II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 924 

To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require training 

and education to teachers and other school employees, students, and 

the community about how to prevent, recognize, respond to, and report 

child sexual abuse in primary and secondary education. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 28, 2019 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 

to require training and education to teachers and other 

school employees, students, and the community about 

how to prevent, recognize, respond to, and report child 

sexual abuse in primary and secondary education. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Jenna Quinn Law’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) One in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually 

2 abused before the age of 18. 

3 (2) Forty-five percent of sexual assault victims 

4 are under the age of 12. 

5 (3) According to the Department of Education, 

6 more than 4,500,000 students are subject to sexual 

7 misconduct by a school employee sometime between 

8 kindergarten and twelfth grade. 

9 (4) Research shows that school personnel iden10 tify 52 percent of child abuse cases, more than any 

11 other profession or organization type. 

12 (5) Ninety percent of child sexual abuse victims 

13 know their abuser. 

14 (6) Most child sexual abuse can be prevented 

15 through education combined with a comprehensive 

16 set of prevention policies. 

17 (7) Studies show that after educators were 

18 trained in child sexual abuse prevention and report19 ing, they were about 4 times more likely to report 

20 than they were prior to such training. 

21 (8) Two-thirds of teachers do not receive train22 ing in preventing, recognizing, or responding to child 

23 sexual abuse, either in their college coursework or as 

24 part of their professional development. 


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1 (9) Ninety percent of children who are sexually 

2 trafficked were first sexually abused as children. 

3 (10) More than half of sexual assault incidents 

4 happen within 1 mile of the victim’s home. 

5 (11) The average lifetime cost per victim of 

6 child abuse is $210,012, totaling an estimated 

7 $150,000,000,000 annually nationwide. These ex8 penses are largely paid for by the public, including 

9 through costs to the criminal justice system, child 

10 welfare systems, special education and health care 

11 costs, and productivity losses. 

12 (12) Each State has a reporting statute related 

13 to child abuse and neglect, which range from stat14 utes that require every adult to report suspicions to 

15 statutes setting forth a minimal list of categories of 

16 individuals or circumstances that trigger a manda17 tory report. 

18 (13) The silent epidemic of child sexual abuse 

19 should not be limited to reporting requirements after 

20 the abuse has already occurred. It is imperative that 

21 students of all ages, school leaders, teachers and 

22 other school employees, and other adults who work 

23 with children in a professional or voluntary capacity 

24 have a fundamental understanding of child sexual 

25 assault prevention training and policies. 


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1 SEC. 3. EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING. 

2 The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act is 

3 amended by inserting after section 103 of such Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 5104) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 103A. EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants 

7 to eligible entities to provide training on child sexual abuse 

8 awareness and prevention for students, teachers and other 

9 school employees, mandatory reporters, caregivers, and 

10 other adults who work with children in a professional or 

11 voluntary capacity for the purpose of compliance with 

12 State laws that mandate child sexual abuse education in 

13 school-based settings, or in the case of a State in which 

14 there is no such mandate, providing such training. 

15 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 

16 grant under this section, an entity shall submit an applica17 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

18 containing such information as the Secretary may require, 

19 including information demonstrating that the entity— 

20 ‘‘(1) has partnerships with local educational 

21 agencies for the purpose of providing training de22 scribed in subsection (a); 

23 ‘‘(2) uses evidence-based or evidence-informed 

24 methods to identify and prevent child sexual abuse; 

25 ‘‘(3) will disseminate free training materials to 

26 the community; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) has a demonstrated ability in the field of 

2 child welfare, including with respect to child sexual 

3 abuse cases, which may include providing direct 

4 services to victims of child sexual abuse or providing 

5 child sexual abuse prevention training or education. 

6 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity that receives a grant 

7 under this section shall use the funds made available 

8 through the grant to establish or implement evidence9 based or evidence-informed child sexual abuse awareness 

10 and annual prevention programs or activities, such as pro11 grams, training, or activities designed to provide— 

12 ‘‘(1) age-appropriate and developmentally ap13 propriate instruction for students in child sexual 

14 abuse awareness and prevention, including how to 

15 recognize child sexual abuse and how to safely report 

16 child sexual abuse; 

17 ‘‘(2) training for teachers and other school em18 ployees, and other mandatory reporters and adults 

19 who work with children in a professional or volun20 teer capacity, including training on how to recognize 

21 child sexual abuse and how to report child sexual 

22 abuse; and 

23 ‘‘(3) information for parents and guardians of 

24 students about child sexual abuse awareness and 

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1 spond to, and report child sexual abuse and how to 

2 discuss prevention strategies for child sexual abuse 

3 with a child. 

4 ‘‘(d) PREFERENCE FOR CHILD ABUSE PROFES5 SIONALS.—In awarding grants under this section, the Sec6 retary shall give preference to entities that have demon7 strable work in the field of child welfare, including child 

8 sexual abuse cases, providing direct services to victims of 

9 child sexual abuse, or prevention training or education.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES FOR CHILD ABUSE OR NE11 GLECT PREVENTION AND TREATMENT PRO12 GRAMS. 

13 Clause (i) of section 106(b)(2)(B) of the Child Abuse 

14 Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 5106a(b)(2)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘recognize and’’ 

16 after ‘‘an individual to’’. 

17 SEC. 5. IMPROVE REPORTING. 

18 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 107(b) of the Child Abuse 

19 Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106c(b)) is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (4)— 

22 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

23 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

24 (B) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(C) support training by experts in the 

2 prevention of child sexual abuse, for teachers 

3 and other adults who work with children in a 

4 professional or volunteer capacity, to recognize 

5 child sexual abuse and exploitation, and report 

6 suspected and known incidents of child sexual 

7 abuse or neglect in accordance with State law; 

8 and’’; and 

9 (2) in paragraph (5), by inserting before the pe10 riod ‘‘and the training described in paragraph 

11 (4)(C)’’. 

12 (b) STATE TASK FORCE STUDY.—Section 107(d) of 

13 such Act (42 U.S.C. 5106c(d)) is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘;’’; 

16 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period and 

17 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(3) evaluate the State’s efforts to implement 

21 the training recommendations in each of the cat22 egories described in subsection (e).’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. COMMUNITY-BASED GRANTS. 

2 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 202(3) of the Child Abuse 

3 Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5116a(3)) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘;’’; 

7 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

8 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(E) will develop partnerships with local 

12 educational agencies, local community agencies, 

13 or any other nonprofit group that is an eligible 

14 entity described in section 103A(b) to provide 

15 training to students, teachers, and other adults 

16 who work with children in a professional or vol17 unteer capacity, on recognizing child sexual 

18 abuse and exploitation and reporting suspected 

19 and known incidents of child sexual abuse or 

20 neglect in accordance with State law.’’. 

21 (b) APPLICATIONS.—Section 204 of the Child Abuse 

22 Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5116d) is 

23 amended by striking paragraph (9) and inserting the fol24 lowing: 

25 ‘‘(9) a plan for providing operation support, 

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1 based and prevention-focused programs and activi2 ties designed— 

3 ‘‘(A) to strengthen and support families to 

4 prevent child abuse and neglect for develop5 ment, operation, expansion, and enhancement 

6 activities; and 

7 ‘‘(B) to educate students and train teach8 ers and other school employees, and other 

9 adults who work with children in a professional 

10 or volunteer capacity, to prevent and recognize 

11 child sexual abuse;’’. 

12 (c) LOCAL PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

13 205(a)(1) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 5116e (a)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘lo15 cation educational agencies’’ after ‘‘local nonprofit organi16 zations’’. 

17 (d) GENERAL DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Child 

18 Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 

19 note) is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through 

21 (8) as paragraphs (7) through (9), respectively; and 

22 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(6) the term ‘local educational agency’ has the 

25 meaning given such term in section 8101 of the EleVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:40 Apr 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S924.IS S924

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1 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

2 U.S.C. 7801);’’. 

Æ 


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