S. 600 — Supporting Adopted Children and Families Act

This section amends the purposes of the Child Welfare Services program by inserting a new paragraph (5) to ensure the well-being of adopted children and their adoptive families and to promote efforts to prevent such children from entering foster care through pre- and post-adoption support services (with former paragraph (5) redesignated as paragraph (6)). It further revises the definition of adoption promotion and support services to specify that such services and activities, designed to encourage adoptions out of foster care while supporting adoptive families, may include pre-adoption support services (e.g., training, counseling, peer mentoring, and informational resources addressing behavioral, attachment, cultural, and trauma-related issues) and post-adoption support services (e.g., continued pre-adoption services, respite care, specialized counseling for children, peer support for children, and crisis intervention including a 24-hour hotline). (Thus, states receiving formula grant funding under the program may support these specified activities.)

This section revises state requirements for spending any savings in title IV-E expenditures resulting from applying adoption assistance payment eligibility under subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii) to all applicable children (i.e., certain older youth in foster care) for a fiscal year. States must (1) spend a significant portion of such savings on pre- and post-adoption support services (as defined in section 431(a)(8)(B) of the Social Security Act, i.e., counseling, training, and respite care for adoptive families); (2) spend the remainder on any other services allowable under title IV-E or part B of the Social Security Act; and (3) submit an annual report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services detailing services funded under this paragraph.

This section directs the Secretary to reserve $20 million from amounts available under the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program (i.e., provides formula grants to states, localities, and Indian tribes for child and family services to prevent out-of-home placements, reunify families, and promote adoption and guardianship) for post-adoption and post-legal guardianship mental health services grants. (As background, the program currently authorizes $345 million annually through FY2023, with reservations including $6 million for evaluation and training, $30 million for state court improvements, 3% for tribes, $20 million for caseworker visits, and $20 million for regional partnership grants.) It further establishes a grant program to award the reserved funds for each of FY2026 through 2029 to eligible entities—including states, state-designated public or private nonprofits, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations—to (1) develop and implement statewide or tribal mental health service programs for adopted and legal guardianship children and families; (2) support relevant organizations; (3) collect and analyze data; (4) provide adoption-competent training for professionals; (5) develop informational materials for prospective parents/guardians; (6) offer respite care; and (7) support research on promising practices. Grants prioritize direct services (at least 85% of funds, including 5% for data activities), give preference to entities increasing competency among providers and partnering with state mental health agencies, limit states to one grant, and require coordination with federal agencies and consultation with stakeholders.

This section amends section 479 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 679), which establishes the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) for states to report data on children in foster care and adoptions, by adding subsection (e) to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, not later than 12 months after enactment, to promulgate final regulations directing states to collect and report specified data on children entering state custody due to adoption disruption (pre-finalization) or dissolution (post-finalization), including for domestic and international adoptions: (1) numbers of such children; and (2) for each child, country of birth (if applicable), length of placement prior to disruption or dissolution, age at disruption or dissolution, reason for it, and agencies handling the placement. Such data collection is to consolidate and expand information on disruptions and dissolutions; improve measurement of their rates, outcomes, and causes; identify effective pre- and post-adoption support services; analyze links between support services and disruption/dissolution rates; and develop prevention strategies and training. The section further directs the Secretary, not later than 6 months after enactment, to establish an advisory committee—including state child welfare agencies, organizations serving adopted and foster children, and judicial representatives—to study collection of related data outside state custody (e.g., adoption displacements for treatment) and, not later than 12 months after the committee's establishment, submit recommendations to congressional committees for improving AFCARS. This section also amends section 479A(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 679b(a)) to require the Secretary's annual AFCARS report for FY2026 and subsequent years to include national and state-by-state data on adoption disruption and dissolution rates.

This section establishes October 1, 2025, as the effective date for the Act's amendments, with applicability to payments under parts B (child welfare services) and E (foster care, adoption assistance, and guardianship) of title IV of the Social Security Act for calendar quarters beginning on or after that date. It provides exceptions: (1) a delay for states requiring legislation (other than appropriations) until the first calendar quarter after the first regular state legislative session following enactment; (2) additional time, as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, for Indian tribes, tribal organizations, or tribal consortia to comply; and (3) immediate effect on the date of enactment for amendments made by section 5 concerning data collection on adoption disruption and dissolution.