End Military-Connected Child Abuse and Neglect Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6667 To improve the ability of the Department of Defense to effectively prevent, track, and respond to military-connected child abuse. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 1, 2020 Mr. CISNEROS (for himself and Mr. MAST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To improve the ability of the Department of Defense to effectively prevent, track, and respond to military-con- nected child abuse. 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 ‘‘End Military-Con- 4 nected Child Abuse and Neglect Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ACTIONS TO ADDRESS MILITARY-CONNECTED 6 CHILD ABUSE. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with the recommenda- 8 tions of the Government Accountability Office in the re- 9 port titled ‘‘Increased Guidance and Collaboration Needed 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6667.IH H6667 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6667 IH to Improve DOD’s Tracking and Response to Child 1 Abuse’’ (GAO–20–110), the Secretary of Defense shall 2 carry out activities to improve the ability of the Depart- 3 ment of Defense to effectively prevent, track, and respond 4 to military-connected child abuse. 5 (b) ACTIVITIES REQUIRED.—The activities carried 6 out under subsection (a) shall include the following: 7 (1) The Secretary of Defense shall expand the 8 scope of the Department of Defense’s centralized 9 database on problematic sexual behavior in children 10 and youth to track information on all incidents in- 11 volving child abuse reported to a Family Advocacy 12 Program or investigated by a military law enforce- 13 ment organization, regardless of whether the perpe- 14 trator of the abuse is another child, an adult, or a 15 person in a noncaregiving role at the time of the in- 16 cident. 17 (2) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation 18 with the Secretary of each military department, shall 19 ensure— 20 (A) that each Family Advocacy Program 21 records, in a database of the Program, the date 22 on which the Program notified a military law 23 enforcement organization of a reported incident 24 of child abuse; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6667.IH H6667 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6667 IH (B) that each military law enforcement or- 1 ganization records, in a database of the organi- 2 zation, the date on which the organization noti- 3 fied a Family Advocacy Program of a reported 4 incident of child abuse. 5 (3) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation 6 with the Secretary of each military department, shall 7 issue guidance that clarifies the process through 8 which the Family Advocacy Program of an Armed 9 Force will receive, and incorporate into the Pro- 10 gram’s central registry, information regarding child 11 abuse allegations involving members of that Armed 12 Force and dependents of such members in cases in 13 which such allegations were previously recorded by 14 the Family Advocacy Program of another Armed 15 Force. Such guidance shall include a mechanism for 16 monitoring the process to ensure that the process is 17 carried out consistently. 18 (4) Each Armed Force shall develop a process 19 to monitor how reported incidents of child abuse are 20 screened at military installations to help ensure that 21 all reported child abuse incidents that should be pre- 22 sented to an Incident Determination Committee are 23 consistently presented and tracked. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6667.IH H6667 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6667 IH (5) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that 1 the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and 2 Readiness, in consultation with the Director of the 3 Department of Defense Education Activity, clarifies 4 Department of Defense Education Activity guidance 5 to define what types of child abuse incidents must 6 be reported as serious incidents to help ensure that 7 all serious incidents of which Department of Defense 8 Education Activity leadership needs to be informed 9 are accurately and consistently reported by school 10 administrators. 11 (6) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation 12 with the Secretaries of the military departments, 13 shall expand the voting membership of each Incident 14 Determination Committee to include medical per- 15 sonnel with requisite knowledge and experience. 16 (7) Each Armed Force shall implement proce- 17 dures to provide the families of child abuse victims 18 with comprehensive information on how reported in- 19 cidents of child abuse will be addressed. Such prac- 20 tices may include the development of a guide that— 21 (A) explains the processes the Family Ad- 22 vocacy Program and military law enforcement 23 organizations will follow to address the report; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6667.IH H6667 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6667 IH (B) identifies services and other resources 1 available to victims and their families. 2 (8) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation 3 with the Secretaries of the military departments, 4 shall issue guidance to clarify the circumstances 5 under which military commanders may exercise the 6 authority to remove a child from a potentially unsafe 7 home on a military installation outside the United 8 States. 9 (9) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that 10 the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and 11 Readiness, in consultation with the Director of the 12 Defense Health Agency, establishes processes that 13 help ensure children who are sexually abused outside 14 the United States have timely access to a certified 15 pediatric sexual assault forensic examiner to conduct 16 an examination. Such processes may include certi- 17 fying pediatricians or adult sexual assault forensic 18 examiners as pediatric examiners during mandatory 19 training or establishing shared regional assets. 20 (10) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation 21 with the Deputy Attorney General, shall seek to im- 22 prove communication between military criminal in- 23 vestigative organizations and United States Attor- 24 neys for relevant cases involving child victims, in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6667.IH H6667 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6667 IH cluding by seeking to ensure that military investiga- 1 tors are notified when a prosecution is declined and 2 that such notice includes the reasons for the declina- 3 tion when appropriate. 4 (11) The Secretary of each military department 5 shall seek to develop a memorandum of under- 6 standing with the National Children’s Alliance that 7 makes children’s advocacy center services available 8 to all military installations of the department and in- 9 creases awareness of those services across the de- 10 partment. 11 (c) DEADLINE.—The Secretary of Defense shall 12 carry out the activities described in subsection (b) not 13 later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 14 Act. 15 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 (1) The term ‘‘Armed Forces’’ means the 17 Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. 18 (2) The term ‘‘child abuse’’ means any abuse of 19 a child (including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emo- 20 tional abuse, and neglect) regardless of whether the 21 perpetrator of the abuse is another child, an adult, 22 or a person in a noncaregiving role. 23 (3) The term ‘‘Incident Determination Com- 24 mittee’’ means a committee established at a military 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6667.IH H6667 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6667 IH installation that is responsible for reviewing reported 1 incidents of child abuse and determining whether 2 such incidents constitute child abuse according to 3 the applicable criteria of the Department of Defense. 4 (4) The term ‘‘military-connected’’, when used 5 with respect to child abuse, means child abuse occur- 6 ring on a military installation or involving a depend- 7 ent of a member of the Armed Forces. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:25 May 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6667.IH H6667 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS