Blunt, Granger introduce bill to make vulnerable children a focus of U.S. foreign policy

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation last week to increase intercountry adoption to the United States, which has been in decline in recent years.

The Vulnerable Children and Families Act would take steps to help children living without families around the world find permanent, safe homes. The measure would make child welfare and efforts to provide permanent homes to vulnerable children a priority of U.S. foreign policy, and it would establish an Office of Vulnerable Children and Family Security within the State Department.

“Every child deserves a permanent, safe, loving home no matter where they are born,” said Blunt, a co-chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption. “Unfortunately, there are millions of children across the world who are growing up without the security and stability that comes with family-based care. This bill will help connect more children in need of permanent homes with families in the United States and around the world that are eager to adopt.”

Lawmakers said they want to ensure that the child welfare systems in the United States and abroad are effective at providing suitable homes to all children.

The measure would require an annual report to Congress on technical assistance that foreign countries receive to promote child placement in permanent families. It would also ensure that the Office of Vulnerable Children and Family Security and the United States Agency for International Development work toward objectives defined in the 2012 Action Plan on Children in Adversity.

“The future of the world rests on the shoulders of today’s children. We owe it to them to do everything we can to make sure they grow up in safe and loving homes,” Granger said. “This legislation will make it easier for families looking at international adoption to provide a permanent home for some of the world’s most vulnerable children and help ensure they grow up to be productive adults.”

Despite fewer international adoptions into the United States, an estimated 13 million children have two parents who have died and as many as 8 million children are in institutional care, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Blunt and Granger introduced the bill with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI).