114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 184 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Native American Chil3 dren’s Safety Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECKS. 

5 Section 408 of the Indian Child Protection and Fam6 ily Violence Prevention Act (25 U.S.C. 3207) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following: 

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

9 FOSTER CARE PLACEMENTS IN TRIBAL COURT PRO10 CEEDINGS.— 

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

12 ‘‘(A) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term 

13 ‘covered individual’ includes— 

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

15 older; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) any individual who the tribal so17 cial services agency determines is subject 

18 to a criminal records check under para19 graph (2)(A). 

20 ‘‘(B) FOSTER CARE PLACEMENT.—The 

21 term ‘foster care placement’ means any action 

22 removing an Indian child from a parent or In23 dian custodian for temporary placement in a 

24 foster home or institution or the home of a 

25 guardian or conservator if— 
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1 ‘‘(i) the parent or Indian custodian 

2 cannot have the child returned on demand; 

3 and 

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

5 terminated; or 

6 ‘‘(II) parental rights have been termi7 nated but the child has not been perma8 nently placed. 

9 ‘‘(C) INDIAN CUSTODIAN.—The term ‘In10 dian custodian’ means any Indian— 

11 ‘‘(i) who has legal custody of an In12 dian child under tribal law or custom or 

13 under State law; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) to whom temporary physical 

15 care, custody, and control has been trans16 ferred by the parent of the child. 

17 ‘‘(D) PARENT.—The term ‘parent’ 

18 means— 

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

20 child; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) any Indian who has lawfully 

22 adopted an Indian child, including adop23 tions under tribal law or custom. 

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

25 court’ means a court— 
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1 ‘‘(i) with jurisdiction over foster care 

2 placements; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) that is— 

4 ‘‘(I) a Court of Indian Offenses; 

5 ‘‘(II) a court established and op6 erated under the code or custom of an 

7 Indian tribe; or 

8 ‘‘(III) any other administrative 

9 body of an Indian tribe that is vested 

10 with authority over foster care place11 ments. 

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

13 The term ‘tribal social services agency’ means 

14 the agency of an Indian tribe that has the pri15 mary responsibility for carrying out foster care 

16 licensing or approval (as of the date on which 

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

18 commences) for the Indian tribe. 

19 ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECK BEFORE FOS20 TER CARE PLACEMENT.— 

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

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

23 finally approved and no foster care license shall 

24 be issued until the tribal social services agen25 cy— 
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1 ‘‘(i) completes a criminal records 

2 check of each covered individual who re3 sides in the household or is employed at 

4 the institution in which the foster care 

5 placement will be made; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) concludes that each covered indi7 vidual described in clause (i) meets such 

8 standards as the Indian tribe shall estab9 lish in accordance with subparagraph (B). 

10 ‘‘(B) STANDARDS OF PLACEMENT.—The 

11 standards described in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

12 shall include— 

13 ‘‘(i) requirements that each tribal so14 cial services agency described in subpara15 graph (A)— 

16 ‘‘(I) perform criminal records 

17 checks, including fingerprint-based 

18 checks of national crime information 

19 databases (as defined in section 

20 534(f)(3) of title 28, United States 

21 Code); 

22 ‘‘(II) check any abuse registries 

23 maintained by the Indian tribe; and 

24 ‘‘(III) check any child abuse and 

25 neglect registry maintained by the 
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1 State in which the covered individual 

2 resides for information on the covered 

3 individual, and request any other 

4 State in which the covered individual 

5 resided in the preceding 5 years, to 

6 enable the tribal social services agency 

7 to check any child abuse and neglect 

8 registry maintained by that State for 

9 such information; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) any other additional requirement 

11 that the Indian tribe determines is nec12 essary and permissible within the existing 

13 authority of the Indian tribe, such as the 

14 creation of voluntary agreements with 

15 State entities in order to facilitate the 

16 sharing of information related to the per17 formance of criminal records checks. 

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

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

20 ordered in any proceeding described in subpara21 graph (A) if an investigation described in clause 

22 (i) of that subparagraph reveals that a covered 

23 individual described in that clause has been 

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

25 have committed any crime listed in clause (i) or 
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1 (ii) of section 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Secu2 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(A)). 

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

4 shall not apply to an emergency foster care place5 ment, as determined by a tribal social services agen6 cy. 

7 ‘‘(4) RECERTIFICATION OF FOSTER HOMES OR

8 INSTITUTIONS.— 

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

10 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

11 each Indian tribe shall establish procedures to 

12 recertify homes or institutions in which foster 

13 care placements are made. 

14 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The procedures de15 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall include, at a 

16 minimum, periodic intervals at which the home 

17 or institution shall be subject to recertification 

18 to ensure— 

19 ‘‘(i) the safety of the home or institu20 tion for the Indian child; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) that each covered individual who 

22 resides in the home or is employed at the 

23 institution is subject to a criminal records 

24 check in accordance with this subsection, 

25 including any covered individual who— 
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1 ‘‘(I) resides in the home or is em2 ployed at the institution on the date 

3 on which the procedures established 

4 under subparagraph (A) commences; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(II) did not reside in the home 

7 or was not employed at the institution 

8 on the date on which the investigation 

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

10 completed. 

11 ‘‘(C) GUIDANCE ISSUED BY THE SEC12 RETARY.—The procedures established under 

13 subparagraph (A) shall be subject to any regu14 lation or guidance issued by the Secretary that 

15 is in accordance with the purpose of this sub16 section. 

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

18 the date of enactment of this subsection and after 

19 consultation with Indian tribes, the Secretary shall 

20 issue guidance regarding— 

21 ‘‘(A) procedures for a criminal records 

22 check of any covered individual who— 

23 ‘‘(i) resides in the home or is em24 ployed at the institution in which the fos25 ter care placement is made after the date 
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1 on which the investigation described in 

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

3 ‘‘(ii) was not the subject of an inves4 tigation described in paragraph (2)(A)(i) 

5 before the foster care placement was made; 

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

7 care homes or institutions in which any covered 

8 individual described in subparagraph (A) re9 sides if the head of the household or the oper10 ator of the institution has knowledge that the 

11 covered individual— 

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

13 State, or tribal court to have committed 

14 any crime listed in clause (i) or (ii) of sec15 tion 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Security 

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

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

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

19 (2)(B)(i); 

20 ‘‘(C) promising practices used by Indian 

21 tribes to address emergency foster care place22 ment procedures under paragraph (3); and 
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1 ‘‘(D) procedures for certifying compliance 

2 with this Act.’’. 

Passed the Senate June 1, 2015. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 184 

AN ACT 

To amend the Indian Child Protection and Family 

poses. in tribal court proceedings, and for other purchecks before foster care placements are ordered Violence Prevention Act to require background