Suter v. Artist M., 503 U.S. 347, 11 (1992)

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Cite as: 503 U. S. 347 (1992)

Opinion of the Court

The regulations issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in turn defined rent to include " 'a reasonable amount for [use of] utilities,' " and further defined how that term would be measured. Wright, supra, at 420- 421, n. 3. We held that tenants had an enforceable right to sue the Housing Authority for utility charges claimed to be in violation of these provisions. In Wilder, 496 U. S., at 503, the Boren Amendment to the Medicaid Act required that Medicaid providers be reimbursed according to rates that the " 'State finds, and makes assurances satisfactory to the Secretary,' " are " 'reasonable and adequate' " to meet the costs of " 'efficiently and economically operated facilities.' " Again, we held that this language created an enforceable right, on the part of providers seeking reimbursement, to challenge the rates set by the State as failing to meet the standards specified in the Boren Amendment.

In both Wright and Wilder the word "reasonable" occupied a prominent place in the critical language of the statute or regulation, and the word "reasonable" is similarly involved here. But this, obviously, is not the end of the matter. The opinions in both Wright and Wilder took pains to analyze the statutory provisions in detail, in light of the entire legislative enactment, to determine whether the language in question created "enforceable rights, privileges, or immunities within the meaning of § 1983." Wright, supra, at 423. And in Wilder, we caution that " '[s]ection 1983 speaks in terms of "rights, privileges, or immunities," not violations of federal law.' " Wilder, supra, at 509, quoting Golden State Transit Corp. v. Los Angeles, 493 U. S. 103, 106 (1989).

Did Congress, in enacting the Adoption Act, unambiguously confer upon the child beneficiaries of the Act a right to enforce the requirement that the State make "reasonable efforts" to prevent a child from being removed from his home, and once removed to reunify the child with his family? We turn now to that inquiry.

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