[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1940 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1940

   To create a national register of cases of child abuse or neglect.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 31, 2005

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To create a national register of cases of child abuse or 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 ``Childhelp National Registry Act''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL REGISTER OF CASES OF CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT.

    (a) In General.--The Attorney General, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall create a national 
register of cases of child abuse or neglect.
    (b) Information.--
            (1) Collection.--The information in the register described 
        in subsection (a) shall be supplied by States and Indian 
        tribes, or, at the option of a State, by political subdivisions 
        of such State, to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
            (2) Type of information.--The register described in 
        subsection (a) shall collect in a central electronic database 
        information on children reported to a State, Indian tribe, or 
        political subdivision of a State as abused or neglected.
    (c) Scope of Information.--
            (1) In general.--
                    (A) Treatment of reports.--The information to be 
                provided to the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
                under this Act shall relate to substantiated reports of 
                child abuse or neglect. Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), each State and Indian tribe, or, at 
                the option of a State, each political subdivision of 
                such State, shall determine whether the information to 
                be provided to the Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services under this Act shall also relate to reports of 
                suspected instances of child abuse or neglect that were 
                unsubstantiated or determined to be unfounded.
                    (B) Exception.--If a State, Indian tribe, or 
                political subdivision of a State has an electronic 
                register of cases of child abuse or neglect equivalent 
                to the register established under this Act that it 
                maintains pursuant to a requirement or authorization 
                under any other provision of law, the information 
                provided to the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
                under this Act shall be coextensive with that in such 
                register.
            (2) Form.--Information provided to the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services under this Act--
                    (A) shall be in a standardized electronic form 
                determined by the Secretary of Health and Human 
                Services; and
                    (B) shall contain case-specific identifying 
                information, except that, at the option of the entity 
                supplying the information, the confidentiality of 
                identifying information concerning an individual 
                initiating a report or complaint regarding a suspected 
                or known instance of child abuse or neglect may be 
                maintained.
    (d) Construction.--This Act shall not be construed to require a 
State, Indian tribe, or political subdivision of a State to modify--
            (1) an equivalent register of cases of child abuse or 
        neglect that it maintains pursuant to a requirement or 
        authorization under any other provision of law; or
            (2) any other record relating to child abuse or neglect, 
        regardless of whether the report of abuse or neglect was 
        substantiated, unsubstantiated, or determined to be unfounded.
    (e) Dissemination.--The Attorney General, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall establish standards for 
the dissemination of information in the national register of cases of 
child abuse or neglect. Such standards shall preserve the 
confidentiality of records in order to protect the rights of the child 
and the parents or guardians of the child while also ensuring that 
Federal, local, and tribal government entities have access to such 
information in order to carry out their responsibilities under the law 
to protect children from abuse and neglect.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this Act such sums as may be necessary for 
fiscal year 2006 and succeeding fiscal years.
                                 <all>