SEC. 302. REPORT AND GUIDANCE ON UNREGULATED CUS-
TODY TRANSFERS. 
The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adop-
tion Reform Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 5111 et seq.) is amended 
by inserting after section 201 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 202. REPORT AND GUIDANCE ON UNREGULATED CUS-
TODY TRANSFERS. 
‘‘(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 
that: 
‘‘(1) Some adopted children may be at risk of ex-
periencing an unregulated custody transfer because 
the challenges associated with adoptions (including 
the child’s mental health needs and the difficulties 
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 trau-
ma 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 criminal 
background checks or clearances. 
‘‘(4) Social services agencies and courts are often 
unaware of the placement of children through unregu-
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lated custody transfer and therefore do not conduct 
assessments on the child’s safety and well-being in 
such placements. 
‘‘(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 environ-
ments. 
‘‘(6) The caregivers with whom a child is placed 
through unregulated custody transfer often have no 
legal responsibility with respect to such child, placing 
the child at risk for additional unregulated custody 
transfers. 
‘‘(7) Such caregivers also may not have complete 
records with respect to such child, including the 
child’s birth, medical, or immigration records. 
‘‘(8) A child adopted through intercountry adop-
tion may be at risk of not acquiring United States 
citizenship if an unregulated custody transfer occurs 
before the adoptive parents complete all necessary 
steps to finalize the adoption of such child. 
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‘‘(9) Engaging in, or offering to engage in, un-
regulated custody transfer places children at risk of 
harm. 
‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 
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 Fi-
nance of the Senate, and the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate a report 
on unregulated custody transfers of children, includ-
ing 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 so-
cial services agencies and courts due to such un-
regulated custody transfer; 
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101 
‘‘(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-
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 respond-
ing to unregulated custody transfers, including of 
adopted children. 
‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The guidance required under 
paragraph (1) shall include— 
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‘‘(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 wel-
fare services; 
‘‘(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 aban-
donment of a child, by the child’s parent, legal guard-
ian, 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— 
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103 
‘‘(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 
‘‘(iii) a member of the Federally recog-
nized 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).’’. 
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105 
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Re-
form 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) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 629g(g))’’ before the 
period at the end. 
SEC. 304. STUDY AND REPORT ON SUCCESSFUL ADOP-
TIONS. 
Section 204 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treat-
ment 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 (di-
rectly 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 
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106 
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 2020’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘fiscal years 2011 through 2015’’ 
and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2021 through 2025’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 50 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 2480 
[Report No. 116–74] 
A BILL 
To reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act, and for other purposes. 
MAY 20, 2019 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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