I 111th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 4446 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 13, 2010 Mr. Heller (for himself, Ms. Titus, and Ms. Berkley) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 to strengthen juvenile and family courts.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Strengthening Outcomes for America’s Juvenile and Family Courts Act of 2010.

2.

Amendments to strengthen juvenile and family courts

Subtitle C of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13021–13024) is amended to read as follows: C

Programs for Juvenile and Family Court Judges

221.

Findings and purpose

Congress finds the following: (1)The prevention of child abuse and neglect can help stop the cycle of violence in communities. (2)Research indicates that child abuse and neglect is associated with the early onset of juvenile crime and that there is a significant relationship between child maltreatment and delinquency. (3)The co-occurrence of domestic violence and child abuse or neglect in a majority of studies ranged from 30 to 60 percent of families. (4)There are currently over 500,000 children in the Nation’s foster care system, and in 2005 there were an estimated 1,700,000 delinquency cases handled in juvenile courts nationwide. (5)Children and youth in the Nation’s juvenile and family court systems require judicial oversight and effective services to ensure timely and meaningful resolution of their cases. (6)Juvenile and family court judges can hold systems accountable for ensuring that children and youth receive the services they need, and in cases of juvenile delinquency, that children and youth are held accountable for their actions, while ensuring safety of communities. (7)Juvenile and family court judges require education, technical assistance and research which can provide the knowledge and information they need to improve decision-making on the bench and effective judicial leadership outside of the courtroom.

222.

Grants for juvenile and family court judges and personnel

(a)

In general

The Attorney General, acting through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Office of Justice Programs, shall make grants to improve training, education, technical assistance, and research to assist the Nation’s courts, judges, judicial personnel, attorneys, child welfare personnel, and lay child advocates. (b)

Grantee organizations

(1)An organization to which a grant is made pursuant to subsection (a) shall be a national nonprofit organization that has broad membership among juvenile and family court judges and has demonstrated experience in grant administration of activities described in subsection (a). (2)A national nonprofit organization described in paragraph (1) shall have specialized expertise addressing the overlap of and the judicial system’s handling of— (A)child abuse and neglect; (B)adoption and foster care; (C)elder abuse; (D)juvenile justice and delinquency; (E)violence against women; (F)family violence; (G)alcohol and drug abuse; (H)supervised visitations; (I)child custody; and (J)divorce.

223.

Authorization of appropriations

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subtitle $12,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014.

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