Would require state courts to report the number of private adoptions each year to the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
There is no accurate, comprehensive data on private domestic adoptions in the United States.
Adoptions from foster care are tracked through the state. International adoptions are overseen by the Department of State and Immigration. Yet, there is not, nor has there ever been, either incentive, directives, nor even a location, that private agencies and attorneys could annually record their adoption numbers. The US Census began collecting the numbers of children adopted. Accurate numbers of birth parents on a state and national level have never been anything but estimated at best.
If passed, this bill would require states to report data to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, providing essential statistics on the number of adoptions by state. Policymakers require data to make informed decisions, and the Adoption Counts Act will help them better understand the landscape of private domestic adoption.
To help support this important legislation, please message your Representative on this issue. Look up your Congressional offices here and make a quick phone call, asking them to support this legislation. Please do consider sending a message to families, and others in the community you’re connected to asking for their support.