### §20302. Definitions

For purposes of this subchapter—

(1) the term "Administrator" means the agency head designated under section 11111(b) of this title;

(2) the term "applicant" means a child protective service, law enforcement, legal, medical and mental health agency or other agency that responds to child abuse cases;

(3) the term "census region" means 1 of the 4 census regions (northeast, south, midwest, and west) that are designated as census regions by the Bureau of the Census as of November 4, 1992;

(4) the term "child abuse" means physical or sexual abuse or neglect of a child, including human trafficking and the production of child pornography;

(5) the term "multidisciplinary response to child abuse" means a coordinated team response to child abuse that is based on mutually agreed upon procedures among the community agencies and professionals involved in the intervention, prevention, prosecution, and investigation systems that best meets the needs of child victims and their nonoffending family members;

(6) the term "nonoffending family member" means a member of the family of a victim of child abuse other than a member who has been convicted or accused of committing an act of child abuse;

(7) the term "regional children's advocacy program" means the children's advocacy program established under section 20303(a) of this title; and

(8) the term "State chapter" means a membership organization that provides technical assistance, training, coordination, grant administration, oversight, and organizational capacity support to 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.

(Pub. L. 101–647, title II, §212, as added Pub. L. 102–586, §6(b)(2), Nov. 4, 1992, 106 Stat. 5029; amended Pub. L. 114–22, title I, §104(1), May 29, 2015, 129 Stat. 236; Pub. L. 115–424, §2(b), (h)(1), Jan. 7, 2019, 132 Stat. 5465, 5470; Pub. L. 117–354, §3(2), Jan. 5, 2023, 136 Stat. 6274.)

#### **Editorial Notes**

#### Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 13001a of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

#### Prior Provisions

A prior section 212 of Pub. L. 101–647 was renumbered section 214 and is classified to section 20304 of this title.

#### Amendments

2023—Par. (5). Pub. L. 117–354, §3(2)(A), which directed insertion of "coordinated team" before "response", was executed by making the insertion before "response" the second time appearing, to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

Par. (8). Pub. L. 117–354, §3(2)(B), inserted "organizational capacity" before "support".

2019—Par. (1). Pub. L. 115–424, §2(h)(1), made technical amendment to reference in original act which appears in text as reference to section 11111(b) of this title.

Pars. (3) to (9). Pub. L. 115–424, §2(b), redesignated pars. (4), (5), and (7) to (9) as (3) to (7), respectively, added par. (8), and struck out former pars. (3) and (6) which defined the terms "board" and "Director", respectively.

2015—Par. (5). Pub. L. 114–22 inserted ", including human trafficking and the production of child pornography" before semicolon at end.