I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4534 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2014 

Mr. CRAMER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CHARACTER INVESTIGATIONS. 

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 an Indian 

14 tribe described in paragraph (2)(A) deter15 mines is subject to a character investiga16 tion under that paragraph. 

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 


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1 ‘‘(ii) parental rights have not been 

2 terminated. 

3 ‘‘(C) INDIAN CUSTODIAN.—The term ‘In4 dian custodian’ means any Indian— 

5 ‘‘(i) who has legal custody of an In6 dian child under tribal law or custom or 

7 under State law; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) to whom temporary physical 

9 care, custody, and control has been trans10 ferred by the parent of the child. 

11 ‘‘(D) PARENT.—The term ‘parent’ 

12 means— 

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

14 child; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) any Indian who has lawfully 

16 adopted an Indian child, including adop17 tions under tribal law or custom. 

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

19 court’ means a court— 

20 ‘‘(i) with jurisdiction over foster care 

21 placements; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) that is— 

23 ‘‘(I) a Court of Indian Offenses; 


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1 ‘‘(II) a court established and op2 erated under the code or custom of an 

3 Indian tribe; or 

4 ‘‘(III) any other administrative 

5 body of a tribe that is vested with au6 thority over foster care placements. 

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

8 The term ‘tribal social services agency’ means 

9 the agency of the Federal Government or of an 

10 Indian tribe described in paragraph (2)(A) that 

11 has the primary responsibility for carrying out 

12 foster care services (as of the date on which the 

13 proceeding described in paragraph (2)(A) com14 mences) on the Indian reservation of the Indian 

15 tribe. 

16 ‘‘(2) CHARACTER INVESTIGATIONS BEFORE

17 PLACEMENT.— 

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

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

20 ordered in any proceeding over which an Indian 

21 tribe has exclusive jurisdiction until the tribal 

22 social services agency— 

23 ‘‘(i) completes an investigation of the 

24 character of each covered individual who 

25 resides in the household or is employed at 


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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 of character as the Indian tribe 

6 shall establish in accordance with subpara7 graph (B). 

8 ‘‘(B) STANDARDS OF CHARACTER.—The 

9 standards of character described in subpara10 graph (A)(ii) shall include— 

11 ‘‘(i) requirements that each tribal so12 cial services agency described in subpara13 graph (A)— 

14 ‘‘(I) perform criminal records 

15 checks, including fingerprint-based 

16 checks of national crime information 

17 databases (as defined in section 

18 534(f)(3) of title 28, United States 

19 Code); and 

20 ‘‘(II) check any child abuse and 

21 neglect registry maintained by the 

22 State in which the covered individual 

23 resides for information on the covered 

24 individual, and request any other 

25 State in which the covered individual 


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1 resided in the preceding 5 years, to 

2 enable the tribal social services agency 

3 to check any child abuse and neglect 

4 registry maintained by that State for 

5 such information; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) any other additional requirement 

7 that the Indian tribe determines is nec8 essary. 

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

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

11 ordered in any proceeding described in subpara12 graph (A) if an investigation described in clause 

13 (i) of that subparagraph reveals that a covered 

14 individual described in that clause— 

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

16 State, or tribal court to have committed 

17 any crime listed in clause (i) or (ii) of sec18 tion 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Security 

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

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

21 in subparagraph (B)(i)(II). 

22 ‘‘(D) DEADLINE.—Except as provided in 

23 paragraph (3), the tribal social services agency 

24 shall satisfy the requirements of clauses (i) and 

25 (ii) of subparagraph (A) not later than 14 days 


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1 after the date on which the proceeding de2 scribed in subparagraph (A) commences. 

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

4 shall not apply to an emergency foster care place5 ment, as determined by an Indian tribe described in 

6 paragraph (2)(A). 

7 ‘‘(4) RECERTIFICATION OF FOSTER HOMES OR

8 INSTITUTIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

10 days after the date of enactment of this sub11 section, each Indian tribe shall establish proce12 dures to recertify homes or institutions in which 

13 foster 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 character inves24 tigation 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) REGULATIONS PROMULGATED OR

12 GUIDANCE ISSUED BY THE SECRETARY.—The 

13 procedures established under subparagraph (A) 

14 shall be subject to any regulation promulgated 

15 or guidance issued by the Secretary that is in 

16 accordance with the purpose of this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(5) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after the date of enactment of this subsection and 

19 after consultation with Indian tribes, the Secretary 

20 shall promulgate a regulation regarding— 

21 ‘‘(A) procedures for a character investiga22 tion 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 paragraph (2)(B)(i)(II); 

19 ‘‘(C) procedures and guidelines for emer20 gency foster care placements under paragraph 

21 (3); and 

22 ‘‘(D) procedures for certifying compliance 

23 with this Act.’’. 

Æ 


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