34 U.S.C. § 20304 (CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT)
§ 20304. Local children’s advocacy centers
(a) In general
The Administrator, in coordination with the Director and with the Director of the Office of Victims of Crime, shall make grants to develop and implement multidisciplinary child abuse investigation and prosecution programs.
(b) Direct services for victims of child pornography
The Administrator, in coordination with the Director and with the Director of the Office of Victims of Crime, may make grants to develop and implement specialized programs to identify and provide direct services to victims of child pornography.
(c) Grant criteria
(1) The Director shall establish the criteria to be used in evaluating applications for grants under this section consistent with sections 11183 and 11186 of this title.
(2) In general, the grant criteria established pursuant to paragraph (1) may require that a program include any of the following elements:
(A) A written agreement between local law enforcement, social service, health, and other related agencies to coordinate child abuse investigation, prosecution, treatment, and counseling services.
(B) An appropriate site for referring, interviewing, treating, and counseling child victims of sexual and serious physical abuse and neglect and nonoffending family members (referred to as the “counseling center”).
(C) Referral of all sexual and serious physical abuse and neglect cases to the counseling center not later than 24 hours after notification of an incident of abuse.
(D) Joint initial investigative interviews of child victims by personnel from law enforcement, health, and social service agencies.
(E) A requirement that, to the extent practicable, the same agency representative who conducts an initial interview conduct all subsequent interviews.
(F) A requirement that, to the extent practicable, all interviews and meetings with a child victim occur at the counseling center.
(G) Coordination of each step of the investigation process to minimize the number of interviews that a child victim must attend.
(H) Designation of a director for the multidisciplinary program.
(I) Assignment of a volunteer or staff advocate to each child in order to assist the child and, when appropriate, the child’s family, throughout each step of judicial proceedings.
(J) Such other criteria as the Director shall establish by regulation.
(d) Distribution of grants
In awarding grants under this section, the Director shall ensure that grants are distributed to both large and small States and to rural, suburban, and urban jurisdictions.
(e) Consultation with regional children’s advocacy centers
A grant recipient under this section shall consult from time to time with regional children’s advocacy centers in its census region that are grant recipients under section 20303 of this title.
(Pub. L. 101–647, title II, § 214, formerly § 212, Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4793; renumbered § 214 and amended Pub. L. 102–586, § 6(b)(1), (c), Nov. 4, 1992, 106 Stat. 5029, 5034; Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title II, § 12221(b)(1)(A), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1894; Pub. L. 114–22, title I, § 104(2), May 29, 2015, 129 Stat. 236.)
heading: Codification
text: Section was formerly classified to section 13002 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section. Some section numbers or references in amendment notes below reflect the classification of such sections or references prior to editorial reclassification.
heading: Prior Provisions
text: A prior section 214 of Pub. L. 101–647 was renumbered section 214B and is classified to section 20306 of this title.
heading: Amendments
text: 2015—Subsecs. (b) to (e). Pub. L. 114–22 added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsecs. (b) to (d) as (c) to (e), respectively.
2002—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 107–273 substituted “sections 5673 and 5676 of this title” for “sections 5665a, 5673, and 5676 of this title”.
1992—Pub. L. 102–586, § 6(c)(1), substituted “Local children’s advocacy centers” for “Authority of Director to make grants” in section catchline.
Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–586, § 6(c)(2), substituted “The Administrator, in coordination with the Director and with the Director of the Office of Victims of Crime,” for “The Director of the Office of Victims of Crime (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the ‘Director’), in consultation with officials of the Department of Health and Human Services,”.
Subsec. (b)(2)(B). Pub. L. 102–586, § 6(c)(3), inserted “and nonoffending family members” after “neglect”.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 102–586, § 6(c)(4), added subsec. (d).
heading: Effective Date of 2002 Amendment
text: Amendment by Pub. L. 107–273 effective on the first day of the first fiscal year that begins after Nov. 2, 2002, and applicable only with respect to fiscal years beginning on or after the first day of the first fiscal year that begins after Nov. 2, 2002, see section 12223 of Pub. L. 107–273, as amended, set out as a note under section 11101 of this title.