 ment of the advisory committee described in sub8 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall submit to the ap9 propriate committees of Congress a report con10 taining recommendations of the advisory committee 

11 for improvement of the data collection system estab12 lished under this section.’’. 

13 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 479A of the Social 

14 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 679b) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

16 the semicolon; 

17 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at 

18 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(7) include in the report submitted pursuant 

22 to paragraph (5) for fiscal year 2013 or any suc23 ceeding fiscal year, national and State-by-State data 

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1 tions of adoptions, as collected pursuant to section 

2 479(d)(1).’’. 

Æ 


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