I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6529 

To establish a national registry to provide for the linking of State and 

tribal responsible father registries to facilitate the timely notification 

of adoption proceedings to out-of-State possible biological fathers, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2023 

Ms. KUSTER (for herself, Mr. SMUCKER, and Mr. HUIZENGA) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish a national registry to provide for the linking 

of State and tribal responsible father registries to facilitate the timely notification of adoption proceedings to 

out-of-State possible biological fathers, 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 ‘‘Protecting All Parents 

5 and Adoptees Act’’ or the ‘‘PAPA Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) A permanent, stable home is critical for the 

2 physical and cognitive development of children. 

3 (2) Identifying the biological father of a child is 

4 crucial to ensuring a timely adoption proceeding to 

5 provide permanency and stability for the child. 

6 (3) Responsible father registries, also known as 

7 putative father registries, help to facilitate the stable 

8 placement of children by providing a mechanism to 

9 identify possible fathers and determine whether a bi10 ological father has a protectable interest in partici11 pating in the placement decisions for a child. 

12 (4) Responsible father registries remove the 

13 burden from the mother of having to identify pos14 sible fathers, to protect her privacy and safety, espe15 cially in cases of rape or domestic violence. 

16 (5) Responsible father registries empower pos17 sible fathers to take responsibility for the protection 

18 of their rights by enabling them to voluntarily reg19 ister and increase the likelihood of receiving timely 

20 notice of a proceeding. 

21 (6) Responsible father registries reduce the risk 

22 to prospective adoptive parents of delayed or dis23 rupted placements resulting from challenges to adop24 tions due to a possible father’s untimely receipt of 

25 notice of such proceedings. 


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1 (7) Responsible father registries and related pa2 ternal identification registries have been established 

3 by a number of States and Indian tribes but no 

4 mechanism exists to cross-reference registries. 

5 (8) National cross-referencing of State and 

6 Tribal responsible father registries would provide 

7 registered individuals an ability to receive timely no8 tice of a proceeding related to a child they may have 

9 fathered out of wedlock in a State other than the 

10 State in which the individual is registered. 

11 SEC. 3. LINKING OF STATE RESPONSIBLE FATHER REG12 ISTRIES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

14 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec15 retary’’) shall— 

16 (1) establish a national responsible father reg17 istry consisting of information about possible biologi18 cal fathers identified in any responsible father reg19 istry established by any State or Indian tribe, and 

20 seek to have the information in each such respon21 sible father registry provided to the national registry 

22 voluntarily; and 

23 (2) enable the State and tribal agencies admin24 istering the responsible father registries to access, 


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1 and electronically exchange information with, the na2 tional registry. 

3 (b) PARTIES AUTHORIZED TO ACCESS THE NA4 TIONAL REGISTRY.—The Secretary shall make the infor5 mation in the national registry available to— 

6 (1) public or private licensed adoption or child 

7 placement agencies; 

8 (2) State or tribal child welfare authorities; 

9 (3) State or tribal courts; and 

10 (4) licensed attorneys representing a party in 

11 an adoption, a child placement, or a termination of 

12 rights proceeding. 

13 (c) AUTHORITY TO CHARGE FEE.—The Secretary 

14 may charge a reasonable fee for a search of the national 

15 registry. 

16 (d) REPORT.—Within 12 months after the date of the 

17 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 

18 Congress a report on the implementation of this Act, that 

19 shall include— 

20 (1) a framework to assist States and Indian 

21 tribes without a responsible father registry in setting 

22 up such a registry, or to coordinate with a State or 

23 tribal responsible father registry; 


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1 (2) a description of best practices that a State 

2 or Indian tribe with a responsible father registry 

3 may follow to improve the efficiency of the registry; 

4 (3) an identification of administrative and legis5 lative options for ensuring that every possible bio6 logical father has access to the protections of a re7 sponsible father registry regardless of the State in 

8 which the possible biological father resides; and 

9 (4) a description of the national registry so es10 tablished, which shall identify participating states 

11 and explain how authorized users may access and 

12 use the national registry. 

13 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

16 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

17 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

18 Act. 

19 (2) RESPONSIBLE FATHER REGISTRY.—The 

20 term ‘‘responsible father registry’’ means a registry 

21 for the receipt of information that directly relates to 

22 the identity or location of possible biological fathers 

23 who have voluntarily registered to be notified of a 

24 proceeding relating to a child that a possible biologi25 cal father may have fathered out of wedlock, so that 


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1 a possible biological father may opt to assert his pa2 rental rights. 

3 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 50 

4 States of the United States, the District of Colum5 bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 

6 States Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of 

7 the Northern Mariana Islands, and American 

8 Samoa. 

Æ 


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