S. 5593 — Yaeli Martinez Child Protection Act

This section revises requirements for state plans under Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act grants to improve child protective services. It directs states to adopt procedures protecting children from sex-rejecting interventions and from the use of pronouns or titles not corresponding to the child's sex without express parental consent, and to train child protective workers, guardians ad litem, judges, and others on the medical and psychological harms of such interventions. It requires states to treat parental affirmation of a child's sex as neither abuse nor grounds for investigation or adverse action, and to report annually the number of children identifying differently from their sex who run away, enter out-of-home placements, or have parental rights terminated.

This section prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from treating a parent’s, guardian’s, or caregiver’s affirmation of a child’s sex as child abuse, neglect, or unfitness when administering Title I of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. It conditions receipt of funds on protecting parental rights to affirm a child’s sex and bars use of funds for sex-rejecting interventions, related trainings, pronoun policies, or adverse actions against parents, with authority to withhold or recover funds for violations.

This section prohibits State task forces on children's justice from recommending any expansion of State child abuse or neglect definitions to include a parent's affirmation of a child's sex, or from endorsing training programs or protocols inconsistent with section 115. Noncompliant task forces lose eligibility for further grants under the section, with the Secretary required to withhold funds until rescission and to recover disbursed amounts using the graduated penalty formula in section 115(e)(3).

This section replaces the definitions in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act with new terms for purposes of the title. It defines "adverse State action" as any covered action by a covered entity motivated by a parent's affirmation of the child's sex, the child's request for sex-rejecting interventions, or related distress or runaway behavior. It defines "sex" as an individual's immutable biological sex based on production of small or large gametes, "sex-rejecting intervention" as psychological, medical, or surgical procedures intended to promote rejection of the child's sex, and related terms including "affirm," "caregiver," "covered entity," and "disorder of sex development."

This section clarifies that the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act does not establish a Federal requirement that a parent, legal guardian, or caregiver provide a child medical service or treatment against the religious beliefs of the parent or legal guardian. It further provides that affirmation of a child’s sex by a parent, legal guardian, caregiver, foster parent, or prospective foster or adoptive parent may not be construed as child abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, maltreatment, abandonment, contrary to the child’s best interests, contrary to a child’s health, safety or welfare, or indication of parental unfitness or incapacity.

This section establishes a private right of action allowing any parent, legal guardian, caregiver, or child aggrieved by an adverse state action by a covered entity to sue in federal district court, regardless of whether the specific program received federal funds under the title. It imposes vicarious liability on covered entities for employee or contractor conduct, creates a rebuttable presumption that an action was based on affirmation of a child’s sex when case records or placement recommendations reference sex-rejecting interventions or mismatched pronouns, waives exhaustion of remedies, sovereign immunity, and qualified immunity, and authorizes declaratory relief, injunctive relief, compensatory damages, emotional distress damages, and attorney’s fees.

This section requires state plans under the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services Program to include procedures ensuring sex-rejecting interventions are not initiated or continued for children removed from parental custody or placed in foster care. It mandates that no foster or adoptive placement be denied or delayed because a parent may affirm a child’s sex. It requires children age 4 and older in foster care to be housed according to their sex in single-occupancy or sex-separated sleeping quarters, bathrooms, and similar facilities. It directs states to adopt policies protecting children from sex-rejecting interventions and from pronouns not matching their sex without parental consent, to provide specified training on these topics for caseworkers and others, and to prohibit discrimination against parents who affirm a child’s sex.

This section requires states, to receive federal foster care and adoption assistance funding, to maintain policies that protect parents, guardians, caregivers, and prospective foster or adoptive parents from discrimination or adverse action for affirming a child’s sex. It bars denial or delay of placements on that basis, prohibits sex-rejecting interventions and the use of mismatched pronouns or titles without express parental consent for any child in foster care, bars use of program funds for such interventions, mandates training on their harms and related principles for caseworkers and courts, and requires procedures to prevent changes to a child’s sex marker on official records. It also incorporates these requirements into existing state plan provisions on reasonable efforts, prudent parenting standards, and licensing.

This section requires states and covered entities receiving funds under the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood to comply with paragraphs (38) through (42) of section 471(a) of the Social Security Act, including housing standards under paragraph (41), for any youth under age 18. It also prohibits the use of program funds to provide, facilitate, fund, authorize, permit, or refer any youth under age 18 for a sex-rejecting intervention.

This section establishes conditions on the receipt of funds under foster care, adoption assistance, kinship guardianship, and prevention services programs under parts B and E of title IV of the Social Security Act. It prohibits the Secretary and any recipient or subrecipient from treating a parent’s or guardian’s affirmation of a child’s sex as abuse, neglect, or unfitness, and requires covered entities to protect parents’ rights to withhold consent to sex-rejecting interventions, opposite-sex pronouns or titles, and opposite-sex sleeping, bathroom, or changing facilities for children age 4 or older; these rules apply to all operations of any entity that receives such funds.

This section conditions state receipt of payments under title IV-E of the Social Security Act on ensuring that all determinations concerning a child's health, safety, and best interests comply with the requirements of the Yaeli Martinez Child Protection Act, notwithstanding the existing preservation of state court discretion in individual cases.

This section modifies full faith and credit requirements for interstate child custody and visitation determinations under 28 USC 1738A. It adds definitions of female, male, sex, disorder of sex development, affirming a child’s sex, sex-rejecting intervention (including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, surgeries, pronouns, and access to opposite-sex facilities for children age 4 and older), and sex-rejecting intervention kidnapping law. It provides that affirming a child’s sex shall not be construed as abuse, neglect, or contrary to the child’s best interest. It requires permission of each custodial parent for jurisdiction based on prior home state status within six months and limits state court jurisdiction in cases involving sex-rejecting interventions.