[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3975 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3975
To reauthorize the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 31, 2022
Mr. Coons (for himself, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Grassley, Ms.
Klobuchar, Mr. Young, Ms. Hirono, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Wicker,
and Mrs. Feinstein) introduced the following bill; which was read twice
and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reauthorize the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Victims of Child Abuse Act
Reauthorization Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. IMPROVING INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF CHILD ABUSE CASES.
The Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (34 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.) is
amended--
(1) in section 211 (34 U.S.C. 20301)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``3,300,000'' and inserting
``3,400,000''; and
(ii) by striking ``, and drug abuse is
associated with a significant portion of
these'';
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (8) as
paragraphs (4) through (9), respectively;
(C) by inserting afer paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) a key to a child victim healing from abuse is access
to supportive and healthy families and communities;''; and
(D) in paragraph (9)(B), as so redesignated, by
inserting ``, and operations of centers'' before the
period at the end;
(2) in section 212 (34 U.S.C. 20302)--
(A) in paragraph (5), by inserting ``coordinated
team'' before ``response''; and
(B) in paragraph (8), by inserting ``organizational
capacity'' before ``support'';
(3) in section 213 (34 U.S.C. 20303)--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) in the heading, by inserting ``and
Maintenance'' after ``Establishment'';
(ii) in the matter preceding paragraph
(1)--
(I) by striking ``, in coordination
with the Director of the Office of
Victims of Crime,''; and
(II) by inserting ``and maintain''
after ``establish'';
(iii) in paragraph (3)--
(I) by striking ``and victim
advocates'' and inserting ``victim
advocates, multidisciplinary team
leadership, and children's advocacy
center staff''; and
(II) by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(iv) by redesignating paragraph (4) as
paragraph (5);
(v) by inserting after paragraph (3) the
following:
``(4) provide technical assistance, training, coordination,
and organizational capacity support for State chapters; and'';
and
(vi) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated,
by striking ``and oversight to'' and inserting
``organizational capacity support, and
oversight of'';
(B) in subsection (b)--
(i) in paragraph (1)--
(I) in subparagraph (A), by
inserting ``and maintain'' after
``establish''; and
(II) in the matter following
subparagraph (B), by striking ``and
technical assistance to aid communities
in establishing'' and inserting
``training and technical assistance to
aid communities in establishing and
maintaining''; and
(ii) in paragraph (2)--
(I) in subparagraph (A)--
(aa) in clause (ii), by
inserting ``Center'' after
``Advocacy''; and
(bb) in clause (iii), by
striking ``of, assessment of,
and intervention in'' and
inserting ``and intervention in
child''; and
(II) in subparagraph (B), by
striking ``centers and interested
communities'' and inserting ``centers,
interested communities, and chapters'';
and
(C) in subsection (c)--
(i) in paragraph (2)--
(I) in subparagraph (B), by
striking ``evaluation, intervention,
evidence gathering, and counseling''
and inserting ``investigation and
intervention in child abuse''; and
(II) in subparagraph (E), by
striking ``judicial handling of child
abuse and neglect'' and inserting
``multidisciplinary response to child
abuse'';
(ii) in paragraph (3)(A)(i), by striking
``so that communities can establish
multidisciplinary programs that respond to
child abuse'' and inserting ``and chapters so
that communities can establish and maintain
multidisciplinary programs that respond to
child abuse and chapters can establish and
maintain children's advocacy centers in their
State'';
(iii) in paragraph (4)(B)--
(I) in clause (iii), by striking
``and'' at the end;
(II) in by redesignating clause
(iv) as clause (v); and
(III) by inserting after clause
(iii) the following:
``(iv) best result in supporting chapters
in each State; and''; and
(iv) in paragraph (6), by inserting ``under
this Act'' after ``recipients'';
(4) in section 214 (34 U.S.C. 20304)--
(A) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the
following:
``(a) In General.--The Administrator shall make grants to--
``(1) establish and maintain a network of care for child
abuse victims where investigation, prosecutions, and
interventions are continually occurring and coordinating
activities within local children's advocacy centers and
multidisciplinary teams;
``(2) develop, enhance, and coordinate multidisciplinary
child abuse investigations, intervention, and prosecution
activities;
``(3) promote the effective delivery of the evidence-based,
trauma-informed Children's Advocacy Center Model and the
multidisciplinary response to child abuse; and
``(4) develop and disseminate practice standards for care
and best practices in programmatic evaluation, and support
State chapter organizational capacity and local children's
advocacy center organizational capacity and operations in order
to meet such practice standards and best practices.'';
(B) in subsection (b), by striking ``, in
coordination with the Director of the Office of Victims
of Crime,'';
(C) in subsection (c)(2)--
(i) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ``to
the greatest extent practicable, but in no case
later than 72 hours,'' after ``hours''; and
(ii) by striking subparagraphs (D) through
(I) and inserting the following:
``(D) Forensic interviews of child victims by
trained personnel that are used by law enforcement,
health, and child protective service agencies to
interview suspected abuse victims about allegations of
abuse.
``(E) Provision of needed follow up services such
as medical care, mental healthcare, and victims
advocacy services.
``(F) A requirement that, to the extent
practicable, all interviews and meetings with a child
victim occur at the children's advocacy center or an
agency with which there is a linkage agreement
regarding the delivery of multidisciplinary child abuse
investigation, prosecution, and intervention services.
``(G) Coordination of each step of the
investigation process to eliminate duplicative forensic
interviews with a child victim.
``(H) Designation of a director for the children's
advocacy center.
``(I) Designation of a multidisciplinary team
coordinator.
``(J) Assignment of a volunteer or staff advocate
to each child in order to assist the child and, when
appropriate, the child's family, throughout each step
of intervention and judicial proceedings.
``(K) Coordination with State chapters to assist
and provide oversight, and organizational capacity that
supports local children's advocacy centers,
multidisciplinary teams, and communities working to
implement a multidisciplinary response to child abuse
in the provision of evidence-informed initiatives,
including mental health counseling, forensic
interviewing, multidisciplinary team coordination, and
victim advocacy.
``(L) Such other criteria as the Administrator
shall establish by regulation.''; and
(D) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the
following:
``(f) Grants to State Chapters for Assistance to Local Children's
Advocacy Centers.--In awarding grants under this section, the
Administrator shall ensure that a portion of the grants is distributed
to State chapters to enable State chapters to provide oversight,
training, and technical assistance to local centers on evidence-
informed initiatives including mental health, counseling, forensic
interviewing, multidisciplinary team coordination, and victim
advocacy.'';
(5) in section 214A (34 U.S.C. 20305)--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking
``attorneys and other allied'' and inserting
``prosecutors and other attorneys and allied'';
and
(ii) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting
``Center'' after ``Advocacy''; and
(B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking subparagraph
(A) and inserting the following:
``(A) a significant connection to prosecutors who
handle child abuse cases in State courts, such as a
membership organization or support service providers;
and''; and
(6) by striking 214B (34 U.S.C. 20306) and inserting the
following:
``SEC. 214B. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out sections
213, 214, and 214A, $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through
2028.''.
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