I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6655 
To establish a commission to develop a national strategy and recommendations 
for reducing fatalities resulting from child abuse and neglect. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 13, 2012 
Mr. DOGGETT (for himself, Mr. CAMP, Mr. PAULSEN, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 
REED, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. BOUSTANY, Mr. CROWLEY, and Mr. 
LEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To establish a commission to develop a national strategy 
and recommendations for reducing fatalities resulting 
from child abuse and neglect. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. COMMISSION. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect our Kids Act 
of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) deaths from child abuse and neglect are 
preventable; 
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(2) deaths from child abuse and neglect are sig-
nificantly underreported and there is no national 
standard for reporting such deaths; 
(3) according to the Child Maltreatment Report 
of 2011, in fiscal year 2011, 1,545 children in the 
United States are reported to have died from child 
abuse and neglect, and many experts believe that the 
actual number may be significantly more; 
(4) over 42 percent of the number of children 
in the United States who die from abuse are under 
the age of 1, and almost 82 percent are under the 
age of 4; 
(5) of the children who died in fiscal year 2011, 
70 percent suffered neglect either exclusively or in 
combination with another maltreatment type and 48 
percent suffered physical abuse either exclusively or 
in combination; 
(6) increased understanding of deaths from 
child abuse and neglect can lead to improvement in 
agency systems and practices to protect children and 
prevent child abuse and neglect; and 
(7) Congress in recent years has taken a num-
ber of steps to reduce child fatalities from abuse and 
neglect, such as— 
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(A) 
providing 
States 
with 
flexibility 
through the Child and Family Services Im-
provement and Innovation Act of 2011 to oper-
ate child welfare demonstration projects to test 
services focused on preventing abuse and ne-
glect and ensuring that children remain safely 
in their own homes; 
(B) providing funding through the Child 
and Family Services Improvement Act of 2006 
for services and activities to enhance the safety 
of children who are at risk of being placed in 
foster care as a result of a parent’s substance 
abuse; 
(C) providing funding through the Fos-
tering Connections to Success and Increasing 
Adoptions Act of 2008 for grants to facilitate 
activities such as family group decisionmaking 
meetings and residential family treatment pro-
grams to support parents in caring for their 
children; and 
(D) requiring States through the Child and 
Family Services Improvement and Innovation 
Act of 2011 to describe how they will improve 
the quality of data collected on fatalities from 
child abuse and neglect. 
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SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Com-
mission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities 
(in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(1) COMPOSITION.— 
(A) MEMBERS.—The Commission shall be 
composed of 12 members, of whom— 
(i) 6 shall be appointed by the Presi-
dent; 
(ii) 2 shall be appointed by the Speak-
er of the House of Representatives; 
(iii) 1 shall be appointed by the mi-
nority leader of the House of Representa-
tives; 
(iv) 2 shall be appointed by the major-
ity leader of the Senate; and 
(v) 1 shall be appointed by the minor-
ity leader of the Senate. 
(B) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each member ap-
pointed under subparagraph (A) shall have ex-
perience in one or more of the following areas: 
(i) child welfare administration; 
(ii) child welfare research; 
(iii) child development; 
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(iv) legislation, including legislation 
involving child welfare matters; 
(v) trauma and crisis intervention; 
(vi) pediatrics; 
(vii) psychology and mental health; 
(viii) emergency medicine; 
(ix) forensic pathology or medical in-
vestigation of injury and fatality; 
(x) social work with field experience; 
(xi) academia at an institution of 
higher education, as that term is defined in 
section 101 of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001), with a focus on 
one or more of the other areas listed under 
this subparagraph; 
(xii) law enforcement, with experience 
handling child abuse and neglect matters; 
(xiii) civil law, with experience han-
dling child abuse and neglect matters; 
(xiv) criminal law, with experience 
handling child abuse and neglect matters; 
(xv) substance abuse treatment; 
(xvi) education at an elementary 
school or secondary school, as those terms 
are defined in section 9101 of the Elemen-
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