Federal

Reporting Accountability and Abuse Prevention Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 1,057 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes the rules for organizations that receive federal grants for family planning services. It requires these organizations to follow state and local laws about reporting child abuse, sexual abuse, rape, incest, domestic violence and human trafficking. The bill sets penalties for organizations that do not follow these reporting requirements.

Who It Affects

Organizations that receive federal grants for family planning projects or programs under Title X of the Public Health Service Act.

Key Provisions

• Grant recipients must follow all state and local laws that require reporting child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, incest, intimate partner violence or human trafficking. (Sec. 2, 1009(a)) • Grant recipients must create a written plan with policies and procedures for following state reporting laws, including a summary of what the law requires and training for all staff and volunteers each year on how to report these crimes and provide help to patients. (Sec. 2, 1009(b)(1)(A) and (B)) • Grant recipients must counsel every minor patient about how to resist being forced into sexual activities and must screen any minor with a sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy or signs of abuse to determine if they are a victim. (Sec. 2, 1009(b)(1)(C) and (D)) • Grant recipients must keep records showing the age of minor patients and document each report made to authorities. (Sec. 2, 1009(b)(2)) • Federal officials may review grant recipient records to check compliance with these requirements. (Sec. 2, 1009(c)) • Organizations that violate these requirements must repay federal money they received and cannot receive new federal funding for at least 36 months after a second violation is found. (Sec. 2, 1009(d))

What Changes

If this becomes law, organizations receiving family planning grants must document that they have written plans to follow state reporting laws. They must train their staff annually on reporting requirements. They must keep detailed records about minor patients and any reports made to authorities. Federal officials gain the right to review these records. Organizations that fail to comply face financial penalties and loss of future federal funding.

Important Definitions

The bill calls child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, incest, intimate partner violence and human trafficking "State notification laws."

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 437 To amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to require grant recipients to comply with all applicable State and local laws requiring notification or reporting of child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, incest, intimate partner violence, or human trafficking, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 20, 2023 Mr. SMUCKER (for himself, Mr. BANKS, and Mr. FEENSTRA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend title X of the Public Health Service Act to require grant recipients to comply with all applicable State and local laws requiring notification or reporting of child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape, incest, inti- mate partner violence, or human trafficking, 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 ‘‘Reporting Account- 4 ability and Abuse Prevention Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H437.IH H437 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 437 IH SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE BY PROJECTS FUNDED UNDER TITLE 1 X WITH STATE AND LOCAL SEXUAL ABUSE 2 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 3 Title X of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 4 300 et seq.) is amending by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘SEC. 1009. COMPLIANCE WITH STATE AND LOCAL SEXUAL 7 ABUSE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on the award or 9 renewal of a grant under this title for any project or pro- 10 gram, the Secretary shall require the grant recipient to 11 comply with all applicable State and local laws requiring 12 notification or reporting of child abuse, child molestation, 13 sexual abuse, rape, incest, intimate partner violence, or 14 human trafficking (in this section referred to as ‘State no- 15 tification laws’). 16 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED COMPLIANCE.—In ensuring compli- 17 ance with subsection (a) for a project or program, the 18 grant recipient shall provide to the Secretary appropriate 19 documentation or otherwise demonstrate to the Sec- 20 retary’s satisfaction that the grant recipient— 21 ‘‘(1) has in place and implements a plan to 22 comply with State notification laws, including, at a 23 minimum, policies and procedures that include— 24 ‘‘(A) a summary of obligations under State 25 notification laws of the project or program, or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H437.IH H437 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 437 IH of each organization and individual carrying out 1 the project or program, including any obligation 2 to inquire about or determine the age of a 3 minor patient or of a minor patient’s sexual 4 partner; 5 ‘‘(B) timely and adequate annual training 6 of all individuals (whether or not they are em- 7 ployees) serving patients for, or on behalf of, 8 the project or program regarding— 9 ‘‘(i) compliance with State notification 10 laws; 11 ‘‘(ii) policies and procedures of the 12 project or program with respect to notifica- 13 tion and reporting of child abuse, child mo- 14 lestation, sexual abuse, rape, incest, inti- 15 mate partner violence, and human traf- 16 ficking; and 17 ‘‘(iii) appropriate interventions, strat- 18 egies, and referrals to improve the safety 19 and current situation of the patient; 20 ‘‘(C) protocols to ensure that every minor 21 who presents for treatment is provided coun- 22 seling on how to resist attempts to coerce the 23 minor into engaging in sexual activities; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H437.IH H437 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 437 IH ‘‘(D) a commitment to conduct a prelimi- 1 nary screening of any minor who presents with 2 a sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy, or 3 any suspicion of abuse, in order to rule out vic- 4 timization of the minor; and 5 ‘‘(2) maintains records that demonstrate com- 6 pliance with each of the requirements set forth in 7 paragraph (1) and— 8 ‘‘(A) indicate the age of minor patients; 9 ‘‘(B) document each notification or report 10 made pursuant to State notification laws; and 11 ‘‘(C) indicate the age of the minor pa- 12 tient’s sexual partners if such age is an element 13 of a State notification law under which a report 14 is required. 15 ‘‘(c) REVIEW OF RECORDS.—As a condition on the 16 award or renewal of a grant under this title for any project 17 or program, a grant recipient shall agree to allow the Sec- 18 retary, the Inspector General of the Department of Health 19 and Human Services, and the Comptroller General of the 20 United States to review the records maintained by the 21 grant recipient, including any contractor or subgrantee of 22 the grant recipient, for the purpose of ensuring compliance 23 with this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H437.IH H437 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 437 IH ‘‘(d) PENALTIES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.—The Sec- 1 retary shall— 2 ‘‘(1) if the Secretary finds that a grantee under 3 this title has violated subsection (a), (b), or (c), 4 work with the grantee to remedy such noncompli- 5 ance; and 6 ‘‘(2) if the Secretary finds that the grantee 7 commits a subsequent violation of subsection (a), 8 (b), or (c)— 9 ‘‘(A) seek repayment of all monetary Fed- 10 eral assistance received by the grantee under 11 this title on or after the date of enactment of 12 the Reporting Accountability and Abuse Pre- 13 vention Act of 2023; and 14 ‘‘(B) not award or provide any assistance 15 under this title to the grantee for a period of 16 at least 36 months following the date of finding 17 that the grantee has committed such subse- 18 quent violation.’’. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Feb 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H437.IH H437 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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