I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3423 
To ensure the safety and well-being of adopted children. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 30, 2013 
Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself, Mr. WITTMAN, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. SEAN 
PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BASS, and Mr. 
GRIMM) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak-
er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju-
risdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To ensure the safety and well-being of adopted children. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. ADOPTION SUPPORT SERVICES. 
(a) ENSURING WELL-BEING OF ADOPTED CHILDREN 
AND ADOPTIVE FAMILIES.—Section 421 of the Social Se-
curity Act (42 U.S.C. 621) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
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(2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para-
graph (6); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) ensuring the well-being of adopted children 
and their adoptive families and promoting efforts to 
prevent such children from entering the foster care 
system through the provision of pre- and post-adop-
tive support services; and’’. 
(b) PRE- AND POST-ADOPTIVE SUPPORT SERV-
ICES.—Paragraph (8) of section 431(a) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 629a(a)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(8) ADOPTION
PROMOTION
AND
SUPPORT 
SERVICES.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘adoption 
promotion and support services’ means services 
and activities designed to encourage more adop-
tions out of the foster care system and support 
domestic adoptions and adoptions from other 
countries, consistent with promoting the best 
interests of adopted children and their adoptive 
families. Such services and activities may in-
clude pre- and post-adoptive support services, 
as described in subparagraph (B), that are de-
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signed to support adopted children and their 
adoptive families. 
‘‘(B) PRE- AND POST-ADOPTIVE SUPPORT 
SERVICES.—The term ‘pre- and post-adoptive 
support services’ means the following: 
‘‘(i) Pre-adoptive support services, 
which may include— 
‘‘(I) direct services, including 
training, educational support, coun-
seling, case management, and other 
services for adoptive parents and fam-
ilies that address caregiver interests 
and concerns regarding common be-
havioral issues, such as— 
‘‘(aa) issues relating to emo-
tional, behavioral, or develop-
mental health needs; 
‘‘(bb) issues relating to at-
tachment, identity, abandonment, 
cultural differences, grief, and 
loss; 
‘‘(cc) issues resulting from 
birth defects due to fetal alcohol 
syndrome or any other substance 
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abuse-related developmental dis-
order; 
‘‘(dd) the conditions that a 
child is being adopted from, and 
how this will influence the child’s 
emotional and social develop-
ment; and 
‘‘(ee) 
adoptive 
families 
should receive full disclosure of 
the child’s background informa-
tion (non-identifying and identi-
fying when needed or when 
agreed upon in an open adop-
tion). This information should in-
clude but not be limited to infor-
mation 
from 
family, 
agency, 
court, school, mental health, and 
medical files; 
‘‘(II) the provision of educational 
resources for adoptive parents regard-
ing the geographic, ethnic, and cul-
tural background of the adopted child; 
‘‘(III) peer-to-peer mentoring and 
support groups that permit a newly 
adoptive parent to communicate and 
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learn from more experienced adoptive 
parents, including programs that en-
hance communication between adop-
tive parents with children of similar 
geographic, ethnic, or cultural back-
grounds; and 
‘‘(IV) the provision of informa-
tional resources for adoptive parents, 
including— 
‘‘(aa) 
resources 
available 
through Federal and State agen-
cies, including information re-
garding benefits for children with 
a medical condition or a physical, 
mental, or emotional disability; 
‘‘(bb) newsletters, Web sites, 
and other informational resources 
regarding adoption-related serv-
ices; 
‘‘(cc) the establishment of 
lending libraries containing infor-
mation and resources for adop-
tive parents; and 
‘‘(dd) 
conferences, 
parent 
support discussion groups, and 
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seminars that are available to 
adoptive parents and other rel-
evant stakeholders. 
‘‘(ii) Post-adoptive support services, 
which may include— 
‘‘(I) continued provision to adop-
tive parents of pre-adoptive support 
services described in clause (i); 
‘‘(II) the provision of accessible 
and reliable respite services for adop-
tive parents; 
‘‘(III) direct services and coun-
seling for adopted child and family, 
including, as appropriate— 
‘‘(aa) support services for an 
adopted child with emotional, be-
havioral, or developmental health 
needs; 
‘‘(bb) support services that 
address issues relating to attach-
ment, identity, abandonment, cul-
tural differences, grief, and loss; 
and 
‘‘(cc) treatment services that 
are specialized for adopted chil-
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