I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1738 

To assure the safety of American children in foreign-based and domestic 

institutions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 20, 2005 

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. OWENS, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in 

addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To assure the safety of American children in foreign-based 

and domestic institutions, 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 ‘‘End Institutionalized 

5 Abuse Against Children Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to assure the safety and 

8 welfare of American children residing in foreign-based in-
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1 stitutions, the Attorney General shall seek the cooperation 

2 of appropriate foreign authorities in order to investigate 

3 such facilities or institutions periodically. Such an inves4 tigation shall include a determination of the institution’s 

5 compliance with any local safety, health, sanitation and 

6 educational laws and regulations, including all licensing 

7 requirements applicable to the staff of the institution and 

8 compliance with this section. The Attorney General shall 

9 seek the cooperation of appropriate foreign authorities to 

10 remedy any threat to the safety or welfare of those chil11 dren, discovered through such an investigation. 

12 (b) RULES AND ENFORCEMENT.—(1) The Attorney 

13 General shall make rules to protect the safety and 

14 wellbeing of American children who are kept in a foreign 

15 based institution for purposes of behavior modification. 

16 (2) Whoever, being a United States citizen or na17 tional, or other private entity organized under the laws 

18 of the United States or of any State or political subdivi19 sion of the United States, violates a rule made under this 

20 subsection shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed 

21 $50,000. 

22 (c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

23 (1) the term ‘‘foreign-based institution’’ means 

24 any facility or institution— 
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1 (A) owned, operated, or managed by a 

2 United States citizen or other private entity or3 ganized under the laws of the United States; 

4 and 

5 (B) for persons, including persons who are 

6 residing in such facility or institution, for pur7 poses of receiving care or treatment or behavior 

8 modification; and 

9 (2) the term ‘‘American children’’ means Amer10 ican citizens or nationals 18 years of age or younger. 

11 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO DEPARTMENT OF STATE’S COUN12 TRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRAC13 TICES. 

14 (a) PART I OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF

15 1961.—Section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

16 (22 U.S.C. 2151n) is amended by adding at the end the 

17 following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(g)(1) The report required by subsection (d) shall 

19 include, wherever applicable, a description of the nature 

20 and extent of child abuse or human rights violations 

21 against persons who are 18 years of age or younger at 

22 institutions described in paragraph (2) that are located 

23 in each foreign country. 

24 ‘‘(2) An institution referred to in paragraph (1) is 

25 a facility or institution— 
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1 ‘‘(A) owned, operated, or managed by a United 

2 States citizen or other private entity organized under 

3 the laws of the United States; and 

4 ‘‘(B) for persons, including persons who are re5 siding in such facility or institution, for purposes of 

6 receiving care or treatment or behavior modifica7 tion.’’. 

8 (b) PART II OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF

9 1961.—Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

10 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(i)(1) The report required by subsection (b) shall in13 clude, wherever applicable, a description of the nature and 

14 extent of child abuse or human rights violations against 

15 persons who are 18 years of age or younger at institutions 

16 described in paragraph (2) that are located in each foreign 

17 country. 

18 ‘‘(2) An institution referred to in paragraph (1) is 

19 a facility or institution— 

20 ‘‘(A) owned, operated, or managed by a United 

21 States citizen or other private entity organized under 

22 the laws of the United States; and 

23 ‘‘(B) for persons, including persons who are re24 siding in such facility or institution, for purposes of 
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1 receiving care or treatment or behavior modifica2 tion.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO SUPPORT INSPECTIONS OF CHILD RESI4 DENTIAL TREATMENT FACILITIES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Child Abuse Prevention and 

6 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new title: 

8 ‘‘TITLE III—GRANTS TO STATES 

9 TO SUPPORT INSPECTIONS 

10 OF CHILD RESIDENTIAL 

11 TREATMENT FACILITIES 

12 ‘‘SEC. 301. GRANTS TO STATES. 

13 ‘‘The Secretary is authorized to make grants to 

14 States to support inspections of child residential treatment 

15 facilities. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 302. APPLICATION. 

17 ‘‘The Secretary may not make a grant to a State 

18 under section 301 unless the State submits to the Sec19 retary an application for the grant at such time, in such 

20 form and manner, and containing such information as the 

21 Secretary may reasonably require. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 303. ELIGIBILITY. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not make a 

24 grant to a State under section 301 unless the State has 

25 in effect laws to require the licensing of child residential 
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1 treatment facilities in accordance with the requirements 

2 of subsection (b) and the State is enforcing such State 

3 laws in accordance with the requirements of subsection 

4 (c). 

5 ‘‘(b) LICENSING REQUIREMENTS.—The licensing re6 quirements referred to in subsection (a) are the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) The State requires any person who oper8 ates a child residential treatment facility to be 

9 issued a license for the operation of the facility, and 

10 the license is in effect. 

11 ‘‘(2) The facility meets applicable standards of 

12 the State for the provision of treatment services for 

13 children with emotional, psychological, develop14 mental, or behavioral dysfunctions, impairments, or 

15 chemical dependencies. 

16 ‘‘(3) In the case of each child who is a resident 

17 of the facility and whose domicile is another State, 

18 the facility meets the standards of such other State 

19 for the operation of such a facility, including any li20 censing standards. 

21 ‘‘(4) With respect to State law that prohibits 

22 the physical or mental abuse of children and the ne23 glect of children, the law of the State in which the 

24 facility is located applies to the facility standards for 

25 the care of children who are residents of the facility, 
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1 including enforcement standards, that are equivalent 

2 to the standards applied by the State to parents or 

3 legal guardians. 

4 ‘‘(5) The State requires periodic, unannounced 

5 inspections of the facility to determine compliance 

6 with applicable law, including law regarding the li7 censing of health professionals and law regarding 

8 the standards referred to in paragraph (4). 

9 ‘‘(c) ENFORCEMENT REQUIREMENTS.—The enforce10 ment requirements referred to in subsection (a) are the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

13 ‘‘(A) CIVIL PENALTY.—A person who oper14 ates a child residential treatment facility in vio15 lation of the requirements under subsection (b) 

16 is subject to a civil penalty of $250 per day 

17 until the violation is corrected, except that the 

18 number of days for which the penalty is as19 sessed may not exceed 60 days. 

20 ‘‘(B) ORDER TO TERMINATE OPER21 ATIONS.—With respect to a violation of the re22 quirements under subsection (b), if a civil pen23 alty under subparagraph (A) for the violation is 

24 assessed for 60 days, the State orders that the 
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1 child residential treatment facility involved ter2 minate all operations. 

3 ‘‘(2) ABUSE OR NEGLECT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) CIVIL PENALTY.—If a child residen5 tial treatment facility engages in the abuse or 

6 neglect of a child who is a resident of the facil7 ity, each person who owns or operates the facil8 ity, and each of the officers, employees, or con9 tractors thereof who engaged in the abuse or 

10 neglect, is subject to a civil penalty for each 

11 such violation in an amount determined by the 

12 State, but not less than $20,000 for all viola13 tions adjudicated in a single proceeding. 

14 ‘‘(B) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—If a child resi15 dential treatment facility engages in the abuse 

16 or neglect of a child who is a resident of the fa17 cility, each person who owns or operates the fa18 cility, and each of the officers, employees, or 

19 contractors thereof who engaged in the abuse or 

20 neglect, shall be fined in accordance with title 

21 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more 

22 than five years, or both. 

23 ‘‘(C) ABUSE OR NEGLECT.—For purposes 

24 of subparagraphs (A) and (B), the term ‘abuse 

25 or neglect’, with respect to a child, means a 
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1 knowing act or omission that the officer, em2 ployee, or contractor involved knows or should 

3 know will result in death, serious physical or 

4 emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or 

5 will present an imminent risk of serious harm. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 304. USE OF FUNDS. 

7 ‘‘A State that receives a grant under section 301 shall 

8 use amounts under the grant to— 

9 ‘‘(1) hire and train individuals who have appro10 priate expertise in the health profession, including 

11 the mental health profession, to carry out periodic, 

12 unannounced inspections of child residential treat13 ment facilities in accordance with section 303(b)(5); 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(2) collect and maintain data from the inspec16 tions of such child residential treatment facilities to 

17 be included in the report required by section 306. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 305. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT. 

19 ‘‘A State that receives a grant under section 301 shall 

20 use amounts under the grant only to supplement the level 

21 of non-Federal funds that, in the absence of amounts 

22 under the grant, would be expended for activities author23 ized under the grant, and not to supplant those non-Fed24 eral funds. 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 306. REPORT. 

2 ‘‘The Secretary may not make a grant to a State 

3 under section 301 unless the State agrees that it will sub4 mit to the Secretary for each fiscal year for which it re5 ceives a grant under such section a report that contains 

6 such information as the Secretary may reasonably require, 

7 including a detailed description of the number of child res8 idential treatment facilities located in the State, the num9 ber of children residing at such facilities, the State domi10 cile of each child prior to entry at such a facility, and the 

11 age, gender, and disability (if any) of each child at such 

12 a facility. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 307. DEFINITIONS. 

14 ‘‘In this title: 

15 ‘‘(1) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an indi16 vidual 18 years of age or younger. 

17 ‘‘(2) CHILD RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FACIL18 ITY; FACILITY.—The term ‘child residential treat19 ment facility’ or ‘facility’ means a facility that— 

20 ‘‘(A) provides a 24-hour group living envi21 ronment for one or more children who are unre22 lated to the owner or operator of the facility; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(B) offers for the children room or board 

25 and specialized treatment, behavior modifica26 tion, rehabilitation, discipline, emotional growth 
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1 or rehabilitation services for youths with emo2 tional, psychological, developmental, or behav3 ioral dysfunctions, impairments, or chemical de4 pendencies. 

5 ‘‘(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

6 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

7 ‘‘(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

8 the several States, the District of Columbia, and the 

9 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 308. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

12 this title $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 

13 and 2007.’’. 

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

15 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

‘‘TITLE III—GRANTS TO STATES TO SUPPORT INSPECTIONS OF 

CHILD RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FACILITIES 

‘‘Sec. 301. Grants to States. 

‘‘Sec. 302. Application. 

‘‘Sec. 303. Eligibility. 

‘‘Sec. 304. Use of funds. 

‘‘Sec. 305. Maintenance of effort. 

‘‘Sec. 306. Report. 

‘‘Sec. 307. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 308. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

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