I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 566 
To amend section 105(a) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 
Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award 
a grant to a nonprofit entity for a national child abuse hotline. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 28, 2021 
Mrs. MCBATH (for herself and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend section 105(a) of the Child Abuse Prevention 
and Treatment Act to authorize the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services to award a grant to a nonprofit 
entity for a national child abuse hotline. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE HOTLINE. 
Section 105(a) of the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106(a)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(8) NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE HOTLINE.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may 
award a grant under this subsection to a non-
profit entity to provide for the ongoing oper-
ation of a 24-hour, national, toll-free telephone 
hotline to provide information and assistance to 
youth victims of child abuse or neglect, parents, 
caregivers, mandated reporters, and other con-
cerned community members, including through 
alternative modalities for communications (such 
as texting or chat services) with such victims 
and other information seekers. 
‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants de-
scribed in this paragraph, the Secretary shall 
give priority to applicants with experience in 
operating a hotline that provides assistance to 
victims of child abuse, parents, caregivers, and 
mandated reporters. 
‘‘(C) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to re-
ceive a grant described in this paragraph, a 
nonprofit entity shall submit an application to 
the Secretary that shall— 
‘‘(i) contain such assurances and in-
formation, be in such form, and be sub-
mitted in such manner, as the Secretary 
shall prescribe; 
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‘‘(ii) include a complete description of 
the entity’s plan for the operation of a na-
tional child abuse hotline, including de-
scriptions of— 
‘‘(I) the professional development 
program for hotline personnel, includ-
ing technology professional develop-
ment to ensure that all persons affili-
ated with the hotline are able to effec-
tively operate any technological sys-
tems used by the hotline; 
‘‘(II) the qualifications for hot-
line personnel; 
‘‘(III) the methods for the cre-
ation, maintenance, and updating of a 
comprehensive list of prevention and 
treatment service providers; 
‘‘(IV) a plan for publicizing the 
availability of the hotline throughout 
the United States; 
‘‘(V) a plan for providing service 
to non-English speaking callers, in-
cluding service through hotline per-
sonnel who have non-English language 
capability; 
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‘‘(VI) a plan for facilitating ac-
cess to the hotline and alternative mo-
dality services by persons with hearing 
impairments and disabilities; 
‘‘(VII) a plan for providing crisis 
counseling, general assistance, and re-
ferrals to youth victims of child abuse; 
and 
‘‘(VIII) a plan to offer alternative 
services to calling, such as texting or 
live chat; 
‘‘(iii) demonstrate that the entity has 
the capacity and the expertise to maintain 
a child abuse hotline and a comprehensive 
list of service providers; 
‘‘(iv) demonstrate the ability to pro-
vide information and referrals for contacts, 
directly connect contacts to service pro-
viders, and employ crisis interventions; 
‘‘(v) demonstrate that the entity has a 
commitment to providing services to indi-
viduals in need; and 
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‘‘(vi) demonstrate that the entity com-
plies with State privacy laws and has es-
tablished quality assurance practices.’’. 
Æ 
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