I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3972

To ensure that appropriate State social services officers have the authority 

to access certain Federal databases for the purpose of carrying out 

checks in cases of child abuse and neglect and cases of missing children, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2004

Mr. FOLEY (for himself, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. BAKER, Mr. FROST, Mr. 

WEXLER, and Ms. WATSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To ensure that appropriate State social services officers have 

the authority to access certain Federal databases for 

the purpose of carrying out checks in cases of child 

abuse and neglect and cases of missing children, 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 ‘‘Protecting Our Chil5 dren from Violence Act of 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO FEDERAL DATABASES BY STATE SOCIAL 

2 SERVICES OFFICERS FOR CERTAIN PUR3 POSES. 

4 (a) CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS CHECKS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall, 

6 upon request of the chief executive of a State, en7 sure that a covered State social services officer has 

8 the authority for online access to the databases of 

9 the National Crime Information Center of the Fed10 eral Bureau of Investigation and the Interstate Iden11 tification Index for the purpose of carrying out one 

12 or more criminal history records checks. The author13 ity provided under this subsection is limited to a 

14 check of an individual who—

15 (A) resided, whether temporarily or perma16 nently, with a minor—

17 (i) at the time of an actual or alleged 

18 incident of abuse or neglect of that minor; 

19 or 

20 (ii) at a time during which an incident 

21 of abuse or neglect of that minor may have 

22 occurred, as determined by the head of a 

23 State agency responsible for social services; 

24 or 
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1 (B) is the subject of an investigation relat2 ing to an incident of abuse or neglect of a 

3 minor. 

4 (2) ACCESS AGENCY.—The access referred to in 

5 paragraph (1) shall be provided to such officer only 

6 through the control terminal agency relating to such 

7 officer’s State. 

8 (b) MISSING PERSONS CHECKS.—The Attorney Gen9 eral shall ensure that a covered State social services officer 

10 has the authority for ‘‘read only’’ electronic access to the 

11 databases of the National Crime Information Center of 

12 the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the purpose of 

13 carrying out one or more checks of records relating to 

14 missing persons or warrants. A covered State social service 

15 officer shall use such access only for an investigation relat16 ing to a missing child and shall share any information ob17 tained through such access with appropriate Federal, 

18 State, and local law enforcement agencies to assist in the 

19 recovery of that child. 

20 (c) COVERED OFFICERS.—An individual is a covered 

21 State social services officer under subsection (a) or (b), 

22 as applicable, if the head of a State agency responsible 

23 for social services submits to the Attorney General, 

24 through the control terminal agency relating to such offi25 cer’s State—
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1 (1) a certification that the individual—

2 (A) is an officer or employee of that agen3 cy; 

4 (B) has direct charge over minors in the 

5 child welfare system of that State; 

6 (C) is an appropriate individual to have 

7 the authority under subsection (a) or (b), as ap8 plicable; and 

9 (D) has met all Federal standards for ac10 cess, including training, certification, and back11 ground screening; and 

12 (2) such information supporting such certifi13 cation as the Attorney General may require. 

14 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section: 

15 (1) The term ‘‘control terminal agency’’ means 

16 a duly authorized criminal justice agency with direct 

17 access to the National Crime Information Center 

18 telecommunications network providing statewide (or 

19 equivalent) service to its criminal justice users with 

20 respect to the various systems managed by the Fed21 eral Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Justice In22 formation Services Division. 

23 (2) The term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of 

24 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 
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1 any other territory or possession of the United 

2 States. 

3 SEC. 3. ACCESS TO III BY NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING 

4 AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), and 

6 notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Attorney 

7 General shall ensure that the following elements of the 

8 National Center for Missing and Exploited Children each 

9 have access to the Interstate Identification Index: 

10 (1) The Case Analysis Division. 

11 (2) The Missing Children’s Division. 

12 (3) The Exploited Child Unit. 

13 (b) LIMITATION.—In providing access to an element 

14 under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall ensure 

15 that an officer or employee of that element has such access 

16 only if that officer or employee has met all Federal stand17 ards for access, including training, certification, and back18 ground screening. 

19 SEC. 4. PRIVACY PROTECTIONS. 

20 (a) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—Information de21 rived as a result of a check under section 2, or as a result 

22 of access under section 3, shall not be adjusted, deleted, 

23 or altered in any way except as required by law for na24 tional security purposes. 
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1 (b) RELEASE OF INFORMATION.—A covered State so2 cial services officer (under section 2(c)) having informa3 tion derived as a result of a check under section 2, or an 

4 officer or employee (under section 3(b)) having informa5 tion derived as a result of access under section 3, may 

6 release that information only to—

7 (1) another covered State social services officer 

8 (under section 2(c)) or another such officer or em9 ployee (under section 3(b)), as the case may be; or 

10 (2) another person authorized by law to receive 

11 that information. 

12 (c) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Any person who know13 ingly releases information in violation of subsection (b) 

14 shall be imprisoned not more than 1 year or fined under 

15 title 18, United States Code, or both.

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