Title: Alternative Pathways to Child Abuse Prevention Act
Policy area: Families

Summary:
Alternative Pathways to Child Abuse Prevention Act
This bill modifies certain child abuse prevention and treatment programs to expand the availability of alternative pathways of preventive, family-centered services and reduce the number of families referred to child protective services.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1741 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1741

 To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to provide for 
      alternative pathways of addressing child abuse and neglect.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 20, 2021

   Mr. Lujan introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to provide for 
      alternative pathways of addressing child abuse and neglect.

    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 ``Alternative Pathways to Child Abuse 
Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Section 2 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 
U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (11), by inserting ``trauma-informed,'' 
        after ``child-centered,'';
            (2) in paragraphs (12) and (14), by inserting ``, Indian 
        Tribes,'' after ``States'' each place such term appears; and
            (3) in subparagraphs (C) and (D) of paragraph (15), by 
        inserting ``and Indian Tribes'' after ``States'' each place 
        such term appears.

SEC. 3. ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT.

    Section 102 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 
U.S.C. 5102) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (13), by striking ``and'';
                    (B) in paragraph (14), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) domestic violence advocates and experts.''; and
            (2) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``; and'';
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) recommendations for actions Federal, State, Tribal, 
        and local public agencies can take to safely reduce the number 
        of families referred to child protective services and direct 
        such families to alternative pathways of preventive, family-
        centered services for support.''.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE FOR INFORMATION RELATING TO CHILD ABUSE.

    Section 103 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 
U.S.C. 5104) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``relating to 
                differential response;'' and inserting ``relating to--
                    ``(A) differential response; and
                    ``(B) the use of alternative pathways that connect 
                families experiencing difficulty meeting basic needs or 
                other risk factors associated with child abuse and 
                neglect, such as parental stress, family violence, and 
                isolation, to community-based systems and programs that 
                strengthen families seeking support instead of to the 
                child protection system, such as--
                            ``(i) State, Tribal, or local helplines 
                        that provide information or assistance and 
                        connect families to voluntary community-based 
                        support services; and
                            ``(ii) alternative pathways for mandated 
                        reporters and other concerned adults to use to 
                        refer families for voluntary supports outside 
                        of the child protection system;'';
                    (B) in paragraph (8) , by striking subparagraph (B) 
                and inserting the following:
                    ``(B) appropriate State, Tribal, and local 
                officials to assist in training law enforcement, legal, 
                judicial, medical, physical, behavioral, and mental 
                health, education, child welfare, substance use 
                disorder treatment services, and domestic violence 
                services personnel, including training on--
                            ``(i) the role of the child protective 
                        services system to identify children at risk of 
                        serious harm; and
                            ``(ii) how to direct families in need to 
                        alternative pathways to community-based systems 
                        and programs that strengthen such families in 
                        order to safely reduce the number of families 
                        unnecessarily referred to child protective 
                        services; and''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (9), by inserting ``for both 
                victims and for people who use violence'' before the 
                period; and
            (2) in subsection (c)(1)(C)--
                    (A) in clause (iii), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in clause (iv), by inserting ``and'' after the 
                semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(v) information on the presence of 
                        domestic violence in advance of a child 
                        death;''.

SEC. 5. RESEARCH AND ASSISTANCE ACTIVITIES.

    Section 104 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 
U.S.C. 5105) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (L), by inserting ``and the use 
                of alternative pathways that connect families to 
                community-based prevention services where possible 
                instead of system involvement'' after ``differential 
                response''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (O)--
                            (i) in clause (ix), by inserting ``presence 
                        of domestic violence,'' after ``size),'';
                            (ii) in clause (x), by striking ``; and'' 
                        and inserting a semicolon;
                            (iii) in clause (xi), by striking the 
                        period and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(xii) the prevalence of domestic violence 
                        in child abuse and neglect reports and open 
                        cases.'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) ways to safely decrease the number of 
                families being referred to child protective services 
                and instead provide them with alternative pathways to 
                community-based child abuse prevention services that 
                strengthen families.''; and
            (3) in subsection (e)(3), by inserting ``and for 
        demonstration projects that focus on building research-based 
        protective factors in community organizations, health care, and 
        schools for adult and child survivors of domestic violence as a 
        strategy for keeping children out of the child protective 
        services system'' before the period.

SEC. 6. GRANTS TO STATES, INDIAN TRIBES OR TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS, AND 
              PUBLIC OR PRIVATE AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS.

    Section 105(a) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 
U.S.C. 5106(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ``and case 
        management'' after ``through referral'';
            (2) in paragraph (5), by inserting ``for survivors or 
        people who use violence'' after ``violence service agencies'';
            (3) in paragraph (6), by inserting ``accountability and 
        meaningful pathways to change for the person using violence,'' 
        after ``parent involved and children,''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) Alternative pathways to community-based family-
        strengthening services and programs.--The Secretary may award 
        grants to collaborations of State, Tribal, and local child 
        welfare agencies with community-based providers to support the 
        development and implementation of alternative pathways and 
        systems and supports that connect families experiencing 
        difficulty meeting basic needs or risk factors associated with 
        child abuse and neglect to community-based systems and programs 
        that assist families seeking support as an alternative to the 
        child protection system, such as supporting--
                    ``(A) the development and implementation of--
                            ``(i) local or State helplines, websites, 
                        or mobile applications that provide information 
                        or assistance and connect families to voluntary 
                        community-based support services, including 
                        local programs supported under title II;
                            ``(ii) a continuum of preventive services 
                        that strengthen families and promote child, 
                        parent, and family well-being; and
                            ``(iii) alternative pathways for mandatory 
                        reporters and other concerned adults to use to 
                        connect families to voluntary supports outside 
                        of child protection systems and educating 
                        adults about such pathways; and
                    ``(B) the hiring of personnel to help connect 
                families to voluntary supports outside of child 
                protection systems, navigate barriers to accessing 
                these services, and ensure services exist where 
                families live and work.''.

SEC. 7. GRANTS TO STATES FOR CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT PREVENTION AND 
              TREATMENT PROGRAMS.

    Section 106 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 
U.S.C. 5106a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (13)(B), by striking ``; or'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (14)(B), by striking the period 
                and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) improving the child protective system to focus 
        children at most serious risk of harm and safely reduce the 
        number of families investigated for child abuse and neglect by 
        increasing the number of families connected to voluntary, 
        community-based systems and programs that assist families in 
        need of supports and services, including by developing, 
        implementing, and expanding--
                    ``(A) local or State helplines, websites, and 
                mobile applications that connect families to voluntary 
                community-based resources, including local programs 
                funded under title II;
                    ``(B) a continuum of preventive services that 
                strengthen families and promote child, parent, and 
                family well-being;
                    ``(C) alternative pathways for mandatory reporters 
                and other concerned adults to use to refer families for 
                voluntary supports outside of child protection systems 
                and educating adults about such systems; and
                    ``(D) personnel to help connect families to 
                voluntary supports outside of child protection systems, 
                navigate barriers to accessing these services, and 
                ensure services exist where families live and work.''; 
                and
            (2) in subsection (b)(2)(D)--
                    (A) in clause (v), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in clause (vi), by adding ``and'' after the 
                semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(vii) changes in policies and procedures 
                        of State and local child welfare agencies 
                        that--
                                    ``(I) reduce the number of families 
                                referred to such agencies for incidents 
                                that are not child abuse or neglect, 
                                such as families referred to the child 
                                protective system solely based on 
                                circumstances related to poverty;
                                    ``(II) develop, implement, and 
                                scale systems of alternative pathways 
                                (in coordination with the lead entity 
                                and local programs supported by title 
                                II) that connect such families to 
                                voluntary community-based support to 
                                build protective factors that reduce 
                                the likelihood of child abuse and 
                                neglect, or that reduce harm as a 
                                result of domestic violence, including 
                                efforts to educate mandatory reporters 
                                and other concerned adults about such 
                                systems to refer families for voluntary 
                                supports outside of child protection 
                                systems; and
                                    ``(III) increase supports for 
                                families in navigating and accessing 
                                voluntary community-based support to 
                                reduce the likelihood of child abuse 
                                and neglect or that reduce harm as a 
                                result of domestic violence, including 
                                personnel and casework.''.

SEC. 8. GRANTS TO STATES FOR PROGRAMS RELATING TO THE INVESTIGATION AND 
              PROSECUTION OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT CASES.

    Section 107(c)(1) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 
(42 U.S.C. 5106c(c)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (I), by striking ``; and'' and 
        inserting a semicolon;
            (2) in subparagraph (J), by striking the period and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(K) domestic violence and sexual violence 
                prevention and treatment advocates.''.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Title I.--Section 112(a)(1) of the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106h(a)(1)) is amended by striking 
``$120,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and such sums as may be necessary 
for each of the fiscal years 2011 through 2015'' and inserting 
``$500,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 and such sums as may be necessary 
for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027''.
    (b) Title II.--Section 209 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5116i) is amended by striking ``$80,000,000 
for fiscal year 2010 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 
fiscal years 2011 through 2015'' and inserting ``$1,000,000,000 for 
fiscal year 2022 and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 
years 2023 through 2027''.
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