Text of US SB 1770 (2011)

II 112TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1770 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 1, 2011 Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. KERRY, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. FRANKEN, and Mr. LAUTENBERG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Every Child Deserves 4 a Family Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:30 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1770.IS S1770 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1770 IS (1) There is a shortage of qualified individuals 1 willing to adopt or foster a child in the child welfare 2 system. As a result, thousands of foster children 3 lack a permanent and safe home. 4 (2) In order to open more homes to foster chil- 5 dren, child welfare agencies should work to eliminate 6 sexual orientation, gender identity, and marital sta- 7 tus discrimination and bias in adoption and foster 8 care recruitment, selection, and placement proce- 9 dures. 10 (3) Of the estimated 400,000 children in the 11 United States foster care system, more than 12 107,000 cannot return to their original families and 13 are legally free for adoption. 14 (A) 52,891 children were adopted in 2010, 15 while 27,854 youth ‘‘aged out’’ of the foster 16 care system. 17 (B) Research shows that youth who ‘‘age 18 out’’ of the foster care system are at a high risk 19 for poverty, homelessness, incarceration, and 20 early parenthood. 21 (C) Increasing adoption rates, in addition 22 to establishing permanency and decreasing risk 23 factors for foster youth, can yield annual na- 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:30 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1770.IS S1770 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1770 IS tional cost savings between $3,300,000,000 and 1 $6,300,000,000. 2 (4) Experts agree that in many States, lesbian, 3 gay, bisexual, and transgender youth experience dis- 4 crimination, harassment, and violence in the foster 5 care system because of their sexual orientation or 6 gender identity. 7 (5) Approximately 60 percent of homeless les- 8 bian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth were pre- 9 viously in foster care. According to the Urban Jus- 10 tice Center, many of these young people reported 11 that living on the streets felt ‘‘safer’’ than living in 12 their group or foster home. 13 (6) According to data taken from the 2010 14 Census and reviewed by the Williams Institute, an 15 estimated 17 percent of same-sex couples have at 16 least 1 child under 18 years of age living in the 17 home. 18 (7) According to Gary Gates of the Williams In- 19 stitute, there are approximately 1,000,000 lesbian, 20 gay, bisexual, and transgender couples throughout 21 the United States who are raising approximately 22 2,000,000 children. 23 (8) As of 2007, gay, lesbian, and bisexual par- 24 ents were raising 4 percent of all adopted children 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:30 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1770.IS S1770 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1770 IS and fostering for 3 percent of all foster children. A 1 report from the Williams Institute found that an ad- 2 ditional 2,000,000 gay, lesbian, and bisexual individ- 3 uals are interested in adoption. 4 (9) According to the Williams Institute/Urban 5 Institute, same-sex couples raising adopted children 6 tend to be older than, just as educated as, and have 7 access to the same economic resources as other 8 adoptive parents. Studies confirm that children with 9 same-sex parents have the same advantages and 10 same expectations for health, social, and psycho- 11 logical adjustment, and development as children 12 whose parents are heterosexual. 13 (10) An Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute 14 study found that one-third of child welfare agencies 15 in the United States currently reject gay, lesbian, 16 and bisexual applicants. 17 (A) The practice of prohibiting applicants 18 from becoming foster parents or adopting chil- 19 dren solely on the basis of sexual orientation or 20 marital status has resulted in reducing the 21 number of qualified adoptive and foster parents 22 overall and denying gay, lesbian, bisexual, and 23 unmarried relatives the opportunity to become 24 foster parents for their own kin, including 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:30 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1770.IS S1770 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1770 IS grandchildren, or to adopt their own kin, in- 1 cluding grandchildren, from foster care. 2 (B) According to the Williams Institute, 3 more than 14,000 children are currently in fos- 4 ter placements with gay, lesbian, and bisexual 5 parents. Another 65,000 children are being 6 raised by their adoptive parents. If other States 7 followed the minority of States and discrimi- 8 nated against qualified individuals because of 9 their sexual orientation or marital status, foster 10 care expenditures would increase between 11 $87,000,000 and $130,000,000 per year in 12 order to pay for additional institutional and 13 group care, as well as to recruit and train new 14 foster and adoptive parents. 15 (11) Some States allow 1 member of a same- 16 sex couple to adopt, but do not recognize both mem- 17 bers of the couple as the child’s legal parents. Rec- 18 ognition of joint adoption provides children with the 19 same rights and security that children of hetero- 20 sexual parents enjoy. These protections include ac- 21 cess to both parents’ health benefits, survivor’s, So- 22 cial Security, and child support entitlements, legal 23 grounds for either parent to provide consent for 24 medical care, education, and other important deci- 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:30 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1770.IS S1770 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1770 IS sions, as well as the establishment of permanency 1 for both parents and child. 2 (12) Professional organizations in the fields of 3 medicine, psychology, law, and child welfare have 4 taken official positions in support of the ability of 5 qualified gay, lesbian, bisexual, and unmarried cou- 6 ples to foster and adopt, as supported by scientific 7 research showing sexual orientation as a nondeter- 8 minative factor in parental success. 9 (13) Discrimination against potential foster or 10 adoptive parents based on sexual orientation, gender 11 identity, or marital status is not in the best interests 12 of children in the foster care system. 13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to de- 14 crease the length of time that children wait for perma- 15 nency with a loving family and to promote the best inter- 16 ests of children in the child welfare system by preventing 17 discrimination in adoption and foster care placements 18 based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital 19 status. 20 SEC. 3. EVERY CHILD DESERVES A FAMILY. 21 (a) ACTIVITIES.— 22 (1) PROHIBITION.—An entity that receives Fed- 23 eral assistance or contracts with an entity that re- 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:30 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1770.IS S1770 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1770 IS ceives Federal assistance, and is involved in adoption 1 or foster care placements may not— 2 (A) deny to any person the opportunity to 3 become an adoptive or a foster parent on the 4 basis of the sexual orientation, gender identity, 5 or marital status of the person, or the sexual 6 orientation or gender identity of the child in- 7 volved; 8 (B) delay or deny the placement of a child 9 for adoption or into foster care on the basis of 10 the sexual orientation, gender identity, or mar- 11 ital status of any prospective adoptive or foster 12 parent, or the sexual orientation or gender iden- 13 tity of the child; or 14 (C) require different or additional 15 screenings, processes, or procedures for adop- 16 tive or foster placement decisions on the basis 17 of the sexual orientation, gender identity, or 18 marital status of the prospective adoptive or 19 foster parent, or the sexual orientation or gen- 20 der identity of the child involved. 21 (2) DEFINITION OF PLACEMENT DECISION.—In 22 this section, the term ‘‘placement decision’’ means 23 the decision to place, or to delay or deny the place- 24 ment of, a child in a foster care or an adoptive 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:30 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1770.IS S1770 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1770 IS home, and includes the decision of the agency or en- 1 tity involved to seek the termination of birth parent 2 rights or otherwise make a child legally available for 3 adoptive placement. 4 (b) EQUITABLE RELIEF.—Any individual who is ag- 5 grieved by an action in violation of subsection (a) may 6 bring an action seeking relief in a United States district 7 court of appropriate jurisdiction. 8 (c) FEDERAL GUIDANCE.—Not later than 6 months 9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 10 Health and Human Services shall publish guidance to con- 11 cerned entities with respect to compliance with this sec- 12 tion. 13 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In order to ensure 14 compliance with, and ensure understanding of the legal, 15 practice, and culture changes required by, this Act in mak- 16 ing foster care and adoption placement decisions, the Sec- 17 retary shall provide technical assistance to all entities cov- 18 ered by this Act, including— 19 (1) identifying laws and regulations inconsistent 20 with this Act and providing guidance and training to 21 ensure the laws and regulations are brought into 22 compliance within the prescribed period of time; 23 (2) identifying casework practices and proce- 24 dures inconsistent with this Act and providing guid- 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:30 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1770.IS S1770 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1770 IS ance and training to ensure the practices and proce- 1 dures are brought into compliance within the pre- 2 scribed period of time; 3 (3) providing guidance in expansion of recruit- 4 ment efforts to ensure consideration of all interested 5 and qualified prospective adoptive and foster parents 6 regardless of the sexual orientation, gender identity, 7 or marital status of the prospective parent; 8 (4) comprehensive cultural competency training 9 for covered entities and prospective adoptive and fos- 10 ter parents; and 11 (5) training judges and attorneys involved in 12 foster care and adoption cases on the findings and 13 purposes of this Act. 14 (e) DEADLINE FOR COMPLIANCE.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 16 graph (2), an entity that receives Federal assistance 17 and is involved with adoption or foster care place- 18 ments shall comply with this section not later than 19 6 months after publication of the guidance referred 20 to in subsection (c), or 1 year after the date of en- 21 actment of this Act, whichever occurs first. 22 (2) AUTHORITY TO EXTEND DEADLINE.—If a 23 State demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Sec- 24 retary of Health and Human Services that it is nec- 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:30 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1770.IS S1770 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1770 IS essary to amend State statutory law in order to 1 change a particular practice that is inconsistent with 2 this section, the Secretary may extend the compli- 3 ance date for the State and any entities in the State 4 that are involved with adoption or foster care place- 5 ments a reasonable number of days after the close 6 of the 1st State legislative session beginning after 7 the date the guidance referred to in subsection (c) 8 is published. 9 (3) AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD FUNDS.—If a 10 State fails to comply with this section, the Secretary 11 may withhold payment to the State of amounts oth- 12 erwise payable to the State under part B or E of 13 title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 14 et seq., 670 et seq.), to the extent the Secretary 15 deems the withholding necessary to induce the State 16 into compliance with this section. 17 (f) GAO STUDY.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after 19 the date of 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 06:30 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1770.IS S1770 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1770 IS (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.—Not later 22 than 1 year after completing the study required by 23 paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall submit 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:30 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1770.IS S1770 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1770 IS to Congress a written report that contains the re- 1 sults of the study. 2 Æ VerDate Mar 15 2010 06:30 Nov 02, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1770.IS S1770 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with BILLS