[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1539 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1539

 To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to promote the 
                adoption of children with special needs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 28, 2005

Mr. Rockefeller introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to promote the 
                adoption of children with special needs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Adoption Equality Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) In 1997, Congress enacted the Adoption and Safe 
        Families Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-89; 111 Stat. 2115), 
        clearly stating that a child's health and safety are paramount, 
        and that each child deserves a permanent home.
            (2) The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 provides 
        incentives for adoptions, and for fiscal year 2002, States 
        placed nearly 53,000 children from State care.
            (3) In 2003, the Adoption Promotion Act (Public Law 108-
        145, 117 Stat. 1879), which reauthorized the incentive program, 
        gave greater emphasis on moving older children into permanency.
            (4) Despite the increase in adoptions, in 2003 more than 
        118,000 children in foster care have the permanency goal of 
        adoption but are still waiting to be adopted.
            (5) These children have many special needs and require 
        Federal financial assistance and support to start the physical 
        and emotional healing after past years of abuse and neglect.

SEC. 3. PROMOTION OF ADOPTION OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS.

    (a) In General.--Section 473(a) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 673(a)) is amended by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 
following:
    ``(2)(A) For purposes of paragraph (1)(B)(ii), a child meets the 
requirements of this paragraph if such child--
            ``(i)(I) at the time of termination of parental rights was 
        in the care of a public or licensed private child placement 
        agency or Indian tribal organization pursuant to a voluntary 
        placement agreement, relinquishment, or involuntary removal of 
        the child from the home, and the State has determined, pursuant 
        to criteria established by the State (which may, but need not, 
        include a judicial determination), that continuation in the 
        home would be contrary to the safety or welfare of such child;
            ``(II) meets all medical or disability requirements of 
        title XVI with respect to eligibility for supplemental security 
        income benefits; or
            ``(III) was residing in a foster family home or child care 
        institution with the child's minor parent (pursuant to a 
        voluntary placement agreement, relinquishment, or involuntary 
        removal of the child from the home, and the State has 
        determined, pursuant to criteria established by the State 
        (which may, but need not, include judicial determination), that 
        continuation in the home would be contrary to the safety or 
        welfare of such child); and
            ``(ii) has been determined by the State, pursuant to 
        subsection (c), to be a child with special needs, which needs 
        shall be considered by the State, together with the 
        circumstances of the adopting parents, in determining the 
        amount of any payments to be made to the adopting parents.
    ``(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and except as 
provided in paragraph (7), a child who is not a citizen or resident of 
the United States and who meets the requirements of subparagraph (A) 
shall be treated as meeting the requirements of this paragraph for 
purposes of paragraph (1)(B)(ii).
    ``(C) A child who meets the requirements of subparagraph (A), who 
was determined eligible for adoption assistance payments under this 
part with respect to a prior adoption (or who would have been 
determined eligible for such payments had the Adoption and Safe 
Families Act of 1997 been in effect at the time that such determination 
would have been made), and who is available for adoption because the 
prior adoption has been dissolved and the parental rights of the 
adoptive parents have been terminated or because the child's adoptive 
parents have died, shall be treated as meeting the requirements of this 
paragraph for purposes of paragraph (1)(B)(ii).''.
    (b) Exception.--Section 473(a) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 673(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(7)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, no 
payment may be made to parents with respect to any child that--
            ``(i) would be considered a child with special needs under 
        subsection (c);
            ``(ii) is not a citizen or resident of the United States; 
        and
            ``(iii) was adopted outside of the United States or was 
        brought into the United States for the purpose of being 
        adopted.
    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not be construed as prohibiting 
payments under this part for a child described in subparagraph (A) that 
is placed in foster care subsequent to the failure, as determined by 
the State, of the initial adoption of such child by the parents 
described in such subparagraph.''.
    (c) Requirement for Use of State Savings.--Section 473(a) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(a)), as amended by subsection (b), 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(8) A State shall spend an amount equal to the amount of savings 
(if any) in State expenditures under this part resulting from the 
application of paragraph (2) on and after the effective date of the 
amendment to such paragraph made by section 3(a) of the Adoption 
Equality Act of 2005 to provide to children or families any service 
(including post-adoption services) that may be provided under this part 
or part B.''.
    (d) Determination of a Child With Special Needs.--Section 473(c) of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 673(c)) is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(c) For purposes of this section, a child shall not be considered 
a child with special needs unless--
            ``(1)(A) the State has determined, pursuant to a criteria 
        established by the State (which may or may not include a 
        judicial determination), that the child cannot or should not be 
        returned to the home of his parents; or
            ``(B) the child meets all medical or disability 
        requirements of title XVI with respect to eligibility for 
        supplemental security income benefits; and
            ``(2) the State has determined--
                    ``(A) that there exists with respect to the child a 
                specific factor or condition (such as ethnic 
                background, age, or membership in a minority or sibling 
                group, or the presence of factors such as medical 
                conditions or physical, mental, or emotional handicaps) 
                because of which it is reasonable to conclude that the 
                child cannot be placed with adoptive parents without 
                providing adoption assistance under this section and 
                medical assistance under title XIX; and
                    ``(B) that except where it would be against the 
                best interests of the child because of such factors as 
                the existence of significant emotional ties with 
                prospective adoptive parents while in the care of such 
                parents as a foster child, a reasonable, but 
                unsuccessful, effort has been made to place the child 
                with appropriate adoptive parents without providing 
                adoption assistance under this section or medical 
                assistance under title XIX.''.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on October 1, 2005.
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