Title: Kevin and Avonte's Law of 2017
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Kevin and Avonte's Law of 2017
Missing Americans Alert Program Act of 2017
This bill amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to revise, rename, and reauthorize through FY2022 the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program.
It directs the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Bureau of Justice Assistance to award grants:
The bill amends the Missing Children's Assistance Act to specify that, with respect to training and technical assistance provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, cases involving missing and exploited children include cases involving children with developmental disabilities such as autism.
DOJ must establish and certain grant recipients must comply with standards and best practices related to the use of tracking technology to locate missing individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities.
The bill prohibits the use of data from tracking devices to create a federal database. It also prohibits construing this bill to require a parent or guardian to use a tracking device.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4221 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4221

To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, to 
reauthorize the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program, and 
 to promote initiatives that will reduce the risk of injury and death 
relating to the wandering characteristics of some children with autism.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 2, 2017

Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Ms. Maxine Waters of California, 
  and Mr. Michael F. Doyle of Pennsylvania) introduced the following 
  bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in 
addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period 
    to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, to 
reauthorize the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program, and 
 to promote initiatives that will reduce the risk of injury and death 
relating to the wandering characteristics of some children with autism.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Kevin and Avonte's Law of 2017''.

      TITLE I--MISSING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE PATIENT ALERT PROGRAM 
                            REAUTHORIZATION

SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

    This title may be cited as the ``Missing Americans Alert Program 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 102. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE MISSING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE PATIENT 
              ALERT PROGRAM.

    (a) Amendments.--Section 240001 of the Violent Crime Control and 
Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12621) is amended--
            (1) in the section header, by striking ``alzheimer's 
        disease patient'' and inserting ``americans'';
            (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
    ``(a) Grant Program To Reduce Injury and Death of Missing Americans 
With Dementia and Developmental Disabilities.--Subject to the 
availability of appropriations to carry out this section, the Attorney 
General, through the Bureau of Justice Assistance and in consultation 
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services--
            ``(1) shall award competitive grants to health care 
        agencies, State and local law enforcement agencies, or public 
        safety agencies and nonprofit organizations to assist such 
        entities in planning, designing, establishing, or operating 
        locally based, proactive programs to prevent wandering and 
        locate missing individuals with forms of dementia, such as 
        Alzheimer's Disease, or developmental disabilities, such as 
        autism, who, due to their condition, wander from safe 
        environments, including programs that--
                    ``(A) provide prevention and response information, 
                including online training resources, and referrals to 
                families or guardians of such individuals who, due to 
                their condition, wander from a safe environment;
                    ``(B) provide education and training, including 
                online training resources, to first responders, school 
                personnel, clinicians, and the public in order to--
                            ``(i) increase the safety and reduce the 
                        incidence of wandering of persons, who, due to 
                        their dementia or developmental disabilities, 
                        may wander from safe environments;
                            ``(ii) facilitate the rescue and recovery 
                        of individuals who, due to their dementia or 
                        developmental disabilities, wander from safe 
                        environments; and
                            ``(iii) recognize and respond to and 
                        appropriately interact with endangered missing 
                        individuals with dementia or developmental 
                        disabilities who, due to their condition, 
                        wander from safe environments;
                    ``(C) provide prevention and response training and 
                emergency protocols for school administrators, staff, 
                and families or guardians of individuals with dementia, 
                such as Alzheimer's Disease, or developmental 
                disabilities, such as autism, to help reduce the risk 
                of wandering by such individuals; and
                    ``(D) develop, operate, or enhance a notification 
                or communications systems for alerts, advisories, or 
                dissemination of other information for the recovery of 
                missing individuals with forms of dementia, such as 
                Alzheimer's Disease, or with developmental 
                disabilities, such as autism; and
            ``(2) shall award grants to health care agencies, State and 
        local law enforcement agencies, or public safety agencies to 
        assist such agencies in designing, establishing, and operating 
        locative tracking technology programs for individuals with 
        forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer's Disease, or children 
        with developmental disabilities, such as autism, who have 
        wandered from safe environments.'';
            (3) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by inserting ``competitive'' after ``to receive 
                a'';
                    (B) by inserting ``agency or'' before 
                ``organization'' each place it appears; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following: ``The 
                Attorney General shall periodically solicit 
                applications for grants under this section by 
                publishing a request for applications in the Federal 
                Register and by posting such a request on the website 
                of the Department of Justice.''; and
            (4) by striking subsections (c) and (d) and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(c) Preference.--In awarding grants under subsection (a)(1), the 
Attorney General shall give preference to law enforcement or public 
safety agencies that partner with nonprofit organizations that 
appropriately use person-centered plans minimizing restrictive 
interventions and that have a direct link to individuals, and families 
of individuals, with forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer's Disease, or 
developmental disabilities, such as autism.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $2,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2018 through 2022.
    ``(e) Grant Accountability.--All grants awarded by the Attorney 
General under this section shall be subject to the following 
accountability provisions:
            ``(1) Audit requirement.--
                    ``(A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term 
                `unresolved audit finding' means a finding in the final 
                audit report of the Inspector General of the Department 
                of Justice that the audited grantee has utilized grant 
                funds for an unauthorized expenditure or otherwise 
                unallowable cost that is not closed or resolved within 
                12 months from the date when the final audit report is 
                issued.
                    ``(B) Audits.--Beginning in the first fiscal year 
                beginning after the date of enactment of this 
                subsection, and in each fiscal year thereafter, the 
                Inspector General of the Department of Justice shall 
                conduct audits of recipients of grants under this 
                section to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by 
                grantees. The Inspector General shall determine the 
                appropriate number of grantees to be audited each year.
                    ``(C) Mandatory exclusion.--A recipient of grant 
                funds under this section that is found to have an 
                unresolved audit finding shall not be eligible to 
                receive grant funds under this section during the first 
                2 fiscal years beginning after the end of the 12-month 
                period described in subparagraph (A).
                    ``(D) Priority.--In awarding grants under this 
                section, the Attorney General shall give priority to 
                eligible applicants that did not have an unresolved 
                audit finding during the 3 fiscal years before 
                submitting an application for a grant under this 
                section.
                    ``(E) Reimbursement.--If an entity is awarded grant 
                funds under this section during the 2-fiscal-year 
                period during which the entity is barred from receiving 
                grants under subparagraph (C), the Attorney General 
                shall--
                            ``(i) deposit an amount equal to the amount 
                        of the grant funds that were improperly awarded 
                        to the grantee into the General Fund of the 
                        Treasury; and
                            ``(ii) seek to recoup the costs of the 
                        repayment to the fund from the grant recipient 
                        that was erroneously awarded grant funds.
            ``(2) Nonprofit organization requirements.--
                    ``(A) Definition of nonprofit organization.--For 
                purposes of this paragraph and the grant programs under 
                this part, the term `nonprofit organization' means an 
                organization that is described in section 501(c)(3) of 
                the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from 
                taxation under section 501(a) of such Code.
                    ``(B) Prohibition.--The Attorney General may not 
                award a grant under this part to a nonprofit 
                organization that holds money in offshore accounts for 
                the purpose of avoiding paying the tax described in 
                section 511(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
                    ``(C) Disclosure.--Each nonprofit organization that 
                is awarded a grant under this section and uses the 
                procedures prescribed in regulations to create a 
                rebuttable presumption of reasonableness for the 
                compensation of its officers, directors, trustees, and 
                key employees, shall disclose to the Attorney General, 
                in the application for the grant, the process for 
                determining such compensation, including the 
                independent persons involved in reviewing and approving 
                such compensation, the comparability data used, and 
                contemporaneous substantiation of the deliberation and 
                decision. Upon request, the Attorney General shall make 
                the information disclosed under this subparagraph 
                available for public inspection.
            ``(3) Conference expenditures.--
                    ``(A) Limitation.--No amounts made available to the 
                Department of Justice under this section may be used by 
                the Attorney General, or by any individual or entity 
                awarded discretionary funds through a cooperative 
                agreement under this section, to host or support any 
                expenditure for conferences that uses more than $20,000 
                in funds made available by the Department of Justice, 
                unless the head of the relevant agency or department, 
                provides prior written authorization that the funds may 
                be expended to host the conference.
                    ``(B) Written approval.--Written approval under 
                subparagraph (A) shall include a written estimate of 
                all costs associated with the conference, including the 
                cost of all food, beverages, audio-visual equipment, 
                honoraria for speakers, and entertainment.
                    ``(C) Report.--The Deputy Attorney General shall 
                submit an annual report to the Committee on the 
                Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the 
                Judiciary of the House of Representatives on all 
                conference expenditures approved under this paragraph.
            ``(4) Annual certification.--Beginning in the first fiscal 
        year beginning after the date of enactment of this subsection, 
        the Attorney General shall submit, to the Committee on the 
        Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and 
        the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the House of Representatives, an annual 
        certification--
                    ``(A) indicating whether--
                            ``(i) all audits issued by the Office of 
                        the Inspector General under paragraph (1) have 
                        been completed and reviewed by the appropriate 
                        Assistant Attorney General or Director;
                            ``(ii) all mandatory exclusions required 
                        under paragraph (1)(C) have been issued; and
                            ``(iii) all reimbursements required under 
                        paragraph (1)(E) have been made; and
                    ``(B) that includes a list of any grant recipients 
                excluded under paragraph (1) from the previous year.
    ``(f) Preventing Duplicative Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--Before the Attorney General awards a 
        grant to an applicant under this section, the Attorney General 
        shall compare potential grant awards with other grants awarded 
        by the Attorney General to determine if grant awards are or 
        have been awarded for a similar purpose.
            ``(2) Report.--If the Attorney General awards grants to the 
        same applicant for a similar purpose the Attorney General shall 
        submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 
        Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a 
        report that includes--
                    ``(A) a list of all such grants awarded, including 
                the total dollar amount of any such grants awarded; and
                    ``(B) the reason the Attorney General awarded 
                multiple grants to the same applicant for a similar 
                purpose.''.
    (b) Annual Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act and every year thereafter, the Attorney General 
shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a report on 
the Missing Americans Alert Program, as amended by subsection (a), 
which shall address--
            (1) the number of individuals who benefitted from the 
        Missing Americans Alert Program, including information such as 
        the number of individuals with reduced unsafe wandering, the 
        number of people who were trained through the program, and the 
        estimated number of people who were impacted by the program;
            (2) the number of State, local, and tribal law enforcement 
        or public safety agencies that applied for funding under the 
        Missing Americans Alert Program;
            (3) the number of State, local, and tribal local law 
        enforcement or public safety agencies that received funding 
        under the Missing Americans Alert Program, including--
                    (A) the number of State, local, and tribal law 
                enforcement or public safety agencies that used such 
                funding for training; and
                    (B) the number of State, local, and tribal law 
                enforcement or public safety agencies that used such 
                funding for designing, establishing, or operating 
                locative tracking technology;
            (4) the companies, including the location (city and State) 
        of the headquarters and local offices of each company, for 
        which their locative tracking technology was used by State, 
        local, and tribal law enforcement or public safety agencies;
            (5) the nonprofit organizations, including the location 
        (city and State) of the headquarters and local offices of each 
        organization, that State, local, and tribal law enforcement or 
        public safety agencies partnered with and the result of each 
        partnership;
            (6) the number of missing children with autism or another 
        developmental disability with wandering tendencies or adults 
        with Alzheimer's being served by the program who went missing 
        and the result of the search for each such individual; and
            (7) any recommendations for improving the Missing Americans 
        Alert Program.
    (c) Table of Contents.--The table of contents in section 2 of the 
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is amended by 
striking the item relating to section 240001 and inserting the 
following:

``Sec. 240001. Missing Americans Alert Program.''.

                    TITLE II--EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

SEC. 201. ACTIVITIES BY THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED 
              CHILDREN.

    Section 404(b)(1)(H) of the Missing Children's Assistance Act (34 
U.S.C. 11293(b)(1)(H)) is amended by inserting ``, including cases 
involving children with developmental disabilities such as autism'' 
before the semicolon.

                     TITLE III--PRIVACY PROTECTIONS

SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS.

    In this title:
            (1) Child.--The term ``child'' means an individual who is 
        less than 18 years of age.
            (2) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)).
            (3) Law enforcement agency.--The term ``law enforcement 
        agency'' means an agency of a State, unit of local government, 
        or Indian tribe that is authorized by law or by a government 
        agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, 
        investigation, or prosecution of any violation of criminal law.
            (4) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
            (5) Unit of local government.--The term ``unit of local 
        government'' means a county, municipality, town, township, 
        village, parish, borough, or other unit of general government 
        below the State level.
            (6) Non-invasive and non-permanent.--The term ``non-
        invasive and non-permanent'' means, with regard to any 
        technology or device, that the procedure to install the 
        technology or device does not create an external or internal 
        marker or implant a device, such as a microchip, or other 
        trackable items.

SEC. 302. STANDARDS AND BEST PRACTICES FOR USE OF NON-INVASIVE AND NON-
              PERMANENT TRACKING DEVICES.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation 
        with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and leading 
        research, advocacy, self-advocacy, and service organizations, 
        shall establish standards and best practices relating to the 
        use of non-invasive and non-permanent tracking technology, 
        where a guardian or parent has determined that a non-invasive 
        and non-permanent tracking device is the least restrictive 
        alternative, to locate individuals as described in subsection 
        (a)(2) of section 240001 of the Violent Crime Control and Law 
        Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12621), as added by this 
        Act.
            (2) Requirements.--In establishing the standards and best 
        practices required under paragraph (1), the Attorney General 
        shall--
                    (A) determine--
                            (i) the criteria used to determine which 
                        individuals would benefit from the use of a 
                        tracking device;
                            (ii) the criteria used to determine who 
                        should have direct access to the tracking 
                        system; and
                            (iii) which non-invasive and non-permanent 
                        types of tracking devices can be used in 
                        compliance with the standards and best 
                        practices; and
                    (B) establish standards and best practices the 
                Attorney General determines are necessary to the 
                administration of a tracking system, including 
                procedures to--
                            (i) safeguard the privacy of the data used 
                        by the tracking device such that--
                                    (I) access to the data is 
                                restricted to law enforcement and 
                                health agencies determined necessary by 
                                the Attorney General; and
                                    (II) collection, use, and retention 
                                of the data is solely for the purpose 
                                of preventing injury or death to the 
                                individual wearing the tracking device;
                            (ii) establish criteria to determine 
                        whether use of the tracking device is the least 
                        restrictive alternative in order to prevent 
                        risk of injury or death before issuing the 
                        tracking device, including the previous 
                        consideration of less restrictive alternatives;
                            (iii) provide training for law enforcement 
                        agencies to recognize signs of abuse during 
                        interactions with applicants for tracking 
                        devices;
                            (iv) protect the civil rights and liberties 
                        of the individuals who use tracking devices, 
                        including their rights under the Fourth 
                        Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
                        States;
                            (v) establish a complaint and investigation 
                        process to address--
                                    (I) incidents of noncompliance by 
                                recipients of grants under subsection 
                                (a)(2) of section 240001 of the Violent 
                                Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 
                                of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12621), as added by 
                                this Act, with the best practices 
                                established by the Attorney General or 
                                other applicable law; and
                                    (II) use of a tracking device over 
                                the objection of an individual; and
                            (vi) determine the role that State agencies 
                        should have in the administration of a tracking 
                        system.
            (3) Effective date.--The standards and best practices 
        established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall take effect 90 days 
        after publication of such standards and practices by the 
        Attorney General.
    (b) Required Compliance.--
            (1) In general.--Each entity that receives a grant under 
        subsection (a)(2) of section 240001 of the Violent Crime 
        Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12621), as 
        added by this Act, shall comply with any standards and best 
        practices relating to the use of tracking devices established 
        by the Attorney General in accordance with subsection (a).
            (2) Determination of compliance.--The Attorney General, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
        shall determine whether an entity that receives a grant under 
        subsection (a)(2) of section 240001 of the Violent Crime 
        Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12621), as 
        added by this Act, acts in compliance with the requirement 
        described in paragraph (1).
    (c) Applicability of Standards and Best Practices.--The standards 
and best practices established by the Attorney General under subsection 
(a) shall apply only to the grant programs authorized under subsection 
(a)(2) of section 240001 of the Violent Crime Control and Law 
Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12621), as added by this Act.
    (d) Limitations on Program.--
            (1) Data storage.--Any tracking data provided by tracking 
        devices issued under this program may not be used by a Federal 
        entity to create a database.
            (2) Voluntary participation.--Nothing in this Act may be 
        construed to require that a parent or guardian use a tracking 
        device to monitor the location of a child or adult under that 
        parent or guardian's supervision if the parent or guardian does 
        not believe that the use of such device is necessary or in the 
        interest of the child or adult under supervision.
                                 <all>