[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 771 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 771

   To improve the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases 
                   through Children Advocacy Centers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 2, 2003

   Mr. Biden introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To improve the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases 
                   through Children Advocacy Centers.

    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 ``Victims of Child Abuse Act of 
2003''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE VICTIMS OF CHILD ABUSE ACT OF 1990.

    The Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13001 et seq.) is 
amended--
            (1) in section 211 (42 U.S.C. 13001) by--
                    (A) redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as 
                paragraphs (9) and (10), respectively; and
                    (B) inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
            ``(6)(A) the National Children's Alliance (NCA) is a 
        nationwide not-for-profit membership organization whose members 
        are local Children's Advocacy Centers;
            ``(B) the NCA's mission is to assist communities seeking to 
        improve their response to child abuse by supporting the 
        development, growth, and continuation of Children's Advocacy 
        Centers (CACs); and
            ``(C) the NCA provides training, technical assistance, and 
        networking opportunities to CACs nationally;
            ``(7)(A) CACs are community partnerships committed to a 
        multidisciplinary team approach by professionals pursuing the 
        truth in child abuse investigations; and
            ``(B) CACs are based in child-friendly facilities that 
        enable law enforcement, prosecutors, child protective services, 
        and the medical and mental health communities to work as a team 
        to investigate, prosecute, and treat child abuse;
            ``(8)(A) working in partnership with the National 
        Children's Alliance, Regional Children's Advocacy Centers were 
        established by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 
        Prevention to provide outreach and assistance to communities 
        seeking to develop a Children's Advocacy Center; and
            ``(B) Regional Children's Advocacy Centers provide 
        information, consultation, training, and technical assistance 
        helping to establish child-focused programs that facilitate and 
        support coordination among agencies responding to child abuse. 
        Regional Children's Advocacy Centers also provide regional 
        services to help Children's Advocacy Centers already in 
        existence;'';
            (2) in section 212 (42 U.S.C. 13001a)--
                    (A) by striking paragraphs (3) and (6);
                    (B) redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 
                paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and
                    (C) redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), and (9) as 
                paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), respectively;
            (3) in section 213 (42 U.S.C. 13001b)--
                    (A) by striking the caption for the section and 
                inserting ``children's advocacy centers''; and
                    (B) in subsection (a), by striking beginning with 
                ``the Administrator'' through paragraph (1) and 
                inserting the following: ``The Administrator of the 
                Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 
                shall establish Regional Children's Advocacy Centers 
                to--
            ``(1) focus attention on child victims by assisting 
        communities to develop and maintain local Children's Advocacy 
        Centers which are child-focused community-oriented facility 
        based programs designed to improve the resources available to 
        children and families affected by child abuse and neglect;'';
                    (C) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``, in 
                coordination with the Director,'';
                    (D) in subsection (c)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by striking the text 
                        and inserting ``The Administrator, in 
                        consultation with the National Children's 
                        Alliance, shall solicit proposals for 
                        assistance under this section when existing 
                        contracts with Regional Children's Advocacy 
                        Centers are close to expiration.''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (4)(B), by striking the 
                        matter before clause (i) and inserting the 
                        following: ``The Administrator shall select 
                        proposals for funding that--'';
                    (E) in subsection (d)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ``, in 
                        coordination with the Director,''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and 
                        the Director''; and
                    (F) by striking subsection (e);
            (4) in section 214 (42 U.S.C. 13002)--
                    (A) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
    ``(a) In General.--The Administrator, in consultation with the 
officials from the Office of Victims of Crime, shall make grants to 
develop and implement local multidisciplinary child abuse 
investigations and prosecution programs. The National Children's 
Alliance shall serve as the subgrantor of these funds.''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``, in 
                coordination with the Director,''; and
            (5) in section 214B (42 U.S.C. 13004), by amending the text 
        to read as follows:
    ``(a) Sections 213 and 214.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out sections 213 and 214, $15,000,000 for each of 
fiscal years 2004 through 2008.
    ``(b) Section 214A.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
carry out section 214A, $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 
through 2008.''.
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