I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3690 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide services 

for birthmothers who are placing or have placed a child for adoption, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 10, 2019 

Mr. SMUCKER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to provide services for birthmothers who are placing or 

have placed a child for adoption, 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 ‘‘Improving Adoption 

5 Outcomes and Affordability Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF PRE-ADOPTION SERVICES FOR 

7 BIRTHMOTHERS. 

8 (a) SERVICES AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of 

9 Health and Human Services (in this section referred to 


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1 as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall, either directly or by grant to 

2 or contract with the eligible entities described in sub3 section (b), provide services described in subsection (c) for 

4 birthmothers who are placing a child for adoption. 

5 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The eligible entities re6 ferred to in subsection (a) are States, local governmental 

7 entities, and public or private agencies or organizations, 

8 including public or private licensed child welfare or adop9 tion agencies or adoptive family groups and faith-based 

10 organizations. 

11 (c) TYPES OF SERVICES.—The types of services re12 ferred to in subsection (a) are— 

13 (1) counseling services for birthmothers who are 

14 placing or have placed a child for adoption, includ15 ing— 

16 (A) individual counseling; 

17 (B) mental health counseling; and 

18 (C) substance abuse counseling; 

19 (2) provide information relating to the avail20 ability of post-adoption services and benefits for 

21 birthmothers, including contact information for post22 adoption services and benefits provided by States 

23 and local units of government, as appropriate; and 

24 (3) training of staff at hospitals and other ap25 propriate birth care facilities relating to interaction 


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1 of such staff with birthmothers and adoptive fami2 lies. 

3 (d) APPLICATION.—Each eligible entity referred to in 

4 subsection (a) that desires to receive a grant or enter into 

5 a contract with the Secretary under subsection (a) shall 

6 submit an application to the Secretary that describes the 

7 manner in which the entity will use funds under the grant 

8 or contract during the 3 fiscal years subsequent to the 

9 date of the application to accomplish the purposes of this 

10 section. Such application shall be submitted in a form and 

11 manner determined to be appropriate by the Secretary. 

12 (e) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall require each eli13 gible entity referred to in subsection (a) that receives a 

14 grant or enters into a contract with the Secretary under 

15 subsection (a) to submit to the Secretary a report on the 

16 services provided or activities carried out by the entity for 

17 each fiscal year for which the entity receives amounts 

18 under the grant or contract. The report shall contain such 

19 information as the Secretary determines is necessary to 

20 provide an accurate description of the services provided 

21 or activities carried out with such amounts. 

22 (f) SERVICES TO SUPPLEMENT AND NOT SUP23 PLANT.—Services provided under a grant or contract 

24 under subsection (a) shall supplement, and not supplant, 


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1 services provided using any other funds made available for 

2 the same general purposes. 

3 (g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE

4 PROVISIONS.—The Secretary shall— 

5 (1) provide technical assistance to eligible enti6 ties referred to in subsection (a) that receive a grant 

7 or enter into a contract with the Secretary under 

8 subsection (a) for purposes of providing the services 

9 described in subsection (c); 

10 (2) as appropriate, coordinate the provision of 

11 services described in subsection (c) with other adop12 tion-related research, training, services, and assist13 ance activities carried out by the Department of 

14 Health and Human Services; and 

15 (3) either directly, or by grant to or contract 

16 with a public or private agency or organization— 

17 (A) evaluate the implementation and effec18 tiveness of the provision of services described in 

19 subsection (c) and other activities carried out 

20 under this section; 

21 (B) identify different pre-placement serv22 ices provided for birthmothers, the availability 

23 and utilization of such services, and how pre24 placement services might be improved; and 


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1 (C) not later than 3 years after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, submit to Con3 gress a report that contains the results of the 

4 evaluation under subparagraph (A) and the in5 formation described in subparagraph (B). 

6 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this Act, there are 

8 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Health 

9 and Human Services— 

10 (1) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; and 

11 (2) such sums as may be necessary for each of 

12 the fiscal years 2021 through 2024. 

13 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant 

14 to the authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) 

15 are authorized to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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