
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC5111]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
  CHAPTER 67--CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT AND ADOPTION REFORM
 
                  SUBCHAPTER II--ADOPTION OPPORTUNITIES
 
Sec. 5111. Congressional findings and declaration of purpose


(a) Findings

    Congress finds that--
        (1) the number of children in substitute care increased by 
    nearly 61 percent between 1986 and 1994, as our Nation's foster care 
    population included more than 452,000 as of June 1994;
        (2) increasingly children entering foster care have complex 
    problems which require intensive services;
        (3) an increasing number of infants are born to mothers who did 
    not receive prenatal care, are born addicted to alcohol and other 
    drugs, and exposed to infection with the etiologic agent for the 
    human immunodeficiency virus, are medically fragile, and technology 
    dependent;
        (4) the welfare of thousands of children in institutions and 
    foster homes and disabled infants with life-threatening conditions 
    may be in serious jeopardy and some such children are in need of 
    placement in permanent, adoptive homes;
        (5) many thousands of children remain in institutions or foster 
    homes solely because of legal and other barriers to their placement 
    in permanent, adoptive homes;
        (6) the majority of such children are of school age, members of 
    sibling groups or disabled;
        (7)(A) currently, 40,000 children are free for adoption and 
    awaiting placement;
        (B) such children are typically school aged, in sibling groups, 
    have experienced neglect or abuse, or have a physical, mental, or 
    emotional disability; and
        (C) while the children are of all races, children of color and 
    older children (over the age of 10) are over represented in such 
    group;
        (8) adoption may be the best alternative for assuring the 
    healthy development of such children;
        (9) there are qualified persons seeking to adopt such children 
    who are unable to do so because of barriers to their placement; and
        (10) in order both to enhance the stability and love of the 
    child's home environment and to avoid wasteful expenditures of 
    public funds, such children should not have medically indicated 
    treatment withheld from them nor be maintained in foster care or 
    institutions when adoption is appropriate and families can be found 
    for such children.

(b) Purpose

    It is the purpose of this subchapter to facilitate the elimination 
of barriers to adoption and to provide permanent and loving home 
environments for children who would benefit from adoption, particularly 
children with special needs, including disabled infants with life-
threatening conditions, by providing a mechanism to--
        (1) promote quality standards for adoption services, pre-
    placement, post-placement, and post-legal adoption counseling, and 
    standards to protect the rights of children in need of adoption;
        (2) maintain a national adoption information exchange system to 
    bring together children who would benefit from adoption and 
    qualified prospective adoptive parents who are seeking such 
    children, and conduct national recruitment efforts in order to reach 
    prospective parents for children awaiting adoption; and
        (3) demonstrate expeditious ways to free children for adoption 
    for whom it has been determined that adoption is the appropriate 
    plan.

(Pub. L. 95-266, title II, Sec. 201, Apr. 24, 1978, 92 Stat. 208; Pub. 
L. 98-457, title II, Sec. 201, Oct. 9, 1984, 98 Stat. 1755; Pub. L. 102-
295, title IV, Sec. 401, May 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 211; Pub. L. 104-235, 
title II, Sec. 211, Oct. 3, 1996, 110 Stat. 3090.)


                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 104-235, Sec. 211(1)(A), substituted 
``61 percent between 1986 and 1994'' for ``50 percent between 1985 and 
1990'' and ``452,000 as of June 1994'' for ``400,000 children at the end 
of June, 1990''.
    Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 104-235, Sec. 211(1)(B), substituted 
``legal'' for ``local''.
    Subsec. (a)(7). Pub. L. 104-235, Sec. 211(1)(C), amended par. (7) 
generally. Prior to amendment, par. (7) read as follows: ``currently 
one-half of children free for adoption and awaiting placement are 
minorities;''.
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104-235, Sec. 211(2), substituted ``conditions, 
by providing a mechanism to--'' for ``conditions, by--
        ``(1) promoting model adoption legislation and procedures in the 
    States and territories of the United States in order to eliminate 
    jurisdictional and legal obstacles to adoption; and
        ``(2) providing a mechanism for the Department of Health and 
    Human Services to--'',
redesignated subpars. (A) to (C) of former par. (2) as pars. (1) to (3), 
respectively, and realigned margins.
    1992--Pub. L. 102-295 amended section generally, designating 
existing provisions as subsecs. (a) and (b), inserting findings relating 
to the number of children in substitute care, foster care children with 
complex problems which require intensive services, infants born without 
prenatal care, addicted to alcohol or other drugs, or exposed to 
infection with the etiologic agent for human immunodeficiency virus, and 
percentage of children awaiting adoption who are minorities, inserting 
as purposes of this subchapter to provide a mechanism to recruit 
prospective parents for children awaiting adoption and to demonstrate 
expeditious ways to free children for adoption, and striking out as a 
purpose to provide a mechanism to coordinate with Federal departments 
and agencies to provide national adoption and foster care information 
data-gathering and analysis system.
    1984--Pub. L. 98-457, Sec. 201(a), (b)(1), in provisions before par. 
(1), inserted ``the welfare of thousands of children in institutions and 
foster homes and disabled infants with life-threatening conditions may 
be in serious jeopardy and that some such children are in need of 
placement in permanent, adoptive homes, that'' and substituted ``should 
not have medically indicated treatment withheld from them, nor be 
maintained in foster care'' for ``should not be maintained in foster 
care'' and ``children with special needs, including disabled infants 
with life-threatening conditions, by'' for ``children with special needs 
by''.
    Par. (2). Pub. L. 98-457, Sec. 201(b)(2), amended par. (2) 
generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: ``providing a 
mechanism for the Department of Health and Human Services to (A) promote 
quality standards for adoption services (including pre-placement, post-
placement, and post-adoption counseling and standards to protect the 
rights of children in need of adoption), and (B) provide for a national 
adoption and foster care information data gathering and analysis system 
and a national adoption information exchange system to bring together 
children who would benefit by adoption and qualified prospective 
adoptive parents who are seeking such children.''


              Study of Interjurisdictional Adoption Issues

    Pub. L. 105-89, title II, Sec. 202(c), Nov. 19, 1997, 111 Stat. 
2126, provided that:
    ``(1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United States 
shall--
        ``(A) study and consider how to improve procedures and policies 
    to facilitate the timely and permanent adoptions of children across 
    State and county jurisdictions; and
        ``(B) examine, at a minimum, interjurisdictional adoption 
    issues--
            ``(i) concerning the recruitment of prospective adoptive 
        families from other States and counties;
            ``(ii) concerning the procedures to grant reciprocity to 
        prospective adoptive family home studies from other States and 
        counties;
            ``(iii) arising from a review of the comity and full faith 
        and credit provided to adoption decrees and termination of 
        parental rights orders from other States; and
            ``(iv) concerning the procedures related to the 
        administration and implementation of the Interstate Compact on 
        the Placement of Children.
    ``(2) Report to the congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 19, 1997], the Comptroller General 
shall submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress a report that 
includes--
        ``(A) the results of the study conducted under paragraph (1); 
    and
        ``(B) recommendations on how to improve procedures to facilitate 
    the interjurisdictional adoption of children, including interstate 
    and intercounty adoptions, so that children will be assured timely 
    and permanent placements.''
