Sec. 301. Establishment of a USAID Center for Excellence for Children in Adversity
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There is established within the United States Agency for International Development a Center of Excellence on Children in Adversity. The Center for Excellence shall be headed by the Children in Adversity Coordinator, who shall be appointed by the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. The Center of Excellence on Children in Adversity shall work in consultation with the Ambassador-at-Large of the Office of Vulnerable Children and Family Security of the Department of State to promote greater United States Government coherence and accountability for whole-of-government assistance to children in adversity and ensure that United States foreign assistance and development programs are focused on the following objectives:
The sound development of children through the integration of health, nutrition, and family support. Supporting and enabling families to care for children through family preservation, reunification, and support of kinship care, guardianship, and domestic and intercountry adoption. Facilitating the efforts of national governments and partners to prevent, respond to, and protect children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. The Children in Adversity Coordinator, acting through nongovernmental organizations (including faith-based and community-based organizations), partner country finance, health, education, social welfare, and other ministries, and relevant executive branch agencies, is authorized to— operate internationally to carry out the programs and activities outlined in the Action Plan for Children in Adversity; provide grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, nongovernmental organizations (including faith-based organizations) to carry out this section; and transfer and allocate United States Agency for International Development funds that have been appropriated for the purposes described in subparagraphs
(A)and (B). In consultation with the Ambassador-at-Large of the Office of Vulnerable Children and Family Security in the Department of State, the Children in Adversity Coordinator shall, through the Center of Excellence— facilitate program and policy coordination related to the goals and objectives of the Action Plan for Children in Adversity among relevant executive branch agencies and nongovernmental organizations by auditing, monitoring, and evaluating such programs; ensure that each relevant executive branch agency undertakes responsibility for activities related primarily to those areas in which the agency has the greatest expertise, technical capability, and potential for success; coordinate relevant executive branch agency activities related to the Action Plan for Children in Adversity; establish due diligence criteria for all recipients of funds appropriated by the United States Government for assistance to children in adversity; and oversee the administration of the priority country demonstration program as described in subsection (f). The President is authorized to provide assistance, including through international, nongovernmental, or faith-based organizations, for programs in developing countries— to increase the percentage of children achieving age-appropriate growth and developmental milestones; to increase the percentage of children under 5 years of age demonstrating secure attachment with a primary caregiver; to integrate health, nutrition, developmental protections, and caregiving support for vulnerable children and their families; to increase the percentage of children living within appropriate, permanent, safe, and protective family care, through family preservation and reunification, and through kinship care, guardianship, and domestic and intercountry adoption, and to reduce the percentage of children living in institutions; to increase the percentage of families providing adequate nutrition, education opportunities, care, and protection for their children; to reduce the percentage of children who experience violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect; to increase the percentage of children who receive appropriate care and protection after experiencing violence, exploitation, abuse, or neglect; to increase public awareness that violence, exploitation, abuse, or neglect of children as unacceptable; to increase the percentage of countries that ratify and implement relevant conventions or formally adopt internationally recognized principles, standards, and procedural safeguards to protect children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect; to increase the percentage of children who have legal documentation and birth registration; to increase the number of laws, policies, and practices in partner states that promote and strengthen child welfare and protection at household, community, and national levels is increased; to increase national and local human resource capacity for child welfare and protection; to increase the number of national and community systems effectively monitoring child welfare and protection concerns, programs, and outcomes; to encourage and assist in the collection of data related to children outside of family care; to increase the number of prevalence studies that measure and track trends in children’s exposure to violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect; to increase the number of published outcome/impact evaluations on interventions to assist children outside of family care or minimize exposure to violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect that can be generalized to larger target groups; to increase the number of national governments and universities leading rigorous data collection, research, and monitoring and evaluation studies related to child welfare and protection; and to increase the number of United States Government-supported interventions for children in adversity designed using data from rigorous research methodologies. To maximize the sustainable development impact of assistance authorized under this section, and pursuant to the primary objective of the Action Plan for Children in Adversity, the President shall establish a monitoring and evaluation system to measure the effectiveness of United States assistance to children in adversity. The monitoring and evaluation system shall— be aligned with the objectives and outcomes outlined by the Action Plan for Children in Adversity; and provide a basis for recommendations for adjustments to the assistance provided under this part. The Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall establish and carry out a priority country demonstration program implementing the Action Plan for Children in Adversity over a period of 5 years in at least 6 countries. The purposes of the programs established under subparagraph
(1)shall be— to demonstrate how research-based policies and programs to achieve the core objectives of the Action Plan for Children in Adversity can be successfully implemented on a national level; to establish model programs that, once tested for efficacy, will be available for replication on a global basis; to identify a comprehensive series of interventions which result in meeting the outcomes and objectives of the Action Plan for Children in Adversity; and to determine which in-country factors advance or negate the successful achievement of the outcomes and objectives of the action plan. The criteria for selection of countries shall include— magnitude and severity of the problems to be addressed; partner country interest in participation in a comprehensive implementation of all 3 goals of the Action Plan for Children in Adversity, including, with respect to the second objective (Families First), expressed willingness to support the full complement of permanence solutions (including family preservation, reunification, kinship care, guardianship, and domestic and intercountry adoption), and commitments to support and allow monitoring and evaluation, as well as transparent reporting; potential to leverage bilateral, multilateral, and foundation investments; potential to leverage other United States development investments; regional diversity to maximize learning opportunities; and level of economic development, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. Section 135 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2152f ) is repealed. Section 5 of the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005 ( 22 U.S.C. 2152g ) is hereby repealed.
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Sec. 301
Establishment of a USAID Center for Excellence for Children in Adversity
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