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‘‘SEC. 202. REPORT AND GUIDANCE ON UNREGULATED CUS-
TODY TRANSFERS. 
‘‘(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that: 
‘‘(1) Some adopted children may be at risk of 
experiencing an unregulated custody transfer be-
cause the challenges associated with adoptions (in-
cluding the child’s mental health needs and the dif-
ficulties many families face in acquiring support 
services) may lead families to seek out unregulated 
custody transfers. 
‘‘(2) Some adopted children experience trauma, 
and the disruption and placement in another home 
by unregulated custody transfer creates additional 
trauma and instability for children. 
‘‘(3) Children who experience an unregulated 
custody transfer may be placed with families who 
have not completed required child welfare or crimi-
nal background checks or clearances. 
‘‘(4) Social services agencies and courts are 
often unaware of the placement of children through 
unregulated custody transfer and therefore do not 
conduct assessments on the child’s safety and well- 
being in such placements. 
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‘‘(5) Such lack of placement oversight places a 
child at risk for future abuse and increases the 
chance that the child may experience— 
‘‘(A) abuse or neglect; 
‘‘(B) contact with unsafe adults or youth; 
and 
‘‘(C) exposure to unsafe or isolated envi-
ronments. 
‘‘(6) The caregivers with whom a child is placed 
through unregulated custody transfer often have no 
legal responsibility with respect to such child, plac-
ing the child at risk for additional unregulated cus-
tody transfers. 
‘‘(7) Such caregivers also may not have com-
plete records with respect to such child, including 
the child’s birth, medical, or immigration records. 
‘‘(8) A child adopted through intercountry 
adoption may be at risk of not acquiring United 
States citizenship if an unregulated custody transfer 
occurs before the adoptive parents complete all nec-
essary steps to finalize the adoption of such child. 
‘‘(9) Engaging in, or offering to engage in, un-
regulated custody transfer places children at risk of 
harm. 
‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services shall provide 
to the Committee on Education and Labor of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee on Ways 
and Means of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Finance of the Senate, and the Com-
mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 
of the Senate a report on unregulated custody trans-
fers of children, including of adopted children. 
‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 
paragraph (1) shall include— 
‘‘(A) the causes, methods, and characteris-
tics of unregulated custody transfers, including 
the use of social media and the internet; 
‘‘(B) the effects of unregulated custody 
transfers on children, including the lack of as-
sessment of a child’s safety and well-being by 
social services agencies and courts due to such 
unregulated custody transfer; 
‘‘(C) the prevalence of unregulated custody 
transfers within each State and across all 
States; and 
‘‘(D) recommended policies for preventing, 
identifying, and responding to unregulated cus-
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tody transfers, including of adopted children, 
that include— 
‘‘(i) amendments to Federal and State 
law to address unregulated custody trans-
fers; 
‘‘(ii) amendments to child protection 
practices to address unregulated custody 
transfers; and 
‘‘(iii) methods of providing the public 
information regarding adoption and child 
protection. 
‘‘(c) GUIDANCE TO STATES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date specified in subsection (b)(1), the Sec-
retary shall issue guidance and technical assistance 
to States related to preventing, identifying, and re-
sponding to unregulated custody transfers, including 
of adopted children. 
‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The guidance required under 
paragraph (1) shall include— 
‘‘(A) education materials related to pre-
venting, identifying, and responding to unregu-
lated custody transfers for employees of State, 
local, and Tribal agencies that provide child 
welfare services; 
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‘‘(B) guidance on appropriate pre-adoption 
education and post-adoption services for domes-
tic and international adoptive families to pro-
mote child permanency; and 
‘‘(C) the assistance available through the 
National Resource Center for Special Needs 
Adoption under section 203(b)(9). 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 
the several States, the District of Columbia, and any 
commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United 
States. 
‘‘(2) UNREGULATED
CUSTODY
TRANSFER.— 
The term ‘unregulated custody transfer’ means the 
abandonment of a child, by the child’s parent, legal 
guardian, or a person or entity acting on behalf, and 
with the consent, of such parent or guardian— 
‘‘(A) by placing a child with a person who 
is not— 
‘‘(i) the child’s parent, step-parent, 
grandparent, adult sibling, legal guardian, 
or other adult relative; 
‘‘(ii) a friend of the family who is an 
adult and with whom the child is familiar; 
or 
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‘‘(iii) a member of the Federally rec-
ognized Indian tribe of which the child is 
also a member; 
‘‘(B) with the intent of severing the rela-
tionship between the child and the parent or 
guardian of such child; and 
‘‘(C) without— 
‘‘(i) reasonably ensuring the safety of 
the child and permanency of the placement 
of the child, including by conducting an of-
ficial home study, background check, and 
supervision; and 
‘‘(ii) transferring the legal rights and 
responsibilities of parenthood or guardian-
ship under applicable Federal and State 
law to a person described in subparagraph 
(A).’’. 
SEC. 303. INFORMATION AND SERVICES. 
(a) NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER
FOR SPECIAL 
NEEDS ADOPTION.—Section 203(b)(9) of the Child Abuse 
Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 
1978 (42 U.S.C. 5113(b)(9)) is amended by inserting ‘‘not 
later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of the 
Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, es-
tablish and’’ before ‘‘maintain’’. 
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(b) PLACEMENT WITH ADOPTIVE FAMILIES.—Sec-
tion 203(b)(11)(C) of the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 
5113(b)(11)(C)) is amended by striking ‘‘such children’’ 
and inserting ‘‘the children and youth described in the 
matter preceding paragraph (1) of section 201’’. 
(c) PRE-ADOPTION SERVICES.—Section 203(c)(1) of 
the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption 
Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 5113(c)(1)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘post’’ and inserting ‘‘pre- and post-’’. 
(d) SERVICES.—Section 203(c)(2) of the Child Abuse 
Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 
1978 (42 U.S.C. 5113(c)(2)) is amended by inserting 
‘‘and the development of such services,’’ after ‘‘not sup-
plant, services’’. 
(e) ELIMINATION
OF
BARRIERS
TO
ADOPTION 
ACROSS
JURISDICTIONAL
BOUNDARIES.—Section 
203(e)(1) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 
and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 5113(e)(1)) 
is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘with, States,’’ and inserting 
‘‘with States, Indian Tribes,’’; and 
(2) by inserting ‘‘, including through the use of 
web-based tools such as the electronic interstate 
case-processing system referred to in section 437(g) 
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of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629g(g))’’ be-
fore the period at the end. 
SEC. 304. STUDY AND REPORT ON SUCCESSFUL ADOP-
TIONS. 
Section 204 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 
5114) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 204. STUDY AND REPORT ON SUCCESSFUL ADOP-
TIONS. 
‘‘(a) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a study 
(directly or by grant to, or contract with, public or private 
nonprofit research agencies or organizations) on adoption 
outcomes and the factors (including parental substance 
use disorder) affecting those outcomes. 
‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than the date that is 36 
months after the date of the enactment of the Stronger 
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act the Secretary 
shall submit a report to Congress that includes the results 
of the study required under subsection (a).’’. 
SEC. 305. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Section 205(a) of the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 
5115(a)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2010’’ and inserting 
‘‘fiscal year 2022’’; and 
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(2) by striking ‘‘fiscal years 2011 through 
2015’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2023 through 
2027’’. 
TITLE IV—AMENDMENTS TO 
OTHER LAWS 
SEC. 401. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO 
OTHER LAWS. 
(a) HEAD START ACT.—Section 658E(c)(2)(L) of 
the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)(2)(L)) is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘will comply with the child abuse reporting 
requirements of section 106(b)(2)(B)(i) of the Child 
Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 
5106a(b)(2)(B)(i))’’ and inserting ‘‘will comply with the 
child 
abuse 
reporting 
requirements 
of 
section 
106(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treat-
ment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a(b)(2)(A)(i))’’. 
(b) VICTIMS
OF CRIME ACT
OF 1984.—Section 
1404A of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 
20104) is amended by striking ‘‘section 109’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘section 107’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives March 16, 
2021. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
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