S. 184 

One Hundred Fourteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the fourth day of January, two thousand and sixteen 

An Act 

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. 

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 ‘‘Native American Children’s 

Safety Act’’. 

SEC. 2. CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECKS. 

Section 408 of the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence 

Prevention Act (25 U.S.C. 3207) is amended by adding at the 

end the following: 

‘‘(d) BY TRIBAL SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY FOR FOSTER CARE

PLACEMENTS IN TRIBAL COURT PROCEEDINGS.— 

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

‘‘(A) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘covered individual’ includes— 

‘‘(i) any individual 18 years of age or older; and 

‘‘(ii) any individual who the tribal social services 

agency determines is subject to a criminal records 

check under paragraph (2)(A). 

‘‘(B) FOSTER CARE PLACEMENT.—The term ‘foster care 

placement’ means any action removing an Indian child 

from a parent or Indian custodian for temporary placement 

in a foster home or institution or the home of a guardian 

or conservator if— 

‘‘(i) the parent or Indian custodian cannot have 

the child returned on demand; and 

‘‘(ii)(I) parental rights have not been terminated; 

or 

‘‘(II) parental rights have been terminated but the 

child has not been permanently placed. 

‘‘(C) INDIAN CUSTODIAN.—The term ‘Indian custodian’ 

means any Indian— 

‘‘(i) who has legal custody of an Indian child under 

tribal law or custom or under State law; or 

‘‘(ii) to whom temporary physical care, custody, 

and control has been transferred by the parent of the 

child. 

‘‘(D) PARENT.—The term ‘parent’ means— 

‘‘(i) any biological parent of an Indian child; or 
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‘‘(ii) any Indian who has lawfully adopted an 

Indian child, including adoptions under tribal law or 

custom. 

‘‘(E) TRIBAL COURT.—The term ‘tribal court’ means a 

court— 

‘‘(i) with jurisdiction over foster care placements; 

and 

‘‘(ii) that is— 

‘‘(I) a Court of Indian Offenses; 

‘‘(II) a court established and operated under 

the code or custom of an Indian tribe; or 

‘‘(III) any other administrative body of an 

Indian tribe that is vested with authority over 

foster care placements. 

‘‘(F) TRIBAL SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY.—The term ‘tribal 

social services agency’ means the agency of an Indian tribe 

that has the primary responsibility for carrying out foster 

care licensing or approval (as of the date on which the 

proceeding described in paragraph (2)(A) commences) for 

the Indian tribe. 

‘‘(2) CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECK BEFORE FOSTER CARE PLACEMENT.— 

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

(3), no foster care placement shall be finally approved and 

no foster care license shall be issued until the tribal social 

services agency— 

‘‘(i) completes a criminal records check of each 

covered individual who resides in the household or 

is employed at the institution in which the foster care 

placement will be made; and 

‘‘(ii) concludes that each covered individual 

described in clause (i) meets such standards as the 

Indian tribe shall establish in accordance with 

subparagraph (B). 

‘‘(B) STANDARDS OF PLACEMENT.—The standards 

described in subparagraph (A)(ii) shall include— 

‘‘(i) requirements that each tribal social services 

agency described in subparagraph (A)— 

‘‘(I) perform criminal records checks, including 

fingerprint-based checks of national crime information databases (as defined in section 534(f)(3) of 

title 28, United States Code); 

‘‘(II) check any abuse registries maintained 

by the Indian tribe; and 

‘‘(III) check any child abuse and neglect registry maintained by the State in which the covered 

individual resides for information on the covered 

individual, and request any other State in which 

the covered individual resided in the preceding 

5 years, to enable the tribal social services agency 

to check any child abuse and neglect registry maintained by that State for such information; and 

‘‘(ii) any other additional requirement that the 

Indian tribe determines is necessary and permissible 

within the existing authority of the Indian tribe, such 

as the creation of voluntary agreements with State 
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entities in order to facilitate the sharing of information 

related to the performance of criminal records checks. 

‘‘(C) RESULTS.—Except as provided in paragraph (3), 

no foster care placement shall be ordered in any proceeding 

described in subparagraph (A) if an investigation described 

in clause (i) of that subparagraph reveals that a covered 

individual described in that clause has been found by a 

Federal, State, or tribal court to have committed any crime 

listed in clause (i) or (ii) of section 471(a)(20)(A) of the 

Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(A)). 

‘‘(3) EMERGENCY PLACEMENT.—Paragraph (2) shall not 

apply to an emergency foster care placement, as determined 

by a tribal social services agency. 

‘‘(4) RECERTIFICATION OF FOSTER HOMES OR INSTITUTIONS.— 

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

date of enactment of this subsection, each Indian tribe 

shall establish procedures to recertify homes or institutions 

in which foster care placements are made. 

‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The procedures described in subparagraph (A) shall include, at a minimum, periodic intervals 

at which the home or institution shall be subject to recertification to ensure— 

‘‘(i) the safety of the home or institution for the 

Indian child; and 

‘‘(ii) that each covered individual who resides in 

the home or is employed at the institution is subject 

to a criminal records check in accordance with this 

subsection, including any covered individual who— 

‘‘(I) resides in the home or is employed at 

the institution on the date on which the procedures 

established under subparagraph (A) commences; 

and 

‘‘(II) did not reside in the home or was not 

employed at the institution on the date on which 

the investigation described in paragraph (2)(A)(i) 

was completed. 

‘‘(C) GUIDANCE ISSUED BY THE SECRETARY.—The procedures established under subparagraph (A) shall be subject 

to any regulation or guidance issued by the Secretary that 

is in accordance with the purpose of this subsection. 

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

of enactment of this subsection and after consultation with 

Indian tribes, the Secretary shall issue guidance regarding— 

‘‘(A) procedures for a criminal records check of any 

covered individual who— 

‘‘(i) resides in the home or is employed at the 

institution in which the foster care placement is made 

after the date on which the investigation described 

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

‘‘(ii) was not the subject of an investigation 

described in paragraph (2)(A)(i) before the foster care 

placement was made; 

‘‘(B) self-reporting requirements for foster care homes 

or institutions in which any covered individual described 

in subparagraph (A) resides if the head of the household 

or the operator of the institution has knowledge that the 

covered individual— 
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‘‘(i) has been found by a Federal, State, or tribal 

court to have committed any crime listed in clause 

(i) or (ii) of section 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Security 

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

‘‘(ii) is listed on a registry described in clause (II) 

or (III) of paragraph (2)(B)(i); 

‘‘(C) promising practices used by Indian tribes to 

address emergency foster care placement procedures under 

paragraph (3); and 

‘‘(D) procedures for certifying compliance with this 

Act.’’. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.