Child Abuse Death Disclosure Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 3027 To amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to require States to review child fatalities from maltreatment, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 11, 2019 Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. BLUNT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend part B of title IV of the Social Security Act to require States to review child fatalities from maltreat- ment, 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 ‘‘Child Abuse Death 4 Disclosure Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING NATIONAL DATA ON CHILD FA- 6 TALITIES FROM MALTREATMENT. 7 (a) IV–B REQUIREMENT TO REVIEW CHILD FATALI- 8 TIES FROM MALTREATMENT.—Section 422(b)(19) of the 9 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 622(b)(19)) is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3027.IS S3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 3027 IS (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ 1 after the semicolon; 2 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 3 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (3) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(C) an assurance that the State shall— 6 ‘‘(i) engage at least annually, and, 7 more frequently as necessary, in a multi- 8 disciplinary review of all child fatalities 9 from maltreatment in the State that oc- 10 curred during the previous year in accord- 11 ance with the requirements of section 12 429A; and’’. 13 (b) REVIEW REQUIREMENTS.—Subpart 1 of part B 14 of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et 15 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘SEC. 429A. ONGOING REVIEW OF CHILD FATALITIES FROM 17 MALTREATMENT. 18 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS.—In order to satisfy the re- 19 quirements of section 422(b)(19)(C), a State shall require 20 the State’s multidisciplinary child death review team or, 21 if the State does not have such a team as of the date of 22 enactment of this section, a multidisciplinary team estab- 23 lished by the State that is comprised of representatives 24 of integral elements of the State child welfare system, such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3027.IS S3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 3027 IS as child welfare workers, child protective services workers, 1 prosecutors, law enforcement, coroners or medical exam- 2 iners, public health care providers, pediatricians with ex- 3 pertise in child maltreatment and the child welfare system, 4 substance use disorder treatment providers, and advocates 5 and researchers for the prevention and treatment of do- 6 mestic violence, as well as representatives of educators, in- 7 cluding early childhood educators and child care providers, 8 to review at least annually and more frequently as nec- 9 essary all child fatalities from maltreatment in the State 10 that occurred during the most recently ended fiscal year 11 and for which all administrative or judicial review is com- 12 plete or no longer timely (in this section referred to as 13 the ‘review team’). Any child fatality from maltreatment 14 in the State that occurred during the most recently ended 15 fiscal year but for which administrative or judicial review 16 is not complete or remains timely shall be reviewed by the 17 review team in during the first review period that occurs 18 after all administrative or judicial review is complete or 19 no longer timely. 20 ‘‘(b) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The review 21 team shall— 22 ‘‘(1) for each child fatality from maltreatment 23 in the State subject to review, make findings based 24 on information available to the review team regard- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3027.IS S3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 3027 IS ing the causes of child’s fatality and other factors 1 that impacted the child’s fatality, including to the 2 extent possible and taking into account privacy pro- 3 tections under Federal and State law, the cir- 4 cumstances of the fatality, the characteristics of the 5 victim, the perpetrators, including their relationship 6 to the child, and the parents or guardians of the 7 child, whether there were previous familial inter- 8 actions with child protective services and the out- 9 comes of those interactions, whether the child had 10 any siblings and how many, whether there were 11 other children present or living in the household at 12 the time of the fatality, and the social services, pub- 13 lic cash or in-kind assistance (including housing), 14 health (including mental health) services, alcohol or 15 substance use disorder treatment, or other public or 16 private services provided to or on behalf of the child 17 prior to the child’s death; 18 ‘‘(2) submit all findings and data made in ac- 19 cordance with paragraph (1) to the Child Death Re- 20 view Case Reporting System (in this section referred 21 to as the ‘CDR Reporting System’) operated by the 22 National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention; 23 ‘‘(3) based on the findings made in accordance 24 with paragraph (1), develop recommendations for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3027.IS S3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 3027 IS preventing future child fatalities from maltreatment; 1 and 2 ‘‘(4) submit a report, at least annually, and, 3 more frequently as necessary, to the State Governor, 4 the State legislature, and, if the incident reporting 5 threshold established under subsection (c) is met, to 6 the Secretary, that contains the findings and data 7 submitted to the CDR Reporting System under sub- 8 paragraph (2) (de-identified) and the recommenda- 9 tions developed under paragraph (3). 10 ‘‘(c) INCIDENT REPORTING THRESHOLD.— 11 ‘‘(1) STATE-SPECIFIC THRESHOLDS.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary annu- 13 ally shall establish a national reporting incident 14 threshold for each State for purposes of pro- 15 tecting the privacy of families and other living 16 individuals whose information is part of the 17 findings and data submitted under subsection 18 (b)(2) and the reports to the State Governor 19 and State Legislature required under subsection 20 (b)(4). 21 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In establishing the 22 national reporting incident threshold for a 23 State, the Secretary shall ensure that the re- 24 porting threshold is subject to privacy protec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3027.IS S3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 3027 IS tions that are designed to protect the privacy 1 of— 2 ‘‘(i) children; 3 ‘‘(ii) individuals who are not the per- 4 petrators of the child maltreatment that 5 resulted in the fatality; and 6 ‘‘(iii) individuals who are or have been 7 victimized by domestic violence or who are 8 at risk of domestic violence. 9 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—If the number of child fa- 10 talities from maltreatment in a State in a fiscal year 11 is below the reporting threshold established for the 12 State for the fiscal year, the State shall not submit 13 the report required under subsection (b)(4) to the 14 Secretary but shall submit to the Secretary— 15 ‘‘(A) the findings and data submitted to 16 the CDR Reporting System under subsection 17 (b)(2) for the purpose of making such findings 18 and data accessible as a public use data set on 19 the national website required under subsection 20 (g) after redacting any personal identifying in- 21 formation; and 22 ‘‘(B) the recommendations developed under 23 subsection (b)(3). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3027.IS S3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 3027 IS ‘‘(d) TRAINING.—In order to satisfy the requirements 1 of section 422(b)(19)(C) and subsection (i), a State shall 2 provide short-term training for the members and staff of 3 the State’s multidisciplinary child death review team, coro- 4 ners, medical examiners, pathologists, crime scene inves- 5 tigators, social workers, and law enforcement regarding— 6 ‘‘(1) the set of national definition standards 7 promulgated under section 3(a) of the Child Abuse 8 Death Disclosure Act; and 9 ‘‘(2) approaches to— 10 ‘‘(A) reduce and prevent discrimination 11 based on race or culture (including training re- 12 lated to implicit biases) in the provision of child 13 protection and welfare services related to child 14 abuse and neglect; and 15 ‘‘(B) address racial or cultural dispropor- 16 tionality in the incidence of child maltreatment 17 fatality cases. 18 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 20 amounts expended by a State during each quarter 21 beginning after the effective date of this section for 22 administrative costs (as defined in section 422(c)(1)) 23 to carry out this section and section 422(b)(19)(C) 24 shall be deemed to be amounts expended during 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3027.IS S3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 3027 IS such quarter as found necessary by the Secretary for 1 the proper and efficient administration of the State 2 plan under part E and eligible for Federal matching 3 payments under section 474(a)(3)(E) without regard 4 to whether such costs are incurred on behalf of a 5 child who is, or is potentially, eligible for foster care 6 maintenance payments or adoption assistance under 7 part E. 8 ‘‘(2) TRAINING.—Amounts expended by a State 9 during each quarter beginning after the effective 10 date of this section for providing training required 11 under subsection (d) of this section shall be eligible 12 for Federal matching payments under section 13 474(a)(3)(B) without regard to whether such costs 14 are incurred on behalf of a child who is, or is poten- 15 tially, eligible for foster care maintenance payments 16 or adoption assistance under part E. 17 ‘‘(f) INDIAN TRIBES, TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS.—The 18 Secretary, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary-In- 19 dian Affairs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the De- 20 partment of Interior and tribal child welfare organiza- 21 tions, shall determine how and the extent to which the re- 22 quirements of this section shall apply to Indian tribes and 23 tribal organizations (as defined in section 4 of the Indian 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3027.IS S3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 3027 IS Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 1 U.S.C. 5304). 2 ‘‘(g) NONAPPLICATION.—The limitations on pay- 3 ments for administrative costs under sections 424(e) and 4 472(i) shall not apply to State expenditures made to carry 5 out this section. 6 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL WEBSITE.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina- 8 tion with the National Center for Fatality Review 9 and Prevention, shall publish on a website that is 10 available to the public and maintained and updated 11 at least annually— 12 ‘‘(A) each report submitted to the Sec- 13 retary under subsection (b)(4); and 14 ‘‘(B) the findings and data submitted to 15 the CDR Reporting System under subsection 16 (b)(2) (with any personal identifying informa- 17 tion or information that identifies the submit- 18 ting State redacted) in a manner that is acces- 19 sible as a public use data set for purposes of re- 20 search to identify risk factors and to prevent 21 future deaths of children from maltreatment. 22 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 23 shall notify Congress when information on the 24 website required under paragraph (1) is updated.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3027.IS S3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 3027 IS (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 425 of the 1 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 625) is amended by strik- 2 ing ‘‘426, 427, and 429’’ and inserting ‘‘422(b)(19)(C), 3 426, 427, 429, and 429A’’. 4 SEC. 3. DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL DEFINITION STAND- 5 ARDS RELATING TO CHILD FATALITIES FROM 6 MALTREATMENT. 7 (a) PROMULGATION OF NATIONAL DEFINITION 8 STANDARDS.—Not later than 18 months after the date 9 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 10 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec- 11 retary’’) shall promulgate proposed regulations estab- 12 lishing a set of national definition standards relating to 13 child fatalities from maltreatment that States shall use to 14 report data to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data 15 System established and maintained in accordance with 16 section 103 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 17 Act (42 U.S.C. 5104) and, not later than 6 months after 18 the date on which the public comment period on the pro- 19 posed regulations closes, shall issue final regulations es- 20 tablishing such standards. 21 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In promulgating the regula- 22 tions under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with 23 representatives of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3027.IS S3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 3027 IS (1) State and county officials responsible for 1 administering the State plans under parts B and E 2 of title IV of the Social Security Act; 3 (2) child welfare professionals with field experi- 4 ence; 5 (3) child welfare researchers; 6 (4) child development professionals; 7 (5) mental health professionals; 8 (6) substance use disorder treatment profes- 9 sionals; 10 (7) emergency medicine physicians; 11 (8) child abuse pediatricians, as certified by the 12 American Board of Pediatrics, who specialize in 13 treating victims of child abuse; 14 (9) forensic pathologists; 15 (10) public health administration; 16 (11) public health researchers; 17 (12) law enforcement; 18 (13) advocates and researchers for the preven- 19 tion and treatment of domestic violence; 20 (14) a representative from the National Center 21 for Fatality Review and Prevention; and 22 (15) such other organizations or entities as the 23 Secretary determines appropriate. 24 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3027.IS S3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 3027 IS (1) CAPTA.— 1 (A) NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE AND NE- 2 GLECT DATA SYSTEM.—Section 103(c)(1)(C) of 3 the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 4 (42 U.S.C. 5104( [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]