WE CAN Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1666 To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require a study and report on State mandatory reporting laws. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 8, 2021 Ms. WILD (for herself and Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require a study and report on State mandatory report- ing laws. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Working to End Child 4 Abuse and Neglect Act’’ or the ‘‘WE CAN Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT ON STATE MANDATORY RE- 6 PORTING LAWS. 7 Section 110 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 8 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106f) is amended by adding 9 at the end the following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:12 May 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1666.IH H1666 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1666 IH ‘‘(e) STUDY AND REPORT ON STATE MANDATORY 1 REPORTING LAWS.— 2 ‘‘(1) STUDY.—The Secretary shall collect infor- 3 mation on, and otherwise study, State laws for man- 4 datory reporting of incidents of child abuse or ne- 5 glect. Such study shall examine trends in referrals 6 and investigations of child abuse and neglect due to 7 differences in such State laws with respect to the in- 8 clusion, as mandatory reporters, of the following in- 9 dividuals: 10 ‘‘(A) Individuals licensed or certified to 11 practice in any health-related field licensed by 12 the State, employees of health care facilities or 13 providers licensed by the State, who are en- 14 gaged in the admission, examination, care or 15 treatment of individuals, including mental 16 health and emergency medical service providers. 17 ‘‘(B) Individuals employed by a school who 18 have direct contact with children, including 19 teachers, administrators, and independent con- 20 tractors. 21 ‘‘(C) Peace officers and law enforcement 22 personnel. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:12 May 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1666.IH H1666 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1666 IH ‘‘(D) Clergy, including Christian Science 1 practitioners, except where prohibited on ac- 2 count of clergy-penitent privilege. 3 ‘‘(E) Day care and child care operators 4 and employees. 5 ‘‘(F) Employees of social services agencies 6 who have direct contact with children in the 7 course of employment. 8 ‘‘(G) Foster parents. 9 ‘‘(H) Court appointed special advocates 10 (employees and volunteers). 11 ‘‘(I) Camp and after-school employees. 12 ‘‘(J) An individual, paid or unpaid, who, 13 on the basis of the individual’s role as an inte- 14 gral part of a regularly scheduled program, ac- 15 tivity, or service, accepts responsibility for a 16 child. 17 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 18 date of enactment of the Working to End Child 19 Abuse and Neglect Act, the Secretary shall submit 20 to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 21 Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Edu- 22 cation and Labor of the House of Representatives a 23 report containing the findings of the study required 24 by this subsection, including any best practices re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:12 May 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1666.IH H1666 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1666 IH lated to the inclusion, as mandatory reporters, of in- 1 dividuals described in paragraph (1).’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:12 May 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1666.IH H1666 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS