Senators Amy Klobuchar and Kevin Cramer have introduced new legislation on adoption. The new bills are the “Supporting Adopted Children and Families Act” and the “Safe Home Act”.
Supporting Adopted Children and Families Act
The Supporting Adopted Children and Families Act (SACFA) provides additional services for adoptive families. These services include training and counseling for behavioral and developmental issues, mental health treatment and crisis services, and mentoring and support for adoptive parents.
These services focus on mental health issues and are intended to provide extra help for families who adopt children who have mental health needs that the family may not be prepared for. A range of different kinds of help will be available.
Peer-to-peer mentoring and support groups, for example, can aid communication between new adoptive parents and families with greater experience. These programs include connections among adoptive families with similar cultural or geographic backgrounds.
A 24-hour crisis hotline is a very different kind of support, but can be an essential tool in the moment. Ongoing services like psychiatric residential services, outpatient mental health services, social skills training, intensive in-home supervision services, recreational therapy, suicide prevention, and substance abuse treatment can make all the difference for children who need more intensive help.
The object of the law is to help give adopted children stable, successful families. The American Psychological Association reports that adoptive parents, especially parents of children from foster care, are 2 to 5 times more likely to need mental health care for their children than the general population. The specific skills for dealing with these situations may be different from the typical child psychologist’s training. SACFA should make these important forms of support easier for families to get when they’re needed.
The Safe Home Act
The Safe Home Act allows birth parents to place a child with a trusted relative temporarily, but not to transfer custody to a stranger outside of the legal adoption system. The goal is to avoid unregulated custody transfers — casual adoption without benefit of legal support. Legal adoption protects children and parents, making sure that families grow safely. Unregulated custody transfers endanger children.
The Safe Home Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services to work with states to make sure that all adoptions are conducted correctly within adoption law.
The new legislation
Klobuchar and Cramer are co-chairs of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, a bipartisan caucus focused on strengthening adoption. “Giving a child a stable home through adoption is one of the greatest joys for a parent, and I can attest to it,” said Cramer in a statement. “Our bills ensure children are not neglected and families have the support services they need throughout the adoption process.”
Klobuchar agreed, saying, “We’re grateful for the dedication and commitment of adoptive families who open their homes and hearts to children. I will continue to work with Senator Cramer and colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure every child has a safe, loving, and permanent family.”