Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Protecting All Parents and Adoptees Act” or the “PAPA Act”.
Protecting All Parents and Adoptees Act
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.
Sec. 2 Findings
The Congress finds as follows:
A permanent, stable home is critical for the physical and cognitive development of children.
Identifying the biological father of a child is crucial to ensuring a timely adoption proceeding to provide permanency and stability for the child.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
In general— The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this section referred to as the “Secretary”) shall—
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
enable the State and tribal agencies administering the responsible father registries to access, and electronically exchange information with, the national registry.
Parties authorized To access the national registry— The Secretary shall make the information in the national registry available to—
public or private licensed adoption or child placement agencies;
State or tribal child welfare authorities;
State or tribal courts; and
licensed attorneys representing a party in an adoption, a child placement, or a termination of rights proceeding.
Authority To charge fee— The Secretary may charge a reasonable fee for a search of the national registry.
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—
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;
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;
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
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:
Indian tribe— The term Indian tribe has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.
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.
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.