Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2018

To reauthorize subtitle A of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2018 2. Reauthorization (a) Findings Section 211 of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 ( 34 U.S.C. 20301 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking 2,000,000 3,300,000 (2) in paragraph (6)— (A) by inserting improve positive outcomes for the child, and increase (B) by striking ; and (3) in paragraph (7), by striking could be duplicated in many jurisdictions throughout the country. have expanded dramatically throughout the United States; and (4) by adding at the end the following: (8) State chapters of children’s advocacy center networks are needed to— (A) assist local communities in coordinating their multidisciplinary child abuse investigation, prosecution, and intervention services; and (B) provide oversight of, and training and technical assistance in, the effective delivery of evidence-informed programming. . (b) Definitions Section 212 of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 ( 34 U.S.C. 20302 (1) by striking paragraphs (3) and (6); (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), (7), (8), and (9) as paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7), respectively; (3) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated, by striking and (4) in paragraph (7), as so redesignated, by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and (5) by adding at the end the following: (8) the term State chapter . (c) Regional children's advocacy centers Section 213 of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 ( 34 U.S.C. 20303 (1) in subsection (a)— (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking with the Director and (B) by striking paragraph (2); (C) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; (D) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, by striking and (E) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated— (i) by inserting after mental health care professionals , law enforcement officers, child protective service workers, forensic interviewers, prosecutors, and victim advocates, (ii) by striking medical (iii) by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and (F) by adding at the end the following: (4) collaborate with State chapters to provide training, technical assistance, coordination, and oversight to— (A) local children’s advocacy centers; and (B) communities that want to develop local children's advocacy centers. ; (2) in subsection (b)— (A) in paragraph (1)— (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking , in coordination with the Director, (ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting and (iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking the prevention, judicial handling, and treatment of child abuse and neglect; and multidisciplinary team investigation, trauma-informed interventions, and evidence-informed treatment. (iv) by striking subparagraph (C); and (B) in paragraph (2)— (i) in subparagraph (A)— (I) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking communities communities, local children's advocacy centers, multidisciplinary teams, and State chapters (II) in clause (i), by inserting and expanding developing (III) by redesignating clauses (ii) through (x) as clauses (iii) through (xi), respectively; (IV) by inserting after clause (i) the following: (ii) in promoting the effective delivery of the evidence-informed Children’s Advocacy Model and the multidisciplinary response to child abuse, including best practices in— (I) organizational support and development; (II) programmatic evaluation; and (III) financial oversight of Federal funding; ; (V) in clause (iii), as so redesignated, by striking a freestanding facility where interviews of and services for abused children can be provided child-friendly facilities for the investigation of, assessment of, and intervention in abuse (VI) in clause (iv), as so redesignated, by striking multiple duplicative (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting and interested communities advocacy centers (3) in subsection (c)— (A) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking remedial counseling to evidence-informed services for (B) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii), by striking multidisciplinary child abuse program children's advocacy center (C) in paragraph (4)(B)— (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking , in coordination with the Director, (ii) by striking clause (iii); and (iii) by redesignating clauses (iv) and (v) as clauses (iii) and (iv), respectively; (4) in subsection (d)— (A) in paragraph (1), by striking , in coordination with the Director, (B) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking and the Director (5) by striking subsections (e) and (f). (d) Local children's advocacy centers Section 214 of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 ( 34 U.S.C. 20304 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following: (a) In general The Administrator, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Victims of Crime, shall make grants to— (1) develop and enhance multidisciplinary child abuse investigations, intervention, and prosecution; and (2) promote the effective delivery of the evidence-informed Children’s Advocacy Model and the multidisciplinary response to child abuse, including best practices in programmatic evaluation and financial oversight of Federal funding. ; (2) in subsection (b)— (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting human trafficking and child pornography (B) by striking with the Director and (C) by inserting human trafficking and child pornography (3) in subsection (c)— (A) in paragraph (1)— (i) by striking Director Administrator (ii) by striking this section subsections (a) and (b) (B) in paragraph (2)— (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking social service child protective service (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking the counseling center a children's advocacy center (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking sexual and serious physical abuse and neglect cases to the counseling center child abuse cases that meet designated referral criteria to the children's advocacy center (iv) in subparagraph (D)— (I) by striking investigative forensic (II) by striking social service child protective service (v) by striking subparagraph (E); (vi) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) through (J) as subparagraphs (E) through (I), respectively; (vii) in subparagraph (E), as so redesignated, by striking counseling center children’s advocacy center or an agency with which there is a linkage agreement regarding the delivery of multidisciplinary child abuse investigation, prosecution, and intervention services (viii) in subparagraph (F), as so redesignated, by striking minimize the number of interviews that a child victim must attend eliminate duplicative forensic interviews with a child victim (ix) in subparagraph (G), as so redesignated, by striking multidisciplinary program children's advocacy center (x) in subparagraph (H), as so redesignated, by inserting intervention and judicial proceedings (xi) in subparagraph (I), as so redesignated, by striking Director Administrator (4) in subsection (d)— (A) by striking the Director the Administrator (B) by striking both large and small States all States that are eligible for such grants, including large and small States, (5) by adding at the end the following: (f) Grants to State chapters for assistance to local children's advocacy centers In awarding grants under this section, the Administrator shall ensure that a portion of the grants is distributed to State chapters to enable State chapters to provide technical assistance, training, coordination, and oversight to other recipients of grants under this section in providing evidence-informed initiatives, including mental health counseling, forensic interviewing, multidisciplinary team coordination, and victim advocacy. . (e) Grants for specialized technical assistance and training programs Section 214A of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 ( 34 U.S.C. 20305 (1) in subsection (a), by striking to attorneys to— (1) attorneys and other allied professionals instrumental to the criminal prosecution of child abuse cases in State or Federal courts, for the purpose of improving the quality of criminal prosecution of such cases; and (2) child abuse professionals instrumental to the protection of children, intervention in child abuse cases, and treatment of victims of child abuse, for the purpose of— (A) improving the quality of such protection, intervention, and treatment; and (B) promoting the effective delivery of the evidence-informed Children’s Advocacy Model and the multidisciplinary response to child abuse, including best practices in programmatic evaluation and financial oversight of Federal funding. ; (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following: (b) Grantee organizations (1) Prosecutors An organization to which a grant is made for specific training and technical assistance for prosecutors under subsection (a)(1) shall be one that has— (A) a broad representation of attorneys who prosecute criminal cases in State courts; and (B) demonstrated experience in providing training and technical assistance for prosecutors. (2) Child abuse professionals An organization to which a grant is made for specific training and technical assistance for child abuse professionals under subsection (a)(2) shall be one that has— (A) a diverse portfolio of training and technical resources for the diverse professionals responding to child abuse, including a digital library to promote evidence-informed practice; and (B) demonstrated experience in providing training and technical assistance for child abuse professionals, especially law enforcement officers, child protective service workers, prosecutors, forensic interviewers, medical professionals, victim advocates, and mental health professionals. ; and (3) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting after shall require , in the case of a grant made under subsection (a)(1), (f) Authorization of appropriations Section 214B of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 ( 34 U.S.C. 20306 (1) in subsection (a), by striking sections 213 and 214 sections 213 and 214, $19,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023. (2) in subsection (b), by striking section 214A section 214A, $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023. (g) Technical and conforming amendments relating to title 34, United States Code The Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 ( 34 U.S.C. 20301 (1) in section 212(1) ( 34 U.S.C. 20302 ( 42 U.S.C. 5611(b) ( 34 U.S.C. 11111(b) (2) in section 214(c)(1) ( 34 U.S.C. 20304(c)(1) ( 42 U.S.C. 5665 ( 34 U.S.C. 11183 (3) in section 214A(c)(1) ( 34 U.S.C. 20305(c)(1) ( 42 U.S.C. 5665 ( 34 U.S.C. 11183 (4) in section 217(c)(1) ( 34 U.S.C. 20323(c)(1) ( 42 U.S.C. 5665 ( 34 U.S.C. 11183 (5) in section 223(c) ( 34 U.S.C. 20333(c) ( 42 U.S.C. 5665 ( 34 U.S.C. 11183

Summary: Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2018 This bill reauthorizes for FY2019-FY2023 grants for local and regional children's advocacy centers (CACs), as well as for technical assistance and training. CACs coordinate a multidisciplinary response to child abuse.