II 112th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1887 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.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the State Children’s Protection Act.

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.

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.

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.