II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2846 

To provide for multidisciplinary teams for military installations on child 

abuse and other domestic violence, to require a pilot program on nurse 

home visits to reduce child abuse and improve safe childcare among 

military families, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 15, 2018 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To provide for multidisciplinary teams for military installations on child abuse and other domestic violence, to 

require a pilot program on nurse home visits to reduce 

child abuse and improve safe childcare among military 

families, 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 ‘‘Military Family Pre5 vention, Response, and Other Training to End Military 

6 Family Abuse and Connect Communities Today Act’’ or 

7 ‘‘Military Family PROTECT Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAMS FOR MILITARY INSTAL2 LATIONS ON CHILD ABUSE AND OTHER DO3 MESTIC VIOLENCE. 

4 (a) MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAMS REQUIRED.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under regulations prescribed 

6 by each Secretary concerned, there shall be estab7 lished and maintained for each military installation, 

8 except as provided in paragraph (2), one or more 

9 multidisciplinary teams on child abuse and other do10 mestic violence for the purposes specified in sub11 section (b). 

12 (2) SINGLE TEAM FOR PROXIMATE INSTALLA13 TIONS.—A single multidiscipinary team described in 

14 paragraph (1) may be established and maintained 

15 under this subsection for two or more military in16 stallations in proximity with one another if the Sec17 retary concerned determines, in consultation with 

18 the Secretary of Defense, that a single team for such 

19 installations suffices to carry out the purposes of 

20 such teams under subsection (b) for such installa21 tions. 

22 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of each multidisci23 plinary team maintained pursuant to subsection (a) shall 

24 be as follows: 

25 (1) To provide for the sharing of information 

26 among such team and other appropriate personnel 


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1 on the installation or installations concerned regard2 ing the progress of investigations into and resolu3 tions of incidents of child abuse and other domestic 

4 violence involving members of the Armed Forces sta5 tioned at or otherwise assigned to the installation or 

6 installations. 

7 (2) To provide for and enhance collaborative ef8 forts among such team and other appropriate per9 sonnel of the installation or installations regarding 

10 investigations into and resolutions of such incidents. 

11 (3) To enhance the social services available to 

12 military families at the installation or installations in 

13 connection with such incidents, including through 

14 the enhancement of cooperation among specialists 

15 and other personnel providing such services to such 

16 military families in connection with such incidents. 

17 (4) To carry out such other duties regarding 

18 the response to child abuse and other domestic vio19 lence at the installation or installations as the Sec20 retary concerned considers appropriate for such pur21 poses. 

22 (c) PERSONNEL.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each multidisciplinary team 

24 maintained pursuant to subsection (a) shall be com25 posed of the following: 


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1 (A) One or more judge advocates. 

2 (B) Appropriate personnel of one or more 

3 military criminal investigation services. 

4 (C) Appropriate mental health profes5 sionals. 

6 (D) Appropriate medical personnel. 

7 (E) Family advocacy case workers. 

8 (F) Such other personnel as the Secretary 

9 or Secretaries concerned consider appropriate. 

10 (2) EXPERTISE AND TRAINING.—Any individual 

11 assigned to a multidisciplinary team shall possess 

12 such expertise, and shall undertake such training as 

13 is required to maintain such expertise, as the Sec14 retary concerned shall specify for purposes of this 

15 section in order to ensure that members of the team 

16 remain appropriately qualified to carry out the pur17 poses of the team under this section. The training 

18 and expertise so specified shall include training and 

19 expertise on special victims’ crimes, including child 

20 abuse and other domestic violence. 

21 (d) ONGOING RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each multidisci22 plinary team maintained pursuant to subsection (a) shall 

23 do the following: 

24 (1) Meet on a regular basis to review ongoing 

25 cases. 


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1 (2) Undertake training of team members on 

2 their various disciplines, including through the use 

3 of civilian experts to provide such training. 

4 (3) Enter into memoranda of understanding 

5 among team members regarding team goals, to de6 fine roles and responsibilities of team members (in7 cluding goals of training), to specify the frequency 

8 and schedule of team meetings, to ensure protection 

9 of confidentiality in team activities, and to specify 

10 protocols and procedures for notification and re11 sponse to incidents of child abuse and other domes12 tic violence (including reporting to local civilian au13 thorities) and the use of child forensic interviews, fo14 rensic medical examinations, safety measures, and 

15 support services in connection with such incidents. 

16 (e) COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION WITH

17 NON-MILITARY RESOURCES.— 

18 (1) USE OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES SERVING

19 INSTALLATIONS.—In providing under this section for 

20 a multidisciplinary team for a military installation or 

21 installations that benefit from services or resources 

22 on child abuse or other domestic violence that are 

23 provided by civilian entities in the vicinity of the in24 stallation or installations, the Secretary concerned 

25 may take the availability of such services or reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:14 May 22, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2846.IS S2846

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1 sources to the installation or installations into ac2 count in providing for the composition and duties of 

3 the team. 

4 (2) BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretaries con5 cerned shall take appropriate actions to ensure that 

6 multidisciplinary teams maintained pursuant to sub7 section (a) remain fully and currently apprised of 

8 best practices in the civilian sector on investigations 

9 into and resolutions of incidents of child abuse and 

10 other domestic violence and on the social services 

11 provided in connection with such incidents. 

12 (3) COLLABORATION.—In providing for the en13 hancement of social services available to military 

14 families in accordance with subsection (b)(3), the 

15 Secretaries concerned shall permit, facilitate, and 

16 encourage multidisciplinary teams to collaborate 

17 with appropriate civilian agencies in the vicinity of 

18 the military installations concerned with regard to 

19 availability, provision, and use of such services to 

20 and by such families. 

21 (f) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than February 28 

22 each year, each Secretary concerned shall submit to Con23 gress a report on the activities of multidisciplinary teams 

24 maintained pursuant to subsection (a) under the jurisdic25 tion of such Secretary during the preceding year. Each 


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1 report shall set forth, for the period covered by such re2 port, the following: 

3 (1) A summary description of the activities of 

4 the multidisciplinary teams concerned, including the 

5 number and composition of such teams, the recur6 ring activities of such teams, and any notable 

7 achievements of such teams. 

8 (2) A description of any impediments to the ef9 fectiveness of such teams. 

10 (3) Such recommendations for legislative or ad11 ministrative action as such Secretary considers ap12 propriate in order to improve the effectiveness of 

13 such teams. 

14 (4) Such other matters with respect to such 

15 teams as such Secretary considers appropriate. 

16 (g) MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM WITHIN OSD.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

18 shall establish and maintain within the Office of the 

19 Secretary of Defense a multidisciplinary team on 

20 child abuse and other domestic violence within the 

21 Department of Defense. The team shall consist of at 

22 least one representative of each Armed Force and 

23 such other personnel as the Secretary shall specify. 


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1 (2) DUTIES.—The multidisciplinary team main2 tained pursuant to this subsections shall do the fol3 lowing: 

4 (A) Identify and make recommendations 

5 on policies to address child abuse and other do6 mestic violence. 

7 (B) Identify and disseminate best practices 

8 in connection with the purposes of multidisci9 plinary teams maintained pursuant to sub10 section (a). 

11 (C) Meet on a regular basis in order to— 

12 (i) review and assess the activities and 

13 effectiveness of multidisciplinary teams 

14 maintained pursuant to subsection (a); and 

15 (ii) in light of such review and assess16 ment, make recommendations for improve17 ments and enhancements of such teams 

18 and the authorities and activities of such 

19 teams. 

20 (D) Carry out such other activities as the 

21 Secretary of Defense considers appropriate. 

22 (h) SECRETARY CONCERNED.— 

23 (1) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term 

24 ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ has the meaning given that 


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1 term in section 101(a)(9) of title 10, United States 

2 Code. 

3 (2) USAGE WITH RESPECT TO MULTIPLE IN4 STALLATIONS.—For purposes of this section, any 

5 reference to ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ with respect to a 

6 single multidisciplinary team established and main7 tained pursuant to subsection (a) for two or more 

8 military installations that are under the jurisdiction 

9 of different Secretaries concerned, shall be deemed 

10 to refer to each Secretary concerned who has juris11 diction of such an installation, acting jointly. 

12 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM ON NURSE HOME VISITS TO RE13 DUCE CHILD ABUSE AND IMPROVE SAFE 

14 CHILDCARE AMONG MILITARY FAMILIES. 

15 (a) PILOT PROGRAM REQUIRED.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

17 shall, acting through the Defense Health Agency, 

18 carry out a pilot program on universal nurse home 

19 visits designed to provide eligible covered bene20 ficiaries and their families training on safe childcare 

21 practices aimed at reducing child abuse and fatali22 ties due to abuse and neglect, assessments of risk 

23 factors for child abuse, and connections with com24 munity resources to meet identified needs. 


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1 (2) SCOPE.—The pilot program shall be de2 signed to facilitate connections between covered 

3 beneficiaries and their families and community serv4 ices and resources (including services and resources 

5 provided by the Department of Defense), and shall 

6 not be designed to replace any other resources cur7 rently available to covered beneficiaries and their 

8 families. The pilot program, including the practices 

9 covered by training pursuant to the pilot program, 

10 shall conform to evidence-based scientific criteria, in11 cluding criteria available through publications in 

12 peer-reviewed scientific journals. 

13 (3) DISCHARGE.—The pilot program shall be 

14 carried out through a contract with an entity se15 lected by the Secretary for purposes of the pilot pro16 gram from among entities capable of meeting the re17 quirements of the pilot program, including the provi18 sion of training for nurses who makes visits under 

19 the pilot program on evidence-based practices in con20 nection universal nurse home visits. 

21 (b) LOCATIONS.—The pilot program required by this 

22 section shall be carried out at military installations se23 lected by the Secretary for purposes of the pilot program 

24 as follows: 


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1 (1) Not fewer than five installations that are lo2 cations of a military medical treatment facility. 

3 (2) Such other installations as the Secretary 

4 considers appropriate from among installations rep5 resenting a range of situations, including installa6 tions in an urban location and a rural location, in7 stallations with a large population and with a small 

8 population, installations currently experiencing high 

9 incidence of child abuse, neglect, or both and low in10 cidence of child abuse, neglect, or both, installations 

11 within the United States and outside the United 

12 States, joint installations, and installations serving 

13 only one Armed Force. 

14 (c) ELEMENTS.—The pilot program shall include the 

15 following: 

16 (1) Between one and three home visits de17 scribed in subsection (f), and not more than seven 

18 other contacts, except in unusual cases (such as de19 ployments), with such home visits by a team led by 

20 a licensed nurse to provide screening, community re21 source referral, and training to eligible covered bene22 ficiaries participating in the pilot program and their 

23 families on the following: 

24 (A) General maternal and infant health. 

25 (B) Safe sleeping environments. 


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1 (C) Feeding and bathing. 

2 (D) Adequate supervision. 

3 (E) Common hazards. 

4 (F) Self-care. 

5 (G) Recognition of post-partum depression, 

6 substance abuse, domestic violence in a mother 

7 or her partner, and community violence. 

8 (H) Skills for management of infant cry9 ing. 

10 (I) Other positive parenting skills and 

11 practices. 

12 (J) The importance of participating in on13 going healthcare for an infant and in ongoing 

14 healthcare for post-partum depression. 

15 (K) Finding, qualifying for, and partici16 pating in available community resources with 

17 respect to infant care, childcare, and parenting 

18 support. 

19 (L) Planning for parenting, co-parenting, 

20 or guardianship of children during deployment. 

21 (M) Such other matters as the Secretary 

22 considers appropriate. 

23 (2) Services and resources on offer or as other24 wise available as described in subsection (g). 


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1 (3) An electronic integrated data system as de2 scribed in subsection (h) relating to— 

3 (A) availability and use of services and re4 sources under the pilot program; 

5 (B) tracking of interactions between teams 

6 described in paragraph (1) and eligible bene7 ficiaries and their families under the pilot pro8 gram; and 

9 (C) evaluation of the effectiveness of the 

10 pilot program. 

11 (d) MEDICAL STAFF.—The Secretary shall ensure 

12 that the pilot program is carried out by licensed medical 

13 staff of the Department, such as obstetrics or pediatric 

14 nursing staff, and not family advocacy staff. 

15 (e) MANDATORY PARTICIPATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graph (2), the Secretary shall require all eligible cov18 ered beneficiaries at military installations at which 

19 the pilot program is carried out to be contacted as 

20 described in subsection (c)(1). 

21 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary shall encour22 age participation by both parents of a child in the 

23 pilot program, but participation by one parent shall 

24 be sufficient to meet the requirement under para25 graph (1). 


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1 (f) HOME VISITS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The home visits described in 

3 subsection (c)(1) shall include the following: 

4 (A) An initial contact made prenatally (ex5 cept when not possible, in which case the con6 tact shall occur in the hospital or birthing loca7 tion as soon after birth as possible) by a team 

8 described in subsection (c)(1), which shall in9 clude screening for the matters specified in that 

10 subsection. 

11 (B) If a parent is deployed at the time of 

12 birth— 

13 (i) the first home visit pursuant to 

14 subparagraph (A) shall, to the extent prac15 ticable, incorporate both parents, in person 

16 with the local parent and by electronic 

17 means (such as Skype or FaceTime) with 

18 the deployed parent; and 

19 (ii) another such home visit shall be 

20 conducted at a reasonable time after the 

21 return of the parent from deployment (in 

22 order to allow for reintegration), and shall 

23 include both parents. 

24 (C) Home visits by a nurse trained in the 

25 practices covered by the pilot program at the 


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1 birth of a child, which visits shall follow a re2 search-based structured clinical protocol. 

3 (2) TIMING OF VISITS.—The home first visit 

4 under paragraph (1) shall occur between two and 

5 five weeks after discharge from hospital or birthing 

6 plan, with appropriate follow-up generally accom7 plished within 2 home visits. 

8 (3) DURATION OF VISITS.—Visits under this 

9 subsection shall have a duration between 90 minutes 

10 and 2 hours. 

11 (4) FINAL VISIT.—Not later than 45 days after 

12 the last visit conducted by a nurse under paragraph 

13 (1) with respect to an eligible covered beneficiary, 

14 appropriate staff shall follow-up with the beneficiary 

15 and the beneficiary’s family to assess if they are 

16 using the services available as described in sub17 section (g). 

18 (g) SERVICES AND RESOURCES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot 

20 program under this section, the Secretary shall— 

21 (A) offer applicable available services and 

22 resources of the Department to eligible covered 

23 beneficiaries participating in the pilot program 

24 and their families based on the particular needs 

25 of the beneficiaries and their families; and 


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1 (B) inform beneficiaries and their families 

2 of applicable services and resources that are 

3 otherwise available in the community concerned 

4 in connection with the pilot program. 

5 (2) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—Participation 

6 by an eligible covered beneficiary and family in any 

7 service or resource offered or available under para8 graph (1) shall be at the election of the beneficiary. 

9 (3) NEEDS ASSESSMENTS OF ELIGIBLE COV10 ERED BENEFICIARIES.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—In offering services and 

12 resources under paragraph (1)(A), the Sec13 retary shall conduct, or attempt to conduct, an 

14 assessment of every eligible covered beneficiary 

15 and beneficiary family participating in the pilot 

16 program, regardless of risk factors, to deter17 mine which services and resources to offer such 

18 beneficiary and family under that paragraph. 

19 (B) PARTICULAR NEEDS.—In conducting 

20 an assessment of an eligible covered beneficiary 

21 and family under subparagraph (A), the Sec22 retary shall assess their needs and eligibility for 

23 particular services and resources and connect 

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1 gible, either within the Department of Defense 

2 or elsewhere. 

3 (h) ELECTRONIC INTEGRATED DATA SYSTEM.—Be4 fore commencing the pilot program, the entity with which 

5 the Secretary contracts under subsection (a)(3) shall de6 velop and deploy an electronic integrated data system, 

7 tailorable to each military installation at which the pilot 

8 program is carried out and created in consultation with 

9 experts in community resources available in the vicinity 

10 of such installation, for purposes of as follows: 

11 (1) To list all services and resources to be of12 fered under subsection (g)(1)(A) to eligible covered 

13 beneficiaries and their families. 

14 (2) To inform beneficiaries and their families 

15 pursuant to subsection (g)(1)(B) of services and re16 sources that are otherwise available in the commu17 nity concerned in connection with the pilot program. 

18 (3) To track interactions between teams de19 scribed in subsection (c)(1) and beneficiaries and 

20 their families under the pilot program. 

21 (4) To track the services and resources used by 

22 beneficiaries and their families under the pilot pro23 gram in order to evaluate the implementation and 

24 impact of the program. 


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1 (5) To otherwise track and assess the effective2 ness of the pilot program. 

3 (i) TWO-YEAR ASSESSMENT.—Two years after the 

4 commencement of the pilot program, the Secretary con5 duct an assessment of the effectiveness of the pilot pro6 gram. 

7 (j) REPORTS.— 

8 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary shall submit to the Committees on Armed 

11 Services of the Senate and the House of Representa12 tives a report on the pilot program required by this 

13 section. The report shall include a comprehensive de14 scription of the pilot program, including the fol15 lowing: 

16 (A) The installations at which the pilot 

17 program is being carried out. 

18 (B) The strategy and metrics for evalu19 ating the effectiveness of the pilot program for 

20 purposes of the report under paragraph (2). 

21 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the completion of the pilot program, the Sec23 retary shall submit to the committees specified in 

24 paragraph (1) a report on the pilot programs. The 

25 report shall include the following: 


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1 (A) A comprehensive description and as2 sessment of the pilot program, including an as3 sessment of each of the following: 

4 (i) The electronic integrated data sys5 tem required by subsection (h). 

6 (ii) The ability of nurses to contact el7 igible covered beneficiaries and families eli8 gible for participation in the pilot program. 

9 (iii) The extent to which families eligi10 ble for participation in the pilot program 

11 actually participate in the pilot program. 

12 (iv) The characteristics of families eli13 gible for participation in the pilot program 

14 that do not participate in the pilot pro15 gram, and summaries of the reasons for 

16 lack of participation. 

17 (v) The ability of nurses to adhere to 

18 the clinical protocols of the pilot program. 

19 (vi) The extent to which families par20 ticipating in the program are being con21 nected to services and resources under the 

22 pilot program. 

23 (vii) The extent to which families par24 ticipating in the pilot program are using 


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1 services and resources under the pilot pro2 gram. 

3 (B) Such recommendations for legislative 

4 or administrative action as the Secretary con5 siders appropriate in light of the pilot program, 

6 including expansion or extension of the pilot 

7 program. 

8 (k) ONGOING EVALUATION.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than three years 

10 after the date of the report required by subsection 

11 (j)(2), and every five years thereafter, the Secretary 

12 shall conduct a scientifically rigorous evaluation of 

13 universal nurse home visits provided in accordance 

14 with this section, using administrative records, in 

15 order to assess the effectiveness of such visits in— 

16 (A) reducing incidence of child abuse and 

17 neglect and fatalities due to abuse and neglect; 

18 and 

19 (B) reducing emergency health care utiliza20 tion for child injuries. 

21 (2) SCOPE OF EVALUATION.—Each evaluation 

22 shall include a review of available referrals to the 

23 Family Advocacy Program, child hospital adminis24 tration records, community-wide child protective 

25 service investigations, and such other indicators and 


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1 sources of information as the Secretary considers ap2 propriate. 

3 (l) IMPLEMENTATION DEFENSE-WIDE.—If the Sec4 retary determines as a result of the pilot program that 

5 any element of the pilot program is effective, the Secretary 

6 shall take appropriate actions to implement the pilot pro7 gram as a program throughout and across the military 

8 installations of the Department. 

9 (m) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) The term ‘‘community’’, with respect to a 

11 military installation, means the catchment area for 

12 community services of the installation, including 

13 services provided on the installation and services 

14 provided by State, county, and local jurisdictions in 

15 which the installation is located or in the vicinity of 

16 the installation. 

17 (2) The term ‘‘eligible covered beneficiary’’ 

18 means a covered beneficiary (as that term is defined 

19 in section 1072 of title 10, United States Code) who 

20 has a child under the age of five years or is expect21 ing a child. 

22 (n) FUNDING.— 

23 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for 


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1 fiscal year 2019 for the Department of Defense 

2 $5,000,000 to carry out the pilot program. 

3 (2) AVAILABILITY.—The amount authorized to 

4 be appropriated by paragraph (1) shall remain avail5 able until expended. 

Æ 


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