Text of US HB 1681 (2011)

I 112TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1681 To prohibit discrimination in adoption or foster care placements based on the sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status of any prospec- tive adoptive or foster parent, or the sexual orientation or gender identity of the child involved. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 3, 2011 Mr. STARK (for himself, Mr. FILNER, Ms. MOORE, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. CHU, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. ELLISON, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. OLVER, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. WU, Mr. POLIS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Ms. RICHARDSON, Ms. NOR- TON, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. MORAN, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. NADLER, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, and Mr. WEINER) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To prohibit discrimination in adoption or foster care place- ments based on the sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status of any prospective adoptive or foster parent, or the sexual orientation or gender identity of the child involved. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1681.IH H1681 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1681 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Every Child Deserves 2 a Family Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 4 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 5 (1) There is a shortage of qualified individuals 6 willing to adopt or foster a child in the child welfare 7 system. As a result, thousands of foster children 8 lack a permanent and safe home. 9 (2) In order to open more homes to foster chil- 10 dren, child welfare agencies should work to eliminate 11 sexual orientation, gender identity, and marital sta- 12 tus discrimination and bias in adoption and foster 13 care recruitment, selection, and placement proce- 14 dures. 15 (3) Of the estimated 500,000 children in the 16 United States foster care system, over 129,000 can- 17 not return to their original families and are legally 18 free for adoption. 19 (A) Fifty-one thousand children were 20 adopted in 2007, while 25,000 youth ‘‘aged 21 out’’ of the foster care system. 22 (B) Research shows that youth who ‘‘age 23 out’’ of the foster care system are at a high risk 24 for poverty, homelessness, incarceration, and 25 early parenthood. 26 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1681.IH H1681 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1681 IH (C) Increasing adoption rates, in addition 1 to establishing permanency and decreasing risk 2 factors for foster youth, can yield annual na- 3 tional cost savings between $3,300,000,000 and 4 $6,300,000,000. 5 (4) Experts agree that in many States, lesbian, 6 gay, bisexual and transgender youth experience dis- 7 crimination, harassment, and violence in the foster 8 care system because of their sexual orientation or 9 gender identity. 10 (5) Approximately 60 percent of homeless les- 11 bian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth were pre- 12 viously in foster care. According to the Urban Jus- 13 tice Center, many of these young people reported 14 that living on the streets felt ‘‘safer’’ than living in 15 their group or foster home. 16 (6) According to data taken from the 2000 17 Census, an estimated 27 percent of same-sex couples 18 have at least 1 child under 18 years of age living in 19 the home. 20 (7) According to research by Gary Gates of the 21 Williams Institute, there are approximately 22 1,000,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 23 couples throughout the United States who are rais- 24 ing approximately 2,000,000 children. 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1681.IH H1681 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1681 IH (8) As of 2007, gay, lesbian, and bisexual par- 1 ents were raising 4 percent of all adopted children 2 and fostering for 3 percent of all foster children. A 3 report from the Williams Institute found that an ad- 4 ditional 2,000,000 gay, lesbian, and bisexual individ- 5 uals are interested in adoption. 6 (9) According to the Urban Institute and the 7 Williams Institute, same-sex couples raising adopted 8 children tend to be older than, just as educated as, 9 and have access to the same economic resources as 10 other adoptive parents. Studies confirm that children 11 with same-sex parents have the same advantages 12 and same expectations for health, social and psycho- 13 logical adjustment, and development as children 14 whose parents are heterosexual. 15 (10) An Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute 16 study found that one-third of child welfare agencies 17 in the United States currently reject gay, lesbian, 18 and bisexual applicants. 19 (A) The practice of prohibiting applicants 20 from becoming foster parents or adopting chil- 21 dren solely on the basis of sexual orientation or 22 marital status has resulted in reducing the 23 number of qualified adoptive and foster parents 24 overall and denying gay, lesbian, bisexual, and 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1681.IH H1681 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1681 IH unmarried relatives the opportunity to become 1 foster parents for their own kin, including 2 grandchildren, or to adopt their own kin, in- 3 cluding grandchildren, from foster care. 4 (B) According to the Williams Institute, 5 over 14,000 children are currently in foster 6 placements with gay, lesbian, and bisexual 7 adoptive and foster parents. Another 65,000 8 children are being raised by their adoptive par- 9 ents. If other States followed the minority of 10 States and discriminated against qualified indi- 11 viduals because of their sexual orientation or 12 marital status, foster care expenditures would 13 increase between $87,000,000 and 14 $130,000,000 per year in order to pay for addi- 15 tional institutional and group care, as well as to 16 recruit and train new foster and adoptive par- 17 ents. 18 (11) Some States allow 1 member of a same- 19 sex couple to adopt, but do not recognize both mem- 20 bers of the couple as the child’s legal parents. Rec- 21 ognition of joint adoption provides children with the 22 same rights and security that children of hetero- 23 sexual parents enjoy. These protections include ac- 24 cess to both parents’ health benefits; survivor’s, So- 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1681.IH H1681 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1681 IH cial Security, and child support entitlements; legal 1 grounds for either parent to provide consent for 2 medical care, education, and other important deci- 3 sions; as well as the establishment of permanency 4 for both parents and child. 5 (12) Professional organizations in the fields of 6 medicine, psychology, law, and child welfare have 7 taken official positions in support of the ability of 8 qualified gay, lesbian, bisexual, and unmarried cou- 9 ples to foster and adopt, as supported by scientific 10 research showing sexual orientation as a nondeter- 11 minative factor in parental success. 12 (13) Discrimination against potential foster or 13 adoptive parents based on sexual orientation, gender 14 identity, or marital status is not in the best interests 15 of children in the foster care system. 16 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to de- 17 crease the length of time that children wait for perma- 18 nency with a loving family and to promote the best inter- 19 ests of children in the child welfare system by preventing 20 discrimination in adoption and foster care placements 21 based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital 22 status. 23 SEC. 3. EVERY CHILD DESERVES A FAMILY. 24 (a) ACTIVITIES.— 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1681.IH H1681 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1681 IH (1) PROHIBITION.—An entity that receives Fed- 1 eral assistance or contracts with an entity that re- 2 ceives Federal assistance, and is involved in adoption 3 or foster care placements may not— 4 (A) deny to any person the opportunity to 5 become an adoptive or a foster parent on the 6 basis of the sexual orientation, gender identity, 7 or marital status of the person, or the sexual 8 orientation or gender identity of the child in- 9 volved; 10 (B) delay or deny the placement of a child 11 for adoption or into foster care on the basis of 12 the sexual orientation, gender identity, or mar- 13 ital status of any prospective adoptive or foster 14 parent, or the sexual orientation or gender iden- 15 tity of the child; or 16 (C) require different or additional 17 screenings, processes, or procedures for adop- 18 tive or foster placement decisions on the basis 19 of the sexual orientation, gender identity, or 20 marital status of the prospective adoptive or 21 foster parent, or the sexual orientation or gen- 22 der identity of the child involved. 23 (2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 24 ‘‘placement decision’’ means the decision to place, or 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1681.IH H1681 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1681 IH to delay or deny the placement of, a child in a foster 1 care or an adoptive home, and includes the decision 2 of the agency or entity involved to seek the termi- 3 nation of birth parent rights or otherwise make a 4 child legally available for adoptive placement. 5 (b) EQUITABLE RELIEF.—Any individual who is ag- 6 grieved by an action in violation of subsection (a) may 7 bring an action seeking relief in a United States district 8 court of appropriate jurisdiction. 9 (c) FEDERAL GUIDANCE.—Not later than 6 months 10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 11 of Health and Human Services shall publish guidance to 12 concerned entities with respect to compliance with this 13 section. 14 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In order to ensure 15 compliance with, and ensure understanding of the legal, 16 practice, and culture changes required by, this Act in mak- 17 ing foster care and adoption placement decisions, the Sec- 18 retary shall provide technical assistance to all entities cov- 19 ered by this Act, including— 20 (1) identifying laws and regulations inconsistent 21 with this Act and providing guidance and training to 22 ensure the laws and regulations are brought into 23 compliance within the prescribed period of time; 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1681.IH H1681 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1681 IH (2) identifying casework practices and proce- 1 dures inconsistent with this Act and providing guid- 2 ance and training to ensure the practices and proce- 3 dures are brought into compliance within the pre- 4 scribed period of time; 5 (3) providing guidance in expansion of recruit- 6 ment efforts to ensure consideration of all interested 7 and qualified prospective adoptive and foster parents 8 regardless of the sexual orientation, gender identity, 9 or marital status of the prospective parent; 10 (4) comprehensive cultural competency training 11 for covered entities and prospective adoptive and fos- 12 ter parents; and 13 (5) training judges and attorneys involved in 14 foster care and adoption cases on the findings and 15 purposes of this Act. 16 (e) DEADLINE FOR COMPLIANCE.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 18 graph (2), an entity that receives Federal assistance 19 and is involved with adoption or foster care place- 20 ments shall comply with this section not later than 21 6 months after publication of the guidance referred 22 to in subsection (c), or 1 year after the date of the 23 enactment of this Act, whichever occurs first. 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1681.IH H1681 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1681 IH (2) AUTHORITY TO EXTEND DEADLINE.—If a 1 State demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Sec- 2 retary of Health and Human Services that it is nec- 3 essary to amend State statutory law in order to 4 change a particular practice that is inconsistent with 5 this section, the Secretary may extend the compli- 6 ance date for the State a reasonable number of days 7 after the close of the 1st State legislative session be- 8 ginning after the date the guidance referred to in 9 subsection (c) is published. 10 (3) AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD FUNDS.—If a 11 State fails to comply with this section, the Secretary 12 may withhold payment to the State of amounts oth- 13 erwise payable to the State under part B or E of 14 title IV of the Social Security Act, to the extent the 15 Secretary deems the withholding necessary to induce 16 the State into compliance with this section. 17 (f) GAO STUDY.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 5 years after the 19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 20 General of the United States shall conduct a study 21 to determine whether the States have substantially 22 complied with this Act, including specifically whether 23 the States have— 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1681.IH H1681 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1681 IH (A) eliminated policies, practices, or stat- 1 utes that deny to any otherwise qualified person 2 the opportunity to become an adoptive or foster 3 parent on the basis of the sexual orientation, 4 gender identity, or marital status of the person, 5 or the sexual orientation or gender identity of 6 the child involved; 7 (B) removed all program, policy, or statu- 8 tory barriers that delay or deny the placement 9 of a child for adoption or into foster care on the 10 basis of the sexual orientation, gender identity, 11 or marital status of any qualified, prospective 12 adoptive or foster parent, or the sexual orienta- 13 tion or gender identity of the child; and 14 (C) eliminated all different or additional 15 screenings, processes, or procedures for adop- 16 tive or foster placement decisions based on the 17 sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital 18 status of the prospective adoptive or foster par- 19 ent, or the sexual orientation or gender identity 20 of the child involved. 21 (2) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—Within 1 year 22 after completing the study required by paragraph 23 (1), the Comptroller General shall submit to the 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1681.IH H1681 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1681 IH Congress a written report that contains the results 1 of the study. 2 Æ VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:31 May 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1681.IH H1681 tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS