
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: 42USC5113]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
  CHAPTER 67--CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT AND ADOPTION REFORM
 
                  SUBCHAPTER II--ADOPTION OPPORTUNITIES
 
Sec. 5113. Information and service functions by appropriate 
        administrative arrangement
        

(a) Establishment in Department of Health and Human Services

    The Secretary shall establish in the Department of Health and Human 
Services an appropriate administrative arrangement to provide a 
centralized focus for planning and coordinating of all departmental 
activities affecting adoption and foster care and for carrying out the 
provisions of this subchapter. The Secretary shall make available such 
consultant services, on-site technical assistance and personnel, 
together with appropriate administrative expenses, including salaries 
and travel costs, as are necessary for carrying out such purposes, 
including services to facilitate the adoption of children with special 
needs and particularly of disabled infants with life-threatening 
conditions and services to couples considering adoption of children with 
special needs.

(b) Implementation authorities

    In connection with carrying out the provisions of this subchapter, 
the Secretary shall--
        (1) conduct (directly or by grant to or contract with public or 
    private nonprofit agencies or organizations) an education and 
    training program on adoption, and prepare, publish, and disseminate 
    (directly or by grant to or contract with public or private 
    nonprofit agencies and organizations) to all interested parties, 
    public and private agencies and organizations (including, but not 
    limited to, hospitals, health care and family planning clinics, and 
    social services agencies), and governmental bodies, information and 
    education and training materials regarding adoption and adoption 
    assistance programs;
        (2) conduct, directly or by grant or contract with public or 
    private nonprofit organizations, ongoing, extensive recruitment 
    efforts on a national level, develop national public awareness 
    efforts to unite children in need of adoption with appropriate 
    adoptive parents, and establish a coordinated referral system of 
    recruited families with appropriate State or regional adoption 
    resources to ensure that families are served in a timely fashion;
        (3) notwithstanding any other provision of law, provide 
    (directly or by grant to or contract with public or private 
    nonprofit agencies or organizations) for (A) the operation of a 
    national adoption information exchange system (including only such 
    information as is necessary to facilitate the adoptive placement of 
    children, utilizing computers and data processing methods to assist 
    in the location of children who would benefit by adoption and in the 
    placement in adoptive homes of children awaiting adoption); and (B) 
    the coordination of such system with similar State and regional 
    systems;
        (4) provide (directly or by grant to or contract with public or 
    private nonprofit agencies or organizations, including adoptive 
    family groups and minority groups) for the provision of technical 
    assistance in the planning, improving, developing, and carrying out 
    of programs and activities relating to adoption, and to promote 
    professional leadership training of minorities in the adoption 
    field;
        (5) encourage involvement of corporations and small businesses 
    in supporting adoption as a positive family-strengthening option, 
    including the establishment of adoption benefit programs for 
    employees who adopt children;
        (6) study the nature, scope, and effects of the placement of 
    children in kinship care arrangements, pre-adoptive, or adoptive 
    homes;
        (7) study the efficacy of States contracting with public or 
    private nonprofit agencies (including community-based and other 
    organizations), or sectarian institutions for the recruitment of 
    potential adoptive and foster families and to provide assistance in 
    the placement of children for adoption;
        (8) consult with other appropriate Federal departments and 
    agencies in order to promote maximum coordination of the services 
    and benefits provided under programs carried out by such departments 
    and agencies with those carried out by the Secretary, and provide 
    for the coordination of such aspects of all programs within the 
    Department of Health and Human Services relating to adoption;
        (9) maintain (directly or by grant to or contract with public or 
    private nonprofit agencies or organizations) a National Resource 
    Center for Special Needs Adoption to--
            (A) promote professional leadership development of 
        minorities in the adoption field;
            (B) provide training and technical assistance to service 
        providers and State agencies to improve professional competency 
        in the field of adoption and the adoption of children with 
        special needs; and
            (C) facilitate the development of interdisciplinary 
        approaches to meet the needs of children who are waiting for 
        adoption and the needs of adoptive families; and

        (10) provide (directly or by grant to or contract with States, 
    local government entities, public or private nonprofit licensed 
    child welfare or adoption agencies or adoptive family groups and 
    community-based organizations with experience in working with 
    minority populations) for the provision of programs aimed at 
    increasing the number of minority children (who are in foster care 
    and have the goal of adoption) placed in adoptive families, with a 
    special emphasis on recruitment of minority families--
            (A) which may include such activities as--
                (i) outreach, public education, or media campaigns to 
            inform the public of the needs and numbers of such children;
                (ii) recruitment of prospective adoptive families for 
            such children;
                (iii) expediting, where appropriate, the legal 
            availability of such children;
                (iv) expediting, where appropriate, the agency 
            assessment of prospective adoptive families identified for 
            such children;
                (v) formation of prospective adoptive family support 
            groups;
                (vi) training of personnel of--
                    (I) public agencies;
                    (II) private nonprofit child welfare and adoption 
                agencies that are licensed by the State; and
                    (III) adoptive parents organizations and community-
                based organizations with experience in working with 
                minority populations;

                (vii) use of volunteers and adoptive parent groups; and
                (viii) any other activities determined by the Secretary 
            to further the purposes of this subchapter; and

            (B) shall be subject to the condition that such grants or 
        contracts may be renewed if documentation is provided to the 
        Secretary demonstrating that appropriate and sufficient 
        placements of such children have occurred during the previous 
        funding period.

(c) Post legal adoption services

    (1) The Secretary shall provide (directly or by grant to or contract 
with States, local government entities, public or private nonprofit 
licensed child welfare or adoption agencies or adoptive family groups) 
for the provision of post legal adoption services for families who have 
adopted special needs children.
    (2) Services provided under grants made under this subsection shall 
supplement, not supplant, services from any other funds available for 
the same general purposes, including--
        (A) individual counseling;
        (B) group counseling;
        (C) family counseling;
        (D) case management;
        (E) training public agency adoption personnel, personnel of 
    private, nonprofit child welfare and adoption agencies licensed by 
    the State to provide adoption services, mental health services 
    professionals, and other support personnel to provide services under 
    this subsection;
        (F) assistance to adoptive parent organizations; and
        (G) assistance to support groups for adoptive parents, adopted 
    children, and siblings of adopted children.

(d) Placement of foster care children

    (1) The Secretary shall make grants for improving State efforts to 
increase the placement of foster care children legally free for 
adoption, according to a pre-established plan and goals for improvement. 
Grants funded by this section must include a strong evaluation component 
which outlines the innovations used to improve the placement of special 
needs children who are legally free for adoption, and the successes and 
failures of the initiative. The evaluations will be submitted to the 
Secretary who will compile the results of projects funded by this 
section and submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress. 
The emphasis of this program must focus on the improvement of the 
placement rate--not the aggregate number of special needs children 
placed in permanent homes. The Secretary, when reviewing grant 
applications \1\ shall give priority to grantees who propose 
improvements designed to continue in the absence of Federal funds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ So in original. Probably should be followed by a comma.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    (2)(A) Each State entering into an agreement under this subsection 
shall submit an application to the Secretary that describes the manner 
in which the State will use funds during the 3 fiscal years subsequent 
to the date of the application to accomplish the purposes of this 
section. Such application shall be in a form and manner determined to be 
appropriate by the Secretary. Each application shall include 
verification of the placements described in paragraph (1).
    (B) The Secretary shall provide, directly or by grant to or contract 
with public or private nonprofit agencies or organizations--
        (i) technical assistance and resource and referral information 
    to assist State or local governments with termination of parental 
    rights issues, in recruiting and retaining adoptive families, in the 
    successful placement of children with special needs, and in the 
    provision of pre- and post-placement services, including post-legal 
    adoption services; and
        (ii) other assistance to help State and local governments 
    replicate successful adoption-related projects from other areas in 
    the United States.

    (3)(A) Payments under this subsection shall begin during fiscal year 
1989. Payments under this section during any fiscal year shall not 
exceed $1,000,000. No payment may be made under this subsection unless 
an amount in excess of $5,000,000 is appropriated for such fiscal year 
under section 5115(a) of this title.
    (B) Any payment made to a State under this subsection which is not 
used by such State for the purpose provided in paragraph (1) during the 
fiscal year payment is made shall revert to the Secretary on October 1st 
of the next fiscal year and shall be used to carry out the purposes of 
this subchapter.

(Pub. L. 95-266, title II, Sec. 203, Apr. 24, 1978, 92 Stat. 209; Pub. 
L. 98-457, title II, Sec. 203, Oct. 9, 1984, 98 Stat. 1756; Pub. L. 100-
294, title II, Sec. 202, Apr. 25, 1988, 102 Stat. 122; Pub. L. 102-295, 
title IV, Sec. 403, May 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 213; Pub. L. 104-235, title 
II, Sec. 212, Oct. 3, 1996, 110 Stat. 3090.)


                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104-235, Sec. 212(1), struck out at end 
``The Secretary shall, not later than 12 months after May 28, 1992, 
prepare and submit to the committees of Congress having jurisdiction 
over such services reports, as appropriate, containing appropriate data 
concerning the manner in which activities were carried out under this 
subchapter, and such reports shall be made available to the public.''
    Subsec. (b)(6). Pub. L. 104-235, Sec. 212(2)(A), amended par. (6) 
generally. Prior to amendment, par. (6) read as follows: ``continue to 
study the nature, scope, and effects of the placement of children in 
adoptive homes (not including the homes of stepparents or relatives of 
the child in question) by persons or agencies which are not licensed by 
or subject to regulation by any governmental entity;''.
    Subsec. (b)(7) to (10). Pub. L. 104-235, Sec. 212(2)(B), (C), added 
par. (7) and redesignated former pars. (7) to (9) as (8) to (10), 
respectively.
    Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 104-235, Sec. 212(3), designated existing 
provisions as subpar. (A), substituted ``that describes the manner in 
which the State will use funds during the 3 fiscal years subsequent to 
the date of the application to accomplish the purposes of this section. 
Such application shall be'' for ``for each fiscal year'', and added 
subpar. (B).
    1992--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102-295, Sec. 403(1), inserted ``, on-
site technical assistance'' after ``consultant services'' and 
``including salaries and travel costs,'' after ``administrative 
expenses,'' and inserted at end ``The Secretary shall, not later than 12 
months after May 28, 1992, prepare and submit to the committees of 
Congress having jurisdiction over such services reports, as appropriate, 
containing appropriate data concerning the manner in which activities 
were carried out under this subchapter, and such reports shall be made 
available to the public.''
    Subsec. (b)(1), (2). Pub. L. 102-295, Sec. 403(2)(A), (B), added 
par. (2), redesignated former par. (2) as (1), and struck out former 
par. (1) which read as follows: ``provide (after consultation with other 
appropriate Federal departments and agencies, including the Bureau of 
the Census and appropriate State and local agencies) for the 
establishment and operation of a Federal adoption and foster care data-
gathering and analysis system;''.
    Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 102-295, Sec. 403(2)(C), inserted ``, and to 
promote professional leadership training of minorities in the adoption 
field''.
    Subsec. (b)(8), (9). Pub. L. 102-295, Sec. 403(2)(D), added par. (8) 
and redesignated former par. (8) as (9).
    1988--Subsec. (b)(8). Pub. L. 100-294, Sec. 202(a), added par. (8).
    Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 100-294, Sec. 202(b), (c), added subsecs. 
(c) and (d).
    1984--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98-457, Sec. 203(a), (b)(1), substituted 
``Health and Human Services'' for ``Health, Education, and Welfare'' and 
inserted provision requiring the Secretary to make available services to 
facilitate the adoption of children with special needs and particularly 
of disabled infants with life-threatening conditions and services to 
couples considering adoption of children with special needs.
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98-457, Sec. 203(c)(1), substituted ``this 
subchapter'' for ``subsection (a) of this section'' in provisions 
preceding par. (1).
    Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 98-457, Sec. 203(c)(2), substituted 
``provide (after consultation with other appropriate Federal departments 
and agencies, including the Bureau of the Census and appropriate State 
and local agencies) for the establishment and operation of a Federal 
adoption and foster care data-gathering and analysis system'' for 
``provide (directly or by grant to or contract with public or private 
nonprofit agencies and organizations) for the establishment and 
operation of a national adoption and foster care data gathering and 
analysis system utilizing data collected by States pursuant to 
requirements of law''.
    Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 98-457, Sec. 203(c)(3)(A), substituted 
``adoptive family groups and minority groups'' for ``parent groups''.
    Subsec. (b)(5), (6). Pub. L. 98-457, Sec. 203(c)(3)(B), (C), added 
pars. (5) and (6). Former par. (5) redesignated (7).
    Subsec. (b)(7). Pub. L. 98-457, Sec. 203(c)(3)(C), (D), redesignated 
former par. (5) as (7) and substituted ``Health and Human Services'' for 
``Health, Education, and Welfare''.


                              Kinship Care

    Pub. L. 105-89, title III, Sec. 303, Nov. 19, 1997, 111 Stat. 2129, 
provided that:
    ``(a) Report.--
        ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
    shall--
            ``(A) not later than June 1, 1998, convene the advisory 
        panel provided for in subsection (b)(1) and prepare and submit 
        to the advisory panel an initial report on the extent to which 
        children in foster care are placed in the care of a relative (in 
        this section referred to as `kinship care'); and
            ``(B) not later than June 1, 1999, submit to the Committee 
        on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committee on Finance of the Senate a final report on the matter 
        described in subparagraph (A), which shall--
                ``(i) be based on the comments submitted by the advisory 
            panel pursuant to subsection (b)(2) and other information 
            and considerations; and
                ``(ii) include the policy recommendations of the 
            Secretary with respect to the matter.
        ``(2) Required contents.--Each report required by paragraph (1) 
    shall--
            ``(A) include, to the extent available for each State, 
        information on--
                ``(i) the policy of the State regarding kinship care;
                ``(ii) the characteristics of the kinship care providers 
            (including age, income, ethnicity, and race, and the 
            relationship of the kinship care providers to the children);
                ``(iii) the characteristics of the household of such 
            providers (such as number of other persons in the household 
            and family composition);
                ``(iv) how much access to the child is afforded to the 
            parent from whom the child has been removed;
                ``(v) the cost of, and source of funds for, kinship care 
            (including any subsidies such as medicaid and cash 
            assistance);
                ``(vi) the permanency plan for the child and the actions 
            being taken by the State to achieve the plan;
                ``(vii) the services being provided to the parent from 
            whom the child has been removed; and
                ``(viii) the services being provided to the kinship care 
            provider; and
            ``(B) specifically note the circumstances or conditions 
        under which children enter kinship care.
    ``(b) Advisory Panel.--
        ``(1) Establishment.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
    Services, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee on Ways 
    and Means of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the 
    Committee on Finance of the Senate, shall convene an advisory panel 
    which shall include parents, foster parents, relative caregivers, 
    former foster children, State and local public officials responsible 
    for administering child welfare programs, private persons involved 
    in the delivery of child welfare services, representatives of tribal 
    governments and tribal courts, judges, and academic experts.
        ``(2) Duties.--The advisory panel convened pursuant to paragraph 
    (1) shall review the report prepared pursuant to subsection (a), 
    and, not later than October 1, 1998, submit to the Secretary 
    comments on the report.''
