[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3438 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3438

To prohibit entities receiving Federal assistance that are involved in 
adoption or foster care placements from delaying or denying placements 
                       under certain conditions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 7, 2023

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit entities receiving Federal assistance that are involved in 
adoption or foster care placements from delaying or denying placements 
                       under certain conditions.

    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 ``Sensible Adoption For Every Home 
Act'' or the ``SAFE Home Act''.

SEC. 2. STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT UNDER THE FEDERAL FOSTER CARE AND 
              ADOPTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 471(a) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 671(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (36);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (37) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(38)(A) prohibits any entity that receives Federal 
        assistance and is involved in adoption or foster care 
        placements from delaying or denying the placement of a minor 
        child for adoption or into foster care, or otherwise 
        discriminating in making a placement decision with a 
        prospective or actual adoptive or foster parent, for any of the 
        following reasons--
                    ``(i) the parent raises, cares for, and addresses a 
                child in a manner consistent with the child's sex;
                    ``(ii) the parent declines to consent to a child 
                receiving any medical, surgical, pharmacological, or 
                psychological treatment or other medical or mental 
                health service for the purpose of attempting to alter 
                the appearance of, or to validate a child's perception 
                of, the child's sex, if the appearance or perception is 
                inconsistent with the child's sex; or
                    ``(iii) the parent declines to consent to an 
                amendment or alteration to a child's birth certificate, 
                passport, driver's license, school records, or other 
                government-issued identification document, if the 
                amendment or alteration is inconsistent with the 
                child's sex; and
            ``(B) for purposes of this paragraph, defines--
                    ``(i) the term `sex' as biological sex, either male 
                or female;
                    ``(ii) the term `female' as an individual who has, 
                had, will have, or but for a developmental or genetic 
                anomaly or historical accident would have, a 
                reproductive system that at some point produces, 
                transports, and utilizes eggs for fertilization; and
                    ``(iii) the term `male' as an individual who has, 
                had, will have, or but for a developmental or genetic 
                anomaly or historical accident would have, a 
                reproductive system that at some point produces, 
                transports, and utilizes sperm for fertilization.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--The amendment made by this Act shall take 
        effect on the 1st day of the 1st fiscal quarter beginning on or 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply to 
        payments under part E of title IV of the Social Security Act 
        for calendar quarters beginning on or after such date.
            (2) Delay permitted if state legislation required.--If the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that State 
        legislation (other than legislation appropriating funds) is 
        required in order for a State plan developed pursuant to part E 
        of title IV of the Social Security Act to meet the additional 
        requirements imposed by the amendments made by this Act, the 
        plan shall not be regarded as failing to meet any of the 
        additional requirements before the 1st day of the 1st calendar 
        quarter beginning after the first regular session of the State 
        legislature that begins after the date of the enactment of this 
        Act. For purposes of the preceding sentence, if the State has a 
        2-year legislative session, each year of the session is deemed 
        to be a separate regular session of the State legislature.
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