[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1887 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1887

              To protect children from abuse and neglect.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 17, 2011

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
              To protect children from abuse and 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 ``State Children's Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. STATE LAWS.

    (a) Law Required.--Each State shall pass and implement a law 
requiring, at a minimum--
            (1) any person who knows or has reasonable cause to believe 
        or suspect that a child has been subjected to child abuse or 
        neglect or who observes any child being subjected to conditions 
        or circumstances that would reasonably result in child abuse or 
        neglect, shall immediately report it to the child protective 
        agency or local law enforcement agency; and
            (2) any person, official, institution or agency 
        participating in good faith in any act required to report child 
        abuse or neglect is immune from any civil or criminal liability 
        that might otherwise result by reason of the action. Immunity 
        shall not be accorded to persons acting in bad faith.
    (b) Penalty.--A State that fails to pass and implement the 
requirements of this section within 1 year of the enactment of this 
Act, shall--
            (1) forfeit the ability to reserve up to 10 percent of its 
        grants under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant 
        Program under part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
        and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3751(e)) for 
        administrative use; and
            (2) be required to return to the Federal Government the 
        portion of their Byrne Justice Assistance Grant funding used 
        for such purpose in the prior fiscal year.
    (c) Preemption.--Nothing in this section shall preempt the right of 
a State to protect privileged communications.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN.

    (a) In General.--At the request of a State, Indian tribal 
government, or unit of local government, the Attorney General shall 
provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or any other form of 
assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime 
that--
            (1) constitutes a felony under the laws of the State or 
        Indian tribe; and
            (2) is committed against an individual under 18 years of 
        age.
    (b) Priority.--If the Attorney General determines that there are 
insufficient resources to fulfill requests made pursuant to subsection 
(a), the Attorney General shall give priority to requests for 
assistance to--
            (1) crimes committed by, or believed to be committed by, 
        offenders who have committed crimes in more than 1 State; and
            (2) jurisdictions that have limited resources and 
        difficulty covering the extraordinary expenses relating to the 
        investigation or prosecution of the crime.
    (c) Reporting Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--Every 180 days following the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to 
        Congress a report on applications for Federal assistance under 
        this section, and Federal assistance provided under this 
        section.
            (2) Contents.--Each report under paragraph (1) shall 
        include--
                    (A) a listing of all applications for Federal 
                assistance under this section during the previous 180 
                days;
                    (B) a description of each application submitted 
                during the previous 180 days, whether approved, denied, 
                or pending, including the name of the requesting party 
                and the nature of the request for assistance;
                    (C) reasons for approval or denial of each 
                application, and the persons involved in the review and 
                decisionmaking process for each application; and
                    (D) if Federal assistance was provided, a 
                description of the assistance provided, including the 
                date on which the assistance was provided.

SEC. 4. ENHANCED TRACKING AND COORDINATION OF FBI EFFORTS IN ADDRESSING 
              CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit a report to the 
appropriate committees of Congress, the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council that sets forth 
the proposed systems, procedures and protocols developed and 
implemented in response to Chapter 3 of the Office of Inspector 
General's Audit Report 09-08 (January 2009) entitled ``The Federal 
Bureau of Investigation's Efforts to Combat Crimes Against Children,'' 
including any additional funding needs for development and 
implementation of the recommendations.
    (b) Content.--If any recommendation proposed in the Office of 
Inspector General's Audit Report 09-08 (January 2009) remains 
incomplete or has not been implemented at the time the report required 
under subsection (a) is prepared, the report shall describe--
            (1) the reasons that the remaining recommendation has not 
        been implemented; or
            (2) a specific action plan for implementing or completing 
        implementation of the remaining recommendation.
    (c) Appropriate Committees.--In this section, the term 
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
            (1) the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on 
        Appropriations, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
        and Pensions of the Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on 
        Appropriations, the Committee on Education and Labor, and the 
        Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
        Representatives.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Attorney General such sums as needed to carry out 
this section.
                                 <all>