[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6667 Introduced in House (IH)]
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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-connected child abuse.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``End Military-Connected Child Abuse
and Neglect Act''.
SEC. 2. ACTIONS TO ADDRESS MILITARY-CONNECTED CHILD ABUSE.
(a) In General.--Consistent with the recommendations of the
Government Accountability Office in the report titled ``Increased
Guidance and Collaboration Needed to Improve DOD's Tracking and
Response to Child Abuse'' (GAO-20-110), the Secretary of Defense shall
carry out activities to improve the ability of the Department of
Defense to effectively prevent, track, and respond to military-
connected child abuse.
(b) Activities Required.--The activities carried out under
subsection (a) shall include the following:
(1) The Secretary of Defense shall expand the scope of the
Department of Defense's centralized database on problematic
sexual behavior in children and youth to track information on
all incidents involving child abuse reported to a Family
Advocacy Program or investigated by a military law enforcement
organization, regardless of whether the perpetrator of the
abuse is another child, an adult, or a person in a
noncaregiving role at the time of the incident.
(2) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the
Secretary of each military department, shall ensure--
(A) that each Family Advocacy Program records, in a
database of the Program, the date on which the Program
notified a military law enforcement organization of a
reported incident of child abuse; and
(B) that each military law enforcement organization
records, in a database of the organization, the date on
which the organization notified a Family Advocacy
Program of a reported incident of child abuse.
(3) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the
Secretary of each military department, shall issue guidance
that clarifies the process through which the Family Advocacy
Program of an Armed Force will receive, and incorporate into
the Program's central registry, information regarding child
abuse allegations involving members of that Armed Force and
dependents of such members in cases in which such allegations
were previously recorded by the Family Advocacy Program of
another Armed Force. Such guidance shall include a mechanism
for monitoring the process to ensure that the process is
carried out consistently.
(4) Each Armed Force shall develop a process to monitor how
reported incidents of child abuse are screened at military
installations to help ensure that all reported child abuse
incidents that should be presented to an Incident Determination
Committee are consistently presented and tracked.
(5) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the Under
Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in
consultation with the Director of the Department of Defense
Education Activity, clarifies Department of Defense Education
Activity guidance to define what types of child abuse incidents
must be reported as serious incidents to help ensure that all
serious incidents of which Department of Defense Education
Activity leadership needs to be informed are accurately and
consistently reported by school administrators.
(6) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the
Secretaries of the military departments, shall expand the
voting membership of each Incident Determination Committee to
include medical personnel with requisite knowledge and
experience.
(7) Each Armed Force shall implement procedures to provide
the families of child abuse victims with comprehensive
information on how reported incidents of child abuse will be
addressed. Such practices may include the development of a
guide that--
(A) explains the processes the Family Advocacy
Program and military law enforcement organizations will
follow to address the report; and
(B) identifies services and other resources
available to victims and their families.
(8) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the
Secretaries of the military departments, shall issue guidance
to clarify the circumstances under which military commanders
may exercise the authority to remove a child from a potentially
unsafe home on a military installation outside the United
States.
(9) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the Under
Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in
consultation with the Director of the Defense Health Agency,
establishes processes that help ensure children who are
sexually abused outside the United States have timely access to
a certified pediatric sexual assault forensic examiner to
conduct an examination. Such processes may include certifying
pediatricians or adult sexual assault forensic examiners as
pediatric examiners during mandatory training or establishing
shared regional assets.
(10) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the
Deputy Attorney General, shall seek to improve communication
between military criminal investigative organizations and
United States Attorneys for relevant cases involving child
victims, including by seeking to ensure that military
investigators are notified when a prosecution is declined and
that such notice includes the reasons for the declination when
appropriate.
(11) The Secretary of each military department shall seek
to develop a memorandum of understanding with the National
Children's Alliance that makes children's advocacy center
services available to all military installations of the
department and increases awareness of those services across the
department.
(c) Deadline.--The Secretary of Defense shall carry out the
activities described in subsection (b) not later than one year after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``Armed Forces'' means the Army, Navy, Air
Force, and Marine Corps.
(2) The term ``child abuse'' means any abuse of a child
(including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and
neglect) regardless of whether the perpetrator of the abuse is
another child, an adult, or a person in a noncaregiving role.
(3) The term ``Incident Determination Committee'' means a
committee established at a military installation that is
responsible for reviewing reported incidents of child abuse and
determining whether such incidents constitute child abuse
according to the applicable criteria of the Department of
Defense.
(4) The term ``military-connected'', when used with respect
to child abuse, means child abuse occurring on a military
installation or involving a dependent of a member of the Armed
Forces.
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