[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5101 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5101
To modify the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 to provide a
specialized accreditation option for performing a background study on a
child or a home study on prospective adoptive parents, and reporting on
such a study.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 16, 2022
Mr. Wicker (for himself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
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A BILL
To modify the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 to provide a
specialized accreditation option for performing a background study on a
child or a home study on prospective adoptive parents, and reporting on
such a study.
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 ``Voluntary Specialized Accreditation
for Background and Home Studies Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) prospective adoptive parents should receive high-
quality services from experienced providers for their child
background studies and home studies;
(2) the number of accredited adoption service providers is
declining in the United States, leading to fewer options of
accredited service providers;
(3) some foreign countries, primary providers and many
adoptive families have a preference that only accredited
adoption service providers conduct intercountry home studies
and post adoption reporting;
(4) accreditation and approval ensures compliance with
standards and requires accrediting entities to provide
oversight, enforcement, and data and report collection for
accredited and approved adoption service providers; and
(5) United States intercountry adoption practices can be
enhanced by supporting an accreditation system that includes a
new, limited accreditation option for the provision of a
background study on a child or a home study on a prospective
adoptive parent, in addition to current, comprehensive,
mandatory accreditation for primary providers.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION ACT OF 2000.
(a) Definitions.--Section 3 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of
2000 (42 U.S.C. 14902) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``specialized
accreditation'' after ``adoption services'';
(2) by redesignating paragraph (17) as paragraph (18); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (16) the following:
``(17) Specialized accreditation.--The term `specialized
accreditation' means voluntary accreditation that is limited to
the provision of 1 or more of the following services:
``(A) Performing a background study on a child in
an outgoing case and reporting on such a study.
``(B) Performing a home study on a prospective
adoptive parent in an incoming case and reporting on
such a study.''.
(b) Accreditation and Approval.--
(1) In general.--Section 202(b)(1) of the Intercountry
Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14922(b)(1)) is amended to read
as follows:
``(1) Accreditation and approval.--Accreditation of
agencies, and approval of persons, to provide adoption services
or other specialized services in the United States in cases
subject to the Convention or Intercountry Adoption Universal
Accreditation Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-276). At the time of
initial or renewal of accreditation of agencies, and approval
of persons, the applying entity shall indicate whether the
entity seeks accreditation as--
``(A) an accredited agency or approved person; or
``(B) an agency with a limited home study or child
background study.''.
(2) Exemption from paperwork reduction act.--Section 503(c)
of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14953(c))
is amended by inserting ``202(b)(1),'' after ``104,''.
SEC. 4. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) In General.--Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this
Act may be construed to require that intercountry adoption service
providers have a specialized accreditation (as defined in section 3(17)
of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, as amended by section
3(a)(3)), to provide a home study on prospective adoptive parents
pursuing an intercountry adoption.
(b) Definition of Adoption Service.--Nothing in this Act or in the
amendments made by this Act may be construed to modify the definition
of ``adoption service'' under section 3 of the Intercountry Adoption
Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14902).
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect on the date that is 90 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
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