[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5313 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5313

 To provide incentives for States to have in effect laws mandating the 
    reporting of child abuse by certain individuals, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2002

  Ms. Waters 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 provide incentives for States to have in effect laws mandating the 
    reporting of child abuse by certain individuals, 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 ``Child Abuse Reporting Grant Option 
(CARGO) Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS.

    (a) Authorization of Grants.--From amounts made available for 
grants under this section, the Attorney General may make grants to 
eligible States for use by the State for the following purposes:
            (1) Hiring and training of law enforcement personnel for 
        child abuse cases.
            (2) Programs to help children who have been subject to 
        child abuse cope with such abuse.
    (b) Eligibility.--For a State to be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, the State must have in effect one or more laws 
providing the following:
            (1) A requirement that a mandatory reporter must report to 
        law enforcement authorities each instance in which the 
        mandatory reporter suspects or has reason to suspect that child 
        abuse has occurred, except when the information forming the 
        basis of such suspicion or reason to suspect is protected by 
        attorney-client or clergy-penitent privilege.
            (2) Appropriate punishments for violations of such 
        requirement.
            (3) A statute of limitations for the prosecution of 
        criminal offenses relating to child abuse of not less than five 
        years from the later of the following dates:
                    (A) The date of the offense.
                    (B) The date on which the alleged victim became 18 
                years old.
    (c) Mandatory Reporter Defined.--In this section, the term 
``mandatory reporter'' means any of the following:
            (1) A health care provider, including a physician, nurse, 
        resident, intern, or dentist, or a hospital officer, employee, 
        or volunteer.
            (2) A mental health professional or social worker.
            (3) An officer, employee, or volunteer of a public or 
        private school.
            (4) A child care provider.
            (5) A law enforcement officer.
            (6) An officer, employee, or volunteer of a religious 
        organization.
            (7) Commercial film and photographic print processors.
    (d) Application.--For a State to be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, the chief executive officer of the State shall 
submit to the Attorney General an application in such form and 
containing such information as the Attorney General may require.
    (e) Restrictions on Use of Funds.--
            (1) Nonsupplanting.--Funds made available pursuant to this 
        section shall not be used to supplant State funds, but shall be 
        used to increase the amount of funds that would, in the absence 
        of Federal funds, be made available from State sources for the 
        purposes of this Act.
            (2) Administrative costs.--A State may not use more than 
        three percent of the funds it receives from this section for 
        administrative expenses.
    (f) Allocation of Grant Amounts.--Grants under this section shall 
be allocated among eligible States that have submitted applications 
under this section as follows:
            (1) $50,000 to each such State.
            (2) Any remaining amounts to each such State in an amount 
        that bears the same ratio to such remaining amounts as the 
        population of individuals who have not yet attained the age of 
        18 in such State bears to the population of such individuals in 
        all such States.
    (g) Reports to the Attorney General.--Each State which receives a 
grant under this section shall submit to the Attorney General, for each 
year in which funds from a grant received under this section is 
expended, a report at such time and in such manner as the Attorney 
General may reasonably require, which contains--
            (1) a summary of the activities carried out under the grant 
        and an assessment of whether such activities are meeting the 
        needs identified in the application; and
            (2) such other information as the Attorney General may 
        require.
    (h) Reports to Congress.--Not later than 90 days after the end of 
each fiscal year for which grants are made under this section, the 
Attorney General shall submit to the Congress a report that includes--
            (1) the aggregate amount of grants made under this section 
        to each State for such fiscal year; and
            (2) a summary of the information provided by States 
        receiving grants under this section.
    (i) Expenditure Records.--
            (1) In general.--Each State which receives a grant under 
        this section shall keep records as the Attorney General may 
        require to facilitate an effective audit of the receipt and use 
        of grant funds received under this section.
            (2) Access.--Each State which receives a grant under this 
        section shall make available, for the purpose of audit and 
        examination, such records as are related to the receipt or use 
        of any such grant.
    (j) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``State'' 
includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United 
States Virgin Islands.
    (k) Funding.--
            (1) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized 
        to be appropriated to the Attorney General for grants under 
        subsection (a), $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.
            (2) No fiscal year limitation on grantees.--The Attorney 
        General shall ensure that a recipient of grant amounts under 
        this section is authorized to use such amounts without fiscal 
        year limitation.
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