I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1247 
To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to include an 
act of unregulated custody transfer in the definition of child abuse 
and neglect, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 23, 2021 
Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself and Mr. BACON) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 
to include an act of unregulated custody transfer in 
the definition of child abuse and neglect, and for other 
purposes. 
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 ‘‘Safe Home Act of 
2021’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that: 
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(1) Adopted children may be most 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) Many adopted children experience trauma, 
and the disruption and placement in another home 
by unregulated custody transfer creates additional 
trauma and instability for the child. 
(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 un-
regulated custody transfer and therefore do not con-
duct 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 like-
lihood that the child may experience— 
(A) physical, sexual, or emotional abuse or 
neglect; 
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(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, plac-
ing the child at risk for additional unregulated cus-
tody transfers. 
(7) Such caregivers also may not have complete 
records, including 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. 
(9) Engaging in, or offering to engage in, un-
regulated custody transfer is a form of child abuse. 
SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF UNREGULATED CUSTODY TRANS-
FER. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Child Abuse Pre-
vention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 note) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘or an act or failure’’ and 
inserting ‘‘an act or failure’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘, or an unregulated cus-
tody transfer’’ after ‘‘serious harm’’; 
(2) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 
inserting a semicolon; 
(3) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(9) 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, adult uncle or 
aunt, legal guardian, or other adult rel-
ative; 
‘‘(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 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).’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (5) of 
section 3 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 
Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended by striking ‘‘450b’’ 
and inserting ‘‘5304’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect on the date that is 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this section. 
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SEC. 4. REPORT AND GUIDANCE ON UNREGULATED CUS-
TODY TRANSFERS. 
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. REPORT AND GUIDANCE ON UNREGULATED CUS-
TODY TRANSFERS. 
‘‘(a) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 
State, 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, and the Committee on Health, Edu-
cation, 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 
transfer on children, including the lack of as-
sessment of a child’s safety and well-being by 
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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-
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. 
‘‘(b) GUIDANCE TO STATES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec-
retary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, 
shall issue guidance and technical assistance to 
States related to preventing, identifying, and re-
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sponding to unregulated custody transfers, including 
of adopted children. 
‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The guidance required under 
paragraph (1) shall include— 
‘‘(A) education and training materials re-
lated to preventing, identifying, and responding 
to unregulated custody transfers for employees 
of State, local, and Tribal agencies that provide 
child welfare services; 
‘‘(B) model State laws with respect to un-
regulated custody transfers; and 
‘‘(C) guidance on appropriate pre-adoption 
training and post-adoption services for domestic 
and international adoptive families to promote 
child permanency. 
‘‘(c) 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’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 3 of the Child 
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Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 
5101 note).’’. 
Æ 
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