II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2475 

To realign structures and reallocate resources in the Federal Government, 

in keeping with the core American belief that families are the best 

protection for children and the bedrock of any society, to bolster United 

States diplomacy and assistance targeted at ensuring that every child 

can grow up in a permanent, safe, nurturing, and loving family, and 

to strengthen intercountry adoption to the United States and around 

the world and ensure that it becomes a viable and fully developed option 

for providing families for children in need, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 17, 2014 

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BURR, Mr. CASEY, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. COONS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. KING, Mr. KIRK, 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. 

PRYOR, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. STABENOW, 

Mr. THUNE, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To realign structures and reallocate resources in the Federal 

Government, in keeping with the core American belief 

that families are the best protection for children and 

the bedrock of any society, to bolster United States diplomacy and assistance targeted at ensuring that every child 

can grow up in a permanent, safe, nurturing, and loving 

family, and to strengthen intercountry adoption to the 

United States and around the world and ensure that 

it becomes a viable and fully developed option for proVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:14 Jun 19, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\S2475.IS S2475

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viding families for children in need, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Children in Families First Act of 2014’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is 

7 as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings; purposes. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—REALIGNMENT OF CERTAIN INTERNATIONAL CHILD 

WELFARE RESPONSIBILITIES AND FUNCTIONS 

Sec. 101. Establishment of the Office of Vulnerable Children and Family Security in the Department of State. 

Sec. 102. Responsibilities of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for accreditation of adoption service providers. 

Sec. 103. Transfer of functions and savings provisions. 

Sec. 104. Responsibilities of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for 

adoption-related case processing. 

TITLE II—ANNUAL REPORTING 

Sec. 201. Annual report on children living without families. 

Sec. 202. Country reports regarding severe forms of trafficking. 

TITLE III—PROMOTION OF A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH FOR 

CHILDREN IN ADVERSITY 

Sec. 301. Establishment of a USAID Center for Excellence for Children in Adversity. 

TITLE IV—FUNDING AND EFFECTIVE DATES 

Sec. 401. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 402. Effective dates. 

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find10 ings: 


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1 (1) The people of the United States recognize 

2 and believe that children must grow up in perma3 nent, safe, and nurturing families in order to develop 

4 and thrive. 

5 (2) Science proves that children, and particu6 larly infants, living in impersonal, socially deprived 

7 institutions suffer lasting, and in many cases, irre8 versible damage, including— 

9 (A) reduced brain activity and brain size; 

10 (B) lower intelligence quotients; 

11 (C) serious behavioral and emotional prob12 lems; and 

13 (D) disturbed relationships with others. 

14 (3) Governments in other countries seek models 

15 that promote the placement of children who are liv16 ing outside family care in permanent, safe, and nur17 turing families, rather than in foster care or institu18 tions; but many governments lack the resources or 

19 infrastructure to adequately address this need. 

20 (4) Despite the good efforts of countless gov21 ernments and nongovernmental organizations, mil22 lions of children remain uncounted and outside of 

23 the protection, nurturing care, permanence, safety, 

24 and love of a family. 


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1 (5) No reliable data currently exists to define 

2 and document the number and needs of children in 

3 the world currently living without families, but avail4 able evidence demonstrates that there are millions of 

5 children in this situation needing immediate help. 

6 (6) The December 2012 Action Plan for Chil7 dren in Adversity commits the United States Gov8 ernment to achieving a world in which all children 

9 grow up within protective family care and free from 

10 deprivation, exploitation, and danger. To effectively 

11 and efficiently accomplish this goal, it is necessary 

12 to realign the United States Government’s current 

13 operational system for assisting orphans and vulner14 able children, and processing intercountry adoptions. 

15 (7) Significant resources are already dedicated 

16 to international assistance for orphans and vulner17 able children, and a relatively small portion of these 

18 resources can be reallocated to achieve more timely, 

19 effective, nurturing, and permanent familial solu20 tions for children living without families, resulting in 

21 fewer children worldwide living in institutions or on 

22 the streets, more families preserved or reunified, and 

23 increased domestic and international adoptions. 

24 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 


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1 (1) to support the core American value that 

2 families are the bedrock of any society; 

3 (2) to protect the fundamental human right of 

4 all children to grow up within the loving care of per5 manent, safe, and nurturing families; 

6 (3) to address a critical gap in United States 

7 foreign policy implementation by adjusting the Fed8 eral Government’s international policy and oper9 ational structures so that seeking permanent fami10 lies for children living without families receives more 

11 prominence, focus, and resources (through the re12 allocation of existing personnel and resources); 

13 (4) to harness the diplomatic and operational 

14 power of the United States Government in the inter15 national sphere by helping to identify and implement 

16 timely, permanent, safe, and nurturing familial solu17 tions for children living without families, including 

18 refugee or stateless children, through effective imple19 mentation of the 3 principal objectives of the Action 

20 Plan on Children in Adversity; 

21 (5) to ensure that intercountry adoption by 

22 United States citizens becomes a viable and fully de23 veloped option for creating permanent families for 

24 children who need them; 


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1 (6) to protect against abuses of children, birth 

2 families, and adoptive parents involved in inter3 country adoptions, and to ensure that such adop4 tions are in the individual child’s best interests; and 

5 (7) to harmonize and strengthen existing inter6 country adoption processes under United States 

7 law— 

8 (A) by ensuring that the same set of proce9 dures and criteria govern suitability and eligi10 bility determinations for prospective adoptive 

11 parents seeking to complete intercountry adop12 tions, whether or not the child is from a foreign 

13 state that is a party to the Hague Adoption 

14 Convention; and 

15 (B) by aligning the definitions of eligible 

16 child for Convention adoptions and non-Conven17 tion adoptions to the maximum extent possible. 

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) ACTION PLAN ON CHILDREN IN ADVER21 SITY.—The term ‘‘Action Plan on Children in Adver22 sity’’ means the policy document entitled ‘‘United 

23 States Government Action Plan on Children in Ad24 versity: A Framework for International Assistance: 

25 2012–2017’’, released on December 19, 2012, inVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:14 Jun 19, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2475.IS S2475

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1 cluding any subsequent amendments or revisions re2 leased by the United States Government before the 

3 end of 2017. 

4 (2) APPROPRIATE, PROTECTIVE, AND PERMA5 NENT FAMILY CARE.—The term ‘‘appropriate, pro6 tective, and permanent family care’’ means a nur7 turing, lifelong, commitment to a child by an adult, 

8 or adults with parental roles and responsibilities 

9 that— 

10 (A) provides physical and emotional sup11 port; 

12 (B) provides the child with a sense of be13 longing; and 

14 (C) generally involves full legal recognition 

15 of the child’s status as child of the parents and 

16 of the parents’ rights and responsibilities re17 garding the child. 

18 (3) CENTRAL AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘central 

19 authority’’ has the meaning given the term in sec20 tion 3 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 

21 U.S.C. 14902). 

22 (4) CHILDREN IN ADVERSITY.—The term ‘‘chil23 dren in adversity’’ means children and youth— 

24 (A) who are younger than 18 years of age; 


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1 (B) who live inside or outside of family 

2 care; and 

3 (C) whose safety, well-being, growth, and 

4 development are at significant risk due to inad5 equate care, protection, or access to essential 

6 services. 

7 (5) CONVENTION ADOPTION.—The term ‘‘Con8 vention adoption’’ has the meaning given the term in 

9 section 3 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 

10 (42 U.S.C. 14902). 

11 (6) CONVENTION COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Con12 vention country’’ has the meaning given the term in 

13 section 3 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 

14 (42 U.S.C. 14902) and for which the Hague Adop15 tion Convention has entered into force. 

16 (7) FAMILY.—The term ‘‘family’’ means a col17 lective body of persons, consisting of at least 1 child 

18 and 1 parent, legal custodian, or adult relative, in 

19 which— 

20 (A) the persons reside in the same house 

21 or living unit; or 

22 (B) the parent, legal custodian, or adult 

23 relative has a legal responsibility by blood, mar24 riage, or legal order to support or care for the 

25 child. 


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1 (8) GUARDIANSHIP.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘guardian3 ship’’ means a permanent legal relationship be4 tween an adult and a child, in which the adult 

5 is lawfully invested with the power, and charged 

6 with the duty, of taking care of the child. 

7 (B) PERMANENT GUARDIANSHIP.—While 

8 some forms of guardianship are not truly per9 manent, the form of guardianship referred to 

10 and supported under this Act is permanent 

11 guardianship. 

12 (C) KEFALA ORDER.—A Kefala order 

13 issued by a country that follows traditional Is14 lamic law does not qualify as an adoption under 

15 United States law, but may be a form of guard16 ianship in some circumstances. 

17 (D) FAMILY-LIKE GROUP HOMES.—Indi18 vidual parent-child relationships in a small, 

19 family-like group home in which caretaking is 

20 provided only by 1 or more unpaid caretakers 

21 might, in some circumstances, qualify as a 

22 guardianship if legalized in that form. 

23 (E) PAID GUARDIANSHIP.—The term 

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1 priate in cases involving children with disabil2 ities. 

3 (9) HABITUAL RESIDENCE DETERMINATION.— 

4 The term ‘‘habitual residence determination’’ means 

5 a factual determination of where a prospective adop6 tive parent (or parents) resides and where the child 

7 resides for purposes of an intercountry adoption 

8 case. 

9 (10) HAGUE ADOPTION CONVENTION.—The 

10 term ‘‘Hague Adoption Convention’’ means the Con11 vention of Protection of Children and Cooperation in 

12 Respect of Intercountry Adoption, concluded at The 

13 Hague May 29, 1993. 

14 (11) INSTITUTIONAL CARE.—The term ‘‘institu15 tional care’’ means care provided in any nonfamily16 based group setting, including— 

17 (A) orphanages; 

18 (B) transit or interim care centers; 

19 (C) children’s homes; 

20 (D) children’s villages or cottage com21 plexes; and 

22 (E) boarding schools used primarily for 

23 care purposes as an alternative to a children’s 

24 home. 


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1 (12) KINSHIP CARE.—The term ‘‘kinship 

2 care’’— 

3 (A) means the full-time care, nurturing, 

4 and protection of children by relatives, members 

5 of their tribes or clans, godparents, stepparents, 

6 or any adult who has a kinship bond with a 

7 child, if such persons have the capacity and 

8 commitment to function as true parents for the 

9 child on a permanent basis; and 

10 (B) does not include paid kinship foster 

11 care, except in the case of children with disabil12 ities. 

13 (13) NON-CONVENTION ADOPTION.—The term 

14 ‘‘non-Convention adoption’’ means— 

15 (A) an adoption by United States parents 

16 of a child from a non-Convention country in ac17 cordance with subparagraph (F) of section 

18 101(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality 

19 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)); 

20 (B) an adoption by United States parents 

21 of a child under the laws of the child’s country 

22 of origin (generally when the parents are living 

23 in the child’s country of origin and therefore 

24 able legally to complete a domestic adoption); or 


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1 (C) in certain circumstances (generally 

2 with respect to relative adoptions or adoptions 

3 by dual national parents), an adoption by 

4 United States parents of a child from a Con5 vention country if that country allows legal and 

6 valid adoptions to take place outside the scope 

7 of the Convention. 

8 (14) NON-CONVENTION COUNTRY.—The term 

9 ‘‘non-Convention country’’ means a country in which 

10 the Hague Adoption Convention has not entered into 

11 force, regardless of whether or not that country has 

12 signed the Convention. 

13 (15) UNPARENTED CHILDREN.—The term 

14 ‘‘unparented children’’ means children lacking the 

15 legal, permanent, safe, and nurturing care of a pa16 rental figure or figures, either inside their country of 

17 origin, in the country of their habitual residence, or 

18 elsewhere, regardless of their lawful or unlawful im19 migration status in their current country of resi20 dence. 


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1 TITLE I—REALIGNMENT OF CER2 TAIN INTERNATIONAL CHILD 

3 WELFARE RESPONSIBILITIES 

4 AND FUNCTIONS 

5 SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE OF VULNER6 ABLE CHILDREN AND FAMILY SECURITY IN 

7 THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

9 the Department of State the Office of Vulnerable Children 

10 and Family Security (referred to in this Act as the 

11 ‘‘VCFS’’), which shall be located in the Secretariat for Ci12 vilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights and shall 

13 promote and support the following activities: 

14 (1) The development and implementation in for15 eign countries of child welfare laws, regulations, 

16 policies, best practices, and procedures in keeping 

17 with the goals articulated in the Action Plan for 

18 Children in Adversity, including— 

19 (A) the sound development of children 

20 through the integration of health, nutrition, and 

21 family support; 

22 (B) supporting and enabling families to 

23 care for children through family preservation, 

24 reunification, and support of kinship care, 


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1 guardianship, and domestic and intercountry 

2 adoption; and 

3 (C) facilitating the efforts of national gov4 ernments and partners to prevent, respond to, 

5 and protect children from violence, exploitation, 

6 abuse, and neglect. 

7 (2) Addressing the gap in United States Gov8 ernment diplomacy, policy, and operations with re9 spect to promoting appropriate, protective, and per10 manent family care for children living without fami11 lies by leading the development and implementation 

12 of policies that will ensure the timely provision of 

13 appropriate, protective, and permanent family care 

14 for children living without families, including refugee 

15 and stateless children, through the full continuum of 

16 permanence solutions, including family preservation 

17 and reunification, kinship care, guardianship, and 

18 domestic and intercountry adoption. 

19 (b) AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE.— 

20 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The VCFS shall be headed 

21 by an Ambassador-at-Large, who shall be appointed 

22 by the President by and with the consent of the Sen23 ate. 

24 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Ambassador-at25 Large shall— 


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1 (A) have experience in the development of 

2 policies and systems and the implementation of 

3 programs that promote the goals of the Action 

4 Plan for Children in Adversity; 

5 (B) be knowledgeable of international child 

6 welfare, family permanence, and family creation 

7 through domestic and intercountry adoption; 

8 and 

9 (C) be committed to developing an inte10 grated United States Government approach to 

11 international child welfare that places equal em12 phasis on— 

13 (i) early childhood survival and devel14 opment; 

15 (ii) family permanence; and 

16 (iii) protection from abuse and exploi17 tation. 

18 (3) AUTHORITY.—The Ambassador-at-Large 

19 shall report to the Under Secretary for Civilian Se20 curity, Democracy and Human Rights. 

21 (c) FUNCTIONS.— 

22 (1) ADVISORY.—The Ambassador-at-Large 

23 shall serve as a primary advisor to the Secretary of 

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1 nerable children and family security in foreign coun2 tries. 

3 (2) DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION.—Subject to 

4 the direction of the President and the Secretary of 

5 State, and in consultation and coordination with the 

6 Senior Coordinator for Children in Adversity of the 

7 United States Agency for International Develop8 ment, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

9 Ambassador-at-Large shall represent the United 

10 States in matters relevant to international child wel11 fare, family preservation and reunification, and pro12 vision of permanent, safe parental care through kin13 ship, domestic and intercountry adoption in— 

14 (A) contacts with foreign governments, 

15 nongovernmental organizations, intergovern16 mental agencies, and specialized agencies of the 

17 United Nations and other international organi18 zations of which the United States is a member; 

19 (B) multilateral conferences and meetings 

20 relevant to family preservation, reunification, 

21 and creating appropriate, protective, and per22 manent care for unparented children; and 

23 (C) fulfillment of the diplomatic respon24 sibilities designated to the central authority 

25 under title I of the Intercountry Adoption Act 


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1 of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14911 et seq.), as amended 

2 by this Act. 

3 (3) POLICY DEVELOPMENT WITH RESPECT TO

4 PERMANENCE FOR UNPARENTED CHILDREN.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Ambassador-at6 Large shall— 

7 (i) develop and advocate for policies 

8 and practices to ensure that children in 

9 foreign countries who are living without 

10 families find appropriate, protective, and 

11 permanent family care which is in the best 

12 interest of each child; 

13 (ii) give consideration to family pres14 ervation and reunification, kinship care, 

15 guardianship, and domestic and inter16 country adoption; and 

17 (iii) seek to develop and implement 

18 policies that lead to the use of all options 

19 for providing appropriate, protective, and 

20 permanent family care to children living 

21 without families as quickly as possible. 

22 (B) BEST INTEREST DETERMINATION.—In 

23 carrying out subparagraph (A), the Ambas24 sador-at-Large shall give preference to options 

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1 cluding options which provide children with 

2 fully protected legal status as children and par3 ents with full legal status as parents, including 

4 full parental rights and responsibilities. 

5 (C) SUBSIDIARITY.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—All options for pro7 viding appropriate, protective, and perma8 nent family care to children living without 

9 families must be considered concurrently 

10 and permanent solutions must be put in 

11 place as quickly as possible. Solutions in12 clude family preservation and reunification, 

13 kinship care, guardianship, domestic and 

14 intercountry adoption, and other culturally 

15 acceptable forms of care that will result in 

16 appropriate, protective, and permanent 

17 family care. Preference should be given to 

18 options that optimize the child’s best inter19 ests, which generally means options which 

20 provide children with fully protected legal 

21 status and parents with full legal status as 

22 parents, including full parental rights and 

23 responsibilities. The principle of 

24 subsidiarity, which gives preference to in25 country solutions, should be implemented 


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1 within the context of a concurrent planning 

2 strategy, exploring in- and out-of-country 

3 options simultaneously. If an in-country 

4 placement serving the child’s best interest 

5 and providing appropriate, protective, and 

6 permanent care is not quickly available, 

7 and such an international home is avail8 able, the child should be placed in that 

9 international home without delay. 

10 (ii) INTERIM PLACEMENTS.—Nothing 

11 in this subsection may be construed to pre12 clude interim placements, including in kin13 ship care, foster care, and small group 

14 homes, to temporarily improve children’s 

15 living conditions in individual cir16 cumstances in which— 

17 (I) a permanent solution is not 

18 immediately available if ongoing ef19 forts are made to move the child from 

20 interim to permanent placement as 

21 soon as possible; and 

22 (II) the child’s best interests will 

23 be served. 

24 (iii) EXCEPTIONS.—Exceptions to the 

25 general rule set forth in clauses (i) and (ii) 


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1 may be made, as needed in individual 

2 cases, to serve the child’s best interests, in3 cluding the following: 

4 (I) Permanent guardianship may 

5 be preferable to adoption in certain 

6 cases where the child has developed a 

7 powerful bond to a loving guardian 

8 who prefers not to adopt because of 

9 the child’s ties to birth parents who 

10 love the child, but are not in a posi11 tion to provide appropriate nurturing. 

12 (II) Options generally viewed as 

13 interim solutions, such as foster care 

14 and small group homes, may be pref15 erable to family reunification when 

16 the parents are not in a position to 

17 provide appropriate nurturing. 

18 (III) For children with disabil19 ities, solutions to prevent institu20 tionalization and to assist with re21 integration into the community from 

22 institutions, include payment and sup23 port to families, substitute families, 

24 small group homes, or kinship care. 


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1 (D) BEST PRACTICES.—In developing poli2 cies and programs under this Act, the Ambas3 sador-at-Large shall identify and utilize evi4 dence-based programs and best practices in 

5 family preservation and reunification and provi6 sion of permanent parental care through guard7 ianship, kinship care, and domestic and inter8 country adoption as derived from a wide variety 

9 of domestic, foreign, and global policies and 

10 practices. 

11 (E) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Am12 bassador-at-Large, in consultation with other 

13 appropriate Federal agencies, shall provide 

14 technical assistance to governments of foreign 

15 countries to help build their child welfare capac16 ities, particularly pertaining to family-based 

17 permanence. Such assistance should aim to 

18 strengthen family preservation and reunification 

19 and the provision of appropriate, protective, and 

20 permanent family care through kinship care, 

21 guardianship, and domestic and intercountry 

22 adoption, including assistance with— 

23 (i) the drafting, disseminating, and 

24 implementing of legislation; 


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1 (ii) the development of implementing 

2 systems and procedures; 

3 (iii) the establishment of public, pri4 vate, and faith- and community-based 

5 partnerships; 

6 (iv) the development of workforce 

7 training for governmental and nongovern8 mental staff; and 

9 (v) infrastructure development and 

10 data collection techniques necessary to 

11 identify and document the number and 

12 needs of children living without appro13 priate, protective, and permanent family 

14 care. 

15 (4) RESPONSIBILITIES WITH RESPECT TO

16 INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The VCFS, in coordi18 nation with other offices of the Department of 

19 State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

20 Services, shall have lead responsibility for rep21 resenting the United States Government in dis22 cussions, negotiations, and diplomatic contacts 

23 pertaining to intercountry adoptions. 

24 (B) CENTRAL AUTHORITY RESPONSIBILITY

25 UNDER THE INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION ACT OF


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1 2000.—Section 101(b)(2) of the Intercountry 

2 Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14911(b)(2)) 

3 is amended by striking ‘‘Office of Children’s 

4 Issues’’ and inserting ‘‘Office of Vulnerable 

5 Children and Family Security’’. 

6 (C) DETERMINATIONS OF HAGUE ADOP7 TION CONVENTION COMPLIANCE.—The VCFS, 

8 in consultation with other offices of the Depart9 ment of State, and the Department of Home10 land Security, shall have lead responsibility for 

11 determining whether a Convention partner 

12 country has met its obligations under the 

13 Hague Adoption Convention and is eligible to 

14 participate in intercountry adoptions in accord15 ance with United States law. Such determina16 tions shall be documented in writing, based on 

17 standardized criteria, and available for public 

18 review and comment. 

19 (D) NEGOTIATION OF BILATERAL AGREE20 MENTS.—The VCFS, in consultation with the 

21 Secretary of Homeland Security, shall have lead 

22 responsibility for the negotiation of bilateral 

23 agreements with other countries pertaining to 

24 intercountry adoption and in conformity with 

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1 tion when the other country is a Convention 

2 partner. 

3 (5) POLICY COORDINATION.—The Ambassador4 at-Large shall coordinate with the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security and the Administrator of the 

6 United States Agency for International Development 

7 to maintain consistency in United States foreign and 

8 domestic policy and operations with respect to chil9 dren living outside family care in foreign countries, 

10 particularly those living without families. 

11 (6) INFORMATION COORDINATION.—The Am12 bassador-at-Large shall transmit— 

13 (A) any intercountry adoption related case 

14 information received from the Central Authority 

15 of another Convention country to the Secretary 

16 of Homeland Security; and 

17 (B) any intercountry adoption related case 

18 information that the Secretary of Homeland Se19 curity requests to the Central Authority of an20 other Convention country. 

21 SEC. 102. RESPONSIBILITIES OF U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IM22 MIGRATION SERVICES FOR ACCREDITATION 

23 OF ADOPTION SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

24 (a) GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER THE

25 INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION ACT OF 2000.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Intercountry Adoption 

2 Act of 2000 (Public Law 106–279; 114 Stat. 825) 

3 is amended by inserting after section 103 (42 U.S.C. 

4 14913) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 103A. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 

6 HOMELAND SECURITY. 

7 ‘‘(a) ACCREDITATION AND APPROVAL RESPONSIBIL8 ITIES.—The Secretary of Homeland Security, working 

9 through the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

10 Services, shall carry out the functions prescribed by the 

11 Convention with respect to the accreditation of agencies 

12 and the approval of persons to provide adoption services 

13 in the United States in cases subject to the Convention 

14 as provided in title II. Such functions may not be dele15 gated to any other Federal agency. 

16 ‘‘(b) INVESTIGATIONS.—The Secretary of Homeland 

17 Security shall be responsible for managing and overseeing 

18 investigations related to the operation and services of 

19 adoption service providers, whether directly or indirectly. 

20 ‘‘(c) LIAISON WITH FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS ON

21 POST-PLACEMENT REPORTS AND CERTAIN ADOPTION

22 CASES.—The Secretary of Homeland Security shall serve 

23 as the liaison with foreign governments with respect to 

24 queries about required post-placement reports and about 

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1 dren are living in the United States, including queries 

2 about the status of adopted children who are living in the 

3 United States in cases involving allegations of abuse, ne4 glect, abandonment, or death.’’. 

5 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 1 of such 

6 Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 

7 to section 103 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 103A. Responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security.’’. 

8 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 102 

9 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 14912) is amended— 

10 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘The 

11 Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided 

12 for under section 103A, the Secretary’’; 

13 (B) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘, in co14 ordination with the Secretary of Homeland Se15 curity,’’ after ‘‘The Secretary’’; 

16 (C) by striking subsection (c); 

17 (D) by redesignating subsections (d) and 

18 (f) as subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and 

19 (E) by striking subsection (e). 

20 (b) ACCREDITATION RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER THE

21 INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION ACT OF 2000.— 

22 (1) DESIGNATION OF ACCREDITING AGEN23 CIES.—Section 202 of the Intercountry Adoption Act 

24 of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14922) is amended by inserting 


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•S 2475 IS

1 ‘‘of Homeland Security’’ after ‘‘Secretary’’ each 

2 place it appears. 

3 (2) STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES FOR PRO4 VIDING ACCREDITATION OR APPROVAL.—Section 203 

5 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 

6 14923) is amended by inserting ‘‘of Homeland Secu7 rity’’ after ‘‘Secretary’’ each place it appears in sub8 sections (a) and (b). 

9 (3) OVERSIGHT OF ACCREDITATION AND AP10 PROVAL.—Section 204 of the Intercountry Adoption 

11 Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14924) is amended— 

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘of Homeland Security’’ 

13 after ‘‘Secretary’’ each place it appears; and 

14 (B) in subsection (c)— 

15 (i) in paragraph (1), by amending the 

16 paragraph heading to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(4) AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF

18 HOMELAND SECURITY.—’’; and 

19 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 

20 ‘‘Secretary’s debarment order’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘debarment order of the Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security’’. 

23 (4) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

24 (A) ACCESS TO CONVENTION RECORDS.— 

25 Section 401(b) of the Intercountry Adoption 


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1 Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14941(b)) is amend2 ed— 

3 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, 

4 the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immi5 gration Services,’’ after ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

6 (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting 

7 ‘‘the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Im8 migration Services,’’ after ‘‘Secretary,’’. 

9 (B) ASSESSMENT OF FEES.—Section 

10 403(b) of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 

11 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14943(b)) is amended— 

12 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (I) by inserting ‘‘or the Director 

14 of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 

15 Services’’ after ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

16 (II) by inserting ‘‘or U.S. Citi17 zenship and Immigration Services, re18 spectively,’’ after ‘‘Department of 

19 State’’; and 

20 (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or 

21 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 

22 appropriation, as the case may be,’’ after 

23 ‘‘Department of State appropriation’’. 

24 (c) INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION FUNCTIONS OF U.S. 

25 CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES.— 


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1 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection and in 

2 section 103: 

3 (A) ADOPTION SERVICE.—The term 

4 ‘‘adoption service’’ has the meaning given the 

5 term in section 3 of the Intercountry Adoption 

6 Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14902). 

7 (B) ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR.—The term 

8 ‘‘Associate Director’’ means the Associate Di9 rector of the Directorate. 

10 (C) DIRECTORATE.—Except as otherwise 

11 provided in this subsection, the term ‘‘Direc12 torate’’ means the Field Operations Directorate 

13 of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

14 (2) INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION FUNCTIONS.— 

15 The Associate Director shall carry out— 

16 (A) the functions described in section 

17 103A(a) of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 

18 2000, relating to accreditation of agencies and 

19 approval of persons to provide adoption serv20 ices; 

21 (B) the functions described in section 

22 103A(b) of such Act, relating to management 

23 and oversight of investigations related to the 

24 operation of such providers; and 


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1 (C) the functions described in section 

2 103A(c) of such Act, relating to liaison respon3 sibilities regarding post-placement reports and 

4 certain adoption cases. 

5 (3) INFORMATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

6 (A) DATABASE ON ADOPTION SERVICE

7 PROVIDERS.— 

8 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Associate Di9 rector shall establish and operate, in con10 junction with the Secretary of State, a 

11 publicly accessible database of adoption 

12 service providers. 

13 (ii) AGREEMENT.—The Associate Di14 rector, the Director, and the Secretary of 

15 State shall enter into an agreement under 

16 which the Director and the Secretary shall 

17 provide, for the database, data on inter18 country adoption cases relating to adoption 

19 service providers. 

20 (iii) CONTENTS.—The database shall 

21 include, with respect to each accredited 

22 agency and approved person, who is an 

23 adoption service provider individually, and 

24 to the aggregate of all adoption service 

25 providers— 


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1 (I) information identifying such a 

2 provider; 

3 (II) information on the accredita4 tion status of an agency, or the ap5 proval status of a person, as an adop6 tion service provider; 

7 (III) information on the number 

8 of applications or petitions filed re9 specting adoption and the numbers of 

10 approvals and denials of the applica11 tions or petitions; 

12 (IV) the number of substantiated 

13 grievances filed with respect to an 

14 adoption service provider; and 

15 (V) a description of any sanc16 tions an adoption service provider, or 

17 corrective actions that the provider is 

18 required to take to maintain accredi19 tation or approval described in sub20 clause (II). 

21 (B) DATABASE ON INTERNATIONALLY

22 ADOPTED CHILDREN.— 

23 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Associate Di24 rector, in conjunction with the Secretary of 

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1 base containing data respecting children 

2 involved in intercountry adoption cases 

3 who have immigrated to the United States. 

4 (ii) INFORMATION TRACKING.—Al5 though the data available for adoptions fi6 nalized before the date of the enactment of 

7 this Act will likely be incomplete, the Asso8 ciate Director should seek to import avail9 able data on all adoptions involving chil10 dren who are younger than 18 years of age 

11 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

12 In operating the database established 

13 under clause (i), the Associate Director 

14 shall track information about each such 

15 child before attaining United States citi16 zenship, including— 

17 (I) information identifying a 

18 child and the adoptive or prospective 

19 adoptive parents, including— 

20 (aa) the full name of the 

21 child in the country of origin and 

22 the full name of the child after 

23 the adoption is finalized; 


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1 (bb) the gender, date of 

2 birth, nationality, and citizenship 

3 of the child; 

4 (cc) the physical address of 

5 the child at the time of the adop6 tion; 

7 (dd) the type of visa issued 

8 to the child; and 

9 (ee) the date on which the 

10 child entered the United States; 

11 (II) information on the particular 

12 adoption service provider, if any, pro13 viding services in the particular case; 

14 and 

15 (III) information on immigration 

16 or citizenship status of the child. 

17 (iii) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.— 

18 The Associate Director, the Director, and 

19 the Secretary of State shall enter into an 

20 agreement under which the Secretary of 

21 State shall provide, for the database, data 

22 on intercountry adoption cases concerning 

23 the adopted children, and the adoption 

24 service providers. 


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1 SEC. 103. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS AND SAVINGS PROVI2 SIONS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, unless otherwise 

4 provided or contextually indicated— 

5 (1) the term ‘‘Federal agency’’ has the meaning 

6 given to the term ‘‘agency’’ under section 551(1) of 

7 title 5, United States Code; 

8 (2) the term ‘‘function’’ means any duty, obli9 gation, power, authority, responsibility, right, privi10 lege, activity, or program; and 

11 (3) the term ‘‘office’’ includes any office, ad12 ministration, agency, institute, unit, organizational 

13 entity, or component thereof. 

14 (b) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—There are trans15 ferred to the Directorate, all functions described in section 

16 103A(a) of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, as 

17 added by section 102(a) of this Act, which were exercised 

18 by the Secretary of State before the date of the enactment 

19 of this Act (including all related functions of any officer 

20 or employee of the Department of State), including func21 tions relating to— 

22 (1) the accreditation of agencies and approval 

23 of persons to provide adoption services; 

24 (2) the management and oversight of investiga25 tions related to the operation of such providers; and 


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1 (3) liaison responsibilities with respect to re2 quired post-placement reports. 

3 (c) DETERMINATIONS OF CERTAIN FUNCTIONS BY

4 THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET.—If nec5 essary, the Director of the Office of Management and 

6 Budget shall make any determination with respect to the 

7 transfer of functions under subsection (b). 

8 (d) PERSONNEL PROVISIONS.— 

9 (1) APPOINTMENTS.—The Associate Director 

10 may appoint and fix the compensation of such offi11 cers and employees, including investigators, attor12 neys, and administrative law judges, as may be nec13 essary to carry out the respective functions trans14 ferred under this section. Except as otherwise pro15 vided by law, such officers and employees shall be 

16 appointed in accordance with the civil service laws 

17 and their compensation fixed in accordance with title 

18 5, United States Code. 

19 (2) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Asso20 ciate Director may obtain the services of experts and 

21 consultants in accordance with section 3109 of title 

22 5, United States Code, and compensate such experts 

23 and consultants for each day (including travel time) 

24 at rates not in excess of the rate of pay for level IV 

25 of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of 


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•S 2475 IS

1 such title. The Associate Director may pay experts 

2 and consultants who are serving away from their 

3 homes or regular place of business travel expenses 

4 and per diem in lieu of subsistence at rates author5 ized by sections 5702 and 5703 of such title for per6 sons in Government service employed intermittently. 

7 (e) DELEGATION AND ASSIGNMENT.—Except where 

8 otherwise expressly prohibited by law or otherwise pro9 vided under this section— 

10 (1) the Associate Director may— 

11 (A) delegate any of the functions trans12 ferred to the Associate Director under this sec13 tion and any function transferred or granted to 

14 the Associate Director after the date of the en15 actment of this Act to such officers and employ16 ees of the Directorate as the Associate Director 

17 may designate; and 

18 (B) authorize successive redelegations of 

19 such functions as may be necessary or appro20 priate; and 

21 (2) no delegation of functions by the Associate 

22 Director under this subsection or under any other 

23 provision of this section shall relieve such Associate 

24 Director of responsibility for the administration of 

25 such functions. 


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1 (f) REORGANIZATION.—The Associate Director is au2 thorized— 

3 (1) to allocate or reallocate any function trans4 ferred under subsection (b) among the officers of the 

5 Directorate; and 

6 (2) to establish, consolidate, alter, or dis7 continue such organizational entities in the Direc8 torate as may be necessary or appropriate. 

9 (g) RULES.—The Associate Director is authorized to 

10 prescribe, in accordance with the provisions of chapters 

11 5 and 6 of title 5, United States Code, such rules and 

12 regulations as the Associate Director determines necessary 

13 or appropriate to administer and manage the functions of 

14 the Directorate. 

15 (h) TRANSFER AND ALLOCATIONS OF APPROPRIA16 TIONS AND PERSONNEL.—Except as otherwise provided 

17 under this section and subject to section 1531 of title 31, 

18 United States Code, the personnel employed in connection 

19 with, and the assets, liabilities, contracts, property, 

20 records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, au21 thorizations, allocations, and other funds employed, used, 

22 held, arising from, available to, or to be made available 

23 in connection with the functions transferred under sub24 section (b), shall be transferred to the Directorate. Unex25 pended funds transferred pursuant to this subsection may 


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•S 2475 IS

1 only be used for the purposes for which the funds were 

2 originally authorized and appropriated. 

3 (i) INCIDENTAL TRANSFERS.—The Director of the 

4 Office of Management and Budget— 

5 (1) may, at such time or times as the Director 

6 may prescribe— 

7 (A) make such determinations as may be 

8 necessary with regard to the functions trans9 ferred under subsection (b); and 

10 (B) make such additional incidental dis11 positions of personnel, assets, liabilities, grants, 

12 contracts, property, records, and unexpended 

13 balances of appropriations, authorizations, allo14 cations, and other funds held, used, arising 

15 from, available to, or to be made available in 

16 connection with such functions, as may be nec17 essary to carry out the provisions of this sec18 tion; and 

19 (2) shall provide for— 

20 (A) the termination of the affairs of all en21 tities terminated under this section; and 

22 (B) such further measures and dispositions 

23 as may be necessary to carry out the purposes 

24 of this section. 

25 (j) EFFECT ON PERSONNEL.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro2 vided under this section, the transfer under this sec3 tion of full-time personnel (except special Govern4 ment employees) and part-time personnel holding 

5 permanent positions shall not cause any such em6 ployee to be separated or reduced in grade or com7 pensation during the 1-year period beginning on the 

8 date of such transfer. 

9 (2) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE POSITIONS.—Except 

10 as otherwise provided under this section, any person 

11 who, on the day preceding the date of the enactment 

12 of this Act, held a position compensated in accord13 ance with the Executive Schedule prescribed in chap14 ter 53 of title 5, United States Code, and who, with15 out a break in service, is appointed in the Direc16 torate to a position having duties comparable to the 

17 duties performed immediately preceding such ap18 pointment shall continue to be compensated in such 

19 new position at not less than the rate provided for 

20 such previous position, for the duration of the serv21 ice of such person in such new position. 

22 (3) TERMINATION OF CERTAIN POSITIONS.—All 

23 positions whose functions are transferred under sub24 section (b) and whose incumbents have been ap25 pointed by the President, by and with the advice and 


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•S 2475 IS

1 consent of the Senate, shall terminate on the date of 

2 the enactment of this Act. 

3 (k) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.— 

4 (1) CONTINUING EFFECT OF LEGAL DOCU5 MENTS.—All orders, determinations, rules, regula6 tions, permits, agreements, grants, contracts, certifi7 cates, licenses, registrations, privileges, and other 

8 administrative actions which— 

9 (A) have been issued, made, granted, or al10 lowed to become effective by the President, any 

11 Federal agency or official thereof, or by a court 

12 of competent jurisdiction, in the performance of 

13 functions which are transferred under this sec14 tion; and 

15 (B) are in effect on the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, or were final before such date 

17 of enactment and are to become effective on or 

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

19 shall continue in effect according to their terms until 

20 modified, terminated, superseded, set aside, or re21 voked in accordance with law by the President, the 

22 Associate Director or other authorized official, a 

23 court of competent jurisdiction, or by operation of 

24 law. 


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1 (2) PROCEEDINGS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in 

2 this section may be construed to affect any pro3 ceeding, including a notice of proposed rulemaking, 

4 or any application for any license, permit, certificate, 

5 or financial assistance pending before the Depart6 ment of State on the effective date of this section, 

7 with respect to functions transferred under sub8 section (b). Orders shall be issued in such pro9 ceedings, appeals shall be taken therefrom, and pay10 ments shall be made pursuant to such orders, as if 

11 this section had not been enacted. Orders issued in 

12 any such proceedings shall continue in effect until 

13 modified, terminated, superseded, or revoked by a 

14 duly authorized official, by a court of competent ju15 risdiction, or by operation of law. Nothing in this 

16 paragraph may be construed to prohibit the dis17 continuance or modification of any such proceeding 

18 under the same terms and conditions and to the 

19 same extent that such proceeding could have been 

20 discontinued or modified if this section had not been 

21 enacted. 

22 (3) SUITS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in this 

23 section may be construed to affect suits commenced 

24 before the date of the enactment of this Act. In all 

25 such suits, proceedings shall be had, appeals taken, 


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1 and judgments rendered in the same manner and 

2 with the same effect as if this section had not been 

3 enacted. 

4 (4) NONABATEMENT OF ACTIONS.—No suit, ac5 tion, or other proceeding commenced by or against 

6 the Department of State, or by or against any indi7 vidual in the official capacity of such individual as 

8 an officer of the Department of State, shall abate by 

9 reason of the enactment of this section. 

10 (5) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS RELATING TO

11 PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—Any administra12 tive action relating to the preparation or promulga13 tion of a regulation by the Department of State re14 lating to a function transferred under subsection (b) 

15 may be continued by the Directorate with the same 

16 effect as if this section had not been enacted. 

17 (l) SEPARABILITY.—If a provision of this section or 

18 its application to any person or circumstance is held in19 valid, neither the remainder of this section nor the applica20 tion of the provision to other persons or circumstances 

21 shall be affected. 

22 (m) TRANSITION.—The Associate Director is author23 ized to utilize— 

24 (1) the services of such officers, employees, and 

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1 spect to functions transferred to the Directorate by 

2 this section; and 

3 (2) funds appropriated to such functions for 

4 such period of time as may reasonably be needed to 

5 facilitate the orderly implementation of this section. 

6 (n) REFERENCES.—Reference in any other Federal 

7 law, Executive order, rule, regulation, or delegation of au8 thority, or any document of or relating to— 

9 (1) the Secretary of State with regard to func10 tions transferred under subsection (b), shall be 

11 deemed to refer to the Associate Director; and 

12 (2) the Department of State with regard to 

13 functions transferred under subsection (b), shall be 

14 deemed to refer to the Directorate. 

15 (o) ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (1) RECOMMENDED LEGISLATION.—After con17 sultation with the appropriate committees of Con18 gress and the Director of the Office of Management 

19 and Budget, the Associate Director shall prepare 

20 and submit to Congress recommended legislation 

21 containing technical and conforming amendments to 

22 reflect the changes made by this section. 

23 (2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

24 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

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1 ommended legislation referred to under paragraph 

2 (1) to Congress. 

3 SEC. 104. RESPONSIBILITIES OF U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IM4 MIGRATION SERVICES FOR ADOPTION-RE5 LATED CASE PROCESSING. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu7 rity, acting through the Director of U.S. Citizenship and 

8 Immigration Services— 

9 (1) shall be responsible for processing and case10 specific decisionmaking on all intercountry adoption 

11 cases (up to the point of application for an immi12 grant visa on behalf of the adopted child), including 

13 cases being processed pursuant to the Intercountry 

14 Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14901 et seq.) and 

15 section 2 of the Intercountry Adoption Universal Ac16 creditation Act of 2012 (42 U.S.C. 14925); 

17 (2) shall ensure that all intercountry adoption 

18 suitability and eligibility determinations of prospec19 tive adoptive parents required under subparagraph 

20 (F) or (G) of section 101(b)(1) of the Immigration 

21 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)) are made 

22 in accordance with standard criteria that comply 

23 with the Hague Adoption Convention so that any 

24 such determination justifies a Convention adoption 

25 or a non-Convention adoption; 


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1 (3) to the maximum extent possible, and to the 

2 extent permitted by the country in which the child 

3 resides, shall ensure that all non-Convention adop4 tion cases undergo preprocessing, including— 

5 (A) the filing of a petition and the review 

6 of a child’s eligibility to immigrate to the 

7 United States before the adoption or grant of 

8 legal custody (for purposes of emigration and 

9 adoption in the United States) of that child is 

10 completed in the country of origin; and 

11 (B) the completion of all necessary and rel12 evant investigations associated with the petition 

13 before the country of origin finalizes the adop14 tion or grants legal custody for purposes of 

15 emigration and adoption in the United States; 

16 (4) except as provided in paragraph (5), shall 

17 be responsible for all case processing steps in Con18 vention and non-Convention adoption petitions on 

19 behalf of children whom United States parents pro20 pose to immigrate to the United States (except for 

21 the processing of immigrant visas), including proc22 essing of all necessary Hague Adoption Convention 

23 certifications and the final adjudication of the immi24 gration petitions; and 


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1 (5) may delegate the responsibility for com2 pleting certain elements of case adjudication to the 

3 Secretary of State if the Department of Homeland 

4 Security— 

5 (A) cannot adequately complete such ele6 ments due to the need for physical presence in 

7 the country of origin or other processing-related 

8 circumstances; and 

9 (B) defines and monitors the parameters 

10 for the elements delegated to the Secretary of 

11 State and retains final decisionmaking author12 ity. 

13 (b) FOREIGN ADOPTION DECREES.— 

14 (1) CONVENTION COUNTRIES.—The 2-year 

15 legal custody and joint residence requirements set 

16 forth in section 101(b)(1)(E) of the Immigration 

17 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)(E)) shall 

18 not apply if the documentation submitted on behalf 

19 of a child includes— 

20 (A) an adoption decree issued by a com21 petent authority (as such term is used in the 

22 Hague Adoption Convention) of the child’s 

23 country of origin and evidence that the adoption 

24 was granted in compliance with the Hague 

25 Adoption Convention; or 


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•S 2475 IS

1 (B) a custody or guardianship decree 

2 issued by the competent authority of the child’s 

3 country of origin to the adoptive parents, and 

4 a final adoption decree, verifying that the adop5 tion of the child was later finalized outside the 

6 United States by the adoptive parents, in addi7 tion to evidence that the custody or guardian8 ship was granted in compliance with the Hague 

9 Adoption Convention. 

10 (2) SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE WITH HAGUE

11 ADOPTION CONVENTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

12 apply unless— 

13 (A) on the date on which the underlying 

14 adoption, custody, or guardianship decree was 

15 issued by the child’s country of origin— 

16 (i) that country’s adoption procedures 

17 complied with the requirements of the 

18 Hague Adoption Convention (as deter19 mined by the United States central author20 ity); and 

21 (ii) the competent authority of the 

22 country of origin certified that the adop23 tion is consistent with Article 23 of the 

24 Hague Adoption Convention; and 


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1 (B) the adoption was a Convention adop2 tion that was completed between 2 Convention 

3 countries other than the United States. 

4 (3) NON-CONVENTION COUNTRIES.—The Sec5 retary of Homeland Security may accept the filing of 

6 petitions on behalf of children living in non-Conven7 tion countries in the absence of a final adoption de8 cree. 

9 (c) COOPERATION WITH FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.— 

10 The Secretary of Homeland Security may interact directly 

11 with the central authority of a Convention country or a 

12 competent authority of a non-Convention country, as ap13 propriate— 

14 (1) to facilitate the processing of intercountry 

15 adoption cases, including making habitual residence 

16 determinations relevant to children and prospective 

17 adoptive parents in adoption proceedings; and 

18 (2) to negotiate, in coordination with the De19 partment of State, and to implement bilateral agree20 ments with respect to intercountry adoptions. 

21 (d) AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERCOUNTRY ADOP22 TION ACT OF 2000.— 

23 (1) TRANSFER OF RESPONSIBILITIES TO THE

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1 country Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14901 et 

2 seq.) is amended— 

3 (A) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each 

4 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security’’; and 

6 (B) in the heading of section 103, by strik7 ing ‘‘ATTORNEY GENERAL’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY’’. 

9 (2) HAGUE CONVENTION CERTIFICATES.—Sec10 tion 301 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 14931) is amend11 ed— 

12 (A) in subsection (a)— 

13 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik14 ing ‘‘SECRETARY OF STATE’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY’’; 

16 and 

17 (ii) in the heading to paragraph (1), 

18 by striking ‘‘SECRETARY OF STATE’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SE20 CURITY’’; and 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘Secretary of State’’ each 

22 place it appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security’’. 


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1 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents of such Act is amended by striking the item 

3 relating to section 103 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 103. Responsibilities of the Secretary of Homeland Security.’’. 

4 (e) DEFINITION OF CHILD.—Section 101(b)(1) of the 

5 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (E)— 

8 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘(i) a child 

9 adopted while under the age of sixteen years’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘a child adopted while younger 

11 than 18 years of age’’; and 

12 (B) by striking clause (ii); 

13 (2) by amending subparagraph (F) to read as 

14 follows: 

15 ‘‘(F)(i) a child, younger than 18 years of 

16 age at the time a petition is filed on the child’s 

17 behalf to accord a classification as an imme18 diate relative under section 201(b), and who 

19 has been adopted in a foreign state that is not 

20 a party to the Convention on Protection of Chil21 dren and Co-operation in Respect of Inter22 country Adoption, done at The Hague May 29, 

23 1993, or who is emigrating from such a foreign 

24 state to be adopted in the United States by a 

25 United States citizen and spouse jointly, or by 


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1 an unmarried United States citizen who is at 

2 least 25 years of age, if— 

3 ‘‘(I) the Secretary of Homeland Secu4 rity is satisfied that proper care will be 

5 furnished the child if admitted to the 

6 United States; 

7 ‘‘(II) the child’s natural parents (or 

8 parent, in the case of a child who has 1 

9 sole or surviving parent), or other persons 

10 or institutions that retain legal custody of 

11 the child, have freely given their written ir12 revocable consent to the termination of 

13 their legal relationship with the child, and 

14 to the child’s emigration and adoption; 

15 ‘‘(III) the child has a living parent or 

16 parents who has or have relinquished, or 

17 will relinquish, the child voluntarily for the 

18 purposes of intercountry adoption, and the 

19 parent or parents are incapable of pro20 viding proper care for the child; 

21 ‘‘(IV) the Secretary of Homeland Se22 curity, after considering whether there is a 

23 petition pending to confer immigrant sta24 tus on 1 or both natural parents, is satis25 fied that the purpose of the adoption is to 


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1 form a bona fide parent-child relationship, 

2 and the parent-child relationship of the 

3 child and the natural parents has been ter4 minated; and 

5 ‘‘(V) in the case of a child who has 

6 not been adopted— 

7 ‘‘(aa) the competent authority of 

8 the foreign state has approved the 

9 child’s emigration to the United 

10 States for the purpose of adoption by 

11 the prospective adoptive parent or 

12 parents; and 

13 ‘‘(bb) the prospective adoptive 

14 parent or parents has or have com15 plied with any preadoption require16 ments of the child’s proposed resi17 dence; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) except that no natural parent or prior 

19 adoptive parent of any such child shall there20 after, by virtue of such parentage, be accorded 

21 any right, privilege, or status under this chap22 ter;’’; and 

23 (3) in subparagraph (G)— 

24 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

25 striking ‘‘16’’ and inserting ‘‘18’’; 


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1 (B) in clause (i)— 

2 (i) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘be3 cause of the death or disappearance of, 

4 abandonment or desertion by, the other 

5 parent’’; and 

6 (ii) in subclause (III), by striking 

7 ‘‘two living natural parents, the natural 

8 parents are’’ and inserting ‘‘a living parent 

9 or parents, who have relinquished or will 

10 relinquish the child voluntarily for the pur11 poses of intercountry adoption, the parent 

12 or parents are’’; 

13 (C) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; or’’ and in14 serting a period; and 

15 (D) by striking clause (iii). 

16 (f) RELATIVE ADOPTIONS; WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 

17 Section 502 of the Intercountry Adoption Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 14952) is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH ALTERNATIVE PRO20 CEDURES FOR ADOPTION OF CHILDREN BY RELATIVES.— 

21 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment 

22 of the Children in Families First Act of 2014, the Sec23 retary of Homeland Security shall establish, by regulation, 

24 alternative procedures for completing the intercountry 


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1 adoption of children by United States citizens who are re2 lated to such children by blood, marriage, or adoption. 

3 ‘‘(b) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Home4 land Security, acting through the Director of U.S. Citizen5 ship and Immigration Services, may waive, on a case-by6 case basis, applicable requirements for meeting the defini7 tion of a child under subparagraph (E), (F), or (G) of 

8 section 101(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

9 (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)), or regulations issued with respect 

10 to such definitions, in the interests of justice or to prevent 

11 or respond to the threat of grave physical or emotional 

12 harm to the child if the petitioner establishes that— 

13 ‘‘(1) the child substantially complies with the 

14 requirements under 1 of such subparagraphs; and 

15 ‘‘(2) such a waiver would be in the child’s best 

16 interests.’’. 

17 (g) DETERMINATION OF APPLICABILITY OF THE

18 HAGUE ADOPTION CONVENTION IN CERTAIN CASES.— 

19 The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the 

20 Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 

21 may determine, on a case-by-case basis, that a specific 

22 intercountry adoption case may proceed as a non-Conven23 tion adoption if— 

24 (1) the child’s country of origin or habitual res25 idence is a Convention country; 


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1 (2) the central authority of the child’s country 

2 of origin or habitual residence has issued, or will 

3 issue, an adoption decree which that country con4 siders to be legal and valid under that country’s laws 

5 to the United States adoptive or prospective adoptive 

6 parents; and 

7 (3) the central authority of the child’s country 

8 of origin or habitual residence has informed the Sec9 retary or the Director that it does not consider the 

10 specific case to fall within the scope of the Hague 

11 Adoption Convention. 

12 (h) SPECIAL USE OF PAROLE AUTHORITY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

14 Security, acting through the Director of U.S. Citi15 zenship and Immigration Services, may grant parole 

16 to a child if the Secretary or the Director determines 

17 that— 

18 (A) the child’s circumstances indicate that 

19 immediate unification with the parties seeking 

20 parole is in the child’s best interests; 

21 (B) waiting to complete other, more time 

22 consuming immigration processing could be sig23 nificantly harmful to the child’s well-being; 

24 (C) the party or parties seeking parole on 

25 behalf of the child— 


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1 (i) have a pre-existing legal relation2 ship with the child, as evidenced by an 

3 adoption decree or a custody order; or 

4 (ii) demonstrate a pre-existing rela5 tionship with the child and an intent to es6 tablish a legal relationship with the child, 

7 which may be evidenced by— 

8 (I) a familial relationship with 

9 the child; 

10 (II) a close personal relationship 

11 with the child, such as— 

12 (aa) being matched with the 

13 child for an international adop14 tion by an adoption service pro15 vider or the competent authority 

16 of the child’s country of origin; 

17 or 

18 (bb) documentation showing 

19 that the child’s parents, if de20 ceased or otherwise incapacitated 

21 and unable to provide proper care 

22 for the child, intended for the 

23 parties seeking parole to take 

24 custody of the child; or 


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1 (III) the filing of adoption-re2 lated applications or petitions related 

3 to the adoption of the child; and 

4 (D) the child will receive proper care in the 

5 United States by the party or parties who seek 

6 parole on behalf of the child, based on a review 

7 of the suitability of the party or parties, which 

8 may include background check or completion of 

9 a home study conducted by a competent author10 ity. 

11 (2) MEETING THE 2-YEAR PERIODS FOR THE

12 PURPOSES OF FILING AN IMMEDIATE RELATIVE PE13 TITION ON BEHALF OF AN ADOPTED CHILD.—If a 

14 child is granted parole under paragraph (1), is sub15 sequently adopted by the parties who sought parole, 

16 and such parties seek permanent immigration status 

17 for the child under section 101(b)(1)(E) of the Im18 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

19 1101(b)(1)(E))— 

20 (A) the 2-year period for legal custody of 

21 the child shall begin to accrue on the effective 

22 date of a grant of custody in the child’s country 

23 of origin or habitual residence or in the United 

24 States; 


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1 (B) the 2-year period for physical custody 

2 of the child shall begin to accrue on the date on 

3 which the party or parties seeking parole for 

4 the child begin joint residence with the child, in 

5 the child’s country of origin or habitual resi6 dence or in the United States; and 

7 (C) the 2-year periods of joint residence 

8 and legal custody may accrue within or outside 

9 the United States. 

10 (i) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu11 rity, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the 

12 Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 

13 shall issue regulations to carry out this section and the 

14 amendments made by this section. 

15 TITLE II—ANNUAL REPORTING 

16 SEC. 201. ANNUAL REPORT ON CHILDREN LIVING WITHOUT 

17 FAMILIES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 30, 

19 2014, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State, in 

20 consultation with the Director of the United States Agen21 cy for International Development and the Secretary of 

22 State, shall submit a report to the Committee on Foreign 

23 Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign 

24 Affairs of the House of Representatives that— 


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1 (1) identifies the number of children living 

2 without families; and 

3 (2) describes the degree to which the various 

4 family permanence solutions are being utilized. 

5 (b) CONTENT.—The report required under subsection 

6 (a) shall include— 

7 (1) a description of the world’s unparented chil8 dren, including— 

9 (A) a description and quantitative analysis 

10 of the world’s unparented children by country, 

11 identifying the nationality of the children phys12 ically present in each country and distin13 guishing among children who are citizens of the 

14 country, noncitizen children lawfully present in 

15 the country, and noncitizen children unlawfully 

16 in the country, irrespective of a child’s par17 ticular immigration status; and 

18 (B) available data about such children bro19 ken into detailed categories and including— 

20 (i) information on their nationality, 

21 age, gender, and status; 

22 (ii) whether they have a living parent 

23 or parents and the status of those parents; 


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1 (iii) whether the unparented children 

2 are considered abandoned, separated, relin3 quished, or have some other status; 

4 (iv) whether they are institutionalized 

5 or homeless; 

6 (v) information on how they are docu7 mented, including through birth registries, 

8 orphanage registries, United Nations High 

9 Commissioner for Refugees registration, or 

10 identity cards; and 

11 (vi) an assessment of their living con12 ditions based on indicators such as crude 

13 mortality rate, malnutrition rate, or other 

14 similar indicators; 

15 (2) a review of the previous fiscal year’s pro16 gramming in support of appropriate, protective, and 

17 permanent family care solutions, including project 

18 descriptions for each project by country, goals of 

19 each project, amount awarded for each project, and 

20 evaluation of outcomes during the fiscal year; 

21 (3) an action plan covering proposed program22 ming and activities for the next fiscal year in sup23 port of family permanency solutions, including goals 

24 for each country in which programming will occur, 

25 proposed allocations of resources by country, types 


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1 of projects proposed by country, amounts of awards 

2 proposed for each project, and desired outcomes for 

3 each country; 

4 (4) a review of trends over the last five years, 

5 including changes in the numbers and locations of 

6 unparented children and the reasons for the 

7 changes, such as new refugee arrivals, growing num8 bers of children abandoned at birth, and decreases 

9 in number of children in institutions; 

10 (5) an overall analysis of highest priority situa11 tions of concern for unparented children, including 

12 analysis of whether the children are in a location 

13 that provides a cooperative environment for assist14 ance programming and intercountry adoptions; 

15 (6) a description of how intercountry adoption 

16 and refugee resettlement for unparented refugee 

17 children has played a role in each country over the 

18 last 10 years and the current status of such pro19 grams, including analysis of the situation with re20 spect to the Hague Adoption Convention and how 

21 the Convention has affected intercountry adoptions 

22 from the country; 

23 (7) aggregate reporting on intercountry adop24 tions to the United States, distinguishing between 


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1 Convention adoptions and non-Convention adoptions 

2 and including— 

3 (A) the total number of intercountry adop4 tions involving immigration to the United 

5 States by year over the past 10 years and pro6 jected data for the next fiscal year, distin7 guishing between Convention and non-Conven8 tion adoptions, including aggregate data on the 

9 country from which each child emigrated, the 

10 State of residence of the adoptive parents, and 

11 the country in which the adoption was finalized; 

12 (B) the number of intercountry adoptions 

13 involving emigration from the United States, re14 gardless of whether the adoption occurred 

15 under the Convention and distinguishing be16 tween Convention and non-Convention adop17 tions, including the country to which each child 

18 immigrated and the State from which each 

19 child emigrated; 

20 (C) the average time required for comple21 tion of the immigration portion of intercountry 

22 adoptions, distinguishing between Convention 

23 and non-Convention adoptions, calculated as the 

24 time between filing of the initial immigration25 related adoption petition on behalf of a child 


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1 and the approval of that child’s immigrant visa; 

2 and 

3 (D) the range of adoption fees charged in 

4 connection with intercountry adoptions involv5 ing immigration to the United States and the 

6 median of such fees; and 

7 (8) such additional information as may be re8 quested by members of the Committee on Foreign 

9 Relations of the Senate and the Committee on For10 eign Affairs of the House of Representatives. 

11 (c) CONSULTATIONS.—To the extent possible, des12 ignated representatives of the President should meet with 

13 members of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

14 Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

15 House of Representatives not later than 2 weeks before 

16 the Secretary of State submits the report required under 

17 subsection (a) to discuss the information described in sub18 section (b). The substance of such consultations should be 

19 printed in the Congressional Record. 

20 (d) REPEAL.—Section 104 of the Intercountry Adop21 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 14914) is repealed. 


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1 SEC. 202. COUNTRY REPORTS REGARDING SEVERE FORMS 

2 OF TRAFFICKING. 

3 Section 502B(h)(1)(B) of the Foreign Assistance Act 

4 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(h)(1)(B)) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(x) What steps the government of that 

7 country has taken to reduce the number of chil8 dren living outside of family care. 

9 ‘‘(xi) What steps the government of that 

10 country has taken to reduce the number of chil11 dren abused, neglected, or exploited.’’. 

12 TITLE III—PROMOTION OF A 

13 COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH 

14 FOR CHILDREN IN ADVER15 SITY 

16 SEC. 301. ESTABLISHMENT OF A USAID CENTER FOR EX17 CELLENCE FOR CHILDREN IN ADVERSITY. 

18 (a) CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE FOR CHILDREN IN

19 ADVERSITY.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within 

21 the United States Agency for International Develop22 ment a Center of Excellence on Children in Adver23 sity. 

24 (2) COORDINATOR.—The Center for Excellence 

25 shall be headed by the Children in Adversity Coordi26 nator, who shall be appointed by the Administrator 


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1 of the United States Agency for International Devel2 opment. 

3 (3) OBJECTIVES.—The Center of Excellence on 

4 Children in Adversity shall work in consultation with 

5 the Ambassador-at-Large of the Office of Vulnerable 

6 Children and Family Security of the Department of 

7 State to promote greater United States Government 

8 coherence and accountability for whole-of-govern9 ment assistance to children in adversity and ensure 

10 that United States foreign assistance and develop11 ment programs are focused on the following objec12 tives: 

13 (A) The sound development of children 

14 through the integration of health, nutrition, and 

15 family support. 

16 (B) Supporting and enabling families to 

17 care for children through family preservation, 

18 reunification, and support of kinship care, 

19 guardianship, and domestic and intercountry 

20 adoption. 

21 (C) Facilitating the efforts of national gov22 ernments and partners to prevent, respond to, 

23 and protect children from violence, exploitation, 

24 abuse, and neglect. 


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1 (4) AUTHORITIES.—The Children in Adversity 

2 Coordinator, acting through nongovernmental orga3 nizations (including faith-based and community4 based organizations), partner country finance, 

5 health, education, social welfare, and other min6 istries, and relevant executive branch agencies, is au7 thorized to— 

8 (A) operate internationally to carry out the 

9 programs and activities outlined in the Action 

10 Plan for Children in Adversity; 

11 (B) provide grants to, and enter into con12 tracts and cooperative agreements with, non13 governmental organizations (including faith14 based organizations) to carry out this section; 

15 and 

16 (C) transfer and allocate United States 

17 Agency for International Development funds 

18 that have been appropriated for the purposes 

19 described in subparagraphs (A) and (B). 

20 (5) FUNCTIONS.—In consultation with the Am21 bassador-at-Large of the Office of Vulnerable Chil22 dren and Family Security in the Department of 

23 State, the Children in Adversity Coordinator shall, 

24 through the Center of Excellence— 


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1 (A) facilitate program and policy coordina2 tion related to the goals and objectives of the 

3 Action Plan for Children in Adversity among 

4 relevant executive branch agencies and non5 governmental organizations by auditing, moni6 toring, and evaluating such programs; 

7 (B) ensure that each relevant executive 

8 branch agency undertakes responsibility for ac9 tivities related primarily to those areas in which 

10 the agency has the greatest expertise, technical 

11 capability, and potential for success; 

12 (C) coordinate relevant executive branch 

13 agency activities related to the Action Plan for 

14 Children in Adversity; 

15 (D) establish due diligence criteria for all 

16 recipients of funds appropriated by the United 

17 States Government for assistance to children in 

18 adversity; and 

19 (E) oversee the administration of the pri20 ority country demonstration program as de21 scribed in subsection (f). 

22 (6) ASSISTANCE.—The President is authorized 

23 to provide assistance, including through inter24 national, nongovernmental, or faith-based organiza25 tions, for programs in developing countries— 


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1 (A) to increase the percentage of children 

2 achieving age-appropriate growth and develop3 mental milestones; 

4 (B) to increase the percentage of children 

5 under 5 years of age demonstrating secure at6 tachment with a primary caregiver; 

7 (C) to integrate health, nutrition, develop8 mental protections, and caregiving support for 

9 vulnerable children and their families; 

10 (D) to increase the percentage of children 

11 living within appropriate, permanent, safe, and 

12 protective family care, through family preserva13 tion and reunification, and through kinship 

14 care, guardianship, and domestic and inter15 country adoption, and to reduce the percentage 

16 of children living in institutions; 

17 (E) to increase the percentage of families 

18 providing adequate nutrition, education oppor19 tunities, care, and protection for their children; 

20 (F) to reduce the percentage of children 

21 who experience violence, exploitation, abuse, 

22 and neglect; 

23 (G) to increase the percentage of children 

24 who receive appropriate care and protection 


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1 after experiencing violence, exploitation, abuse, 

2 or neglect; 

3 (H) to increase public awareness that vio4 lence, exploitation, abuse, or neglect of children 

5 as unacceptable; 

6 (I) to increase the percentage of countries 

7 that ratify and implement relevant conventions 

8 or formally adopt internationally recognized 

9 principles, standards, and procedural safe10 guards to protect children from violence, exploi11 tation, abuse, and neglect; 

12 (J) to increase the percentage of children 

13 who have legal documentation and birth reg14 istration; 

15 (K) to increase the number of laws, poli16 cies, and practices in partner states that pro17 mote and strengthen child welfare and protec18 tion at household, community, and national lev19 els is increased; 

20 (L) to increase national and local human 

21 resource capacity for child welfare and protec22 tion; 

23 (M) to increase the number of national and 

24 community systems effectively monitoring child 


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1 welfare and protection concerns, programs, and 

2 outcomes; 

3 (N) to encourage and assist in the collec4 tion of data related to children outside of family 

5 care; 

6 (O) to increase the number of prevalence 

7 studies that measure and track trends in chil8 dren’s exposure to violence, exploitation, abuse, 

9 and neglect; 

10 (P) to increase the number of published 

11 outcome/impact evaluations on interventions to 

12 assist children outside of family care or mini13 mize exposure to violence, exploitation, abuse, 

14 and neglect that can be generalized to larger 

15 target groups; 

16 (Q) to increase the number of national 

17 governments and universities leading rigorous 

18 data collection, research, and monitoring and 

19 evaluation studies related to child welfare and 

20 protection; and 

21 (R) to increase the number of United 

22 States Government-supported interventions for 

23 children in adversity designed using data from 

24 rigorous research methodologies. 

25 (b) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—To maxi2 mize the sustainable development impact of assist3 ance authorized under this section, and pursuant to 

4 the primary objective of the Action Plan for Chil5 dren in Adversity, the President shall establish a 

6 monitoring and evaluation system to measure the ef7 fectiveness of United States assistance to children in 

8 adversity. 

9 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The monitoring and eval10 uation system shall— 

11 (A) be aligned with the objectives and out12 comes outlined by the Action Plan for Children 

13 in Adversity; and 

14 (B) provide a basis for recommendations 

15 for adjustments to the assistance provided 

16 under this part. 

17 (c) PRIORITY COUNTRY DEMONSTRATION PRO18 GRAM.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

20 United States Agency for International Develop21 ment, in consultation with the Secretary of State, 

22 shall establish and carry out a priority country dem23 onstration program implementing the Action Plan 

24 for Children in Adversity over a period of 5 years in 

25 at least 6 countries. 


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1 (2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the programs 

2 established under subparagraph (1) shall be— 

3 (A) to demonstrate how research-based 

4 policies and programs to achieve the core objec5 tives of the Action Plan for Children in Adver6 sity can be successfully implemented on a na7 tional level; 

8 (B) to establish model programs that, once 

9 tested for efficacy, will be available for replica10 tion on a global basis; 

11 (C) to identify a comprehensive series of 

12 interventions which result in meeting the out13 comes and objectives of the Action Plan for 

14 Children in Adversity; and 

15 (D) to determine which in-country factors 

16 advance or negate the successful achievement of 

17 the outcomes and objectives of the action plan. 

18 (3) CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF COUN19 TRIES.—The criteria for selection of countries shall 

20 include— 

21 (A) magnitude and severity of the prob22 lems to be addressed; 

23 (B) partner country interest in participa24 tion in a comprehensive implementation of all 3 

25 goals of the Action Plan for Children in AdverVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:14 Jun 19, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00072 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2475.IS S2475

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1 sity, including, with respect to the second objec2 tive (Families First), expressed willingness to 

3 support the full complement of permanence so4 lutions (including family preservation, reunifica5 tion, kinship care, guardianship, and domestic 

6 and intercountry adoption), and commitments 

7 to support and allow monitoring and evaluation, 

8 as well as transparent reporting; 

9 (C) potential to leverage bilateral, multilat10 eral, and foundation investments; 

11 (D) potential to leverage other United 

12 States development investments; 

13 (E) regional diversity to maximize learning 

14 opportunities; and 

15 (F) level of economic development, with a 

16 focus on low- and middle-income countries. 

17 (d) REPEALS.— 

18 (1) ASSISTANCE TO ORPHANS AND OTHER VUL19 NERABLE CHILDREN.—Section 135 of the Foreign 

20 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152f) is re21 pealed. 

22 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 5 of the Assist23 ance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in 

24 Developing Countries Act of 2005 (22 U.S.C. 

25 2152g) is hereby repealed. 


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1 TITLE IV—FUNDING AND 

2 EFFECTIVE DATES 

3 SEC. 401. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 (a) PROHIBITION ON NEW APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act may be 

6 construed as authorizing additional funds to be ap7 propriated to carry out this Act or the amendments 

8 made by this Act. 

9 (2) USE OF EXISTING FUNDS.—This Act, and 

10 the amendments made by this Act, shall be carried 

11 out using amounts otherwise available for such pur12 poses, including unobligated balances of funds made 

13 available to carry out activities under the Foreign 

14 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.). 

15 (b) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS.— 

16 (1) UNITED NATIONS.—No funds obligated in 

17 accordance with this Act may be awarded to the 

18 United Nations or any of its subsidiaries. 

19 (2) SEGREGATED SERVICES.—No funds obli20 gated in accordance with this Act may be awarded 

21 for building, renovating, or refurbishing residential 

22 facilities that segregate children with disabilities 

23 from society. The limitation under this paragraph 

24 does not prohibit funding for small, community25 based group homes that house up to 6 children. 


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1 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more 

2 than 2 percent of the amounts described in sub3 section (a)(2) may be used for administrative ex4 penses. 

5 (c) FOCUS OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance provided 

6 under this Act— 

7 (1) shall focus primarily on promoting inter8 national child welfare, as set forth in this Act, for 

9 all children in adversity; and 

10 (2) may be provided on such terms and condi11 tions as the President determines appropriate. 

12 SEC. 402. EFFECTIVE DATES. 

13 (a) EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT.—Sections 104 

14 and 202 and titles III and IV shall take effect on the date 

15 of the enactment of this Act. 

16 (b) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE.—Sections 101, 

17 102, 103, and 201 shall take effect on the date that is 

18 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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