II 

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. 

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 ‘‘Generate Recordings 

5 of All Child protective Interviews Everywhere Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘GRACIE Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICE INTERVIEW RECORD2 ING GRANTS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) CHILD WELFARE FORENSIC INTERVIEW.— 

5 The term ‘‘child welfare forensic interview’’ means a 

6 documented interview with all relevant parties, in7 cluding a child and an adult, conducted by a child 

8 protective services agency of a State in order to elic9 it information regarding concerns of abuse, neglect, 

10 or exposure to violence. 

11 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

12 the Director of the Office of Juvenile Justice and 

13 Delinquency Prevention of the Department of Jus14 tice. 

15 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti16 ty’’ means a child protective services agency of a 

17 State that has in effect a statute, ordinance, policy, 

18 or practice that requires— 

19 (A) any child welfare forensic interview 

20 conducted by a child protective services agency 

21 of the State to be recorded through— 

22 (i) electronic audio recording; 

23 (ii) body camera video; or 

24 (iii) any other reasonable means of re25 cording; and 


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1 (B) the retention and storage of a record2 ing described in subparagraph (A)— 

3 (i) for not less than 5 years; and 

4 (ii) in a manner consistent with the 

5 protocols established by the State for such 

6 recordings, which shall include that— 

7 (I) a copy of such a recording— 

8 (aa) may only be released to 

9 those investigating an allegation; 

10 and 

11 (bb) may not be released to 

12 a caregiver or guardian; 

13 (II) a penalty is imposed for a 

14 violation of a limitation described in 

15 subclause (I); and 

16 (III) the retention systems of the 

17 child protective services agency se18 curely manage the storage and dis19 tribution of such a recording with ac20 cess controls and role-based permis21 sion management. 

22 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

23 (A) each of the several States; 

24 (B) the District of Columbia; 


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1 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

2 and 

3 (D) any territory or possession of the 

4 United States. 

5 (b) GRANTS.—The Director may award a grant to 

6 an eligible entity for the purpose of recording and storing 

7 all child welfare forensic interviews conducted by the eligi8 ble entity. 

9 (c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a grant 

10 under this section shall submit to the Director an applica11 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

12 information as the Director may require. 

13 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received under a 

14 grant under this section shall be used exclusively for costs 

15 directly associated with conducting and retaining for 5 

16 years the recording of all child welfare forensic interviews 

17 by a child protective services agency of a State, including 

18 initial interviews conducted during a family assessment. 

19 (e) FUNDING.—The Director shall carry out this sec20 tion using amounts otherwise available to the Director. 

Æ 


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