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tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7801); 
(xvii) epidemiology; and 
(xviii) computer science or software 
engineering with a background in inter-
operability standards. 
(C) DIVERSITY
OF
QUALIFICATIONS.—In 
making appointments to the Commission under 
subparagraph (A), the President and the con-
gressional leaders shall make every effort to se-
lect individuals whose qualifications are not al-
ready represented by other members of the 
Commission. 
(2) DATE.—The appointments of the members 
of the Commission shall be made not later than 90 
days after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(c) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.—Mem-
bers shall be appointed for the life of the Commission. Any 
vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers, but 
shall be filled in the same manner as the original appoint-
ment. 
(d) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 60 days after 
the date on which a majority of the members of the Com-
mission have been appointed, the Commission shall hold 
its first meeting. 
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(e) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the 
call of the Chairperson. 
(f) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 
Commission shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser num-
ber of members may hold hearings. 
(g) CHAIRPERSON.—The President shall select a 
Chairperson for the Commission from among its members. 
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 
(a) STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con-
duct a thorough study on the use of child protective 
services and child welfare services funded under title 
IV and subtitle A of title XX of the Social Security 
Act to reduce fatalities from child abuse and neglect. 
(2) MATTERS STUDIED.—The matters studied 
by the Commission shall include— 
(A) the effectiveness of the services de-
scribed in paragraph (1) and best practices in 
preventing child and youth fatalities that are 
intentionally caused or that occur due to neg-
ligence, neglect, or a failure to exercise proper 
care; 
(B) the effectiveness of Federal, State, and 
local policies and systems within such services 
aimed at collecting accurate, uniform data on 
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child fatalities in a coordinated fashion, includ-
ing the identification of the most and least ef-
fective policies and systems in practice; 
(C) the current (as of the date of the 
study) barriers to preventing fatalities from 
child abuse and neglect, and how to improve ef-
ficiency to improve child welfare outcomes; 
(D) trends in demographic and other risk 
factors that are predictive of or correlated with 
child maltreatment, such as age of the child, 
child behavior, family structure, parental stress, 
and poverty; 
(E) methods of prioritizing child abuse and 
neglect prevention within such services for fami-
lies with the highest need; and 
(F) methods of improving data collection 
and utilization, such as increasing interoper-
ability among State and local and other data 
systems. 
(3) MATERIALS
STUDIED.—The Commission 
shall review— 
(A) all current (as of the date of the 
study) research and documentation, including 
the National Survey of Child and Adolescent 
Well-Being and research and recommendations 
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from the Government Accountability Office, to 
identify lessons, solutions, and needed improve-
ments related to reducing fatalities from child 
abuse and neglect; and 
(B) recommendations from the Advisory 
Board on Child Abuse and Neglect. 
(b) COORDINATION.—The Commission shall provide 
opportunities for graduate and doctoral students to coordi-
nate research with the Commission. 
(c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Commission shall— 
(1) develop recommendations to reduce fatali-
ties from child abuse and neglect for Federal, State, 
and local agencies, and private sector and nonprofit 
organizations, including recommendations to imple-
ment a comprehensive national strategy for such 
purpose; and 
(2) develop guidelines for the type of informa-
tion that should be tracked to improve interventions 
to prevent fatalities from child abuse and neglect. 
(d) REPORT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 
the date on which a majority of the members of the 
Commission have been appointed, the Commission 
shall submit a report to the President and Congress, 
which shall contain a detailed statement of the find-
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ings and conclusions of the Commission, together 
with its recommendations for such legislation and 
administrative actions as it considers appropriate. 
(2) EXTENSION.—The President may extend 
the date on which the report described in paragraph 
(1) shall be submitted by an additional 1 year. 
(3) ONLINE
ACCESS.—The Commission shall 
make the report under paragraph (1) available on 
the publicly available Internet Web site of the De-
partment of Health and Human Services. 
SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 
(a) HEARINGS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may hold 
such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, 
take such testimony, and receive such evidence as 
the Commission considers advisable to carry out this 
Act. 
(2) LOCATION.—The location of hearings under 
paragraph (1) shall include— 
(A) areas with high fatality rates from 
child abuse and neglect; and 
(B) areas that have shown a decrease in 
fatalities from child abuse and neglect. 
(3) SUBJECT.—The Commission shall hold 
hearings under paragraph (1)— 
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