I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6459 
To establish an adoption process improvement pilot program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 10, 2008 
Mr. FATTAH (for himself and Mr. SOUDER) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To establish an adoption process improvement pilot program. 
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 the ‘‘Adoption Improvement 
Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Despite the dramatic increase in the num-
ber of adoptions out of foster care since the enact-
ment of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 
(Public Law 105–89; 111 Stat. 2115), there are still 
114,000 children in foster care with the goal of 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
01:30 Jul 11, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6459.IH
H6459
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
adoption. Of these, only 13 percent are currently liv-
ing in a preadoptive home. At the same time, in a 
given year, 240,000 people in the United States will 
call for information about adopting a child from fos-
ter care. Ultimately, however, only a very small frac-
tion of prospective parents interested in adopting 
children in foster care will end up doing so. As a re-
sult, thousands of needy children will remain in fos-
ter care and thousands of prospective parents will 
remain childless. 
(2) According to a recent study conducted by 
Harvard University and the Urban Institute in col-
laboration with the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption In-
stitute, 78 percent of adults who call for information 
about becoming adoptive parents will not fill out an 
application or attend an orientation meeting. Only 6 
percent of those who call for information actually 
complete the adoption home study, a requirement for 
all prospective parents. 
(3) Research shows that prospective adoptive 
parents often face a number of barriers that discour-
age them from adopting children out of foster care, 
including difficulty in accessing the child welfare 
agency and unpleasant experiences during critical 
initial contacts with the child welfare agency, as well 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
01:30 Jul 11, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6459.IH
H6459
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
as ongoing frustration with the agency or aspects of 
the process. The 2 primary ways people learn about 
adoption from foster care are the media and word of 
mouth. Negative experiences with the adoption proc-
ess have resounding effects as 1 parent’s frustration 
is expressed to friends, families, and acquaintances. 
SEC. 3. CHILD WELFARE AGENCY DEFINED. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘child welfare agency’’ means 
an entity of a State, regional or local area, or Indian tribe, 
that has primary responsibility in such a State, regional 
or local area, or Indian tribe for the facilitation of adop-
tions from the child welfare system. 
SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 
The Secretary of Health and Human Services (re-
ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall carry out, 
in accordance with the provisions of this Act, a pilot pro-
gram of making not less than 10 grants to child welfare 
agencies that is designed to effect long-range improve-
ments in the adoption process by increasing prospective 
adoptive parent access to adoption information and 
strengthening such agencies responsiveness to prospective 
adoptive parents. 
SEC. 5. APPLICATION. 
A child welfare agency that desires to receive a grant 
under this Act shall submit an application at such time, 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
01:30 Jul 11, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H6459.IH
H6459
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS