763
tunity to appeal an official finding of abuse or ne-
glect.
‘‘(7) CERTIFICATION
OF
STATE
PROCEDURES
FOR DEVELOPING AND REVIEWING WRITTEN PLANS
FOR PERMANENT PLACEMENT OF REMOVED CHIL-
DREN.—A certification that the State has in effect
procedures for ensuring that a written plan is pre-
pared for children who have been removed from their
families. Such plan shall specify the goals for achiev-
ing a permanent placement for the child in a timely
fashion, for ensuring that the written plan is re-
viewed every 6 months (until such placement is
achieved), and for ensuring that information about
such children is collected regularly and recorded in
case records, and include a description of such pro-
cedures.
‘‘(8) CERTIFICATION OF STATE PROGRAM TO
PROVIDE INDEPENDENT LIVING SERVICES.—A cer-
tification that the State has in effect a program to
provide independent living services, for assistance in
making the transition to self-sufficient adulthood, to
individuals in the child protection program of the
State who are 16, but who are not 20 (or, at the op-
tion of the State, 22), years of age, and who do not
have a family to which to be returned.
764
‘‘(9) CERTIFICATION
OF
STATE
PROCEDURES
TO RESPOND TO REPORTING OF MEDICAL NEGLECT
OF DISABLED INFANTS.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—A certification that
the State has in place for the purpose of re-
sponding to the reporting of medical neglect of
infants (including instances of withholding of
medically indicated treatment from disabled in-
fants with life-threatening conditions), proce-
dures or programs, or both (within the State
child protective services system), to provide
for—
‘‘(i) coordination and consultation
with individuals designated by and within
appropriate health-care facilities;
‘‘(ii) prompt notification by individ-
uals designated by and within appropriate
health-care facilities of cases of suspected
medical neglect (including instances of
withholding of medically indicated treat-
ment from disabled infants with life-threat-
ening conditions); and
‘‘(iii) authority, under State law, for
the State child protective service to pursue
any legal remedies, including the authority
765
to initiate legal proceedings in a court of
competent jurisdiction, as may be nec-
essary to prevent the withholding of medi-
cally indicated treatment from disabled in-
fants with life-threatening conditions.
‘‘(B) WITHHOLDING OF MEDICALLY INDI-
CATED TREATMENT.—As used in subparagraph
(A), the term ‘withholding of medically indi-
cated treatment’ means the failure to respond
to the infant’s life-threatening conditions by
providing treatment (including appropriate nu-
trition, hydration, and medication) which, in the
treating physician’s or physicians’ reasonable
medical judgment, will be most likely to be ef-
fective in ameliorating or correcting all such
conditions, except that such term does not in-
clude the failure to provide treatment (other
than appropriate nutrition, hydration, or medi-
cation) to an infant when, in the treating physi-
cian’s or physicians’ reasonable medical judg-
ment—
‘‘(i) the infant is chronically and irre-
versibly comatose;
‘‘(ii) the provision of such treatment
would—
766
‘‘(I) merely prolong dying;
‘‘(II) not be effective in amelio-
rating or correcting all of the infant’s
life-threatening conditions; or
‘‘(III) otherwise be futile in
terms of the survival of the infant; or
‘‘(iii) the provision of such treatment
would be virtually futile in terms of the
survival of the infant and the treatment it-
self under such circumstances would be in-
humane.
‘‘(10) IDENTIFICATION OF CHILD PROTECTION
GOALS.—The quantitative goals of the State child
protection program.
‘‘(11) CERTIFICATION OF CHILD PROTECTION
STANDARDS.—With respect to fiscal years beginning
on or after April 1, 1996, a certification that the
State—
‘‘(A) has completed an inventory of all
children who, before the inventory, had been in
foster care under the responsibility of the State
for 6 months or more, which determined—
‘‘(i) the appropriateness of, and neces-
sity for, the foster care placement;
767
‘‘(ii) whether the child could or should
be returned to the parents of the child or
should be freed for adoption or other per-
manent placement; and
‘‘(iii) the services necessary to facili-
tate the return of the child or the place-
ment of the child for adoption or legal
guardianship;
‘‘(B) is operating, to the satisfaction of the
Secretary—
‘‘(i) a statewide information system
from which can be readily determined the
status, demographic characteristics, loca-
tion, and goals for the placement of every
child who is (or, within the immediately
preceding 12 months, has been) in foster
care;
‘‘(ii) a case review system for each
child receiving foster care under the super-
vision of the State;
‘‘(iii) a service program designed to
help children—
‘‘(I) where appropriate, return to
families from which they have been
removed; or
768
‘‘(II) be placed for adoption, with
a legal guardian, or if adoption or
legal guardianship is determined not
to be appropriate for a child, in some
other planned, permanent living ar-
rangement; and
‘‘(iv) a preplacement preventive serv-
ices program designed to help children at
risk for foster care placement remain with
their families; and
‘‘(C)(i) has reviewed (or not later than Oc-
tober 1, 1997, will review) State policies and
administrative and judicial procedures in effect
for children abandoned at or shortly after birth
(including policies and procedures providing for
legal representation of such children); and
‘‘(ii) is implementing (or not later than Oc-
tober 1, 1997, will implement) such policies and
procedures as the State determines, on the
basis of the review described in clause (i), to be
necessary to enable permanent decisions to be
made expeditiously with respect to the place-
ment of such children.
‘‘(12) CERTIFICATION
OF
REASONABLE
EF-
FORTS BEFORE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN FOS-
769
TER CARE.—A certification that the State in each
case will—
‘‘(A) make reasonable efforts prior to the
placement of a child in foster care, to prevent
or eliminate the need for removal of the child
from the child’s home, and to make it possible
for the child to return home; and
‘‘(B) with respect to families in which
abuse or neglect has been confirmed, provide
services or referral for services for families and
children where the State makes a determination
that the child may safely remain with the fam-
ily.
‘‘(13) CERTIFICATION
OF
CONFIDENTIALITY
AND
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
INFORMATION
DISCLO-
SURE.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—A certification that
the State has in effect and operational—
‘‘(i) requirements ensuring that re-
ports and records made and maintained
pursuant to the purposes of this part shall
only be made available to—
‘‘(I) individuals who are the sub-
ject of the report;
770
‘‘(II) Federal, State, or local gov-
ernment entities, or any agent of such
entities, having a need for such infor-
mation in order to carry out their re-
sponsibilities under law to protect
children from abuse and neglect;
‘‘(III) child abuse citizen review
panels;
‘‘(IV) child fatality review panels;
‘‘(V) a grand jury or court, upon
a finding that information in the
record is necessary for the determina-
tion of an issue before the court or
grand jury; and
‘‘(VI) other entities or classes of
individuals statutorily authorized by
the State to receive such information
pursuant to a legitimate State pur-
pose; and
‘‘(ii) provisions that allow for public
disclosure of the findings or information
about cases of child abuse or neglect that
have resulted in a child fatality or near fa-
tality.
771
‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Disclosures made pur-
suant to clause (i) or (ii) shall not include the
identifying information concerning the individ-
ual initiating a report or complaint alleging sus-
pected instances of child abuse or neglect.
‘‘(C) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this
paragraph, the term ‘near fatality’ means an
act that, as certified by a physician, places the
child in serious or critical condition.
‘‘(b) DETERMINATIONS.—The Secretary shall deter-
mine whether a plan submitted pursuant to subsection (a)
contains the material required by subsection (a), other
than the material described in paragraph (9) of such sub-
section. The Secretary may not require a State to include
in such a plan any material not described in subsection
(a).
‘‘SEC. 103. DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.
‘‘(a) NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT DATA
SYSTEM.—The Secretary shall establish a national data
collection and analysis program—
‘‘(1) which, to the extent practicable, coordi-
nates existing State child abuse and neglect reports
and which shall include—
772
‘‘(A) standardized data on substantiated,
as well as false, unfounded, or unsubstantiated
reports; and
‘‘(B) information on the number of deaths
due to child abuse and neglect; and
‘‘(2) which shall collect, compile, analyze, and
make available State child abuse and neglect report-
ing information which, to the extent practical, is uni-
versal and case-specific and integrated with other
case-based foster care and adoption data collected by
the Secretary.
‘‘(b) ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE AND ANALYSIS
AND REPORTING SYSTEMS.—The Secretary shall imple-
ment a system for the collection of data relating to adop-
tion and foster care in the United States. Such data collec-
tion system shall—
‘‘(1) avoid unnecessary diversion of resources
from agencies responsible for adoption and foster
care;
‘‘(2) assure that any data that is collected is re-
liable and consistent over time and among jurisdic-
tions through the use of uniform definitions and
methodologies;
‘‘(3) provide comprehensive national informa-
tion with respect to—
773
‘‘(A) the demographic characteristics of
adoptive and foster children and their biological
and adoptive or foster parents;
‘‘(B) the status of the foster care popu-
lation (including the number of children in fos-
ter care, length of placement, type of place-
ment, availability for adoption, and goals for
ending or continuing foster care);
‘‘(C) the number and characteristics of—
‘‘(i) children placed in or removed
from foster care;
‘‘(ii) children adopted or with respect
to whom adoptions have been terminated;
and
‘‘(iii) children placed in foster care
outside the State which has placement and
care responsibility; and
‘‘(D) the extent and nature of assistance
provided by Federal, State, and local adoption
and foster care programs and the characteris-
tics of the children with respect to whom such
assistance is provided; and
‘‘(4) utilize appropriate requirements and incen-
tives to ensure that the system functions reliably
throughout the United States.
774
‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION.—The Secretary
may require the provision of additional information under
the data collection system established under subsection (b)
if the addition of such information is agreed to by a major-
ity of the States.
‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORT BY THE SECRETARY.—Within
6 months after the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary
shall prepare a report based on information provided by
the States for the fiscal year pursuant to this section, and
shall make the report and such information available to
the Congress and the public.
‘‘TITLE 
II—RESEARCH, 
DEM-
ONSTRATIONS, 
TRAINING,
AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
‘‘SEC. 201. RESEARCH GRANTS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation
with appropriate Federal officials and recognized experts
in the field, shall award grants or contracts for the con-
duct of research in accordance with subsection (b).
‘‘(b) RESEARCH.—Research projects to be conducted
using amounts received under this section—
‘‘(1) shall be designed to provide information to
better protect children from abuse or neglect and to
improve the well-being of abused or neglected chil-
775
dren, with at least a portion of any such research
conducted under a project being field initiated;
‘‘(2) shall at a minimum, focus on—
‘‘(A) the nature and scope of child abuse
and neglect;
‘‘(B) the causes, prevention, assessment,
identification, treatment, cultural and socio-
economic distinctions, and the consequences of
child abuse and neglect;
‘‘(C) appropriate, effective and culturally
sensitive investigative, administrative, and judi-
cial procedures with respect to cases of child
abuse; and
‘‘(D) the national incidence of child abuse
and neglect, including—
‘‘(i) the extent to which incidents of
child abuse are increasing or decreasing in
number and severity;
‘‘(ii) the incidence of substantiated
and unsubstantiated reported child abuse
cases;
‘‘(iii) the number of substantiated
cases that result in a judicial finding of
child abuse or neglect or related criminal
court convictions;
776
‘‘(iv) the extent to which the number
of unsubstantiated, unfounded and false
reported cases of child abuse or neglect
have contributed to the inability of a State
to respond effectively to serious cases of
child abuse or neglect;
‘‘(v) the extent to which the lack of
adequate resources and the lack of ade-
quate training of reporters have contrib-
uted to the inability of a State to respond
effectively to serious cases of child abuse
and neglect;
‘‘(vi) the number of unsubstantiated,
false, or unfounded reports that have re-
sulted in a child being placed in substitute
care, and the duration of such placement;
‘‘(vii) the extent to which unsubstan-
tiated reports return as more serious cases
of child abuse or neglect;
‘‘(viii) the incidence and prevalence of
physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and
physical and emotional neglect in sub-
stitute care;
‘‘(ix) the incidence and outcomes of
abuse allegations reported within the con-
777
text of divorce, custody, or other family
court proceedings, and the interaction be-
tween this venue and the child protective
services system; and
‘‘(x) the cases of children reunited
with their families or receiving family pres-
ervation services that result in subsequent
substantiated reports of child abuse and
neglect, including the death of the child;
and
‘‘(3) may include the appointment of an advi-
sory board to—
‘‘(A) provide recommendations on coordi-
nating Federal, State, and local child abuse and
neglect activities at the State level with similar
activities at the State and local level pertaining
to family violence prevention;
‘‘(B) consider specific modifications needed
in State laws and programs to reduce the num-
ber of unfounded or unsubstantiated reports of
child abuse or neglect while enhancing the abil-
ity to identify and substantiate legitimate cases
of abuse or neglect which place a child in dan-
ger; and
778
‘‘(C) provide recommendations for modi-
fications needed to facilitate coordinated na-
tional and Statewide data collection with re-
spect to child protection and child welfare.
‘‘SEC. 202. NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE FOR INFORMATION
RELATING TO CHILD ABUSE.
‘‘(a) 
ESTABLISHMENT.—The 
Secretary 
shall,
through the Department of Health and Human Services,
or by one or more contracts of not less than 3 years dura-
tion provided through a competition, establish a national
clearinghouse for information relating to child abuse.
‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS.—The Secretary shall, through the
clearinghouse established by subsection (a)—
‘‘(1) maintain, coordinate, and disseminate in-
formation on all programs, including private pro-
grams, that show promise of success with respect to
the prevention, assessment, identification, and treat-
ment of child abuse and neglect;
‘‘(2) maintain and disseminate information re-
lating to—
‘‘(A) the incidence of cases of child abuse
and neglect in the United States;
‘‘(B) the incidence of such cases in popu-
lations determined by the Secretary under sec-
tion 105(a)(1) of the Child Abuse Prevention,
779
Adoption, and Family Services Act of 1988 (as
such section was in effect on the day before the
date of enactment of this Act); and
‘‘(C) the incidence of any such cases relat-
ed to alcohol or drug abuse;
‘‘(3) disseminate information related to data
collected and reported by States pursuant to section
103;
‘‘(4) compile, analyze, and publish a summary
of the research conducted under section 201; and
‘‘(5) solicit public comment on the components
of such clearinghouse.
‘‘SEC. 203. GRANTS FOR DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.
‘‘(a) AWARDING OF GENERAL GRANTS.—The Sec-
retary may make grants to, and enter into contracts with,
public and nonprofit private agencies or organizations (or
combinations of such agencies or organizations) for the
purpose of developing, implementing, and operating time
limited, demonstration programs and projects for the fol-
lowing purposes:
‘‘(1) INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS.—
The Secretary may award grants to public agencies
that demonstrate innovation in responding to reports
of child abuse and neglect including programs of col-
laborative partnerships between the State child pro-
780
tective service agency, community social service
agencies and family support programs, schools,
churches and synagogues, and other community
agencies to allow for the establishment of a triage
system that—
‘‘(A) accepts, screens and assesses reports
received to determine which such reports re-
quire an intensive intervention and which re-
quire voluntary referral to another agency, pro-
gram or project;
‘‘(B) provides, either directly or through
referral, a variety of community-linked services
to assist families in preventing child abuse and
neglect; and
‘‘(C) provides further investigation and in-
tensive intervention where the child’s safety is
in jeopardy.
‘‘(2) 
KINSHIP
CARE
PROGRAMS
AND
PROJECTS.—The Secretary may award grants to
public entities to assist such entities in developing or
implementing procedures using adult relatives as the
preferred placement for children removed from their
home, where such relatives are determined to be ca-
pable of providing a safe nurturing environment for
the child and where, to the maximum extent prac-