I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1666 

To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require a 

study and report on State mandatory reporting laws. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2021 

Ms. WILD (for herself and Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 

to require a study and report on State mandatory reporting laws. 

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 ‘‘Working to End Child 

5 Abuse and Neglect Act’’ or the ‘‘WE CAN Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT ON STATE MANDATORY RE7 PORTING LAWS. 

8 Section 110 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 

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

10 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(e) STUDY AND REPORT ON STATE MANDATORY

2 REPORTING LAWS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) STUDY.—The Secretary shall collect infor4 mation on, and otherwise study, State laws for man5 datory reporting of incidents of child abuse or ne6 glect. Such study shall examine trends in referrals 

7 and investigations of child abuse and neglect due to 

8 differences in such State laws with respect to the in9 clusion, as mandatory reporters, of the following in10 dividuals: 

11 ‘‘(A) Individuals licensed or certified to 

12 practice in any health-related field licensed by 

13 the State, employees of health care facilities or 

14 providers licensed by the State, who are en15 gaged in the admission, examination, care or 

16 treatment of individuals, including mental 

17 health and emergency medical service providers. 

18 ‘‘(B) Individuals employed by a school who 

19 have direct contact with children, including 

20 teachers, administrators, and independent con21 tractors. 

22 ‘‘(C) Peace officers and law enforcement 

23 personnel. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Clergy, including Christian Science 

2 practitioners, except where prohibited on ac3 count of clergy-penitent privilege. 

4 ‘‘(E) Day care and child care operators 

5 and employees. 

6 ‘‘(F) Employees of social services agencies 

7 who have direct contact with children in the 

8 course of employment. 

9 ‘‘(G) Foster parents. 

10 ‘‘(H) Court appointed special advocates 

11 (employees and volunteers). 

12 ‘‘(I) Camp and after-school employees. 

13 ‘‘(J) An individual, paid or unpaid, who, 

14 on the basis of the individual’s role as an inte15 gral part of a regularly scheduled program, ac16 tivity, or service, accepts responsibility for a 

17 child. 

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

19 date of enactment of the Working to End Child 

20 Abuse and Neglect Act, the Secretary shall submit 

21 to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

22 Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Edu23 cation and Labor of the House of Representatives a 

24 report containing the findings of the study required 

25 by this subsection, including any best practices reVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:12 May 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1666.IH H1666

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1 lated to the inclusion, as mandatory reporters, of in2 dividuals described in paragraph (1).’’. 

Æ 


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