,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #cjib  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,june #bh1 #bjag,mrs4
 ,hartzler 7for herself1 ,ms4 ,kuster of
 ,new ,hampshire1 and ,mrs4 ,walorski7  
introduced the following bill2 which was
 referred to the ,committee on ,ways and
 ,means  ,a ,,bill  ,to amend part ,d of
 title ,,iv of the ,social ,security    
,act to require the ,secretary of       
,health and ,human ,services to modify  
the ,federal ,parent ,locator ,service  
to improve search functions and include 
,state responsible father registry      
search functions1 and for other         
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,permanency for     
,children ,act of #bjag4  #b4 ,findings 
,the ,congress finds the following3     
7#a7 ,a permanent1 stable home is       
critical for the physical and cognitive 
development of children1 and quickly    
identifying biological fathers after    
birth is crucial to providing stable1   
supportive environments for children of 

unwed mothers and for permanency for    
adoptive parents4  7#b7 ,responsible    
father registries1 sometimes known as   
putative father registries1 help to     
speed up the stable placement of        
children by providing a mechanism to    
determine whether a biological father   
has a protectable interest in           
participating in the placement decisions
 for a child4  7#c7 ,thirty-four ,states
 have created responsible father        
registries4  7#d7 ,improving the legal  
mechanisms for finding biological       
fathers is a necessary step in the      
progression toward improving permanency 
for children4  7#e7 ,in #aige1 ,congress
 authorized the creation of the ,federal
 ,parent ,locator ,service 7,,fpls71    
which is an assembly of systems designed
 to assist ,states in locating          
noncustodial parents1 putative fathers1 
and custodial parties1 for the          
establishment of paternity and child    
support obligations4  7#f7 ,currently1  
the ,,fpls can only be searched by      

social security number or date of birth1
 which limits the effectiveness of this 
tool4  7#g7 ,improving the search       
functions of the ,,fpls will allow for  
more effective use of the database while
 maintaining important privacy          
protections to provide expedited        
permanency for children4  7#h7 ,national
 cross-referencing of responsible father
 registries in the ,,fpls would protect 
registered fathers against court actions
 in unknown ,states where the child or  
mother may have traveled or where the   
adoptive parents reside4  #c4           
,responsible father registry  7a7       
,requirement ,to modify ,federal ,parent
 ,locator ,service ,section #dec of the 
,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4   
#fec7 is amended by adding at the end   
the following3  7q7 ,responsible father 
registry  7#a7 ,in general ,subject to  
the preceding provisions of this        
section1 the ,secretary shall1 in       
collaboration with the ,states1 modify  
the ,federal ,parent ,locator ,service  

to improve search functions to allow    
,state agencies administering ,state    
responsible father registries to        
electronically exchange identifying     
information of mothers and putative     
fathers of children1 and1 to the extent 
possible1 to allow a single ,federal    
,parent ,locator ,service query to      
search for a putative father registered 
in any ,state responsible father        
registry4  7#b7 ,definition ,in this    
section1 the term responsible father    
registry means a registry for the       
receipt of information which directly   
relates to the identity or location of  
biological fathers who have voluntarily 
registered to assert their paternal     
rights to a child they may have fathered
 out of wedlock4  4  7b7 ,report ,not   
later than #ab months after the date of 
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary shall submit to ,congress a  
report on the implementation of the     
requirement under section #dec7q7 of the
 ,social ,security ,act1 as added by    

subsection 7a7 of this section4 ,such   
report shall also--  7#a7 include a     
framework to assist ,states without     
responsible father registries in setting
 up such a ,state registry or           
coordinating with an existing such      
,state registry2  7#b7 provide direction
 to ,states with existing ,state        
responsible father registries on best   
practices for improving efficiencies of 
such registries2 and  7#c7 identify     
administrative and legislative options  
for ensuring every putative father has  
access to the protections of a          
responsible father registry regardless  
of the ,state or territory in which the 
father resides4  #d4 ,parties authorized
 to access ,federal ,parent ,locator    
,service  7a7 ,state responsible father 
registries ,section #dec7;c77#d7 of the 
,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4   
#fec7;c77#d77 is amended by inserting 1 
or that is administering a ,state       
responsible father registry after part  
,e4  7b7 ,adoption and dependency courts

 ,section #dec7;c77#b7 of such ,act 7#db
 ,u4,s4,c4 #fec7;c77#b77 is amended--   
7#a7 by striking the court and inserting
 any court2 and  7#b7 by inserting or an
 action relating to the dependency or   
adoption of a child1 after maintenance  
of a child14