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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Sep 17, 2013
Removing Barriers to Adoption and Supporting Families Act of 2013 - Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to reauthorize the adoption incentive payment program through FY2018.
Adds a new adoption incentive payment for states involved in sending and receiving interstate adoptions. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to pay each state that was a receiving state for an interstate adoptive placement for a fiscal year a pro rata share of the portion of the adoption incentive payment paid to the sending state.
Requires a state to report to the Secretary data on interstate adoptions.
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Directs the Secretary to develop national standards for home studies for use in evaluating potential foster and adoptive parents.
Establishes a matching rate for states adopting home study in compliance with national standards.
Limits planned permanent living arrangements to children who have attained age 17.
Directs the Comptroller General to study: (1) the number of children in each state that are assigned a permanency goal of another planned permanent living arrangement for the most recent fiscal year for which data are available; (2) the ages, gender, race, and special needs of children whose permanency goal is another planned permanent living arrangement; (3) a review and analysis of court practices for determining that another planned permanent living arrangement is the appropriate placement for a child; (4) information with respect to foster youths' involvement in deciding to enter into a permanency goal of another planned permanent living arrangement; and (5) a summary of the reasons that reunification, adoption, kinship care, or guardianship were not found to be in the best interests of the child.
Requires a state to spend an amount equal to 20% of the amount of savings from adoption assistance de-linkage to provide post-adoption and post-permanency services to children and families.
Requires the state foster care and adoption assistance plan to: (1) commit the state to engage in public-private partnerships to promote evidence-based child-focused recruitment practices that focus measurable attention on the adoption of children out of foster care with an emphasis on those children most at risk of aging out of care, and (2) encourage placement of children with siblings.
People & committees
Sen. Rockefeller, John D., IV [D-WV] · D–WV
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6523-6524)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 12, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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