II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3708 

To encourage reporting of child abuse. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 21, 2012 

Mr. KYL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To encourage reporting of child abuse. 

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 ‘‘Stop Abuse For Every 

5 Child Act of 2012’’ or the ‘‘SAFE Child Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL SPECIAL ASSESSMENT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 20 of title 18, United 

8 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 3013 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 3014. Additional special assessment 

11 ‘‘(a) In addition to the assessment imposed under 

12 section 3013, the court shall assess on any person other 


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1 than an individual convicted of an offense against the 

2 United States an amount equal to 3 times the amount that 

3 would be assessed on a person under section 3013 for the 

4 same offense. 

5 ‘‘(b) There is established in the Treasury a fund, to 

6 be known as the ‘Surcharge Fund’ (referred to in this sec7 tion as the ‘Fund’), to be administered by the Secretary 

8 of Health and Human Services. 

9 ‘‘(c) Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, or any 

10 other law regarding the crediting of money received for 

11 the Government, there shall be deposited in the Fund an 

12 amount equal to the amount of the assessments collected 

13 under this section, which shall remain available until ex14 pended. 

15 ‘‘(d) From amounts in the Fund, and without further 

16 appropriation, the Secretary of Health and Human Serv17 ices shall, for fiscal year 2013, and every 3 fiscal years 

18 thereafter, award a competitive grant with a grant period 

19 of 3 years and in the amount of $1,000,000 for each year 

20 to a private nonprofit organization that has a successful 

21 multi-year record of operating a national child abuse hot22 line, which shall be used— 

23 ‘‘(1) to operate such a hotline, which shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a 

25 week, with individuals answering calls; 


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1 ‘‘(B) be staffed by individuals that are 

2 trained to handle crisis counseling and child 

3 abuse and neglect inquiries, including individ4 uals with a background or advanced degrees in 

5 counseling, mental health, social work, or other 

6 related fields; 

7 ‘‘(C) have the ability to provide assistance 

8 to callers in multiple languages; 

9 ‘‘(D) have chat or text message capability 

10 to increase access and participation for children 

11 and youth who may not be as likely to call on 

12 a telephone; and 

13 ‘‘(E) provide— 

14 ‘‘(i) assistance in reporting incidences 

15 of child abuse and neglect; 

16 ‘‘(ii) crisis counseling; 

17 ‘‘(iii) referrals to relevant resources in 

18 the caller’s community; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) education and resources on the 

20 signs and symptoms of abuse, risk factors, 

21 parenting concerns, and adult survivor 

22 issues; and 

23 ‘‘(2) to encourage reporting of child abuse and 

24 conduct public education on child abuse. 


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1 ‘‘(e)(1) Effective on the day after the date on which 

2 an award is made under subsection (d), or, for a fiscal 

3 year in which no award is made under subsection (d), ef4 fective on September 30 of that fiscal year, all unobligated 

5 balances in the Fund shall be transferred to the Crime 

6 Victims Fund established under section 1402 of the Vic7 tims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601). 

8 ‘‘(2) Amounts transferred under paragraph (1)— 

9 ‘‘(A) shall be available for any authorized pur10 pose of the Crime Victims Fund; and 

11 ‘‘(B) shall remain available until expended. 

12 ‘‘(f) The amount assessed under subsection (a) shall 

13 be collected in the manner that fines are collected in crimi14 nal cases. 

15 ‘‘(g) The obligation to pay an assessment imposed on 

16 or after the date of enactment of the SAFE Child Act 

17 shall not cease until the assessment is paid in full.’’. 

18 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

19 The table of sections for chapter 20 of title 18, United 

20 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat21 ing to section 3013 the following: 

‘‘3014. Additional special assessment.’’. 

Æ 


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