I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3031 

To encourage the development and implementation of a comprehensive, global 

strategy for the preservation and reunification of families and the provision of permanent parental care for orphans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2009 

Ms. WATSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To encourage the development and implementation of a comprehensive, global strategy for the preservation and reunification of families and the provision of permanent 

parental care for orphans, 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 ‘‘Families for Orphans Act of 2009’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings and purposes. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 


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TITLE I—GLOBAL ORPHANS STRATEGY 

Sec. 101. Office for orphan policy diplomacy and development. 

Sec. 102. Policy coordinating committee in support of orphan policy, diplomacy, 

and development. 

Sec. 103. Minimum standards for the provision of permanent parental care. 

Sec. 104. Grant, pilot, and development programs. 

Sec. 105. Authorization of appropriations. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) A child who grows up in a permanent fam5 ily in an atmosphere of happiness, love, and under6 standing has the best opportunity for the full and 

7 harmonious development of his or her potential. 

8 (2) The right of a child to grow up in a safe, 

9 loving and permanent loving relationship with a re10 sponsible adult is a basic human right. 

11 (3) The safety and well being of children should 

12 be the paramount concern of child welfare policies 

13 and programs. 

14 (4) As stated in the United Nations Programme 

15 for the International Year of the Family (1994), 

16 ‘‘the family provides the natural framework for the 

17 emotional, financial, and material support essential 

18 to the growth and development of its members, par19 ticularly infants and children.’’. 

20 (5) Cost benefit analysis data shows that effec21 tive, high quality interventions to improve parenting 


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1 skills and reduce child maltreatment save between 

2 $2 and $8 dollars for every dollar spent. 

3 (6) Despite the good efforts of countless gov4 ernments and nongovernmental organizations, mil5 lions of children remain outside of the protection, 

6 permanency, safety, and love of a family. Without 

7 the care of a family, these children are forced to live 

8 on the streets, in child-headed households, or in in9 stitutions. 

10 (7) According to UNICEF, there are more than 

11 132,000,000 orphans worldwide. Unless immediate 

12 action is taken, the number of orphans is expected 

13 to increase over time. 

14 (8) According to Dr. Dana Johnson at the Uni15 versity of Minnesota, lack of stimulation and con16 sistent caregivers, suboptimal nutrition and physical/ 

17 sexual abuse all conspire to delay and sometimes 

18 preclude normal development, speech acquisition and 

19 attainment of necessary social skills. Children lose 

20 one month of linear growth for every three months 

21 in an orphanage. 

22 (9) Research indicates that infants who do not 

23 receive touching, holding, and stimulation fail to 

24 thrive and may suffer life-affecting physical and 

25 emotional stressors, if not death. 


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1 (10) Although governments throughout the 

2 world are seeking models for preventing institu3 tionalization and finding permanent families for or4 phaned children, many lack the resources or infra5 structure to adequately address this need. 

6 (11) As a result of its efforts to protect its chil7 dren from abuse and neglect, the United States has 

8 amassed a vast body of research, policy, and the pro9 fessional capacity to promote safety, permanency 

10 and well-being for children and youth so they can 

11 become healthy and successful adults. 

12 (12) Despite the fact that the United States in13 vests $300,000,000,000 annually in international aid 

14 programs that are improving the health, safety and 

15 well-being of children throughout the world, it is un16 clear how much of this funding is used to support 

17 the preservation and reunification of families or the 

18 provision of permanent parental care. 

19 (13) Greater coordination is needed between 

20 Federal bureaus and agencies with an interest in or21 phan care policy. Such efforts would be assisted 

22 greatly by the development of a comprehensive glob23 al strategy for providing permanent parental care 

24 for orphans. 


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1 (14) Despite the United States’ interest in de2 veloping a comprehensive global strategy for pro3 viding permanent parental care for orphans, the 

4 United States lacks a clear, dedicated diplomatic au5 thority to represent these interests. 

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

7 (1) provide the infrastructure and resources 

8 necessary for the United States to develop and im9 plement a comprehensive, global strategy for the 

10 preservation and reunification of families and the 

11 provision of permanent parental care for orphans; 

12 (2) streamline and coordinate United States 

13 policies and programs related to the preservation 

14 and reunification of families and the provision of 

15 permanent parental care for orphans; 

16 (3) encourage and assist foreign governments in 

17 the development and implementation of effective 

18 child welfare policies, systems, and programs that 

19 preserve and reunify families and provide permanent 

20 parental care for orphans; 

21 (4) ensure that all aid efforts receiving funding 

22 from the United States recognize and support the 

23 need for the preservation and reunification of fami24 lies and the provision of permanent parental care for 

25 orphans; and 


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1 (5) build global awareness of the need for the 

2 preservation and reunification of families and the 

3 provision of permanent parental care for orphans. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION.—The term ‘‘de7 institutionalization’’ means the process of safely 

8 moving youth from institutions to— 

9 (A) permanent parental care; or 

10 (B) temporary alternatives designed to 

11 lead to permanent parental care. 

12 (2) FAMILY AT RISK OF DISSOLUTION.—The 

13 term ‘‘family at risk of dissolution’’ means a family 

14 under circumstances which— 

15 (A) compromise the health, safety and 

16 well-being of minor, dependent children to an 

17 extent that the parental caregivers may be com18 pelled to voluntarily or involuntarily forfeit care 

19 parental rights or custody of such children; or 

20 (B) are likely to cause the parents to aban21 don or relinquish rights to minor, dependent 

22 children. 

23 (3) FAMILY PRESERVATION.—The term ‘‘family 

24 preservation’’ means services for children and fami25 lies designed to promote the safety and well-being of 


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1 children and families and to help families (at risk or 

2 in crisis, including community-based family support, 

3 social, therapeutic, and financial programs and serv4 ices designed to— 

5 (A) enable families to provide safe, perma6 nent, and nurturing care to their children; and 

7 (B) strengthen and support birth families 

8 who are at risk of dissolution, separation, or do9 mestic violence. 

10 (4) REUNIFICATION.—The term ‘‘reunification’’ 

11 means time-limited services and activities provided 

12 to an orphan in order to facilitate the safe and time13 ly reunification of the child and parent. 

14 (5) INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘institution’’ 

15 means— 

16 (A) an orphanage; 

17 (B) a children’s home; 

18 (C) a boarding school for orphans; 

19 (D) a shelter; 

20 (E) a residential facility; 

21 (F) a hospital; 

22 (G) a dormitory; 

23 (H) long-term foster care; and 

24 (I) any other setting in which permanent 

25 parental care is not being provided to the child. 


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1 (6) INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD.—The term ‘‘in2 stitutionalized child’’ is a child who is— 

3 (A) younger than 21 years of age; and 

4 (B) living in an institution. 

5 (7) ORPHAN.—The term ‘‘orphan’’ means any 

6 child— 

7 (A) who lacks permanent parental care be8 cause of the death, the disappearance of, or the 

9 legal, permanent relinquishment of such child 

10 by both biological parents; 

11 (B) who is living in the care and custody 

12 of an institution; 

13 (C) whose biological parents’ rights have 

14 been legally terminated; or 

15 (D) whose country of origin has deter16 mined lacks permanent parental care. 

17 (8) PERMANENT PARENTAL CARE.—The term 

18 ‘‘permanent parental care’’— 

19 (A) means a legally recognized relationship 

20 between a adult and a child who is younger 

21 than 21 years of age, which is life-long and pro22 vides a caring, safe, stable physical environ23 ment; 

24 (B) includes— 


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1 (i) domestic and international adop2 tion; 

3 (ii) legal guardianship; and 

4 (iii) legal kinship care; and 

5 (C) does not include temporary or long 

6 term foster care, institutionalization, or men7 toring. 

8 (9) LEGAL GUARDIANSHIP.—The term ‘‘legal 

9 guardianship’’ means a legally recognized relation10 ship between child and caretaker which is intended 

11 to be permanent and is evidenced by the transfer to 

12 the caretaker of the following parental rights with 

13 respect to the child: protection, education, custody, 

14 and decision-making. 

15 (10) LEGAL KINSHIP.—The term ‘‘legal kin16 ship’’ means a legally recognized relationship be17 tween child and caretaker which is intended to be 

18 permanent and is evidenced by the transfer to the 

19 caretaker of the following parental rights with re20 spect to the child: protection, education, custody, 

21 and decision-making. 

22 (11) ADOPTION SUPPORT SERVICES.—The term 

23 ‘‘adoption support services’’ means services and ac24 tivities designed to encourage when adoption is 

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1 ing but not limited to pre- and post-adoptive serv2 ices; activities designed to expedite the adoption 

3 process and support adoptive families. 

4 TITLE I—GLOBAL ORPHANS 

5 STRATEGY 

6 SEC. 101. OFFICE FOR ORPHAN POLICY DIPLOMACY AND 

7 DEVELOPMENT. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

9 the Department of State the Office for Orphan Policy Di10 plomacy and Development (referred to in this section as 

11 the ‘‘Office’’), which shall promote and support— 

12 (1) the preservation and reunification of fami13 lies; and 

14 (2) the provision of permanent parental care for 

15 orphans. 

16 (b) COORDINATOR.— 

17 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Office shall be headed 

18 by the Coordinator for Orphan Policy Diplomacy 

19 and Development (referred to in this section as the 

20 ‘‘Coordinator’’), who shall be designated by the 

21 President. 

22 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—To the extent possible, 

23 the Coordinator shall be an individual with back24 ground and experience in the development of perma25 nency related policies and systems. 


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1 (3) DUTIES.—The Coordinator shall— 

2 (A) oversee and coordinate— 

3 (i) all programs and duties described 

4 in this Act; and 

5 (ii) all other activities that the United 

6 States Government conducts in furtherance 

7 of the purposes of this Act; and 

8 (B) carry out the functions described in 

9 subsection (c). 

10 (4) AUTHORITY.—The Coordinator will report 

11 directly to the Secretary of State. 

12 (c) FUNCTIONS.— 

13 (1) ADVISORY.—Unless otherwise specified in 

14 law, the Coordinator shall serve as the primary advi15 sor to the Secretary of State and the President in 

16 all matters related to— 

17 (A) global family preservation and reunifi18 cation; and 

19 (B) the provision of permanent parental 

20 care for orphans. 

21 (2) DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the direction 

23 of the President and the Secretary of State, the 

24 Coordinator shall represent the United States 

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1 vation and reunification and permanent paren2 tal care in— 

3 (i) contacts with foreign governments, 

4 nongovernmental organizations, intergov5 ernmental agencies, and specialized agen6 cies of the United Nations and other inter7 national organizations of which the United 

8 States is a member; 

9 (ii) multilateral conferences and meet10 ings relevant to family preservation, reuni11 fication, and permanent parental care for 

12 orphaned children; and 

13 (iii) fulfillment of the diplomatic re14 sponsibilities designated to the central au15 thority under title I of the Intercountry 

16 Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14911 et 

17 seq.). 

18 (B) WAIVER.—The Secretary of State may 

19 waive the requirements of subparagraph (A) 

20 if— 

21 (i) representation by the Coordinator 

22 would interfere with the Secretary’s con23 stitutional duty to represent the United 

24 States; or 


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1 (ii) representation by another high 

2 level official would be more appropriate or 

3 beneficial. 

4 (3) POLICY DEVELOPMENT.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Coordinator 

6 shall— 

7 (i) advise and support the Secretary 

8 of State in the development of a com9 prehensive, global strategy to promote the 

10 preservation and reunification of families 

11 and the provision of permanent parental 

12 care for orphans; and 

13 (ii) advise and support foreign govern14 ments with the development of sound pol15 icy regarding— 

16 (I) preservation and reunification 

17 of families; and 

18 (II) the provision of permanent 

19 parental care for orphans. 

20 (B) BEST PRACTICES.—In developing poli21 cies under this Act, the Coordinator should 

22 identify and engage evidence-based programs 

23 and best practices in family preservation, reuni24 fication and permanent parental care derived 


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1 from a wide variety of both domestic and global 

2 policy and practice leaders. 

3 (C) CULTURAL SENSITIVITY.—In devel4 oping policies under this Act, the Coordinator 

5 should take into account cultural norms for 

6 each country to the extent consistent with the 

7 overall purposes of this Act. 

8 (D) PRINCIPLE OF SUBSIDIARITY.—In de9 veloping policies and programs under this Act, 

10 the Coordinator should— 

11 (i) attempt to reunify children with 

12 their family before pursuing adoption, legal 

13 kinship or legal guardianship and domestic 

14 adoption; and 

15 (ii) ensure that reasonable efforts 

16 have been made to provide permanent pa17 rental care domestically before inter18 national. 

19 (E) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Coor20 dinator shall provide technical assistance to for21 eign countries to help build their capacities to 

22 strengthen family preservation, reunification, 

23 and permanent parental care policies, services, 

24 and practices, including— 


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1 (i) assistance with the drafting, dis2 seminating, and implementing of legisla3 tion for family preservation and reunifica4 tion and the provision of permanent paren5 tal care; 

6 (ii) assistance with the development of 

7 systems designed to support family preser8 vation, reunification and permanent paren9 tal care for institutionalized orphans; 

10 (iii) assistance with the establishment 

11 of public, private, and faith- and commu12 nity-based partnerships designed to sup13 port the preservation and reunification of 

14 families and permanent parental care for 

15 orphans; 

16 (iv) assistance with the development 

17 of workforce training for governmental and 

18 nongovernmental staff working to support 

19 the preservation and reunification of fami20 lies and permanent parental care for or21 phans; and 

22 (v) assistance with infrastructure de23 velopment and data collection techniques 

24 necessary to— 


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1 (I) support the biennial census 

2 required under paragraph (6)(A); 

3 (II) collect permanency indicators 

4 described in paragraph (6)(B); 

5 (III) collect the data necessary to 

6 determine to what extent countries 

7 meet the minimum standards de8 scribed in section 103; and 

9 (IV) organizing exchanges for 

10 child welfare, adoption, and other so11 cial service professionals working to 

12 support the preservation and reunifi13 cation of families and permanent pa14 rental care for orphans. 

15 (F) PRESERVATION OF THE FAMILY AND

16 PERMANENT PARENTAL CARE CONFERENCE.— 

17 In fiscal year 2011, and every 2 years there18 after, the Secretary of State— 

19 (i) shall conduct a conference on best 

20 practices and successful strategies for the 

21 preservation and reunification of families 

22 and the provision of permanent parental 

23 care for orphans; 

24 (ii) share and address key issues rel25 ative to— 


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1 (I) the most current biennial cen2 sus data collected under paragraph 

3 (6)(A); 

4 (II) the permanency indicator 

5 data collected under paragraph 

6 (6)(B); and 

7 (III) the data collected from the 

8 Global Best Practices Pilot Program 

9 under section 104(c); 

10 (iii) disseminate information regard11 ing best practices for building country and 

12 regional capacity to decrease the number 

13 of orphans; 

14 (iv) disseminate information regarding 

15 strategies for financially sustaining activi16 ties to support family preservation and re17 unification and permanent parental care; 

18 (v) disseminate information regarding 

19 best practices in international adoption 

20 and in preventing corruption; and 

21 (vi) disseminate best methods and 

22 practices for assessing progress and quality 

23 for moving children into permanent paren24 tal care in a safe and timely way. 

25 (4) COORDINATION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall coordi2 nate the foreign policy and assistance of the 

3 United States in support of— 

4 (i) families at risk of dissolution; 

5 (ii) orphans in need of permanent pa6 rental care. 

7 (B) COORDINATION BETWEEN DOMESTIC

8 AND INTERNATIONAL POLICY.—To the extent 

9 possible, the Coordinator shall work with the 

10 Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

11 maintain consistency between United States 

12 foreign and domestic policy on family preserva13 tion and reunification and permanent parental 

14 care. 

15 (5) COMMUNICATION.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall build 

17 global awareness of its purpose and activities. 

18 (B) WEBSITE.—To carry out subpara19 graph (A), the Office shall maintain a Website 

20 that includes— 

21 (i) a description of the global prob22 lems related to orphans and children in in23 stitutional and temporary non-family care; 

24 (ii) the status of activities being car25 ried out by the Office; 


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1 (iii) the progress made by the Office 

2 to achieve its goals; 

3 (iv) current research, reports, policy, 

4 training opportunities, evaluation, and 

5 methodology describing best practices; 

6 (v) information collected by the bien7 nial census under paragraph (6)(A); 

8 (vi) permanency indicators collected 

9 under paragraph (6)(B); 

10 (vii) the annual report submitted to 

11 Congress under paragraph (6)(C); 

12 (viii) the status of site results for the 

13 study of global best practices conducted 

14 under section 104(c)(1); 

15 (ix) requests for proposals, grant or 

16 contract awards, amounts, purposes, and 

17 lessons learned during implementation; and 

18 (x) a summary of the scope and 

19 progress of country projects funded by the 

20 Office. 

21 (6) REPORTS, RESEARCH, AND ASSESS22 MENTS.— 

23 (A) BIENNIAL CENSUS OF CHILDREN

24 WITHOUT PERMANENT PARENTAL CARE.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than De2 cember 31, 2010, and every 2 years there3 after, the Office shall develop, oversee, 

4 support, and publish the results of a cen5 sus of all children who live outside perma6 nent parental care. The census shall enu7 merate the number of children, categorized 

8 by sex and age, who reside— 

9 (I) in a public or private orphan10 age; 

11 (II) in a hospital or other med12 ical institution or treatment facility; 

13 (III) in temporary or long term 

14 family-based foster care; 

15 (IV) in a group home; 

16 (V) in a residential or congrega17 tional facility, regardless of the avail18 ability of treatment services; 

19 (VI) in kinship care without legal 

20 status or the presence of adult family 

21 members; or 

22 (VII) in a dormitory or other 

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1 governmental organization places chil2 dren who do not have parental care. 

3 (ii) CENSUS COUNTRIES.—The data 

4 collected under clause (i) shall include all 

5 member countries of the United Nations. 

6 (iii) DELEGATE.—The Coordinator 

7 may delegate the responsibility for con8 ducting the census to a third party if— 

9 (I) such party has expertise in 

10 human or social services and inter11 national quantitative data collection 

12 and analysis; and 

13 (II) such a delegation is con14 sistent with the overall goals of this 

15 Act. 

16 (B) PERMANENCY INDICATORS FOR CHIL17 DREN WITHOUT PERMANENT PARENTAL

18 CARE.— 

19 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall 

20 collect available data related to a series of 

21 policy and practice indicators on the capac22 ity of foreign governments to offer perma23 nency as an option for orphaned children. 

24 (ii) DATA.—Data collected under 

25 clause (i) shall include— 


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1 (I) the number of families pro2 vided preservation services and the 

3 number of such families that re4 mained intact after receiving such 

5 services; 

6 (II) the number of children in in7 stitutions who were reunified with 

8 their respective families; 

9 (III) the number of children 

10 placed in a permanent family through 

11 domestic adoption and the living situ12 ation of such children before such per13 manent placement; 

14 (IV) the number of children who 

15 were placed in a permanent family 

16 through legal guardianship and their 

17 living situation before such permanent 

18 placement; 

19 (V) the number of children who 

20 were placed in a permanent family 

21 through international adoption and 

22 the living situation of such children 

23 before such permanent placement; 

24 (VI) the number of children who 

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1 ship care and their placement pre-kin2 ship care; 

3 (VII) the number of children who 

4 moved from temporary foster care to 

5 long-term foster care; 

6 (VIII) the number of children 

7 who reentered institutional care after 

8 moving into permanent parental care; 

9 and 

10 (IX) the length of time children 

11 are spending in institutional or foster 

12 care. 

13 (iii) DELEGATE.—The Coordinator 

14 may delegate the responsibility for col15 lecting data on permanency indicators 

16 under this paragraph to a third party if— 

17 (I) the third party has expertise 

18 in human or social services and inter19 national quantitative data collection; 

20 and 

21 (II) such a delegation is con22 sistent with the overall goals of this 

23 Act. 

24 (iv) CONSULTATION.—The Coordi25 nator may consult with the Millennium 


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1 Challenge Corporation, the Department of 

2 Homeland Security, the United States 

3 Agency for International Development, the 

4 United Nations, the United States Depart5 ment of Health and Human Services, 

6 UNICEF, the World Health Organization, 

7 and other aid- or child welfare-related net8 works and organizations to— 

9 (I) identify and expand existing 

10 reporting networks; and 

11 (II) refine common definitions of 

12 indicators. 

13 (v) UNITED STATES INDICATORS.— 

14 The Secretary of Health and Human Serv15 ices shall provide the Coordinator with the 

16 information required to be collected under 

17 this paragraph relating to individuals and 

18 families residing in the United States. 

19 (vi) REPORT.—Not later than Decem20 ber 31, 2011, and every 2 years thereafter, 

21 the Office shall publish a report that in22 cludes the data described in clause (ii). 

23 (C) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not 

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1 retary of State shall submit to Congress an an2 nual report that includes— 

3 (i) a description of the global status of 

4 orphans; 

5 (ii) a description of the activities of 

6 the Office in support of family preservation 

7 and reunification and permanent parental 

8 care for orphans; 

9 (iii) estimates from the most recent 

10 biennial census of the number of children 

11 living without permanent parental care; 

12 (iv) a description of the status of fam13 ily preservation, reunification, and perma14 nent parental care initiatives underway in 

15 each foreign country receiving financial as16 sistance under this Act; 

17 (v) a description of— 

18 (I) the major challenges faced by 

19 governments that are resulting in an 

20 increase in the numbers of orphans; 

21 and 

22 (II) barriers which are preventing 

23 governments from achieving perma24 nent parental care for orphans; 


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1 (vi) trends in increasing or decreasing 

2 risks for orphans and families at risk of 

3 dissolution; 

4 (vii) a listing of the governments that 

5 do not meet minimum standards described 

6 in section 103(a); 

7 (viii) trends toward improvement in 

8 family preservation and reunification; 

9 (ix) trends in domestic and inter10 national adoption, foster care, and institu11 tional care; 

12 (x) the most current permanency indi13 cators described in subparagraph (B); and 

14 (xi) movement toward implementation 

15 of permanency related laws and conven16 tions. 

17 (7) GRANTS.—The Office shall oversee the pro18 vision of technical and financial assistance, including 

19 grants, pilot programs, and demonstrations, to gov20 ernments and nongovernmental organizations to pro21 mote family preservation, reunification, and perma22 nent parental care for orphans. 


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1 SEC. 102. POLICY COORDINATING COMMITTEE IN SUPPORT 

2 OF ORPHAN POLICY, DIPLOMACY, AND DE3 VELOPMENT. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish 

5 an interagency policy coordinating committee (referred to 

6 in this section as the ‘‘Policy Coordinating Committee’’), 

7 which shall monitor and support international efforts in 

8 family preservation, family reunification, and permanent 

9 parental care for orphans. 

10 (b) APPOINTMENT.—The President shall appoint the 

11 members of the Policy Coordinating Committee, which 

12 shall include— 

13 (1) the Secretary of State, who shall serve as 

14 Chair; 

15 (2) the Administrator of the United States 

16 Agency for International Development; 

17 (3) the Attorney General; 

18 (4) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv19 ices; 

20 (5) the Secretary of Homeland Security; and 

21 (6) any other Government official appointed by 

22 the President. 

23 (c) ACTIVITIES OF COMMITTEE.—The Policy Coordi24 nating Committee shall provide advice to the Office for 

25 Orphan Policy Diplomacy and Development regarding— 


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1 (1) the development of a comprehensive global 

2 strategy in accordance with the minimum standards 

3 of this Act; 

4 (2) financial support of programs that assist 

5 countries in developing child welfare systems that— 

6 (A) preserve and reunify families; and 

7 (B) provide permanent parental care for 

8 orphans. 

9 (3) advocacy efforts with governments, non10 governmental organizations, and other entities to ad11 vance the purposes of this Act; and 

12 (4) the collection of data through significant re13 search on family preservation, reunification, and per14 manent parental care methods for orphans. 

15 (d) WORKING GROUPS.—Members of the Policy Co16 ordinating Committee may create small working groups 

17 within their respective agencies to support and advise their 

18 work on behalf of the Policy Coordinating Committee. 

19 SEC. 103. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR THE PROVISION OF 

20 PERMANENT PARENTAL CARE. 

21 (a) MINIMUM STANDARDS.—A country meets the 

22 minimum standards for the provision of permanent paren23 tal care by a partner country if— 

24 (1) the government of the country has laws, 

25 practices and judicial standards that— 


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1 (A) protect children from abuse and ne2 glect; 

3 (B) are aimed at reducing the number of 

4 abandoned children; 

5 (C) are aimed at preserving families at 

6 risk of dissolution; 

7 (D) are aimed at safely and appropriately 

8 reunifying orphans and institutionalized chil9 dren with their families; 

10 (E) promote legal guardianship and kin11 ship care; 

12 (F) promote domestic adoption; 

13 (G) allow for international adoption; 

14 (H) promote the physical and emotional 

15 well-being and protection of children while they 

16 are waiting for reunification or placement with 

17 a permanent family; 

18 (2) the government of the country is— 

19 (A) keeping a significant percentage of 

20 families at risk of dissolution intact; 

21 (B) reuniting a significant percentage of 

22 orphans and institutionalized children with safe 

23 families and relatives; and 


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1 (C) moving a significant percentage of or2 phans into permanent parental care when it is 

3 determined that they cannot be reunified; and 

4 (3) the numbers of children aging out of insti5 tutions or foster care in such country is decreasing 

6 by a significant percentage each year. 

7 (b) CRITERIA.—A country is eligible for assistance 

8 from the Office for Orphan Policy Diplomacy and Devel9 opment under this Act if the government of the country— 

10 (1) publicly acknowledges the need for family 

11 preservation, reunification and permanent parental 

12 care for orphans; and 

13 (2) demonstrates a commitment to develop im14 proved laws, policies, infrastructures, and training 

15 programs to preserve and reunify with safe families 

16 and provide permanent parental care for orphans 

17 by— 

18 (A) developing formal strategic plans to 

19 develop laws and infrastructure to address 

20 shortcomings related to meeting the minimum 

21 standards described in subsection (a); 

22 (B) allocating resources to study the issues 

23 described in subparagraph (A); or 

24 (C) expending or setting aside sufficient 

25 funds, to help build child welfare and judicial 


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1 infrastructure and enact laws to address short2 comings related to meeting such minimum 

3 standards. 

4 SEC. 104. GRANT, PILOT, AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS. 

5 (a) ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.— 

6 Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

7 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating section 135, as added by 

9 section 5(a) of Public Law 109–121, as section 137; 

10 and 

11 (2) by inserting after section 135, as added by 

12 section 3 of Public Law 109–95, the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 136. ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS. 

14 ‘‘(a) ASSISTANCE TO MEET MINIMUM STAND15 ARDS.—The President is authorized to provide assistance 

16 to foreign countries directly, or through nongovernmental 

17 and multilateral organizations, for programs, projects, and 

18 activities designed to assist the country to meet the min19 imum standards described in section 103(a) of the Fami20 lies for Orphans Act of 2009. 

21 ‘‘(b) ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS THAT

22 MEET MINIMUM STANDARDS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President is author24 ized to provide assistance, including trade and debt 

25 relief, to any foreign country that demonstrates sucVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:12 Jun 28, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3031.IH H3031

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1 cess in meeting the majority of the minimum stand2 ards and other goals described in paragraph (2). 

3 ‘‘(2) PLAN.—The government of a country de4 siring assistance under this subsection shall dem5 onstrate a commitment to meeting the minimum 

6 standards described in section 103(a) of the Fami7 lies for Orphans Act of 2009 by independently, or 

8 with assistance from the Office for Orphan Policy 

9 Diplomacy and Development, developing— 

10 ‘‘(A) a detailed, long-term strategic plan 

11 for meeting such minimum standards and re12 lated long-range goals; and 

13 ‘‘(B) a 1-year or 2-year operational plan 

14 that describes the immediate steps that the for15 eign government will take toward meeting such 

16 minimum standards.’’. 

17 (b) ASSISTANCE IN SUPPORT OF FAMILY PRESERVA18 TION, REUNIFICATION AND PERMANENT PARENTAL CARE

19 FOR ORPHANS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State is 

21 authorized to make grants to nongovernmental agen22 cies working to promote permanent parental care for 

23 orphans, in accordance with the results of the global 

24 best practices study conducted under subsection (c). 


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1 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants received under 

2 this subsection can be used to— 

3 (A) improve public policy in support of the 

4 preservation and reunification of families and 

5 permanent parental care for orphans; 

6 (B) reduce the number of children aban7 doned; 

8 (C) reduce the number of families at risk 

9 of dissolution; 

10 (D) increase the number of children reuni11 fied with their parents; 

12 (E) increase the number of children ob13 taining legal guardianship and kinship care; 

14 (F) increase the number of children placed 

15 for adoption domestically; 

16 (G) support international adoption for chil17 dren who cannot be adopted domestically, or re18 unified with their biological parents; 

19 (H) draft laws and develop systems de20 signed to promote ethical, evidence-based prac21 tice in international adoption; 

22 (I) increase the level of expertise and un23 derstanding of foreign governments working to 

24 preserve and reunify families and promote per25 manent parental care for orphans; 


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1 (J) create and support connections with 

2 caring, committed adults to older children at 

3 risk of or in the process of aging out of institu4 tional care; 

5 (K) develop mentoring, visitation and fos6 ter adopt programs aimed at recruiting a larger 

7 number of individuals willing to provide perma8 nent parental care for orphans; 

9 (L) increase adoption support services, and 

10 (M) create and improve child welfare and 

11 judicial infrastructures, that strengthen and 

12 support permanent family care for orphans. 

13 (3) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—To the extent pos14 sible, grants shall be awarded under this subsection 

15 to organizations that have demonstrated— 

16 (A) experience in the area of child welfare 

17 and judicial policy, family preservation, reunifi18 cation, permanent parental care for orphans, 

19 (B) success in working with the in-country 

20 governmental agencies responsible for care of 

21 children; and 

22 (C) adherence to the child welfare laws of 

23 the foreign government in which such organiza24 tions are located. 

25 (c) GLOBAL BEST PRACTICES.— 


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1 (1) STUDY ON GLOBAL BEST PRACTICES.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

4 Secretary of State shall initiate a study to iden5 tify global best practices for— 

6 (i) preserving and reunifying families; 

7 and 

8 (ii) providing permanent parental care 

9 for orphans. 

10 (B) IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS.—In 

11 conducting the study under subparagraph (A), 

12 the Secretary shall identify— 

13 (i) evidence-based programs that are 

14 demonstrated to provide permanent paren15 tal care in a timely manner; 

16 (ii) policy and practices that result in 

17 increased deinstitutionalization of children; 

18 (iii) legislation globally that requires 

19 and supports permanent parental care; 

20 (iv) factors that decrease the dissolu21 tion of families; and 

22 (v) best practices for promoting eth23 ical international adoption practices. 

24 (C) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

25 initiating the study under this paragraph, the 


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1 Secretary shall publish a report on the best 

2 practices identified in the study. 

3 (D) USE OF STUDY RESULTS.—The Sec4 retary shall use the results of the study con5 ducted under this paragraph to guide and in6 form— 

7 (i) the award of all grants under this 

8 Act; and 

9 (ii) all activities in the global best 

10 practices pilot program carried out under 

11 paragraph (2). 

12 (2) GLOBAL BEST PRACTICES PILOT PRO13 GRAM.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Upon completing the 

15 study described in paragraph (1), the Secretary 

16 of State shall establish and carry out a global 

17 best practices pilot program. 

18 (B) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the pro19 gram established pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

20 shall be to— 

21 (i) demonstrate how research-based 

22 policies and programs to provide orphans 

23 with permanent parental care can be suc24 cessfully implemented; 


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1 (ii) establish model programs that, 

2 once tested for effectiveness, will be avail3 able, replicable, and adaptable on a global 

4 basis; 

5 (iii) identify a comprehensive series of 

6 interventions, which result in family pres7 ervation, reunification, and permanent pa8 rental care for orphans; and 

9 (iv) determine which in-country fac10 tors enhance or negate efforts to achieve 

11 family preservation, reunification and per12 manent parental care for orphans. 

13 (C) SELECTION OF SITES.— 

14 (i) NUMBER OF SITES.—In carrying 

15 out the pilot program established under 

16 this paragraph, the Secretary of State 

17 shall select and establish not fewer than 5 

18 sites, each of which shall be located in a 

19 different region of the world. 

20 (ii) PRIORITIES.—In selecting sites 

21 under clause (i), the Secretary shall con22 sider— 

23 (I) cultural, geographic, and eco24 nomic diversity of countries included 

25 in the region; 


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1 (II) whether governments within 

2 the region have sufficient infrastruc3 ture and capacity to support the pilot 

4 program; and 

5 (III) the incidence of abandoned 

6 children and children in institutional 

7 care in the region and culture. 

8 (iii) DELEGATION.—The Coordinator 

9 for Orphan Policy Diplomacy and Develop10 ment may delegate implementation of the 

11 pilot program under this paragraph to 1 or 

12 more organizations that have experience in 

13 the use of evidence-based programs to pro14 mote family preservation, reunification or 

15 permanent parental care for orphans. 

16 (iv) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later 

17 than 1 year after the date on which the 

18 first pilot program is established under 

19 this paragraph, and each subsequent year, 

20 the Coordinator shall publish a report on 

21 the status of, and lessons learned in, the 

22 pilot program. 

23 SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 (1) OPERATIONS.—There are authorized to be 

25 appropriated for the administrative costs associated 


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1 with carrying out the duties of the Office for Orphan 

2 Policy Diplomacy and Development— 

3 (A) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 

4 (B) such sums as may be necessary for 

5 each subsequent fiscal year. 

6 (2) ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.— 

7 There are authorized to be appropriated for assist8 ance to foreign governments under section 136 of 

9 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961— 

10 (A) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 

11 (B) such sums as may be necessary for 

12 each subsequent fiscal year. 

13 (3) GRANTS TO SUPPORT PERMANENT PAREN14 TAL CARE.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

15 for grants under section 104(b)— 

16 (A) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 

17 (B) such sums as may be necessary for 

18 each subsequent fiscal year. 

19 (4) GLOBAL BEST PRACTICES PILOT PRO20 GRAM.—There are authorized to be appropriated to 

21 the Secretary of State to carry out section 104— 

22 (A) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 

23 (B) such sums as may be necessary for 

24 each subsequent fiscal year. 

Æ 


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