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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5549 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5549

To establish a grant program within the Office of Juvenile Justice and 
   Delinquency Prevention to award grants to States that require the 
 recording of all child welfare forensic interviews with children and 
                    adults, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            December 17 (legislative day, December 16), 2024

 Mrs. Blackburn (for herself and Mr. Ossoff) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To establish a grant program within the Office of Juvenile Justice and 
   Delinquency Prevention to award grants to States that require the 
 recording of all child welfare forensic interviews with children and 
                    adults, 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 ``Generate Recordings of All Child 
protective Interviews Everywhere Act'' or the ``GRACIE Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICE INTERVIEW RECORDING GRANTS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Child welfare forensic interview.--The term ``child 
        welfare forensic interview'' means a documented interview with 
        all relevant parties, including a child and an adult, conducted 
        by a child protective services agency of a State in order to 
        elicit information regarding concerns of abuse, neglect, or 
        exposure to violence.
            (2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of 
        the Department of Justice.
            (3) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a 
        child protective services agency of a State that has in effect 
        a statute, ordinance, policy, or practice that requires--
                    (A) any child welfare forensic interview conducted 
                by a child protective services agency of the State to 
                be recorded through--
                            (i) electronic audio recording;
                            (ii) body camera video; or
                            (iii) any other reasonable means of 
                        recording; and
                    (B) the retention and storage of a recording 
                described in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) for not less than 5 years; and
                            (ii) in a manner consistent with the 
                        protocols established by the State for such 
                        recordings, which shall include that--
                                    (I) a copy of such a recording--
                                            (aa) may only be released 
                                        to those investigating an 
                                        allegation; and
                                            (bb) may not be released to 
                                        a caregiver or guardian;
                                    (II) a penalty is imposed for a 
                                violation of a limitation described in 
                                subclause (I); and
                                    (III) the retention systems of the 
                                child protective services agency 
                                securely manage the storage and 
                                distribution of such a recording with 
                                access controls and role-based 
                                permission management.
            (4) State.--The term ``State'' means--
                    (A) each of the several States;
                    (B) the District of Columbia;
                    (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and
                    (D) any territory or possession of the United 
                States.
    (b) Grants.--The Director may award a grant to an eligible entity 
for the purpose of recording and storing all child welfare forensic 
interviews conducted by the eligible entity.
    (c) Application.--An eligible entity seeking a grant under this 
section shall submit to the Director an application at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such information as the Director may 
require.
    (d) Use of Funds.--Amounts received under a grant under this 
section shall be used exclusively for costs directly associated with 
conducting and retaining for 5 years the recording of all child welfare 
forensic interviews by a child protective services agency of a State, 
including initial interviews conducted during a family assessment.
    (e) Funding.--The Director shall carry out this section using 
amounts otherwise available to the Director.
                                 <all>
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