I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5830 
To provide for competitive grants for the establishment and expansion of 
programs that use networks of public, private, and faith-based organiza-
tions to recruit and train foster and adoptive parents and provide support 
services to foster children and their families. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 22, 2010 
Mr. COOPER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To provide for competitive grants for the establishment and 
expansion of programs that use networks of public, pri-
vate, and faith-based organizations to recruit and train 
foster and adoptive parents and provide support services 
to foster children and their families. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as ‘‘One Church, One Child 
Act of 2010’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:17 Jul 24, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5830.IH
H5830
rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
(1) Many States are facing serious shortages of 
qualified foster parents and qualified adoptive par-
ents. 
(2) Though family foster care remains the pre-
ferred placement setting for most children in foster 
care, numerous studies have documented States’ in-
ability to effectively recruit and retain qualified fos-
ter families. In 2008, almost 30 percent of children 
in foster care were placed in a non-family placement 
setting. 
(3) The shortage of adoptive parents is equally 
dire—while 55,000 children were adopted out of fos-
ter care in 2008, as many as 123,000 were awaiting 
adoption. On average, these waiting children had 
been in continuous foster care for 38 months. 
(4) The costs of not finding adoptive homes for 
foster children awaiting adoption are great. Youth 
who ‘‘age out’’ of the foster care system—almost 
30,000 youth in 2008—are at higher risk of becom-
ing pregnant, homeless, unemployed, and incarcer-
ated than their peers. 
(5) A 2005 study found that ‘‘a strong personal 
connection’’ does more to attract adoptive parents to 
foster care adoption than the media and other cost-
lier recruitment strategies. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:17 Jul 24, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5830.IH
H5830
rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
(6) The rapid increase in the annual number of 
adoptions from foster care since the enactment of 
the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 has cre-
ated a growing need for post-adoption services and 
for service providers with the knowledge and skills 
required to address the unique issues adoptive fami-
lies and children may face. 
(7) One Church, One Child is a national faith- 
and community-based foster care and adoption min-
istry established in Chicago, Illinois, in 1980 by Fa-
ther George Clements, whose mission is to provide 
comprehensive services that promote the well-being 
of at-risk children and the strengthening and em-
powerment of adoptive, foster, and kinship families. 
Since its formation, the organization and programs 
based on its model have successfully placed more 
than 140,000 children in adoptive families nation-
wide. 
(8) Despite its success as a model for providing 
recruitment, training, and support services for cer-
tified foster and adoptive parents, One Church, One 
Child programs and programs based on this concept 
have received limited Federal funding. 
(9) The creation of a federally funded grant 
program to support the establishment and expansion 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:17 Jul 24, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5830.IH
H5830
rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
of programs for the recruitment of foster parents 
and adoptive parents which are modeled on the One 
Church, One Child concept will benefit the Nation’s 
abused and neglected children by increasing the pool 
of qualified adoptive parents and qualified foster 
parents. 
SEC. 3. ONE CHURCH, ONE CHILD GRANTS. 
Part E of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 670–679c) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘SEC. 479C. ONE CHURCH, ONE CHILD GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) COMPETITIVE GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES 
TO CONDUCT ONE CHURCH, ONE CHILD FOSTER PAR-
ENT
AND
ADOPTION
PARENT
RECRUITMENT
PRO-
GRAMS.— 
‘‘(1) GRANT AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
make grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 
entities to support the establishment or expan-
sion of programs that use networks of public, 
private and faith-based organizations to recruit 
and train qualified foster parents and qualified 
adoptive parents and provide support services to 
adoptive and foster children and their families. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:17 Jul 24, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5830.IH
H5830
rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this section, 
the term ‘eligible entity’ means a State or local 
government, local public agency, community- 
based or nonprofit organization, or private enti-
ty, including any charitable or faith-based orga-
nization, that submits to the Secretary, at such 
time, in such form, and in such manner as the 
Secretary may require, an application that con-
tains such information as the Secretary may re-
quire and the following: 
‘‘(i) PROJECT
DESCRIPTION.—A de-
scription of the programs or activities the 
entity intends to carry out with funds pro-
vided under this section, including an esti-
mate of the number of children to be 
served under such programs or activities 
and a description of the services to be pro-
vided to prospective adoptive and foster 
parents, including post-placement sup-
portive services. 
‘‘(ii) COORDINATION OF EFFORTS.—A 
description of how the entity will coordi-
nate and cooperate with State and local 
entities responsible for carrying out pro-
grams related to the recruitment of foster 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:17 Jul 24, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5830.IH
H5830
rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
parents and adoptive parents, and with the 
national clearinghouse established under 
section 479D. 
‘‘(iii) RECORDS, REPORTS, AND
AU-
DITS.—An agreement to maintain such 
records, submit such reports, and cooper-
ate with such reviews and audits as the 
Secretary finds necessary for purposes of 
oversight. 
‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF STATE.—In this section, 
the term ‘State’ means each of the 50 States, the 
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, 
American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF AP-
PROPRIATIONS.—To carry out this section, there are 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary not 
more than $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 
through 2015. 
‘‘(4) 3-YEAR AVAILABILITY OF GRANT FUNDS.— 
An eligible entity to which a grant is made under 
this section for a fiscal year shall remit to the Sec-
retary any part of the grant that is not expended by 
the end of the second succeeding fiscal year, to-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:17 Jul 24, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5830.IH
H5830
rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
gether with any earnings on such unexpended 
amount. 
‘‘(5) REDISTRIBUTION
OF
UNUSED
GRANT 
FUNDS.—The Secretary shall redistribute any funds 
remitted under paragraph (4) among eligible entities 
that the Secretary determines have a need for addi-
tional funds to carry out the programs and activities 
referred to in paragraph (1)(B)(i). 
‘‘(b) PROVISIONS RELATING TO RELIGIOUS ORGANI-
ZATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) NONDISCRIMINATION.—For the purpose of 
awarding grants under this section, the Secretary 
shall consider religious organizations on the same 
basis as other nongovernmental organizations, so 
long as the grant is to be implemented in a manner 
consistent with the Establishment Clause of the 
First Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States. A State or local government receiving funds 
under this section shall not discriminate against an 
organization that seeks to participate in a program 
funded under this section on the basis that the orga-
nization has a religious character. 
‘‘(2) NONINTERFERENCE.—Neither the Federal 
Government nor a State or local government shall 
require a religious organization— 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:17 Jul 24, 2010
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5830.IH
H5830
rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS