111 Stat. 2115), clearly stating that a child’s health 
and safety are paramount, and that each child de-
serves a permanent home. 
(2) The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 
1997 provides incentives for adoptions, and for fiscal 
year 2005, States placed nearly 52,000 children 
from State care. 
(3) In 2003, the Adoption Promotion Act (Pub-
lic Law 108–145, 117 Stat. 1879), which reauthor-
ized the incentive program, gave greater emphasis 
on moving older children into permanency. 
(4) Despite the increase in adoptions, in 2005, 
more than 115,000 children in foster care were wait-
ing to be adopted. 
(5) Some States have chosen to limit services 
provided to special needs adopted children who are 
not eligible for adoption assistance under part E of 
title IV of the Social Security Act, in effect discrimi-
nating against a child whose parental rights have 
been terminated by basing the child’s eligibility for 
such assistance on the financial status of adults who 
are no longer the child’s legal parents. 
(6) These children have many special needs and 
require Federal financial assistance and support to 
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start the physical and emotional healing after what 
may have been past years of abuse and neglect. 
SEC. 3. PROMOTION OF ADOPTION OF CHILDREN WITH 
SPECIAL NEEDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 473(a)(2) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)(2)) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(2)(A) For purposes of paragraph (1)(B)(ii), a child 
meets the requirements of this paragraph if the child— 
‘‘(i)(I) at the time of termination of parental 
rights, was in the care of a public or licensed private 
child placement agency or Indian tribal organization 
pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement, relin-
quishment, or involuntary removal of the child from 
the home, and the State has determined, pursuant 
to criteria established by the State, that continu-
ation in the home would be contrary to the safety or 
welfare of the child; 
‘‘(II) meets all medical or disability require-
ments of title XVI with respect to eligibility for sup-
plemental security income benefits; or 
‘‘(III) was residing in a foster family home or 
child care institution with a minor parent of the 
child pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement, 
relinquishment, or involuntary removal of the child 
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from the home, and the State has determined, pur-
suant to criteria established by the State, that con-
tinuation in the home would be contrary to the safe-
ty or welfare of the child; and 
‘‘(ii) has been determined by the State, pursu-
ant to subsection (c), to be a child with special 
needs, which needs shall be considered by the State, 
together with the circumstances of the adopting par-
ents, in determining the amount of any payments to 
be made to the adoptive parents. 
‘‘(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and 
except as provided in paragraph (7), a child who is not 
a citizen or resident of the United States, who is lawfully 
present in the United States, and who meets the require-
ments of subparagraph (A) shall be treated as meeting 
the requirements of this paragraph for purposes of para-
graph (1)(B)(ii). 
‘‘(C) A child who meets the requirements of subpara-
graph (A) of this paragraph, who was determined eligible 
for adoption assistance payments under this part with re-
spect to a prior adoption (or who would have been deter-
mined eligible for such payments had the Adoption and 
Safe Families Act of 1997 been in effect at the time that 
such determination would have been made), and who is 
available for adoption because the prior adoption has been 
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dissolved and the parental rights of the adoptive parents 
have been terminated, or because the child’s adoptive par-
ents have died, shall be treated as meeting the require-
ments of this paragraph for purposes of paragraph 
(1)(B)(ii).’’. 
(b) EXCEPTION.—Section 473(a) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 673(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(7)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
subsection, a State shall not make a payment pursuant 
to this section to parents with respect to a child considered 
by a State to be a special needs child if the child— 
‘‘(i) is not a citizen or resident of the United 
States; and 
‘‘(ii) was adopted outside of the United States 
or was brought into the United States for the pur-
pose of being adopted. 
‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not be construed as pro-
hibiting payments under this part for a child described 
in subparagraph (A) that is placed in foster care subse-
quent to the failure, as determined by the State, of the 
initial adoption of the child by the parents described in 
such subparagraph.’’. 
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(c) DETERMINATION OF A CHILD WITH SPECIAL 
NEEDS.—Section 473(c)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
673(c)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(1)(A) the State has determined, pursuant to 
criteria established by the State, that the child can-
not or should not be returned to the home of his or 
her parents; or 
‘‘(B) the child meets all medical or disability re-
quirements of title XVI with respect to eligibility for 
supplemental security income benefits; and’’. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of the Congress that the States should 
reinvest in child welfare programs any savings resulting 
from the implementation of the amendments made by this 
Act. 
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b), the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 
on October 1, 2008, and shall apply with respect to adop-
tion assistance agreements entered into, and to payments 
under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act for 
calendar quarters beginning, on or after such date, with-
out regard to whether regulations to implement the 
amendments are promulgated by such date. 
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(b) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION RE-
QUIRED.—If the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
determines that State legislation (other than legislation 
appropriating funds) is required in order for a State plan 
approved under part E of title IV of the Social Security 
Act to meet the additional requirements imposed by the 
amendments made by this Act, the plan shall not be re-
garded as failing to meet any of the additional require-
ments before the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter be-
ginning after the first regular session of the State legisla-
ture that begins after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. If the State has a 2-year legislative session, each year 
of the session is deemed to be a separate regular session 
of the State legislature. 
Æ 
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