II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 184 

To amend the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act 

to require background checks before foster care placements are ordered 

in tribal court proceedings, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 16, 2015 

Mr. HOEVEN (for himself and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence 

Prevention Act to require background checks before foster care placements are ordered in tribal court proceedings, 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 ‘‘Native American Chil5 dren’s Safety Act’’. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 184 IS

1 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECKS. 

2 Section 408 of the Indian Child Protection and Fam3 ily Violence Prevention Act (25 U.S.C. 3207) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(d) BY TRIBAL SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY FOR

6 FOSTER CARE PLACEMENTS IN TRIBAL COURT PRO7 CEEDINGS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

9 ‘‘(A) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term 

10 ‘covered individual’ includes— 

11 ‘‘(i) any individual 18 years of age or 

12 older; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) any individual who the tribal so14 cial services agency determines is subject 

15 to a criminal records check under para16 graph (2)(A). 

17 ‘‘(B) FOSTER CARE PLACEMENT.—The 

18 term ‘foster care placement’ means any action 

19 removing an Indian child from a parent or In20 dian custodian for temporary placement in a 

21 foster home or institution or the home of a 

22 guardian or conservator if— 

23 ‘‘(i) the parent or Indian custodian 

24 cannot have the child returned on demand; 

25 and 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 184 IS

1 ‘‘(ii)(I) parental rights have not been 

2 terminated; or 

3 ‘‘(II) parental rights have been termi4 nated but the child has not been perma5 nently placed. 

6 ‘‘(C) INDIAN CUSTODIAN.—The term ‘In7 dian custodian’ means any Indian— 

8 ‘‘(i) who has legal custody of an In9 dian child under tribal law or custom or 

10 under State law; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) to whom temporary physical 

12 care, custody, and control has been trans13 ferred by the parent of the child. 

14 ‘‘(D) PARENT.—The term ‘parent’ 

15 means— 

16 ‘‘(i) any biological parent of an Indian 

17 child; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) any Indian who has lawfully 

19 adopted an Indian child, including adop20 tions under tribal law or custom. 

21 ‘‘(E) TRIBAL COURT.—The term ‘tribal 

22 court’ means a court— 

23 ‘‘(i) with jurisdiction over foster care 

24 placements; and 

25 ‘‘(ii) that is— 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 184 IS

1 ‘‘(I) a Court of Indian Offenses; 

2 ‘‘(II) a court established and op3 erated under the code or custom of an 

4 Indian tribe; or 

5 ‘‘(III) any other administrative 

6 body of an Indian tribe that is vested 

7 with authority over foster care place8 ments. 

9 ‘‘(F) TRIBAL SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY.— 

10 The term ‘tribal social services agency’ means 

11 the agency of an Indian tribe that has the pri12 mary responsibility for carrying out foster care 

13 licensing or approval (as of the date on which 

14 the proceeding described in paragraph (2)(A) 

15 commences) for the Indian tribe. 

16 ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECK BEFORE FOS17 TER CARE PLACEMENT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

19 paragraph (3), no foster care placement shall be 

20 finally approved and no foster care license shall 

21 be issued until the tribal social services agen22 cy— 

23 ‘‘(i) completes a criminal records 

24 check of each covered individual who re25 sides in the household or is employed at 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 184 IS

1 the institution in which the foster care 

2 placement will be made; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) concludes that each covered indi4 vidual described in clause (i) meets such 

5 standards as the Indian tribe shall estab6 lish in accordance with subparagraph (B). 

7 ‘‘(B) STANDARDS OF PLACEMENT.—The 

8 standards described in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

9 shall include— 

10 ‘‘(i) requirements that each tribal so11 cial services agency described in subpara12 graph (A)— 

13 ‘‘(I) perform criminal records 

14 checks, including fingerprint-based 

15 checks of national crime information 

16 databases (as defined in section 

17 534(f)(3) of title 28, United States 

18 Code); 

19 ‘‘(II) check any abuse registries 

20 maintained by the Indian tribe; and 

21 ‘‘(III) check any child abuse and 

22 neglect registry maintained by the 

23 State in which the covered individual 

24 resides for information on the covered 

25 individual, and request any other 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 184 IS

1 State in which the covered individual 

2 resided in the preceding 5 years, to 

3 enable the tribal social services agency 

4 to check any child abuse and neglect 

5 registry maintained by that State for 

6 such information; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) any other additional requirement 

8 that the Indian tribe determines is nec9 essary and permissible within the existing 

10 authority of the Indian tribe, such as the 

11 creation of voluntary agreements with 

12 State entities in order to facilitate the 

13 sharing of information related to the per14 formance of criminal records checks. 

15 ‘‘(C) RESULTS.—Except as provided in 

16 paragraph (3), no foster care placement shall be 

17 ordered in any proceeding described in subpara18 graph (A) if an investigation described in clause 

19 (i) of that subparagraph reveals that a covered 

20 individual described in that clause has been 

21 found by a Federal, State, or tribal court to 

22 have committed any crime listed in clause (i) or 

23 (ii) of section 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Secu24 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(A)). 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 184 IS

1 ‘‘(3) EMERGENCY PLACEMENT.—Paragraph (2) 

2 shall not apply to an emergency foster care place3 ment, as determined by a tribal social services agen4 cy. 

5 ‘‘(4) RECERTIFICATION OF FOSTER HOMES OR

6 INSTITUTIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

8 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

9 each Indian tribe shall establish procedures to 

10 recertify homes or institutions in which foster 

11 care placements are made. 

12 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The procedures de13 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall include, at a 

14 minimum, periodic intervals at which the home 

15 or institution shall be subject to recertification 

16 to ensure— 

17 ‘‘(i) the safety of the home or institu18 tion for the Indian child; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) that each covered individual who 

20 resides in the home or is employed at the 

21 institution is subject to a criminal records 

22 check in accordance with this subsection, 

23 including any covered individual who— 

24 ‘‘(I) resides in the home or is em25 ployed at the institution on the date 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 184 IS

1 on which the procedures established 

2 under subparagraph (A) commences; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(II) did not reside in the home 

5 or was not employed at the institution 

6 on the date on which the investigation 

7 described in paragraph (2)(A)(i) was 

8 completed. 

9 ‘‘(C) GUIDANCE ISSUED BY THE SEC10 RETARY.—The procedures established under 

11 subparagraph (A) shall be subject to any regu12 lation or guidance issued by the Secretary that 

13 is in accordance with the purpose of this sub14 section. 

15 ‘‘(5) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 2 years after 

16 the date of enactment of this subsection and after 

17 consultation with Indian tribes, the Secretary shall 

18 issue guidance regarding— 

19 ‘‘(A) procedures for a criminal records 

20 check of any covered individual who— 

21 ‘‘(i) resides in the home or is em22 ployed at the institution in which the fos23 ter care placement is made after the date 

24 on which the investigation described in 

25 paragraph (2)(A)(i) is completed; and 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 184 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) was not the subject of an inves2 tigation described in paragraph (2)(A)(i) 

3 before the foster care placement was made; 

4 ‘‘(B) self-reporting requirements for foster 

5 care homes or institutions in which any covered 

6 individual described in subparagraph (A) re7 sides if the head of the household or the oper8 ator of the institution has knowledge that the 

9 covered individual— 

10 ‘‘(i) has been found by a Federal, 

11 State, or tribal court to have committed 

12 any crime listed in clause (i) or (ii) of sec13 tion 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Security 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(A)); or 

15 ‘‘(ii) is listed on a registry described 

16 in clause (II) or (III) of paragraph 

17 (2)(B)(i); 

18 ‘‘(C) promising practices used by Indian 

19 tribes to address emergency foster care place20 ment procedures under paragraph (3); and 

21 ‘‘(D) procedures for certifying compliance 

22 with this Act.’’. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS