CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 408 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2971 To amend and reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 3, 2019 Mr. ISAKSON (for himself and Mr. JONES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions JANUARY 15, 2020 Reported by Mr. ALEXANDER, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To amend and reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘CAPTA Reauthoriza- 4 tion Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2971 RS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Section 2 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treat- 2 ment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended— 3 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘2008, ap- 4 proximately 772,000’’ and inserting ‘‘2017, approxi- 5 mately 674,000’’; 6 (2) in paragraph (2)— 7 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 8 (i) by striking ‘‘close to 1⁄3’’ and in- 9 serting ‘‘75 percent’’; and 10 (ii) by striking ‘‘2008’’ and inserting 11 ‘‘2017’’; and 12 (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 13 as follows: 14 ‘‘(B) investigations have determined that ap- 15 proximately 75 percent of children who were victims 16 of maltreatment in fiscal year 2017 suffered neglect, 17 18 percent suffered physical abuse, and 9 percent 18 suffered sexual abuse;’’; 19 (3) in paragraph (3)— 20 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 21 ‘‘2008, an estimated 1,740’’ and inserting 22 ‘‘2017, an estimated 1,720’’; and 23 (B) by amending subparagraph (C) to read 24 as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2971 RS ‘‘(C) in fiscal year 2017, children younger than 1 1 year old comprised 40 percent of child maltreat- 2 ment fatalities and 72 percent of child maltreatment 3 fatalities were younger than 3 years of age;’’; 4 (4) in paragraph (4)(B)— 5 (A) by striking ‘‘37’’ and inserting ‘‘40’’; 6 and 7 (B) by striking ‘‘2008’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘2017’’; 9 (5) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘, American 10 Indian children, Alaska Native children, and children 11 of multiple races and ethnicities’’ and inserting ‘‘and 12 American Indian or Alaska Native children’’; 13 (6) in paragraph (6)— 14 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘to 15 strengthen families’’ before the semicolon; and 16 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking 17 ‘‘neighborhood’’ and inserting ‘‘community’’; 18 (7) in paragraph (11), by inserting ‘‘trauma-in- 19 formed,’’ after ‘‘comprehensive,’’; and 20 (8) in paragraph (15)— 21 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘im- 22 plementing community plans’’ and inserting 23 ‘‘supporting community-based programs to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2971 RS strengthen and support families in order to pre- 1 vent child abuse and neglect’’; and 2 (B) by amending subparagraph (E) to read 3 as follows: 4 ‘‘(E) improving professional, paraprofes- 5 sional, and volunteer resources to strengthen 6 the child welfare workforce; and’’. 7 SEC. 3. GENERAL DEFINITIONS. 8 Section 3 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treat- 9 ment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended— 10 (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 11 inserting a semicolon; 12 (2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period and 13 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(9) the term ‘underserved or overrepresented 16 groups in the child welfare system’ includes youth 17 that enter the child welfare system following family 18 rejection, parental abandonment, sexual abuse or 19 sexual exploitation, or unaccompanied homeless- 20 ness.’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2971 RS TITLE I—GENERAL PROGRAM 1 SEC. 101. INTERAGENCY WORK GROUP ON CHILD ABUSE 2 AND NEGLECT. 3 Section 102 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 4 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5102) is amended to read as 5 follows: 6 ‘‘SEC. 102. INTERAGENCY WORK GROUP ON CHILD ABUSE 7 AND NEGLECT. 8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary may continue 9 the work group known as the Interagency Work Group 10 on Child Abuse and Neglect (referred to in this section 11 as the ‘Work Group’). 12 ‘‘(b) COMPOSITION.—The Work Group shall be com- 13 prised of representatives from Federal agencies with re- 14 sponsibility for child abuse and neglect related programs 15 and activities. 16 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Work Group shall— 17 ‘‘(1) coordinate Federal efforts and activities 18 with respect to child abuse and neglect prevention 19 and treatment; 20 ‘‘(2) serve as a forum that convenes relevant 21 Federal agencies to communicate and exchange ideas 22 concerning child abuse and neglect related programs 23 and activities; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2971 RS ‘‘(3) further coordinate Federal efforts and ac- 1 tivities to maximize resources to address child abuse 2 and neglect in areas of critical needs for the field, 3 such as improving research, focusing on prevention, 4 and addressing the links between child abuse and 5 neglect and domestic violence.’’. 6 SEC. 102. NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE FOR INFORMATION 7 RELATING TO CHILD ABUSE. 8 Section 103 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 9 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5104) is amended— 10 (1) in subsection (b)— 11 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘effective 12 programs’’ and inserting ‘‘evidence-based and 13 evidence-informed programs’’; 14 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (4) 15 through (9) as paragraphs (5) through (10), re- 16 spectively; 17 (C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(4) maintain and disseminate information on 20 best practices to support children being cared for by 21 kin, including such children whose living arrange- 22 ments with kin occurred without the involvement of 23 a child welfare agency;’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2971 RS (D) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, 1 by inserting ‘‘, including efforts to prevent child 2 abuse and neglect’’ before the semicolon; 3 (E) in paragraph (7), as so redesignated— 4 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 5 the semicolon and inserting ‘‘, including 6 among at-risk populations, such as young 7 parents, parents with young children, and 8 parents who are adult former victims of 9 domestic violence or child abuse or neglect; 10 and’’; 11 (ii) by striking subparagraph (B); 12 (iii) by redesignating subparagraph 13 (C) as subparagraph (B); and 14 (iv) in subparagraph (B), as so redes- 15 ignated, by striking ‘‘abuse’’ and inserting 16 ‘‘use disorder’’; 17 (F) in paragraph (8), as so redesignated— 18 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 19 (B) and (C) as subparagraphs (C) and 20 (D), respectively; 21 (ii) by inserting after subparagraph 22 (A) the following: 23 ‘‘(B) best practices in child protection 24 workforce development and retention;’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2971 RS (iii) in subparagraph (C), as so redes- 1 ignated, by striking ‘‘mitigate psycho- 2 logical’’ and inserting ‘‘prevent and miti- 3 gate the effects of’’; and 4 (G) in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (9), 5 as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘abuse’’ and in- 6 serting ‘‘use disorder’’; and 7 (2) in subsection (c)— 8 (A) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘; DATA 9 COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS’’ after ‘‘RE- 10 SOURCES’’; 11 (B) in paragraph (1)(C)— 12 (i) in clause (ii), by striking the semi- 13 colon and inserting ‘‘, including— 14 ‘‘(I) the number of child deaths 15 due to child abuse and neglect re- 16 ported by various sources, including 17 information from the State child wel- 18 fare agency and the State child death 19 review program or other source that 20 compiles State data, including vital 21 statistics death records, State and 22 local medical examiner and coroner of- 23 fice records, and uniform crime re- 24 ports from local law enforcement; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2971 RS ‘‘(II) data, to the extent prac- 1 ticable, about the circumstances under 2 which a child death occurred due to 3 abuse and neglect, including the cause 4 of the death, whether the child was 5 referred to the State child welfare 6 agency, the determination made by 7 the child welfare agency (as applica- 8 ble), and any known previous mal- 9 treatment of children by the perpe- 10 trator;’’; and 11 (ii) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘sub- 12 stance abuse’’ and inserting ‘‘substance 13 use disorder’’; and 14 (C) in subparagraph (F), by striking 15 ‘‘abused and neglected children’’ and inserting 16 ‘‘victims of child abuse or neglect’’. 17 SEC. 103. RESEARCH AND ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES. 18 Section 104 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 19 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5105) is amended— 20 (1) in subsection (a)— 21 (A) in paragraph (1)— 22 (i) in the heading, by striking ‘‘TOP- 23 ICS’’ and inserting ‘‘IN GENERAL’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2971 RS (ii) in the matter preceding subpara- 1 graph (A)— 2 (I) by striking ‘‘consultation with 3 other Federal agencies and’’ and in- 4 serting ‘‘coordination with applicable 5 Federal agencies and in consultation 6 with’’; and 7 (II) by inserting ‘‘, including pri- 8 mary prevention of child abuse and 9 neglect,’’ before ‘‘and to improve’’; 10 (iii) by striking subparagraphs (C), 11 (E), (I), (J), and (N); 12 (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs 13 (D), (F), (G), (H), (K), (L), and (M) as 14 subparagraphs (F) through (L), respec- 15 tively; 16 (v) by inserting after subparagraph 17 (B) the following: 18 ‘‘(C) evidence-based and evidence-informed 19 programs to prevent child abuse and neglect in 20 families that have not had contact with the 21 child welfare system; 22 ‘‘(D) best practices in recruiting, training, 23 and retaining a child protection workforce that 24 addresses identified needs; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2971 RS ‘‘(E) options for updating technology of 1 outdated devices and data systems to improve 2 communication between systems that are de- 3 signed to serve children and families;’’; 4 (vi) in subparagraph (G), as so redes- 5 ignated, by striking ‘‘and the juvenile jus- 6 tice system that improve the delivery of 7 services and treatment, including methods’’ 8 and inserting ‘‘, the juvenile justice system, 9 and other relevant agencies engaged with 10 children and families that improve the de- 11 livery of services and treatment, including 12 related to domestic violence or mental 13 health,’’; 14 (vii) in subparagraph (L), as so redes- 15 ignated— 16 (I) by inserting ‘‘underserved or 17 overrepresented groups in the child 18 welfare system or’’ after ‘‘facing’’; and 19 (II) by striking ‘‘Indian tribes 20 and Native Hawaiian’’ and inserting 21 ‘‘such’’; 22 (viii) by inserting after subparagraph 23 (L), as so redesignated, the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2971 RS ‘‘(M) methods to address geographic, ra- 1 cial, and cultural disparities in the child welfare 2 system, including a focus on access to serv- 3 ices;’’; and 4 (ix) by redesignating subparagraph 5 (O) as subparagraph (N); and 6 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘para- 7 graph (1)(O)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)(N) 8 and analyses based on data from previous years 9 of surveys of national incidence under this 10 Act’’; 11 (C) in paragraph (3)— 12 (i) by striking ‘‘of 2010’’ and insert- 13 ing ‘‘of 2019’’; and 14 (ii) by striking ‘‘that contains the re- 15 sults of the research conducted under 16 paragraph (2).’’ and inserting ‘‘that— 17 ‘‘(A) identifies the research priorities 18 under paragraph (4) and the process for deter- 19 mining such priorities; 20 ‘‘(B) contains a summary of the research 21 supported pursuant to paragraph (1); 22 ‘‘(C) contains the results of the research 23 conducted under paragraph (2); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2971 RS ‘‘(D) describes how the Secretary will con- 1 tinue to improve the accuracy of information on 2 the national incidence on child abuse and ne- 3 glect specified in paragraph (2).’’; 4 (D) in subparagraph (B) of the first para- 5 graph (4) (relating to priorities)— 6 (i) by striking ‘‘1 years’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘1 year’’; and 8 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, at least 30 days 9 prior to publishing the final priorities,’’ 10 after ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; and 11 (E) by striking the second paragraph (4) 12 (relating to a study on shaken baby syndrome), 13 as added by section 113(a)(5) of the CAPTA 14 Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Public Law 111– 15 320); 16 (2) in subsection (b)— 17 (A) in paragraph (1)— 18 (i) by inserting ‘‘or underserved or 19 overrepresented groups in the child welfare 20 system’’ after ‘‘children with disabilities’’; 21 and 22 (ii) by striking ‘‘substance abuse’’ and 23 inserting ‘‘substance use disorder’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Jan 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2971.RS S2971 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 2971 RS (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 1 (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; 2 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The technical assistance 5 under paragraph (1) shall be designed to, as applica- 6 ble— 7 ‘‘(A) promote best practices for addressing 8 child abuse and neglec [Text truncated for display. 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