I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2567 
To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require manda-
tory reporting of incidents of child abuse or neglect, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 7, 2019 
Ms. WILD (for herself, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. DEAN, Ms. FUDGE, and Ms. 
KUSTER of New Hampshire) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 
to require mandatory reporting of incidents of child 
abuse or neglect, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Speak Up to Protect 
Every Abused Kid Act’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) children are dependent on the adults in 
their lives, including parents, extended family, teach-
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ers, health care providers, and others in their com-
munity, to ensure their safety and well-being; 
(2) data from the Administration on Children 
and Families for 2016 indicate that 671,622 chil-
dren in the United States were reported as being 
victims of child abuse or neglect, and 1,447 of those 
children died as a result of such abuse or neglect; 
(3) regardless of whether an adult is legally re-
quired to report child abuse and neglect, every adult 
who suspects or knows about child abuse or neglect 
has a moral duty to report such concerns to the ap-
propriate authorities; and 
(4) establishing a Federal standard for the 
classes of individuals that State law establishes as 
mandated reporters will protect children and ensure 
greater consistency among the laws of States, while 
allowing States the flexibility to establish additional 
classes of individuals as mandated reporters. 
SEC. 3. EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGNS AND TRAINING. 
The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act is 
amended by inserting after section 103 (42 U.S.C. 5104) 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 103A. EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGNS AND TRAINING. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants 
to eligible entities to carry out educational campaigns and 
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provide evidence-based or evidence-informed training re-
garding State laws for mandatory reporting of incidents 
of child abuse or neglect. 
‘‘(b) GUIDANCE AND INFORMATION ON BEST PRAC-
TICES.—The Secretary shall develop and disseminate 
guidance and information on best practices for— 
‘‘(1) educational campaigns to educate members 
of the public about— 
‘‘(A) the acts and omissions that constitute 
child abuse or neglect under State law; 
‘‘(B) the responsibilities of adults to report 
suspected and known incidents of child abuse or 
neglect under State law; and 
‘‘(C) the resources available to struggling 
families to help prevent child abuse and neglect; 
and 
‘‘(2) evidence-based or evidence-informed train-
ing programs to improve such reporting by adults, 
with a focus on adults who work with children in a 
professional or volunteer capacity. 
‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, an entity shall submit an application 
to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the Secretary may require. In 
determining whether to make a grant under this section, 
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the Secretary shall determine whether the educational 
campaign or training proposed by the entity uses practices 
described in the guidance and information developed 
under subsection (b). 
‘‘(d) USE
OF FUNDS.—An entity that receives a 
grant under this section shall use the funds made available 
through the grant to carry out an educational campaign, 
or provide training, described in subsection (b). 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$5,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 and $10,000,000 for each 
of fiscal years 2021 through 2024.’’. 
SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES FOR CHILD ABUSE OR NE-
GLECT PREVENTION AND TREATMENT PRO-
GRAMS. 
Section 106(b) of the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a(b)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(B) 
an assurance’’ and all that follows through the 
end of clause (i), and inserting the following: 
‘‘(B) an assurance in the form of a certifi-
cation by the Governor of the State that the 
State has in effect and is enforcing a State law, 
or has in effect and is operating a statewide 
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program, relating to child abuse and neglect 
that includes— 
‘‘(i) provisions or procedures for an 
individual described in paragraph (5) to re-
port suspected or known incidents of child 
abuse or neglect to a State child protective 
service agency or to a law enforcement 
agency, which shall include a State law for 
mandatory reporting of such incidents, to 
either type of agency, by any individual de-
scribed in paragraph (5), in accordance 
with paragraph (6);’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘; 
and’’ and inserting ‘‘;’’; 
(C) in subparagraph (G), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘;’’; and 
(D) by inserting after subparagraph (G) 
the following: 
‘‘(H) an assurance that the State, in devel-
oping the State plan described in paragraph 
(1), has established procedures to ensure co-
ordination between the State law or statewide 
program described in subparagraph (B) and 
relevant law enforcement and State or commu-
nity-based victims’ services agencies to ensure 
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that children who are the victims of acts by a 
perpetrator other than a parent or caretaker 
that would be considered child abuse or neglect 
under section 3(2) if the perpetrator of such act 
were a parent or caretaker, are referred for ap-
propriate follow-up services, even if such chil-
dren do not qualify for the protections under 
such State law or statewide program; 
‘‘(I) an assurance that the State will— 
‘‘(i) take primary responsibility to ac-
cept and investigate reports of known and 
suspected child abuse or neglect pertaining 
to an incident that occurred in that State, 
even if the child or the alleged perpetrator 
resides in a different State; 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a State that takes 
primary responsibility to investigate a re-
port as described in clause (i), share the 
results of the investigation with the State 
where the child resides and with the State 
where the alleged perpetrator resides; and 
‘‘(iii) in the case of a State in which 
the child or alleged perpetrator resides, but 
where the alleged incident did not occur, 
establish a plan to assist the State with 
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primary responsibility for the investigation; 
and 
‘‘(J) an assurance that the State has es-
tablished procedures to screen for domestic vio-
lence in the course of investigating child abuse 
and that such procedures— 
‘‘(i) were developed in consultation 
with the State Domestic Violence Coalition 
(as defined in section 302 of the Family 
Violence Prevention and Services Act (42 
U.S.C. 10402)) or other entity eligible for 
funds under section 311 of the Family Vio-
lence Prevention and Services Act (42 
U.S.C. 10411); and 
‘‘(ii) include training and practice re-
quirements for investigators of child abuse 
where domestic violence is also present.’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) INDIVIDUALS REQUIRED TO REPORT SUS-
PECTED OR KNOWN CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT.— 
To satisfy the requirements of paragraph (2)(B)(i), 
a State law for mandatory reporting described in 
such paragraph shall require all of the following in-
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dividuals to report suspected or known incidents of 
child abuse or neglect: 
‘‘(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 services pro-
viders. 
‘‘(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. 
‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(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. 
‘‘(K) Other individuals, as the applicable 
State law or statewide program may require. 
‘‘(6) REPORTING
REQUIREMENT.—To satisfy 
the requirements of paragraph (2)(B)(i), a State law 
for mandatory reporting described in such para-
graph shall require such individuals to report sus-
pected or known incidents of child abuse or neglect 
directly to the appropriate law enforcement or child 
welfare agency (as applicable under State law) and, 
if applicable, to the individual’s supervisor or em-
ployer.’’. 
SEC. 5. APPROACHES AND TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE RE-
PORTING. 
(a) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 107(b) of the Child Abuse 
Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106c(b)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (4)— 
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(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
‘‘and’’ at the end; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) support training for adults who work 
with children in a professional or volunteer ca-
pacity, to report suspected and known incidents 
of child abuse or neglect under State law; and’’; 
and 
(2) in paragraph (5), by inserting before the pe-
riod ‘‘and the training described in paragraph 
(4)(C)’’. 
(b) STATE TASK FORCE STUDY.—Section 107(d) of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 5106c(d)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period and 
inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(3) evaluate the State’s efforts to train adults 
who work with children in a professional or volun-
teer capacity, to report suspected and known inci-
dents of child abuse or neglect under State law.’’. 
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(c) ADOPTION
OF
RECOMMENDATIONS.—Section 
107(e)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5106c(e)(1)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) experimental, model, and demonstra-
tion programs for testing innovative approaches 
and techniques that may improve reporting of 
and response to suspected and known incidents 
of child abuse or neglect by adults to the State 
child protective service agencies or to law en-
forcement agencies.’’. 
SEC. 6. GENERAL PROGRAM GRANTS. 
Section 108 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106d) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) MANDATORY REPORTING.—To be eligible to re-
ceive any form of financial assistance under this title, a 
State shall include in the corresponding plan or applica-
tion an assurance that the State has in effect a State law 
for 
mandatory 
reporting 
described 
in 
section 
106(b)(2)(B)(i).’’. 
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SEC. 7. REPORTS. 
Section 110 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106f) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) STUDY AND REPORT ON STATE MANDATORY 
REPORTING LAWS.— 
‘‘(1) STUDY.—Not later than 4 years after the 
date of enactment of the Speak Up to Protect Every 
Abused Kid Act, the Secretary shall collect informa-
tion on and otherwise study the efforts of States re-
lating to State laws for mandatory reporting of inci-
dents of child abuse or neglect, in order to assess 
the implementation of the amendments made by that 
Act. 
‘‘(2) REPORT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years 
after the date of enactment of the Speak Up to 
Protect Every Abused Kid Act, the Secretary 
shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
Congress a report containing the findings of the 
study under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The report submitted 
under subparagraph (A) shall— 
‘‘(i) provide an update on— 
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‘‘(I) implementation of State laws 
for mandatory reporting described in 
section 106(b)(2)(B)(i); and 
‘‘(II) State efforts to improve re-
porting on, and responding to reports 
of, child abuse or neglect; and 
‘‘(ii) include data regarding any 
changes in the rate of substantiated child 
abuse reports and changes in the rate of 
child abuse fatalities since the date of en-
actment of the Speak Up to Protect Every 
Abused Kid Act.’’. 
SEC. 8. COMMUNITY-BASED GRANTS. 
Section 204 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5116d) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) in paragraph (12), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(13) an assurance that the State has in effect 
a State law for mandatory reporting described in 
section 106(b)(2)(B)(i).’’. 
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SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b), this Act takes effect on the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
(b) MANDATORY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The 
amendments made by sections 4, 5(a), 6, and 8 shall apply 
to the applicable plans and applications submitted after 
the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act. 
Æ 
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