Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 106 Part 1.djvu/244

 106 STAT. 212 PUBLIC LAW 102-295—MAY 28, 1992 «SEC. 201. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PUR- POSE. " (a) FINDINGS.— Congress finds that— "(1) the number of children in substitute care increased by nearly 50 percent between 1985 and 1990, as our Nation's foster care population included more than 400,000 children at the end of June, 1990; "(2) increasingly children entering foster care have complex problems which require intensive services; "(3) an increasing number of infants are born to mothers who did not receive prenatal care, are born addicted to alcohol and other drugs, and exposed to infection with the etiologic agent for the human immunodeficiency virus, are medically fragile, and technology dependent; "(4) the welfare of thousands of children in institutions and foster homes and disabled infants with Ufe-threatening conditions may be in serious jeopardy and some such children are in need of placement in permanent, adoptive homes; "(5) many thousands of children remain in institutions or foster homes solely because of local and other barriers to their placement in permanent, adoptive homes; "(6) the majority of such children are of school age, members of sibling groups or disabled; "(7) currently one-half of children free for adoption and awaiting placement are minorities; "(8) adoption may be the best alternative for assuring the healthy development of such children; "(9) there are qualified persons seeking to adopt such children who are unable to do so because of barriers to their placement; and "(10) in order both to enhance the stability and love of the child's home environment and to avoid wasteful expenditures of public funds, such children should not have medically indicated treatment withheld from them nor be maintained in foster care or institutions when adoption is appropriate and families can be found for such children. "(b) PURPOSE.— It is the purpose of this title to facilitate the elimination of barriers to adoption and to provide permanent and loving home environments for children who would benefit from adoption, particularly children with special needs, including disabled infants with life-threatening conditions, by— "(1) promoting model adoption legislation and procedures in the States and territories of the United States in order to eliminate jurisdictional and legal obstacles to adoption; and "(2) providing a mechanism for the Department of Health and Human Services to— "(A) promote quality standards for adoption services, pre- /.. placement, post-placement, and post-legal adoption counseling, and standards to protect the rights of children in r*.:- need of adoption; "(B) maintain a national adoption information exchange system to bring together children who would benefit from adoption and qualified prospective adoptive parents who
 * are seeking such children, and conduct national recruitment efforts in order to reach prospective parents for children awaiting adoption; and

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