108 STAT. 4056 PUBLIC LAW 103-382—OCT. 20, 1994 PART E—MULTIETHNIC PLACEMENT MeSb^m Subpart 1—Multiethnic Placement Haiement Act SEC. 661. SHORT TITLE. °^ }^^y^ This subpart may be cited as the "Howard M. Metzenbaum Foster care. Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994". 42 USC 5115a ggc. 662. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. note. (a) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds that— (1) nearly 500,000 children are in foster care in the United States; (2) tens of thousands of children in foster care are waiting for adoption; (3) 2 years and 8 months is the median length of time that children wait to be adopted; (4) child welfare agencies should work to eliminate racial, ethnic, and national origin discrimination and bias in adoption and foster care recruitment, selection, and placement procedures; and (5) active, creative, and diligent efforts are needed to recruit foster and adoptive parents of every race, ethnicity, and culture in order to facilitate the placement of children in foster and adoptive homes which will best meet each child's needs. (b) PURPOSE.— It is the purpose of this subpart to promote the best interests of children by— (1) decreasing the length of time that children wait to be adopted; (2) preventing discrimination in the placement of children on the basis of race, color, or national origin; and (3) facilitating the identification and recruitment of foster and adoptive families that can meet children's needs. 42 USC 5115a. SEC. 663. MULTIETHNIC PLACEMENTS. (a) ACTIVITIES.— (1) PROHIBITION.— An agency, or entity, that receives Fed- . eral assistance and is involved in adoption or foster care placements may not— (A) categorically deny to any person the opportunity to become an adoptive or a foster parent, solely on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the adoptive or foster parent, or the child, involved; or (B) delay or deny the placement of a child for adoption or into foster care, or otherwise discriminate in making a placement decision, solely on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the adoptive or foster parent, or the child, involved. (2) PERMISSIBLE CONSIDERATION. — An agency or entity to which paragraph (1) applies may consider the cultural, ethnic, or racial background of the child and the capacity of the prospective foster or adoptive parents to meet the needs of a child of this background as one of a number of factors used to determine the best interests of a child. (3) DEFINITION.— As used in this subsection, the term "placement decision" means the decision to place, or to delay or deny the placement of, a child in a foster care or an adoptive home, and includes the decision of the agency or entity involved
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