Full bill text rendering is coming soon.
In the meantime, read the full text on Congress.gov ↗.
Regulatory or Legal Changes Top 5
CAPTA grant conditions: protect sex-affirming parents from adverse action
Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) to require states receiving federal child abuse grants to adopt procedures protecting parents who raise children consistent with their biological sex from being reported, investigated, or penalized as abusers. Prohibits the use of Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) funds for gender-transition programs for minors and bars the federal government and grant recipients from treating parental sex-affirmation as abuse, with escalating financial penalties for violations. Bars state child abuse task forces funded under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) from recommending that a parent's affirmation of a child's biological sex be classified as abuse or neglect, with grant withholding and recoupment for violations. Creates a new right to sue in federal court for parents or children harmed by child welfare agencies that take action against them for affirming a child's biological sex, with qualified immunity removed, sovereign immunity waived, and damages and attorney's fees available. Amends the Social Security Act to require states to ban gender-transition treatments for children in foster care, mandate sex-based housing in placements, protect caregivers who affirm a child's biological sex from discrimination, and restrict pronoun use without parental consent. Bars use of Social Security Act Title IV-B child welfare funds for gender-transition treatments, programs that treat parental sex-affirmation as abuse, or placements that use opposite-sex pronouns without consent, with escalating penalties and administrative appeals for violations. Creates a federal right to sue for parents, foster parents, and children harmed by child welfare agencies acting against them because of biological sex affirmation, with no exhaustion requirement, qualified immunity removed, sovereign immunity waived, and full damages available. Amends the Social Security Act to add new state plan requirements under the foster care and adoption assistance program, banning gender-transition treatments for foster children, requiring sex-based housing, prohibiting sex-record changes while in care, and protecting caregivers who affirm a child's sex. Adds new rules to the Social Security Act prohibiting the federal government and all fund recipients under the foster care and child welfare programs from treating parental sex-affirmation as abuse, and extends all funding restrictions to every division of any entity receiving those funds. Extends the bill's foster care sex-affirmation requirements to youth under 18 in the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood, and bars Chafee program funds from being used for gender-transition treatments for minors. Requires states, as a condition of receiving federal foster care and adoption assistance payments, to ensure all child health, safety, and best-interest determinations comply with this Act's requirements regarding biological sex and parental rights. Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) to define 'sex' as immutable biological sex, 'adverse State action' as child welfare interventions motivated by parental sex-affirmation, and 'covered entity' as any CAPTA fund recipient — establishing binding interpretive limits on all CAPTA administration.
- Population Scope High Reaches all states and territories receiving CAPTA and Social Security Act Title IV-B/E funds — binding every state child welfare agency, foster care system, and tribal organization nationwide, affecting millions of children, parents, foster caregivers, and agency personnel.
- Budgetary Magnitude Medium Conditions existing federal child welfare grants on compliance and authorizes withholding and recoupment of those grants, plus escalating financial penalties (5%, 10%, 15% of grant funds), without itself appropriating new funds.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates a sweeping set of new statutory mandates, prohibitions, private rights of action with qualified immunity abrogated, sovereign immunity waivers, and whole-entity funding conditions across CAPTA, SSA Parts B and E, and the Chafee Program — a fundamental restructuring of federal child welfare law.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low Mandatory 'shall' language dominates throughout; the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is directed to withhold and recover funds upon noncompliance findings, leaving minimal administrative discretion.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden High Requires standing up new enforcement infrastructure — governor certifications, mandatory training regimes, grant-chain compliance auditing, administrative appeals processes, and federal court litigation under multiple private rights of action — across every participating state and covered entity.
- Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress acts to repeal it.
No signal yet
Core Policy Mechanism Top 5
Parental right to raise children by biological sex
Declares that parents have a fundamental right to raise their child in a manner consistent with the child's biological sex, and prohibits child welfare systems from treating that parental conduct as abuse or neglect.
- Population Scope Medium Directly affects parents and guardians subject to child welfare investigations, a population numbering in the millions but well under 25% of U.S. adults.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low This intent and declaration provision neither authorizes nor appropriates funds.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates a new federal statutory prohibition — classifying parental sex-affirmation as abuse is barred — establishing a substantive legal standard that did not exist in prior federal child welfare law.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low The provision is a declaratory prohibition leaving no agency discretion; child welfare systems are categorically barred from treating sex-affirmation as abuse.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Requires child welfare agencies to reorient intake, investigation, and classification practices to screen out sex-affirmation conduct — an affirmative compliance obligation across all covered agencies.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility Top 5
Religious belief exemption from medical treatment mandate; sex affirmation not abuse under CAPTA
Adds rules to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) stating that parents cannot be required to provide medical treatment contrary to their religious beliefs, and that affirming a child's biological sex cannot be classified as child abuse or neglect under CAPTA.
- Population Scope Medium Directly affects parents with religious objections to medical treatment and parents who affirm a child's biological sex — a notable but sub-majority share of the population interacting with child welfare systems.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low These rules of construction neither authorize nor appropriate any funds.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Amends CAPTA's statutory text to create new binding exemptions — a religious belief carve-out from any medical treatment mandate and a categorical exclusion of sex-affirmation from abuse and neglect definitions — substantively altering how the statute applies to a class of parental conduct.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low Rules of construction are self-executing interpretive mandates that foreclose agency or judicial discretion to classify the covered conduct as abuse.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Requires agencies and courts to apply new interpretive limits in every applicable case — a recurring case-by-case compliance obligation embedded in CAPTA administration.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Core Policy Mechanism Top 5
Full faith and credit: bar on interstate custody jurisdiction based on gender transition
Amends federal law to bar state courts from taking over child custody cases solely because a parent or child seeks gender-transition treatments, and prohibits courts from finding a parent unfit for raising a child consistent with their biological sex.
- Population Scope Medium Directly affects parents and children in interstate custody disputes involving gender-transition issues, a defined sub-population of family court litigants rather than the general public.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low This jurisdictional amendment to 28 U.S.C. § 1738A neither authorizes nor appropriates any funds.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates a new categorical jurisdictional bar in the full faith and credit statute and a new prohibition on adverse custody findings based on sex-affirmation — substantive changes to the legal standards governing all interstate custody proceedings.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low The jurisdictional bar is categorical and self-executing, leaving state courts no discretion to assume jurisdiction on the prohibited basis.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Requires state courts to apply a new jurisdictional filter in every relevant interstate custody case — recurring case-by-case adjudication burden without new administrative infrastructure.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility Top 5
Rules of construction: broad parental rights construction and abuse definition exclusions
Requires courts and agencies to interpret the Act broadly in favor of parental rights and narrowly against government interference, and prohibits classifying parental sex-affirmation as child abuse, neglect, or contrary to the best interest of the child under any provision of the Act.
- Population Scope Medium Directly affects parents and guardians in child welfare proceedings and the agencies and courts applying the Act — a significant but sub-majority population compared to the general public.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low These interpretive rules neither authorize nor appropriate any funds.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Establishes binding interpretive mandates requiring broad construction favoring parental rights and categorically excluding sex-affirmation from abuse and neglect definitions across the entire Act — a substantive constraint on how every operative provision must be applied.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low Interpretive mandates ('shall not be construed') are non-discretionary, foreclosing agency or judicial choice in how the defined terms apply.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Imposes a recurring case-by-case compliance obligation on agencies and courts to apply the prescribed interpretive framework in every proceeding under the Act.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility
Nonapplication of exhaustion of Remedies
The exhaustion of any State or administrative remedies is not required as a condition of filing an action described in this section.
- Population Scope Low Affects only plaintiffs bringing claims under the specific private right of action in this section — a narrow procedural rule for a defined class of litigants.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low This procedural rule neither authorizes nor appropriates any funds.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Eliminates the exhaustion prerequisite for this cause of action — a procedural change to litigation access rules that affects how plaintiffs reach federal court but does not alter the underlying substantive rights.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low The rule is categorical; no court or agency discretion remains to impose an exhaustion requirement in covered actions.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Removes rather than adds a procedural step, reducing rather than increasing administrative burden on any actor.
- Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress acts to repeal it.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility
Nonapplication of exhaustion of remedies
Exhaustion of any State or administrative remedies shall not be required as a condition of bringing an action described in subsection (a).
- Population Scope Low Affects only plaintiffs bringing claims under the specific private right of action in subsection (a) — a narrow procedural rule for a defined class of litigants.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low Same as above.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Same as above.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low Same as above.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Same as above.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility
Nonapplication of exhaustion of remedies
Exhaustion of any State or administrative remedies shall not be required as a condition of bringing an action described in subparagraph (B).
- Population Scope Low Affects only plaintiffs bringing claims under the specific private right of action in subparagraph (B) — a narrow procedural rule for a defined class of litigants.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low Same as above.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Same as above.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low Same as above.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Same as above.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Core Policy Mechanism
Congressional findings on parental rights and gender interventions
Establishes Congress's official factual and legal findings asserting parental rights to raise children consistent with their biological sex, characterizing gender-affirming interventions as scientifically unsupported, and declaring that federal funds have been misused to undermine those rights.
No signal yet
Core Policy Mechanism
Congressional findings on parental rights and gender interventions
Establishes Congress's official factual and legal findings asserting parental rights to raise children consistent with their biological sex, characterizing gender-affirming interventions as scientifically unsupported, and declaring that federal funds have been misused to undermine those rights.
No signal yet
Summary
This bill sets new rules for how federal child welfare money can be used and how states must run their child welfare programs. It focuses on the rights of parents to raise children according to their biological sex and restricts what child welfare agencies can do when a parent refuses to agree to gender-transition treatments for a child. Among other elements, the bill * bars states and agencies that receive federal child abuse and foster care funding from treating a parent's decision to raise a child as their biological sex as abuse or neglect; * prohibits use of federal child welfare funds for gender-transition medical or psychological treatments for minors in the foster care system; * requires children in foster care to be housed and given bathroom and sleeping facilities based on their biological sex; * creates a new right for parents and children to sue in federal court when a covered agency takes action against them because they refused gender-transition treatments, with qualified immunity removed and damages available; * restricts courts in other states from taking over child custody cases when the only reason is that a parent or child wants to pursue gender-transition treatments; * and imposes financial penalties, including withholding and recovery of federal grants, on states and agencies that violate these conditions.
AI-generated summary, pending human review.
| Version | Event | Date | User support | Your vote | Roll calls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original |
Initial publication
Sep 29, 2026
|
Sep 29, 2026 | No votes yet | — | — |
Log in or create an account to record your vote on this legislation. Results are visible to all visitors.
Regulatory or Legal Changes Top 5
CAPTA grant conditions: protect sex-affirming parents from adverse action
Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) to require states receiving federal child abuse grants to adopt procedures protecting parents who raise children consistent with their biological sex from being reported, investigated, or penalized as abusers. Prohibits the use of Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) funds for gender-transition programs for minors and bars the federal government and grant recipients from treating parental sex-affirmation as abuse, with escalating financial penalties for violations. Bars state child abuse task forces funded under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) from recommending that a parent's affirmation of a child's biological sex be classified as abuse or neglect, with grant withholding and recoupment for violations. Creates a new right to sue in federal court for parents or children harmed by child welfare agencies that take action against them for affirming a child's biological sex, with qualified immunity removed, sovereign immunity waived, and damages and attorney's fees available. Amends the Social Security Act to require states to ban gender-transition treatments for children in foster care, mandate sex-based housing in placements, protect caregivers who affirm a child's biological sex from discrimination, and restrict pronoun use without parental consent. Bars use of Social Security Act Title IV-B child welfare funds for gender-transition treatments, programs that treat parental sex-affirmation as abuse, or placements that use opposite-sex pronouns without consent, with escalating penalties and administrative appeals for violations. Creates a federal right to sue for parents, foster parents, and children harmed by child welfare agencies acting against them because of biological sex affirmation, with no exhaustion requirement, qualified immunity removed, sovereign immunity waived, and full damages available. Amends the Social Security Act to add new state plan requirements under the foster care and adoption assistance program, banning gender-transition treatments for foster children, requiring sex-based housing, prohibiting sex-record changes while in care, and protecting caregivers who affirm a child's sex. Adds new rules to the Social Security Act prohibiting the federal government and all fund recipients under the foster care and child welfare programs from treating parental sex-affirmation as abuse, and extends all funding restrictions to every division of any entity receiving those funds. Extends the bill's foster care sex-affirmation requirements to youth under 18 in the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood, and bars Chafee program funds from being used for gender-transition treatments for minors. Requires states, as a condition of receiving federal foster care and adoption assistance payments, to ensure all child health, safety, and best-interest determinations comply with this Act's requirements regarding biological sex and parental rights. Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) to define 'sex' as immutable biological sex, 'adverse State action' as child welfare interventions motivated by parental sex-affirmation, and 'covered entity' as any CAPTA fund recipient — establishing binding interpretive limits on all CAPTA administration.
- Population Scope High Reaches all states and territories receiving CAPTA and Social Security Act Title IV-B/E funds — binding every state child welfare agency, foster care system, and tribal organization nationwide, affecting millions of children, parents, foster caregivers, and agency personnel.
- Budgetary Magnitude Medium Conditions existing federal child welfare grants on compliance and authorizes withholding and recoupment of those grants, plus escalating financial penalties (5%, 10%, 15% of grant funds), without itself appropriating new funds.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates a sweeping set of new statutory mandates, prohibitions, private rights of action with qualified immunity abrogated, sovereign immunity waivers, and whole-entity funding conditions across CAPTA, SSA Parts B and E, and the Chafee Program — a fundamental restructuring of federal child welfare law.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low Mandatory 'shall' language dominates throughout; the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is directed to withhold and recover funds upon noncompliance findings, leaving minimal administrative discretion.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden High Requires standing up new enforcement infrastructure — governor certifications, mandatory training regimes, grant-chain compliance auditing, administrative appeals processes, and federal court litigation under multiple private rights of action — across every participating state and covered entity.
- Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress acts to repeal it.
No signal yet
Regulatory or Legal Changes
CAPTA grant conditions: protect sex-affirming parents from adverse action
Core Policy Mechanism Top 5
Parental right to raise children by biological sex
Declares that parents have a fundamental right to raise their child in a manner consistent with the child's biological sex, and prohibits child welfare systems from treating that parental conduct as abuse or neglect.
- Population Scope Medium Directly affects parents and guardians subject to child welfare investigations, a population numbering in the millions but well under 25% of U.S. adults.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low This intent and declaration provision neither authorizes nor appropriates funds.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates a new federal statutory prohibition — classifying parental sex-affirmation as abuse is barred — establishing a substantive legal standard that did not exist in prior federal child welfare law.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low The provision is a declaratory prohibition leaving no agency discretion; child welfare systems are categorically barred from treating sex-affirmation as abuse.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Requires child welfare agencies to reorient intake, investigation, and classification practices to screen out sex-affirmation conduct — an affirmative compliance obligation across all covered agencies.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Core Policy Mechanism
Parental right to raise children by biological sex
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility Top 5
Religious belief exemption from medical treatment mandate; sex affirmation not abuse under CAPTA
Adds rules to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) stating that parents cannot be required to provide medical treatment contrary to their religious beliefs, and that affirming a child's biological sex cannot be classified as child abuse or neglect under CAPTA.
- Population Scope Medium Directly affects parents with religious objections to medical treatment and parents who affirm a child's biological sex — a notable but sub-majority share of the population interacting with child welfare systems.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low These rules of construction neither authorize nor appropriate any funds.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Amends CAPTA's statutory text to create new binding exemptions — a religious belief carve-out from any medical treatment mandate and a categorical exclusion of sex-affirmation from abuse and neglect definitions — substantively altering how the statute applies to a class of parental conduct.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low Rules of construction are self-executing interpretive mandates that foreclose agency or judicial discretion to classify the covered conduct as abuse.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Requires agencies and courts to apply new interpretive limits in every applicable case — a recurring case-by-case compliance obligation embedded in CAPTA administration.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility
Religious belief exemption from medical treatment mandate; sex affirmation not abuse under CAPTA
Core Policy Mechanism Top 5
Full faith and credit: bar on interstate custody jurisdiction based on gender transition
Amends federal law to bar state courts from taking over child custody cases solely because a parent or child seeks gender-transition treatments, and prohibits courts from finding a parent unfit for raising a child consistent with their biological sex.
- Population Scope Medium Directly affects parents and children in interstate custody disputes involving gender-transition issues, a defined sub-population of family court litigants rather than the general public.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low This jurisdictional amendment to 28 U.S.C. § 1738A neither authorizes nor appropriates any funds.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Creates a new categorical jurisdictional bar in the full faith and credit statute and a new prohibition on adverse custody findings based on sex-affirmation — substantive changes to the legal standards governing all interstate custody proceedings.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low The jurisdictional bar is categorical and self-executing, leaving state courts no discretion to assume jurisdiction on the prohibited basis.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Requires state courts to apply a new jurisdictional filter in every relevant interstate custody case — recurring case-by-case adjudication burden without new administrative infrastructure.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Core Policy Mechanism
Full faith and credit: bar on interstate custody jurisdiction based on gender transition
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility Top 5
Rules of construction: broad parental rights construction and abuse definition exclusions
Requires courts and agencies to interpret the Act broadly in favor of parental rights and narrowly against government interference, and prohibits classifying parental sex-affirmation as child abuse, neglect, or contrary to the best interest of the child under any provision of the Act.
- Population Scope Medium Directly affects parents and guardians in child welfare proceedings and the agencies and courts applying the Act — a significant but sub-majority population compared to the general public.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low These interpretive rules neither authorize nor appropriate any funds.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth High Establishes binding interpretive mandates requiring broad construction favoring parental rights and categorically excluding sex-affirmation from abuse and neglect definitions across the entire Act — a substantive constraint on how every operative provision must be applied.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low Interpretive mandates ('shall not be construed') are non-discretionary, foreclosing agency or judicial choice in how the defined terms apply.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Medium Imposes a recurring case-by-case compliance obligation on agencies and courts to apply the prescribed interpretive framework in every proceeding under the Act.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility
Rules of construction: broad parental rights construction and abuse definition exclusions
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility
Nonapplication of exhaustion of Remedies
The exhaustion of any State or administrative remedies is not required as a condition of filing an action described in this section.
- Population Scope Low Affects only plaintiffs bringing claims under the specific private right of action in this section — a narrow procedural rule for a defined class of litigants.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low This procedural rule neither authorizes nor appropriates any funds.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Eliminates the exhaustion prerequisite for this cause of action — a procedural change to litigation access rules that affects how plaintiffs reach federal court but does not alter the underlying substantive rights.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low The rule is categorical; no court or agency discretion remains to impose an exhaustion requirement in covered actions.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Removes rather than adds a procedural step, reducing rather than increasing administrative burden on any actor.
- Temporal Commitment High Persists indefinitely until Congress acts to repeal it.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility (optional)
Nonapplication of exhaustion of Remedies
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility
Nonapplication of exhaustion of remedies
Exhaustion of any State or administrative remedies shall not be required as a condition of bringing an action described in subsection (a).
- Population Scope Low Affects only plaintiffs bringing claims under the specific private right of action in subsection (a) — a narrow procedural rule for a defined class of litigants.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low Same as above.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Same as above.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low Same as above.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Same as above.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility (optional)
Nonapplication of exhaustion of remedies
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility
Nonapplication of exhaustion of remedies
Exhaustion of any State or administrative remedies shall not be required as a condition of bringing an action described in subparagraph (B).
- Population Scope Low Affects only plaintiffs bringing claims under the specific private right of action in subparagraph (B) — a narrow procedural rule for a defined class of litigants.
- Budgetary Magnitude Low Same as above.
- Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Same as above.
- Degree of Discretion Granted Low Same as above.
- Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Same as above.
- Temporal Commitment High Same as above.
No signal yet
Carve-outs, Exemptions, Eligibility (optional)
Nonapplication of exhaustion of remedies
Incomplete vote
You have not made a selection on all required items:
Choose Neutral if you prefer not to commit. Leaving without completing will remove all your votes for this bill from the totals.
Maximum recommendations reached
You have already recommended the maximum number of components allowed on this bill. To recommend [new component], choose one of your current recommendations to unselect: