II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1877 

To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require mandatory reporting of incidents of child abuse or neglect, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2011 

Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mrs. BOXER) 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 mandatory reporting of incidents of child 

abuse or neglect, 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 ‘‘Speak Up to Protect 

5 Every Abused Kid Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT. 

7 Section 3(2) of the Child Abuse Prevention and 

8 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended to read 

9 as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘child abuse or neglect’ means, at 

2 a minimum— 

3 ‘‘(A) any recent act or failure to act, on 

4 the part of a parent or caretaker, that results 

5 in death, serious physical or emotional harm, or 

6 sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act or failure 

7 to act that presents an imminent risk of serious 

8 harm; or 

9 ‘‘(B) any deliberate act, on the part of an 

10 individual other than a parent or caretaker, 

11 that results in death, serious physical or emo12 tional harm, or sexual abuse or exploitation, or 

13 that presents an imminent risk of serious harm 

14 to a child.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGNS AND TRAINING. 

16 The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act is 

17 amended by inserting after section 103 (42 U.S.C. 5104) 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 103A. EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGNS AND TRAINING. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants 

21 to eligible entities to carry out educational campaigns and 

22 provide training regarding State laws for mandatory re23 porting of incidents of child abuse or neglect. 


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1 ‘‘(b) GUIDANCE AND INFORMATION ON BEST PRAC2 TICES.—The Secretary shall develop and disseminate 

3 guidance and information on best practices for— 

4 ‘‘(1) educational campaigns to educate members 

5 of the public about— 

6 ‘‘(A) the acts and omissions that constitute 

7 child abuse or neglect under State law; 

8 ‘‘(B) the responsibilities of adults to report 

9 suspected and known incidents of child abuse or 

10 neglect under State law; and 

11 ‘‘(C) the ways in which adults can respond 

12 to help children and families without such re13 porting in a case in which the circumstances do 

14 not constitute child abuse or neglect under 

15 State law but the child or family needs assist16 ance to prevent such circumstances from dete17 riorating so as to constitute child abuse or ne18 glect; and 

19 ‘‘(2) training programs to improve such report20 ing by adults, with a focus on adults who work with 

21 children in a professional or volunteer capacity. 

22 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

23 under this section, an entity shall submit an application 

24 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con25 taining such information as the Secretary may require. In 


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1 determining whether to make a grant under this section, 

2 the Secretary shall determine whether the educational 

3 campaign or training proposed by the entity uses practices 

4 described in the guidance and information developed 

5 under subsection (b). 

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

7 grant under this section shall use the funds made available 

8 through the grant to carry out an educational campaign, 

9 or provide training, described in subsection (b). 

10 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

12 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and $10,000,000 for each 

13 of fiscal years 2013 through 2016.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES FOR CHILD ABUSE OR NE15 GLECT PREVENTION AND TREATMENT PRO16 GRAMS. 

17 Section 106(b)(2)(B) of the Child Abuse Prevention 

18 and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a(b)(2)(B)) is amend19 ed by striking ‘‘(B) an assurance’’ and all that follows 

20 through clause (i), and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(B) an assurance in the form of a certifi22 cation by the Governor of the State that the 

23 State has in effect and is enforcing a State law, 

24 or has in effect and is operating a statewide 


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1 program, relating to child abuse and neglect 

2 that includes— 

3 ‘‘(i) provisions or procedures for an 

4 individual to report suspected or known in5 cidents of child abuse or neglect to a State 

6 child protective service agencies or to law 

7 enforcement agencies, which shall include a 

8 State law for mandatory reporting of such 

9 incidents, to either type of agency, by any 

10 adult;’’. 

11 SEC. 5. APPROACHES AND TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE RE12 PORTING. 

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

14 Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5107c(b)) is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (4)— 

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

18 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

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

20 ‘‘(C) train adults who work with children 

21 in a professional or volunteer capacity, to report 

22 suspected and known incidents of child abuse or 

23 neglect under State law; and’’; and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (5), by inserting before the pe2 riod ‘‘and the training described in paragraph 

3 (4)(C)’’. 

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

5 such Act (42 U.S.C. 5107c(e)(2)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end; 

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

9 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) evaluate the State’s efforts to train adults 

12 who work with children in a professional or volun13 teer capacity, to report suspected and known inci14 dents of child abuse or neglect under State law.’’. 

15 (c) ADOPTION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.—Section 

16 107(e)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5107c(e)(1)) is amend17 ed— 

18 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

19 the end; 

20 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 

21 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(D) experimental, model, and demonstra24 tion programs for testing innovative approaches 

25 and techniques that may improve reporting of 


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1 and response to suspected and known incidents 

2 of child abuse or neglect by adults to the State 

3 child protective service agencies or to law en4 forcement agencies.’’. 

5 SEC. 6. GENERAL PROGRAM GRANTS. 

6 Section 108 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 

7 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106d) is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(f) MANDATORY REPORTING.—To be eligible to re10 ceive any form of financial assistance under this title, a 

11 State shall include in the corresponding plan or applica12 tion an assurance that the State has in effect a State law 

13 for mandatory reporting described in section 

14 106(b)(2)(B)(i).’’. 

15 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 

16 Section 110 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 

17 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106f) is amended by adding 

18 at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(e) REPORT ON STATE MANDATORY REPORTING

20 LAWS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) STUDY.—Not later than 4 years after the 

22 date of enactment of the Speak Up to Protect Every 

23 Abused Kid Act, the Secretary shall collect informa24 tion on and otherwise study the efforts of States reVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:33 Nov 17, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1877.IS S1877

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1 lating to State laws for mandatory reporting of inci2 dents of child abuse or neglect, in order to— 

3 ‘‘(A) assess the implementation of the 

4 amendments made by that Act; and 

5 ‘‘(B) provide an update on— 

6 ‘‘(i) implementation of State laws for 

7 mandatory reporting described in section 

8 106(b)(2)(B)(i); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) State efforts to improve report10 ing on, and responding to reports of, child 

11 abuse or neglect. 

12 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after 

13 that date of enactment, the Secretary shall submit 

14 to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 

15 containing the findings of the study.’’. 

16 SEC. 8. COMMUNITY-BASED GRANTS. 

17 Section 204 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 

18 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5116d) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

20 end; 

21 (2) in paragraph (12), by striking the period 

22 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(13) an assurance that the State has in effect 

2 a State law for mandatory reporting described in 

3 section 106(b)(2)(B)(i).’’. 

4 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

6 (b), this Act takes effect on the date of enactment of this 

7 Act. 

8 (b) MANDATORY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The 

9 amendments made by sections 4, 5(a), 6, and 8 shall apply 

10 to the corresponding plans and applications submitted 

11 after the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act. 

Æ 


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