Legislative Action : Federal Legislative Activity

Current Federal Legislative Activity

The National Council For Adoption (NCFA) does not endorse particular legislation.  Legislation appearing on this document is for educational purposes only. 

Adoption Tax Credit

Under current law the adoption tax credit is $10,000 for both domestic and international adoptions.  On December 31, 2010 it will be cut overnight to $5,000 for non-special needs adoptions and $6,000 for families who adopt special needs children. 

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION: Legislative initiative to repeal the sunset of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 with respect to the expansion of the adoption credit and adoption assistance programs.

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION:  Legislative initiative to repeal the sunset of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 with respect to the expansion of the adoption credit and adoption assistance programs.

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION:  Legislative initiative to repeal the sunset of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 with respect to the expansion of the adoption credit and adoption assistance programs.

Adoption & Foster Care Reform

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION: Legislative initiative authorizes the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services to make grants for kinship navigator programs to state agencies, metropolitan agencies, or tribal organizations with experience in addressing needs of kinship caregivers or children and connecting them with services and assistance.

Amends part E (Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to authorize all states to opt to enter agreements to provide kinship guardianship assistance payments on behalf of children to grandparents and other relatives who have assumed legal guardianship of children for whom they have cared as foster parents and have committed to care for on a permanent basis. Allows states to use part E funds to make such payments under specified conditions.

Provides that adoptive parents of children with special needs remain eligible for adoption assistance, even if they receive kinship guardianship assistance.

Authorizes kinship guardianship demonstration projects.

Requires states to: (1) notify all adult grandparents and other adult relatives (with exceptions due to family or domestic violence) when a child is removed from custody of a parent or parents; and (2) explain the options the relative has to participate in the child's care and placement.

Allows state agencies to establish separate standards for foster family homes in which a foster parent is a relative of the foster child.

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION: Legislative initiative amends title IV part B (Child-Welfare Services) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to states to support the establishment or expansion and operation of programs using networks of public and private community entities to provide mentoring for children in foster care. Authorizes a grant award directly to a political subdivision if the subdivision serves a substantial number of foster care youth.

Prescribes program implementation guidelines, including: (1) application requirements; (2) training; (3) screening; (4) educational requirements; (5) federal and nonfederal share of funds for the program; (6) considerations in awarding grants; and (7) use of funds.

Sets forth a maximum grant amount to be awarded to a state or political subdivision.

Authorizes the Secretary to award a competitive grant to an eligible entity to establish a National Hotline Service or website to provide information to individuals interested in becoming mentors to youth in foster care.

Instructs the Secretary of Education to implement a program to provide for the discharge or cancellation of the federal student loan indebtedness of an eligible mentor.

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION: A bill to amend the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to improve the health and well-being of maltreated infants and toddlers through the creation of a National Court Teams Resource Center, to assist local Court Teams, and for other purposes.  Companion bill in the House-H.R. 1082.

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION: To ensure that foster children are able to use their social security and supplemental security income benefits to address their needs and improve their lives.

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION:  Legislative initiative to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a State family support grant program to end the practice of parents giving legal custody of their seriously emotionally disturbed children to State agencies for the purpose of obtaining mental health services for those children.  Companion bill in the Senate-S. 382.

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION: Legislative initiative amends the Social Security Act to prohibit federal payments for foster care and adoption assistance to a state or local government that discriminates against any entity that provides adoption or foster care services to only those couples who are united in marriage (defined as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife) and to only those individuals whose conduct is in accordance with such entity's religious principles and practices.

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION: Expressing support for a National Foster Parents Day.

International Adoption

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION: Legislative initiative establishes an Office of Intercountry Adoptions within the Department of State to be headed by the Ambassador at Large for Intercountry Adoptions. Transfers to the Office all functions with respect to intercountry adoptions currently performed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise: (1) conditions for automatic citizenship for children born outside the United States, including for adopted children; and (2) requirements concerning the history of parents' physical presence in the United States or its possessions. Defines the term "full and final adoption." Prescribes procedural requirements for the adoption of foreign-born children by U.S. citizens.

Establishes a nonimmigrant W-visa for an adoptable child coming into the United States for adoption by a U.S. citizen and spouse or by an unmarried U.S. Citizen at least 25 years of age who has been approved by the Office of International Adoption of the Department of State. Sets forth the period of authorized admission for such a nonimmigrant.

Exempts adopted children of 18 years of age or younger (currently, 10 years of age or younger) from immunization requirements.

Redefines the term "adoptable child."

Requires U.S. Citizen adoptive parents to obtain approval of an adoption petition prior to issuance of a visa or a full and final adoption decree. Subjects such petitions to the terms applicable to orphan petitions. Directs the Secretary of State to issue regulations: (1) establishing an expedited reapproval process for families whose prior approvals to adopt have expired; and (2) governing the appeal of petition denials.

Prescribes procedural requirements for the issuance of a visa and a full and final adoption decree for foreign-born children, including requirements for the Ambassador to: (1) determine whether a child is an adoptable child; and (2) work with the competent authorities of the child's country of residence to establish a process for the exchange and approval of a certification that the child sought to be adopted meets the definition of an adoptable child.

Requires the Secretary to issue a final decision regarding the child's eligibility as an adoptable child within 30 days. Allows an appeal.

Provides for civil penalties and enforcement.

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION: Legislative initiative directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to ensure that any "covered individual" (an individual whose Application for Advanced Processing of Orphan Petition was approved on or after July 1, 2005) may file a Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative for at least two years after the approval of the individual's application.

Prohibits the Secretary from requiring: (1) a covered individual who files a timely petition to pay any fees or complete any requirements already paid or completed in conjunction with the application or contingent on the amount of time that elapses between the application's approval and the petition's filing; and (2) any person who was a covered individual on this Act's enactment date from paying any fee for the timely filing of a petition unless that fee was required at the time the application was approved.

Domestic Infant Adoption

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION: Legislative initiative amends the Public Health Service Act to require family planning service projects or programs, as a condition of receiving certain grants or contracts, to assure the Secretary of Health and Human Services that they will provide each person who inquires about their services with a pamphlet containing a comprehensive list of adoption centers in their state.

Directs the Secretary to prepare, annually update, and distribute such pamphlets to such projects or programs.

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION: Legislative initiative directs the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, to establish the Task Force on Baby Abandonment to: (1) collect information and maintain a database on incidents of child abandonment, including information on demographics, circumstances, outcomes, and trends; and (2) submit annual reports and recommendations to Congress.

Bill                          Title                                                Sponsor                             Introduced

DESCRIPTION: A bill to establish a pilot program to provide grants to encourage eligible institutions of higher education to establish and operate pregnant and parenting student services offices for pregnant students, parenting students, prospective parenting students who are anticipating a birth or adoption, and students who are placing or have placed a child for adoption.