[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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