[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5847 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5847
To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to establish
grant programs for the development and implementation of model
undergraduate and graduate curricula on child abuse and neglect at
institutions of higher education throughout the United States and to
assist States in developing forensic interview training programs, to
establish regional training centers and other resources for State and
local child protection professionals, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 22, 2010
Mr. Walz (for himself and Mr. Boozman) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to establish
grant programs for the development and implementation of model
undergraduate and graduate curricula on child abuse and neglect at
institutions of higher education throughout the United States and to
assist States in developing forensic interview training programs, to
establish regional training centers and other resources for State and
local child protection professionals, and for other purposes.
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 ``National Child Protection Training
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Studies indicate that the majority of child protection
professionals, including child protection workers, child
protection attorneys, medical and mental health professionals,
law enforcement officers, forensic interviewers, and other
professionals who work directly with maltreated children, are
inadequately prepared through undergraduate and graduate
programs to recognize and respond to cases of child
maltreatment.
(2) Studies indicate that individuals mandated to report
child maltreatment often fail to recognize instances of
maltreatment, and that such failure to recognize maltreatment
is attributable, in part, to inadequate training in
undergraduate and graduate programs.
(3) Child protection professionals often find it difficult
to access quality training on investigating, or otherwise
responding to, cases of child maltreatment, and many programs,
such as forensic interview training programs, that require
intensive training and small class sizes could reach more
professionals if such programs were developed at the State,
rather than the national, level.
(4) Child protection professionals should be trained not
only to respond to cases of child maltreatment after such
maltreatment has occurred, but also to take a leadership role
in implementing evidence-based community prevention programs.
(5) The National Child Protection Training Center has taken
a leadership role in implementing model undergraduate and
graduate curricula on child abuse and neglect, in assisting
States in developing forensic interview training programs, and
in providing ongoing training, technical assistance, and
publications to child protection professionals. Specifically,
the National Child Protection Training Center has--
(A) assisted the States of Arkansas, Connecticut,
Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland,
Missouri, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Ohio,
South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia in
developing and sustaining forensic interview training
programs;
(B) developed and implemented model undergraduate
and graduate curricula on child maltreatment in 13
universities and colleges in 8 States and the District
of Columbia, and has worked with dozens of additional
universities to implement model curricula; and
(C) provided training, technical assistance, and
other services to more than 40,000 child protection
professionals throughout the United States.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL TRAINING CENTERS AND GRANT PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act is
amended by inserting after section 109 (42 U.S.C. 5106e) the following:
``SEC. 109A. REGIONAL TRAINING CENTERS AND GRANT PROGRAMS.
``(a) Regional Training Centers.--The Secretary of Health and Human
Services (referred to in this section as the `Secretary') shall enter
into an agreement with the National Child Protection Training Center to
establish and sustain within the Center regional training centers in
the midwestern, northeastern, southern, and western regions of the
United States, which shall be called `Regional Training Centers'
(referred to in this section as the `Centers'). The Centers shall--
``(1) provide child protection professionals (including
child protection workers, child protection attorneys, medical
and mental health professionals, law enforcement officers,
forensic interviewers, and other professionals who work
directly with maltreated children) in the field with low-cost,
high-quality training, technical assistance, and publications;
``(2) provide child protection professionals ongoing
training and assistance in developing evidence-based community
prevention programs;
``(3) develop model undergraduate and graduate curricula on
child maltreatment and, after approval by the Secretary,
disseminate the curricula to community colleges, colleges,
universities, law schools, medical schools, and other
institutions of higher education; and
``(4) assist States in developing and maintaining forensic
interview training programs.
``(b) Grant Programs.--The Secretary, in accordance with agreements
entered into with the National Child Protection Training Center, shall
establish the following grant programs:
``(1) Forensic interview training programs.--The National
Child Protection Training Center, in accordance with an
agreement between such center and the Secretary under this
paragraph, shall award grants to State and local governments
and other nonprofit entities to--
``(A) assist State and local child protection
professionals described in subsection (a) in developing
statewide forensic interview training programs; or
``(B) expand forensic interview training programs
to provide for additional, advanced forensic interview
training courses.
``(2) Model curricula.--The National Child Protection
Training Center, in accordance with an agreement between such
center and the Secretary under this paragraph, shall award
grants to State and local governments and other nonprofit
entities to--
``(A) defray the expenses of institutions of higher
education in implementing model undergraduate or
graduate curricula on child abuse and neglect; or
``(B) assist institutions of higher education in
expanding model undergraduate or graduate curricula on
child abuse and neglect.
``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) Regional centers.--To carry out subsection (a), there
is authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2011 through 2014.
``(2) Grant programs.--To carry out subsection (b), there
is authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2011 through 2014, of which--
``(A) $1,000,000 per fiscal year shall be allocated
to the program under paragraph (1) of such subsection;
and
``(B) $1,000,000 per fiscal year shall be allocated
to the program under paragraph (2) of such
subsection.''.
(b) Clerical Amendments.--The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment
Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 1(b), by inserting after the item relating
to section 109 the following new item:
``109A. Regional training centers and grant programs.''; and
(2) in section 112--
(A) in subsection (a)--
(i) in paragraph (1), by inserting
``(except section 109A)'' after ``this title'';
and
(ii) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting
``(except for activities under section 109A)''
after ``this title''; and
(B) in subsection (b), by inserting ``(except for
funds appropriated under section 109A)'' after ``this
title''.
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