IB 

Union Calendar No. 530 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4534 

[Report No. 113–699] 

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 

DECEMBER 22, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 30, 2014] 


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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. 


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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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECKS. 

7 Section 408 of the Indian Child Protection and Fam8 ily Violence Prevention Act (25 U.S.C. 3207) is amended 

9 by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(d) BY TRIBAL SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY FOR FOS11 TER CARE PLACEMENTS IN TRIBAL COURT PRO12 CEEDINGS.— 

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

14 ‘‘(A) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘cov15 ered individual’ includes— 

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

17 older; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) any individual who an Indian 

19 tribe described in paragraph (2)(A) deter20 mines is subject to a criminal records checks 

21 under that paragraph. 

22 ‘‘(B) FOSTER CARE PLACEMENT.—The term 

23 ‘foster care placement’ means any action remov24 ing an Indian child from a parent or Indian 

25 custodian for temporary placement in a foster 


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1 home or institution or the home of a guardian 

2 or conservator if— 

3 ‘‘(i) the parent or Indian custodian 

4 cannot have the child returned on demand; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(ii) parental rights have not been ter7 minated. 

8 ‘‘(C) INDIAN CUSTODIAN.—The term ‘In9 dian custodian’ means any Indian— 

10 ‘‘(i) who has legal custody of an In11 dian child under tribal law or custom or 

12 under State law; or 

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

14 custody, and control has been transferred by 

15 the parent of the child. 

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

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

18 child; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) any Indian who has lawfully 

20 adopted an Indian child, including adop21 tions under tribal law or custom. 

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

23 court’ means a court— 

24 ‘‘(i) with jurisdiction over foster care 

25 placements; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) that is— 

2 ‘‘(I) a Court of Indian Offenses; 

3 ‘‘(II) a court established and oper4 ated under the code or custom of an 

5 Indian tribe; or 

6 ‘‘(III) any other administrative 

7 body of a tribe that is vested with au8 thority over foster care placements. 

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

10 The term ‘tribal social services agency’ means the 

11 agency of the Federal Government or of an In12 dian tribe described in paragraph (2)(A) that 

13 has the primary responsibility for carrying out 

14 foster care services or approval (as of the date on 

15 which the proceeding described in paragraph 

16 (2)(A) commences) of the Indian tribe. 

17 ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECKS BEFORE

18 PLACEMENT.— 

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

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

21 finally approved until the tribal social services 

22 agency— 

23 ‘‘(i) completes a criminal records check 

24 of each covered individual who resides in 

25 the household or is employed at the instituVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Dec 24, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4534.RH H4534

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1 tion in which the foster care placement will 

2 be made; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) concludes that each covered indi4 vidual described in clause (i) meets such 

5 standards as the Indian tribe shall establish 

6 in accordance with subparagraph (B). 

7 ‘‘(B) STANDARDS OF PLACEMENT.—The 

8 standards described in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

9 shall include— 

10 ‘‘(i) requirements that each tribal so11 cial services agency described in subpara12 graph (A)— 

13 ‘‘(I) perform criminal records 

14 checks, including fingerprint-based 

15 checks of national crime information 

16 databases (as defined in section 

17 534(f)(3) of title 28, United States 

18 Code); and 

19 ‘‘(II) check any child abuse and 

20 neglect registry maintained by the 

21 State, and tribal abuse registries if 

22 they exist, in which the covered indi23 vidual resides for information on the 

24 covered individual, and request any 

25 other State in which the covered indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Dec 24, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4534.RH H4534

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1 vidual resided in the preceding 5 

2 years, to enable the tribal social serv3 ices agency to check any child abuse 

4 and neglect registry maintained by 

5 that State for 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 has been 

15 found by a Federal, State, or tribal court to have 

16 committed any crime listed in clause (i) or (ii) 

17 of section 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Security 

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

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

20 paragraph (3), the tribal social services agency 

21 shall satisfy the requirements of clauses (i) and 

22 (ii) of subparagraph (A) before issuing a final 

23 foster care license. 

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

25 shall not apply to an emergency foster care placeVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Dec 24, 2014 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4534.RH H4534

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1 ment, as determined by Tribal Social Services Agency 

2 described in paragraph (2)(A). 

3 ‘‘(4) RECERTIFICATION OF FOSTER HOMES OR

4 INSTITUTIONS.— 

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

6 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

7 each Indian tribe shall establish procedures to re8 certify homes or institutions in which foster care 

9 placements are made. 

10 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The procedures described 

11 in subparagraph (A) shall include, at a min12 imum, periodic intervals at which the home or 

13 institution shall be subject to recertification to 

14 ensure— 

15 ‘‘(i) the safety of the home or institu16 tion for the Indian child; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) that each covered individual who 

18 resides in the home or is employed at the 

19 institution is subject to a criminal records 

20 check in accordance with this subsection, in21 cluding any covered individual who— 

22 ‘‘(I) resides in the home or is em23 ployed at the institution on the date on 

24 which the procedures established under 

25 subparagraph (A) commences; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) did not reside in the home 

2 or was not employed at the institution 

3 on the date on which the investigation 

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

5 completed. 

6 ‘‘(C) GUIDANCE ISSUED BY THE SEC7 RETARY.—The procedures established under sub8 paragraph (A) shall be subject to any regulation 

9 promulgated or guidance issued by the Secretary 

10 that is in accordance with the purpose of this 

11 subsection. 

12 ‘‘(5) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year after the 

13 date of enactment of this subsection and after con14 sultation with Indian tribes, the Secretary shall pro15 mulgate guidance regarding— 

16 ‘‘(A) procedures for a criminal records check 

17 of any covered individual who— 

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

19 at the institution in which the foster care 

20 placement is made after the date on which 

21 the investigation described in paragraph 

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

23 ‘‘(ii) was not the subject of an inves24 tigation described in paragraph (2)(A)(i) 

25 before the foster care placement was made; 


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

2 care homes or institutions in which any covered 

3 individual described in subparagraph (A) resides 

4 if the head of the household or the operator of the 

5 institution has knowledge that the covered indi6 vidual— 

7 ‘‘(i) has been found by a Federal, 

8 State, or tribal court to have committed any 

9 crime listed in clause (i) or (ii) of section 

10 471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 

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

12 ‘‘(ii) is listed on a registry described in 

13 paragraph (2)(B)(i)(II); 

14 ‘‘(C) procedures and guidelines for emer15 gency foster care placements under paragraph 

16 (3); and 

17 ‘‘(D) procedures for certifying compliance 

18 with this Act.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 530 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4534 

[Report No. 113–699] 

A BILL 

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 

DECEMBER 22, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS