In Good Standing Adoption Agencies Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to create and maintain a public list of private adoption agencies that are licensed and in good standing with their states.
• To keep the list accurate, state governments would be required to submit annual reports identifying all of their licensed, non-profit adoption agencies starting in 2026.
• The policy aims to help families find safe, legitimate adoption services by making it easy to see which agencies are officially recognized and which ones have faced disciplinary actions.
• States that do not provide their lists to the federal government would risk losing federal bonus payments they receive for successfully placing children in permanent homes.
• The government would also have to give Congress a yearly report that highlights any agencies that were disciplined or removed from the list of agencies in good standing.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.