I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5640 

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

for birthparents who have placed a child for adoption, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2008 

Mrs. SCHMIDT (for herself and Mr. OBERSTAR) 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 birthparents who 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 ‘‘Birthparent Assistance 

5 Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to enhance post-placement services for 

9 birthparents who have placed a child for adoption; 


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1 (2) to initiate or enhance post-placement coun2 seling services for birthparents who have placed a 

3 child for adoption; and 

4 (3) to identify how post-placement services for 

5 birthparents who have placed a child for adoption 

6 can be improved. 

7 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF POST-ADOPTION SERVICES 

8 FOR BIRTHPARENTS. 

9 (a) SERVICES AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of 

10 Health and Human Services shall, either directly or by 

11 grant to or contract with the eligible entities described in 

12 subsection (b), provide services described in subsection (c) 

13 for birthparents who have placed a child for adoption. 

14 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The eligible entities re15 ferred to in subsection (a) are States, local governmental 

16 entities, and public or private agencies or organizations, 

17 including public or private licensed child welfare or adop18 tion agencies or adoptive family groups and faith-based 

19 organizations. 

20 (c) TYPES OF SERVICES.—The types of services re21 ferred to in subsection (a) are— 

22 (1) post-legal adoption services for birthparents; 

23 (2) counseling services for birthparents who 

24 have placed a child for adoption, including— 

25 (A) individual counseling; 


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1 (B) group counseling; and 

2 (C) family counseling; 

3 (3) establishment and operation of a nationally4 available hotline to— 

5 (A) provide counseling services described in 

6 paragraph (2) for birthparents; and 

7 (B) provide other information relating to 

8 the availability of post-adoption services and 

9 benefits for birthparents, including contact in10 formation for post-adoption services and bene11 fits provided by States and local units of gov12 ernment, as appropriate; and 

13 (4) training of staff at hospitals and other ap14 propriate birth care facilities relating to interaction 

15 of such staff with birthparents and adoptive families. 

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

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

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

19 submit an application to the Secretary that describes the 

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

21 or contract during the 3 fiscal years subsequent to the 

22 date of the application to accomplish the purposes of this 

23 section. Such application shall be in a form and manner 

24 determined to be appropriate by the Secretary. 


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1 (e) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall require each eli2 gible entity referred to in subsection (a) that receives a 

3 grant or enters into a contract with the Secretary under 

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

5 services provided or activities carried out by the entity for 

6 each fiscal year for which the entity receives amounts 

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

8 information as the Secretary determines is necessary to 

9 provide an accurate description of the services provided 

10 or activities carried out with such amounts. 

11 (f) SERVICES TO SUPPLEMENT AND NOT SUP12 PLANT.—Services provided under a grant or contract 

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

14 services provided using any other funds made available for 

15 the same general purposes. 

16 (g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE

17 PROVISIONS.—The Secretary shall— 

18 (1) provide technical assistance to eligible enti19 ties referred to in subsection (a) that receive a grant 

20 or enter into a contract with the Secretary under 

21 subsection (a) for purposes of providing the services 

22 described in subsection (c); 

23 (2) as appropriate, coordinate the provision of 

24 services described in subsection (c) with other adop25 tion-related research, training, services, and assistVerDate Aug 31 2005 19:15 Mar 15, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5640.IH H5640

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1 ance activities carried out by the Department of 

2 Health and Human Services; and 

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

4 with a public or private agency or organization— 

5 (A) evaluate the implementation and effec6 tiveness of the provision of services described in 

7 subsection (c) and other activities carried out 

8 under this section; 

9 (B) identify different post-placement serv10 ices provided for birthparents, the availability 

11 and utilization of such services, and how post12 placement services might be improved; and 

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

14 of the enactment of this Act, submit to Con15 gress a report that contains the results of the 

16 evaluation under subparagraph (A) and the in17 formation described in subparagraph (B). 

18 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

20 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Health 

21 and Human Services— 

22 (1) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; and 

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

24 the fiscal years 2010 through 2013. 


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1 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant 

2 to the authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) 

3 are authorized to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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