I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1666 
To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require a 
study and report on State mandatory reporting laws. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 8, 2021 
Ms. WILD (for herself and Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 
to require a study and report on State mandatory report-
ing laws. 
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 ‘‘Working to End Child 
Abuse and Neglect Act’’ or the ‘‘WE CAN Act’’. 
SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT ON STATE MANDATORY RE-
PORTING LAWS. 
Section 110 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106f) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
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‘‘(e) STUDY AND REPORT ON STATE MANDATORY 
REPORTING LAWS.— 
‘‘(1) STUDY.—The Secretary shall collect infor-
mation on, and otherwise study, State laws for man-
datory reporting of incidents of child abuse or ne-
glect. Such study shall examine trends in referrals 
and investigations of child abuse and neglect due to 
differences in such State laws with respect to the in-
clusion, as mandatory reporters, of the following in-
dividuals: 
‘‘(A) Individuals licensed or certified to 
practice in any health-related field licensed by 
the State, employees of health care facilities or 
providers licensed by the State, who are en-
gaged in the admission, examination, care or 
treatment of individuals, including mental 
health and emergency medical service providers. 
‘‘(B) Individuals employed by a school who 
have direct contact with children, including 
teachers, administrators, and independent con-
tractors. 
‘‘(C) Peace officers and law enforcement 
personnel. 
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‘‘(D) Clergy, including Christian Science 
practitioners, except where prohibited on ac-
count of clergy-penitent privilege. 
‘‘(E) Day care and child care operators 
and employees. 
‘‘(F) Employees of social services agencies 
who have direct contact with children in the 
course of employment. 
‘‘(G) Foster parents. 
‘‘(H) Court appointed special advocates 
(employees and volunteers). 
‘‘(I) Camp and after-school employees. 
‘‘(J) An individual, paid or unpaid, who, 
on the basis of the individual’s role as an inte-
gral part of a regularly scheduled program, ac-
tivity, or service, accepts responsibility for a 
child. 
‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 
date of enactment of the Working to End Child 
Abuse and Neglect Act, the Secretary shall submit 
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor of the House of Representatives a 
report containing the findings of the study required 
by this subsection, including any best practices re-
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lated to the inclusion, as mandatory reporters, of in-
dividuals described in paragraph (1).’’. 
Æ 
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