[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3894 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3894

     To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the prompt 
    notification of State Child Protective Services by military and 
  civilian personnel of the Department of Defense required by law to 
         report suspected instances of child abuse and neglect.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 3, 2015

Ms. Gabbard (for herself and Mr. Takai) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

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                                 A BILL


 
     To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the prompt 
    notification of State Child Protective Services by military and 
  civilian personnel of the Department of Defense required by law to 
         report suspected instances of child abuse and neglect.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. EXPEDITED REPORTING OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT TO STATE 
              CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES.

    (a) Reporting by Military and Civilian Personnel of the Department 
of Defense.--Section 1787 of title 10, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (a) and (b) as subsections 
        (c) and (d), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting before subsection (c), as so redesignated, 
        the following new subsections:
    ``(a) Reporting by Military and Civilian Personnel.--A member of 
the armed forces, civilian employee of the Department of Defense, or 
contractor employee working on a military installation who is mandated 
by Federal regulation or State law to report known or suspected 
instances of child abuse and neglect shall provide the report directly 
to State Child Protective Services or another appropriate State agency 
in addition to the member's or employee's chain of command or any 
designated Department point of contact.
    ``(b) Training for Mandated Reporters.--The Secretary of Defense 
shall ensure that individuals referred to in subsection (a) who are 
mandated by State law to report known or suspected instances of child 
abuse and neglect receive appropriate training, in accordance with 
State guidelines, intended to improve their--
            ``(1) ability to recognize evidence of child abuse and 
        neglect; and
            ``(2) understanding of the mandatory reporting requirements 
        imposed by law.''.
    (b) Conforming and Clerical Amendments.--Section 1787 of title 10, 
United States Code, is further amended--
            (1) in subsection (c), as redesignated by subsection 
        (a)(1), by striking ``In General.--'' and inserting ``Reporting 
        by States.--''; and
            (2) in subsection (d), as redesignated by subsection 
        (a)(1)--
                    (A) by striking ``(d) Definition.--In this section, 
                the term'' and inserting the following:
    ``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(2) The term `State' includes the District of Columbia, 
        the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the 
        Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American 
        Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the 
        Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.''.
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