§ 3201 TITLE 25—INDIANS Page 660

Sec.

(c) Submission to Congress.

3205. Confidentiality.

3206. Waiver of parental consent.

(a) Examinations and interviews.

(b) Interviews by law enforcement and

child protective services officials.

(c) Protection of child.

(d) Court orders.

3207. Character investigations.

(a) By Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(b) Criminal records.

(c) Investigations by Indian tribes and

tribal organizations.

3208. Indian Child Abuse Treatment Grant Program.

(a) Establishment.

(b) Grant applications.

(c) Maximum grant amount.

(d) Grant administration and final report.

(e) Authorization of appropriations.

3209. Indian Child Resource and Family Services

Centers.

(a) Establishment.

(b) Memorandum of Agreement.

(c) Center staffing.

(d) Center responsibilities and functions.

(e) Multidisciplinary team personnel.

(f) Center advisory board.

(g) Application of Indian Self-Determination Act to Centers.

(h) Authorization of appropriations.

3210. Indian Child Protection and Family Violence

Prevention Program.

(a) Establishment.

(b) Indian Self-Determination Act agreements.

(c) Investigation and treatment and prevention of child abuse and family

violence.

(d) Program responsibilities and functions.

(f) Secretarial regulations; base support

funding.

(g) Maintenance of effort.

(h) Contract evaluation and annual report.

(i) Authorization of appropriations.

3211. Report to Congress.

§ 3201. Findings and purpose

(a) Findings

The Congress, after careful review of the problem of child abuse on Indian reservations and

the historical and special relationship of the

Federal Government with Indian people,

(1) finds that—

(A) incidents of abuse of children on Indian

reservations are grossly underreported;

(B) such underreporting is often a result of

the lack of a mandatory Federal reporting

law;

(C) multiple incidents of sexual abuse of

children on Indian reservations have been

perpetrated by persons employed or funded

by the Federal Government;

(D) Federal Government investigations of

the background of Federal employees who

care for, or teach, Indian children are often

deficient;

(E) funds spent by the United States on Indian reservations or otherwise spent for the

benefit of Indians who are victims of child

abuse or family violence are inadequate to

meet the growing needs for mental health

treatment and counseling for victims of

child abuse or family violence and their families; and

(F) there is no resource that is more vital

to the continued existence and integrity of

Indian tribes than their children and the

United States has a direct interest, as trustee, in protecting Indian children who are

members of, or are eligible for membership

in, an Indian tribe; and

(2) declares that two major goals of the

United States are to—

(A) identify the scope of incidents of abuse

of children and family violence in Indian

country and to reduce such incidents; and

(B) provide funds for mental health treatment for Indian victims of child abuse and

family violence on Indian reservations.

(b) Purpose

The purposes of this chapter are to—

(1) require that reports of abused Indian

children are made to the appropriate authorities in an effort to prevent further abuse;

(2) establish a reliable data base for statistical purposes and to authorize a study to determine the need for a central registry for reported incidents of abuse;

(3) authorize such other actions as are necessary to ensure effective child protection in

Indian country;

(4) establish the Indian Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Grant Program to provide

funds for the establishment on Indian reservations of treatment programs for victims of

child sexual abuse;

(5) provide for technical assistance and

training related to the investigation and

treatment of cases of child abuse and neglect;

(6) establish Indian Child Resource and Family Services Centers in each Bureau of Indian

Affairs Area Office which will consist of multidisciplinary teams of personnel with experience and training in the prevention, identification, investigation, and treatment of child

abuse and neglect;

(7) provide for the treatment and prevention

of incidents of family violence;

(8) establish tribally operated programs to

protect Indian children and reduce the incidents of family violence in Indian country;

and

(9) authorize other actions necessary to ensure effective child protection on Indian reservations.

(Pub. L. 101–630, title IV, §402, Nov. 28, 1990, 104

Stat. 4544.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the

original ‘‘this title’’, meaning title IV of Pub. L.

101–630, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4544, which is classified

principally to this chapter. For complete classification

of title IV to the Code, see Short Title note below and

Tables.

SHORT TITLE

Section 401 of title IV of Pub. L. 101–630 provided

that: ‘‘This title [enacting this chapter and section 1169
Page 661 TITLE 25—INDIANS § 3203

of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure] may be

cited as the ‘Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act’.’’

§ 3202. Definitions

For the purposes of this chapter, the term—

(1) ‘‘Bureau’’ means the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior;

(2) ‘‘child’’ means an individual who—

(A) is not married, and

(B) has not attained 18 years of age;

(3) ‘‘child abuse’’ includes but is not limited

to—

(A) any case in which—

(i) a child is dead or exhibits evidence of

skin bruising, bleeding, malnutrition, failure to thrive, burns, fracture of any bone,

subdural hematoma, soft tissue swelling,

and

(ii) such condition is not justifiably explained or may not be the product of an accidental occurrence; and

(B) any case in which a child is subjected

to sexual assault, sexual molestation, sexual

exploitation, sexual contact, or prostitution;

(4) ‘‘child neglect’’ includes but is not limited to, negligent treatment or maltreatment

of a child by a person, including a person responsible for the child’s welfare, under circumstances which indicate that the child’s health

or welfare is harmed or threatened thereby;

(5) ‘‘family violence’’ means any act, or

threatened act, of violence, including any

forceful detention of an individual, which—

(A) results, or threatens to result, in physical or mental injury, and

(B) is committed by an individual against

another individual—

(i) to whom such person is, or was, related by blood or marriage or otherwise legally related, or

(ii) with whom such person is, or was, residing;

(6) ‘‘Indian’’ means any individual who is a

member of an Indian tribe;

(7) ‘‘Indian child’’ has the meaning given to

such term by section 1903(4) of this title;

(8) ‘‘Indian country’’ has the meaning given

to such term by section 1151 of title 18;

(9) ‘‘Indian reservation’’ means any Indian

reservation, public domain Indian allotment,

former Indian reservation in Oklahoma, or

lands held by incorporated Native groups, regional corporations, or village corporations

under the provisions of the Alaska Native

Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);

(10) ‘‘Indian tribe’’ and ‘‘tribal organization’’

have the respective meanings given to each of

such terms under section 450b of this title;

(11) ‘‘inter-tribal consortium’’ means a partnership between—

(A) an Indian tribe or tribal organization

of an Indian tribe, and

(B) one or more Indian tribes or tribal organizations of one or more other Indian

tribes;

(12) ‘‘local child protective services agency’’

means that agency of the Federal Government, of a State, or of an Indian tribe that has

the primary responsibility for child protection

on any Indian reservation or within any community in Indian country;

(13) ‘‘local law enforcement agency’’ means

that Federal, tribal, or State law enforcement

agency that has the primary responsibility for

the investigation of an instance of alleged

child abuse within the portion of Indian country involved;

(14) ‘‘persons responsible for a child’s welfare’’ means any person who has legal or other

recognized duty for the care and safety of a

child, including—

(A) any employee or volunteer of a children’s residential facility, and

(B) any person providing out-of-home care,

education, or services to children;

(15) ‘‘related assistance’’—

(A) includes counseling and self-help services to abusers, victims, and dependents in

family violence situations (which shall include counseling of all family members to

the extent feasible) and referrals for appropriate health-care services (including alcohol and drug abuse treatment), and

(B) may include food, clothing, child care,

transportation, and emergency services for

victims of family violence and their dependents;

(16) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the

Interior;

(17) ‘‘shelter’’ means the provision of temporary refuge and related assistance in compliance with applicable Federal and tribal laws

and regulations governing the provision, on a

regular basis, of shelter, safe homes, meals,

and related assistance to victims of family

violence or their dependents; and

(18) ‘‘Service’’ means the Indian Health

Service of the Department of Health and

Human Services.

(Pub. L. 101–630, title IV, §403, Nov. 28, 1990, 104

Stat. 4545.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, referred

to in par. (9), is Pub. L. 92–203, Dec. 18, 1971, 85 Stat. 688,

as amended, which is classified generally to chapter 33

(§1601 et seq.) of Title 43, Public Lands. For complete

classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title

note set out under section 1601 of Title 43 and Tables.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in section 3203 of this title;

title 20 section 6177.

§ 3203. Reporting procedures

(a) Omitted

(b) Notification of child abuse reports

(1) When a local law enforcement agency or

local child protective services agency receives

an initial report from any person of—

(A) the abuse of a child in Indian country, or

(B) actions which would reasonably be expected to result in abuse of a child in Indian

country, the receiving agency shall immediately notify appropriate officials of the

other agency of such report and shall also submit, when prepared, a copy of the written re-