I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6667 
To improve the ability of the Department of Defense to effectively prevent, 
track, and respond to military-connected child abuse. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 1, 2020 
Mr. CISNEROS (for himself and Mr. MAST) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To improve the ability of the Department of Defense to 
effectively prevent, track, and respond to military-con-
nected child abuse. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘End Military-Con-
nected Child Abuse and Neglect Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ACTIONS TO ADDRESS MILITARY-CONNECTED 
CHILD ABUSE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with the recommenda-
tions of the Government Accountability Office in the re-
port titled ‘‘Increased Guidance and Collaboration Needed 
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to Improve DOD’s Tracking and Response to Child 
Abuse’’ (GAO–20–110), the Secretary of Defense shall 
carry out activities to improve the ability of the Depart-
ment of Defense to effectively prevent, track, and respond 
to military-connected child abuse. 
(b) ACTIVITIES REQUIRED.—The activities carried 
out under subsection (a) shall include the following: 
(1) The Secretary of Defense shall expand the 
scope of the Department of Defense’s centralized 
database on problematic sexual behavior in children 
and youth to track information on all incidents in-
volving child abuse reported to a Family Advocacy 
Program or investigated by a military law enforce-
ment organization, regardless of whether the perpe-
trator of the abuse is another child, an adult, or a 
person in a noncaregiving role at the time of the in-
cident. 
(2) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation 
with the Secretary of each military department, shall 
ensure— 
(A) that each Family Advocacy Program 
records, in a database of the Program, the date 
on which the Program notified a military law 
enforcement organization of a reported incident 
of child abuse; and 
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(B) that each military law enforcement or-
ganization records, in a database of the organi-
zation, the date on which the organization noti-
fied a Family Advocacy Program of a reported 
incident of child abuse. 
(3) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation 
with the Secretary of each military department, shall 
issue guidance that clarifies the process through 
which the Family Advocacy Program of an Armed 
Force will receive, and incorporate into the Pro-
gram’s central registry, information regarding child 
abuse allegations involving members of that Armed 
Force and dependents of such members in cases in 
which such allegations were previously recorded by 
the Family Advocacy Program of another Armed 
Force. Such guidance shall include a mechanism for 
monitoring the process to ensure that the process is 
carried out consistently. 
(4) Each Armed Force shall develop a process 
to monitor how reported incidents of child abuse are 
screened at military installations to help ensure that 
all reported child abuse incidents that should be pre-
sented to an Incident Determination Committee are 
consistently presented and tracked. 
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(5) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that 
the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and 
Readiness, in consultation with the Director of the 
Department of Defense Education Activity, clarifies 
Department of Defense Education Activity guidance 
to define what types of child abuse incidents must 
be reported as serious incidents to help ensure that 
all serious incidents of which Department of Defense 
Education Activity leadership needs to be informed 
are accurately and consistently reported by school 
administrators. 
(6) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation 
with the Secretaries of the military departments, 
shall expand the voting membership of each Incident 
Determination Committee to include medical per-
sonnel with requisite knowledge and experience. 
(7) Each Armed Force shall implement proce-
dures to provide the families of child abuse victims 
with comprehensive information on how reported in-
cidents of child abuse will be addressed. Such prac-
tices may include the development of a guide that— 
(A) explains the processes the Family Ad-
vocacy Program and military law enforcement 
organizations will follow to address the report; 
and 
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(B) identifies services and other resources 
available to victims and their families. 
(8) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation 
with the Secretaries of the military departments, 
shall issue guidance to clarify the circumstances 
under which military commanders may exercise the 
authority to remove a child from a potentially unsafe 
home on a military installation outside the United 
States. 
(9) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that 
the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and 
Readiness, in consultation with the Director of the 
Defense Health Agency, establishes processes that 
help ensure children who are sexually abused outside 
the United States have timely access to a certified 
pediatric sexual assault forensic examiner to conduct 
an examination. Such processes may include certi-
fying pediatricians or adult sexual assault forensic 
examiners as pediatric examiners during mandatory 
training or establishing shared regional assets. 
(10) The Secretary of Defense, in consultation 
with the Deputy Attorney General, shall seek to im-
prove communication between military criminal in-
vestigative organizations and United States Attor-
neys for relevant cases involving child victims, in-
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