[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6529 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6529

 To establish a national registry to provide for the linking of State 
   and tribal responsible father registries to facilitate the timely 
     notification of adoption proceedings to out-of-State possible 
              biological fathers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 30, 2023

Ms. Kuster (for herself, Mr. Smucker, and Mr. Huizenga) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
                             the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish a national registry to provide for the linking of State 
   and tribal responsible father registries to facilitate the timely 
     notification of adoption proceedings to out-of-State possible 
              biological fathers, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Protecting All Parents and Adoptees 
Act'' or the ``PAPA Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) A permanent, stable home is critical for the physical 
        and cognitive development of children.
            (2) Identifying the biological father of a child is crucial 
        to ensuring a timely adoption proceeding to provide permanency 
        and stability for the child.
            (3) Responsible father registries, also known as putative 
        father registries, help to facilitate the stable placement of 
        children by providing a mechanism to identify possible fathers 
        and determine whether a biological father has a protectable 
        interest in participating in the placement decisions for a 
        child.
            (4) Responsible father registries remove the burden from 
        the mother of having to identify possible fathers, to protect 
        her privacy and safety, especially in cases of rape or domestic 
        violence.
            (5) Responsible father registries empower possible fathers 
        to take responsibility for the protection of their rights by 
        enabling them to voluntarily register and increase the 
        likelihood of receiving timely notice of a proceeding.
            (6) Responsible father registries reduce the risk to 
        prospective adoptive parents of delayed or disrupted placements 
        resulting from challenges to adoptions due to a possible 
        father's untimely receipt of notice of such proceedings.
            (7) Responsible father registries and related paternal 
        identification registries have been established by a number of 
        States and Indian tribes but no mechanism exists to cross-
        reference registries.
            (8) National cross-referencing of State and Tribal 
        responsible father registries would provide registered 
        individuals an ability to receive timely notice of a proceeding 
        related to a child they may have fathered out of wedlock in a 
        State other than the State in which the individual is 
        registered.

SEC. 3. LINKING OF STATE RESPONSIBLE FATHER REGISTRIES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in 
this section referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall--
            (1) establish a national responsible father registry 
        consisting of information about possible biological fathers 
        identified in any responsible father registry established by 
        any State or Indian tribe, and seek to have the information in 
        each such responsible father registry provided to the national 
        registry voluntarily; and
            (2) enable the State and tribal agencies administering the 
        responsible father registries to access, and electronically 
        exchange information with, the national registry.
    (b) Parties Authorized To Access the National Registry.--The 
Secretary shall make the information in the national registry available 
to--
            (1) public or private licensed adoption or child placement 
        agencies;
            (2) State or tribal child welfare authorities;
            (3) State or tribal courts; and
            (4) licensed attorneys representing a party in an adoption, 
        a child placement, or a termination of rights proceeding.
    (c) Authority To Charge Fee.--The Secretary may charge a reasonable 
fee for a search of the national registry.
    (d) Report.--Within 12 months after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report on the 
implementation of this Act, that shall include--
            (1) a framework to assist States and Indian tribes without 
        a responsible father registry in setting up such a registry, or 
        to coordinate with a State or tribal responsible father 
        registry;
            (2) a description of best practices that a State or Indian 
        tribe with a responsible father registry may follow to improve 
        the efficiency of the registry;
            (3) an identification of administrative and legislative 
        options for ensuring that every possible biological father has 
        access to the protections of a responsible father registry 
        regardless of the State in which the possible biological father 
        resides; and
            (4) a description of the national registry so established, 
        which shall identify participating states and explain how 
        authorized users may access and use the national registry.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act.
            (2) Responsible father registry.--The term ``responsible 
        father registry'' means a registry for the receipt of 
        information that directly relates to the identity or location 
        of possible biological fathers who have voluntarily registered 
        to be notified of a proceeding relating to a child that a 
        possible biological father may have fathered out of wedlock, so 
        that a possible biological father may opt to assert his 
        parental rights.
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' means the 50 States of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American 
        Samoa.
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