I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2936

To amend the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act of 1988 to prevent abandoned infants from experiencing prolonged foster care where a permanent

adoptive home is available.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 6, 1993

Mr. FAWELL (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. PORTER, Mr. HYDE, Mr.

HASTERT, Mr. KLINK, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. WOLF, Mr.

UPTON, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. RAVENEL, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. SOLOMON, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, and Mrs. ROUKEMA) introduced the following

bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Education and

Labor and Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act of 1988

to prevent abandoned infants from experiencing prolonged foster care where a permanent adoptive home

is available.

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 ‘‘At-Birth Abandoned

5 Infants Assistance Amendments of 1993’’.
2

•HR 2936 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) each year thousands of infants throughout

4 the United States are abandoned by their parents

5 shortly after birth, such as when a mother gives

6 birth at a hospital under an assumed name and ad7 dress and then disappears afterwards, leaving the in8 fant behind, when the whereabouts of the parents

9 are unknown, and when infants are left to die in

10 garbage dumpsters because their mothers cannot

11 care for them;

12 (2) infants who are abandoned during the form13 ative months occurring shortly after birth are denied

14 the ability to bond with a loving parent or parents;

15 (3) the process of attachment or bonding be16 tween an infant and the same adults is essential to

17 the development of a healthy personality in the in18 fant;

19 (4) the Inspector General of the Department of

20 Health and Human Services, in the February 1990

21 report entitled ‘‘Crack Babies’’, states that legisla22 tion ‘‘should reduce barriers to placing drug exposed

23 infants into foster care and adoptive homes and es24 tablish ‘fast track’ procedures to expedite child wel25 fare cases involving drug abuse’’;
3

•HR 2936 IH

1 (5) according to experts, current legal rules and

2 agency policies make it exceedingly difficult and time

3 consuming to terminate parental rights of those par4 ents who truly abandon their infants, and as a result

5 very few of those abandoned infants are available for

6 adoption;

7 (6) the welfare of infants abandoned during the

8 formative months occurring shortly after birth is of

9 such special interest and concern to our society that

10 if there are persons desiring to adopt and parentally

11 bond with such an infant, the infant should be af12 forded the right to expeditious placement with, and

13 adoption by, such persons; and

14 (7) other steps should be taken to expedite the

15 adoption of infants who are abandoned during the

16 formative months occurring shortly after birth.

17 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

18 The purpose of this Act is to encourage States to im19 plement a system that will expedite the initiation of the

20 adoption process for infants abandoned at birth. In doing

21 so, States will appoint competent persons to be

22 preadoptive parents for infants abandoned at birth in

23 order to provide a proper and loving home during the in24 fants’ formative months. The preadoptive parents will also

25 be responsible for initiating legal proceedings that could
4

•HR 2936 IH

1 lead to the legal adoption of the infant. Once the proceed2 ings have been initiated, the State courts of proper juris3 diction will continue to be responsible for the final deci4 sion, taking into account the legal rights of all the parties

5 involved, including the infant abandoned at birth, the nat6 ural parents, the preadoptive parents, and the State.

7 SEC. 4. ADOPTION BY PREADOPTIVE PARENTS OF CERTAIN

8 ABANDONED INFANTS.

9 (a) CERTAIN STATE LAWS REQUIRED AS CONDITION

10 OF PROJECT GRANTS.—Title 1 of the Abandoned Infants

11 Assistance Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 670 note) is amend12 ed—

13 (1) in section 101(a), by striking ‘‘The Sec14 retary’’ in the matter preceding paragraph (1) and

15 inserting ‘‘Subject to section 101A, the Secretary’’;

16 and

17 (2) by inserting after section 101 the following

18 section:

19 ‘‘SEC. 101A. CERTAIN STATE LAWS REQUIRED AS CONDI20 TION OF PROJECT GRANTS.

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not make a

22 grant under section 101 to a public or nonprofit private

23 entity unless the project for which the grant is to be made

24 is located in a State for which there is in effect State laws

25 and rules of law that provide all of the following:
5

•HR 2936 IH

1 ‘‘(1) Within 30 days after the State obtains

2 custody of a designated abandoned infant (as de3 fined in subsection (b)), the State shall—

4 ‘‘(A) find 1 or more individuals to be the

5 preadoptive parents of such infant;

6 ‘‘(B) designate such individual or individ7 uals as the preadoptive parents of the infant;

8 and

9 ‘‘(C) place the infant with such individual

10 or individuals.

11 ‘‘(2)(A) During the 90-day period beginning on

12 the date a designated abandoned infant is placed

13 with the preadoptive parents of the infant, the

14 preadoptive parents shall have the right to petition

15 the courts of the State for an expedited hearing—

16 ‘‘(i) to terminate the parental rights of all other

17 persons with respect to the infant; and

18 ‘‘(ii) to become the adoptive parents of the in19 fant.

20 ‘‘(B) In determining whether to grant a petition

21 described in subparagraph (A), the courts of the

22 State shall not draw any inference adverse to the in23 terests of a petitioner by reason of the present or

24 former status of any petitioner as a foster parent.
6

•HR 2936 IH

1 ‘‘(3) If the preadoptive parents of a designated

2 abandoned infant fail to file a petition described in

3 paragraph (2)(A) during the 90-day period described

4 in such paragraph, the State shall—

5 ‘‘(A) immediately revoke their designation

6 as the preadoptive parents of the infant; and

7 ‘‘(B) within 30 days after the end of such

8 90-day period—

9 ‘‘(i) find 1 or more individuals (other

10 than the former preadoptive parents of the

11 infant) to be the new preadoptive parents

12 of the infant;

13 ‘‘(ii) designate such individual or indi14 viduals as the preadoptive parents of the

15 infant; and

16 ‘‘(iii) place the infant with such indi17 vidual or individuals.

18 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

19 term ‘designated abandoned infant’ means an abandoned

20 infant—

21 ‘‘(1) who has not attained the age of 18

22 months; and

23 ‘‘(2) whose abandonment occurs during the first

24 6 months after the infant is born.
7

•HR 2936 IH

1 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The provisions and

2 rules of State law that are enacted or adopted pursuant

3 to this subsection shall not be construed to affect any pro4 vision or rule of State law with respect to the abandon5 ment of children that is not so enacted or adopted, except

6 to the extent that such provisions or rules of State law

7 are in direct conflict.’’.

8 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub9 section (a) shall not apply to any child who attains the

10 age of 18 months before the date of the enactment of this

11 Act.

12 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

14 (b), the amendments made by this Act shall apply to

15 grants under section 101 of the Abandoned Infants Assist16 ance Act of 1988 for fiscal years beginning after the fiscal

17 year in which this Act is enacted.

18 (b) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION RE19 QUIRED.—In the case of a grant under section 101 of the

20 Abandoned Infants Assistance Act of 1988 to a project

21 with respect to which the Secretary of Health and Human

22 Services determines that State legislation is required

23 (other than legislation appropriating funds) in order to

24 meet the condition established in section 101A of such Act

25 for the project to receive such a grant, the project shall
8

•HR 2936 IH

1 not be regarded as failing to meet such condition solely

2 on the basis that such legislation is not in effect before

3 the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter beginning after

4 the close of the 1st regular session of the State legislature

5 that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act.

6 For purposes of the previous sentence, in the case of a

7 State that has a 2-year legislative session, each year of

8 such session shall be deemed to be a separate regular ses9 sion of the State legislature.

Æ