Sec. 3. Definitions
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In this Act: The term Action Plan on Children in Adversity means the policy document entitled United States Government Action Plan on Children in Adversity: A Framework for International Assistance: 2012–2017 , released on December 19, 2012, including any subsequent amendments or revisions released by the United States Government before the end of 2017. The term appropriate, protective, and permanent family care means a nurturing, lifelong, commitment to a child by an adult, or adults with parental roles and responsibilities that— provides physical and emotional support; provides the child with a sense of belonging; and generally involves full legal recognition of the child’s status as child of the parents and of the parents’ rights and responsibilities regarding the child.
The term central authority has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14902). The term children in adversity means children and youth— who are younger than 18 years of age; who live inside or outside of family care; and whose safety, well-being, growth, and development are at significant risk due to inadequate care, protection, or access to essential services. The term Convention adoption has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 ( 42 U.S.C. 14902 ).
The term Convention country has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14902) and for which the Hague Adoption Convention has entered into force. The term family means a collective body of persons, consisting of at least 1 child and 1 parent, legal custodian, or adult relative, in which— the persons reside in the same house or living unit; or the parent, legal custodian, or adult relative has a legal responsibility by blood, marriage, or legal order to support or care for the child.
The term guardianship means a permanent legal relationship between an adult and a child, in which the adult is lawfully invested with the power, and charged with the duty, of taking care of the child. While some forms of guardianship are not truly permanent, the form of guardianship referred to and supported under this Act is permanent guardianship. A Kefala order issued by a country that follows traditional Islamic law does not qualify as an adoption under United States law, but may be a form of guardianship in some circumstances.
Individual parent-child relationships in a small, family-like group home in which caretaking is provided only by 1 or more unpaid caretakers might, in some circumstances, qualify as a guardianship if legalized in that form. The term guardianship does not include a paid guardianship, although an exception may be appropriate in cases involving children with disabilities. The term habitual residence determination means a factual determination of where a prospective adoptive parent (or parents) resides and where the child resides for purposes of an intercountry adoption case.
The term Hague Adoption Convention means the Convention of Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, concluded at The Hague May 29, 1993. The term institutional care means care provided in any nonfamily-based group setting, including— orphanages; transit or interim care centers; children’s homes; children’s villages or cottage complexes; and boarding schools used primarily for care purposes as an alternative to a children’s home. The term kinship care — means the full-time care, nurturing, and protection of children by relatives, members of their tribes or clans, godparents, stepparents, or any adult who has a kinship bond with a child, if such persons have the capacity and commitment to function as true parents for the child on a permanent basis; and does not include paid kinship foster care, except in the case of children with disabilities.
The term non-Convention adoption means— an adoption by United States parents of a child from a non-Convention country in accordance with subparagraph
(F)of section 101(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1) ); an adoption by United States parents of a child under the laws of the child’s country of origin (generally when the parents are living in the child’s country of origin and therefore able legally to complete a domestic adoption); or in certain circumstances (generally with respect to relative adoptions or adoptions by dual national parents), an adoption by United States parents of a child from a Convention country if that country allows legal and valid adoptions to take place outside the scope of the Convention. The term non-Convention country means a country in which the Hague Adoption Convention has not entered into force, regardless of whether or not that country has signed the Convention. The term unparented children means children lacking the legal, permanent, safe, and nurturing care of a parental figure or figures, either inside their country of origin, in the country of their habitual residence, or elsewhere, regardless of their lawful or unlawful immigration status in their current country of residence.
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