[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 184 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 184

To amend the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act 
to require background checks before foster care placements are ordered 
          in tribal court proceedings, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 16, 2015

Mr. Hoeven (for himself and Mr. Tester) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act 
to require background checks before foster care placements are ordered 
          in tribal court proceedings, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Native American Children's Safety 
Act''.

SEC. 2. CRIMINAL RECORDS CHECKS.

    Section 408 of the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence 
Prevention Act (25 U.S.C. 3207) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(d) By Tribal Social Services Agency for Foster Care Placements 
in Tribal Court Proceedings.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Covered individual.--The term `covered 
                individual' includes--
                            ``(i) any individual 18 years of age or 
                        older; and
                            ``(ii) any individual who the tribal social 
                        services agency determines is subject to a 
                        criminal records check under paragraph (2)(A).
                    ``(B) Foster care placement.--The term `foster care 
                placement' means any action removing an Indian child 
                from a parent or Indian custodian for temporary 
                placement in a foster home or institution or the home 
                of a guardian or conservator if--
                            ``(i) the parent or Indian custodian cannot 
                        have the child returned on demand; and
                            ``(ii)(I) parental rights have not been 
                        terminated; or
                            ``(II) parental rights have been terminated 
                        but the child has not been permanently placed.
                    ``(C) Indian custodian.--The term `Indian 
                custodian' means any Indian--
                            ``(i) who has legal custody of an Indian 
                        child under tribal law or custom or under State 
                        law; or
                            ``(ii) to whom temporary physical care, 
                        custody, and control has been transferred by 
                        the parent of the child.
                    ``(D) Parent.--The term `parent' means--
                            ``(i) any biological parent of an Indian 
                        child; or
                            ``(ii) any Indian who has lawfully adopted 
                        an Indian child, including adoptions under 
                        tribal law or custom.
                    ``(E) Tribal court.--The term `tribal court' means 
                a court--
                            ``(i) with jurisdiction over foster care 
                        placements; and
                            ``(ii) that is--
                                    ``(I) a Court of Indian Offenses;
                                    ``(II) a court established and 
                                operated under the code or custom of an 
                                Indian tribe; or
                                    ``(III) any other administrative 
                                body of an Indian tribe that is vested 
                                with authority over foster care 
                                placements.
                    ``(F) Tribal social services agency.--The term 
                `tribal social services agency' means the agency of an 
                Indian tribe that has the primary responsibility for 
                carrying out foster care licensing or approval (as of 
                the date on which the proceeding described in paragraph 
                (2)(A) commences) for the Indian tribe.
            ``(2) Criminal records check before foster care 
        placement.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph 
                (3), no foster care placement shall be finally approved 
                and no foster care license shall be issued until the 
                tribal social services agency--
                            ``(i) completes a criminal records check of 
                        each covered individual who resides in the 
                        household or is employed at the institution in 
                        which the foster care placement will be made; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) concludes that each covered 
                        individual described in clause (i) meets such 
                        standards as the Indian tribe shall establish 
                        in accordance with subparagraph (B).
                    ``(B) Standards of placement.--The standards 
                described in subparagraph (A)(ii) shall include--
                            ``(i) requirements that each tribal social 
                        services agency described in subparagraph (A)--
                                    ``(I) perform criminal records 
                                checks, including fingerprint-based 
                                checks of national crime information 
                                databases (as defined in section 
                                534(f)(3) of title 28, United States 
                                Code);
                                    ``(II) check any abuse registries 
                                maintained by the Indian tribe; and
                                    ``(III) check any child abuse and 
                                neglect registry maintained by the 
                                State in which the covered individual 
                                resides for information on the covered 
                                individual, and request any other State 
                                in which the covered individual resided 
                                in the preceding 5 years, to enable the 
                                tribal social services agency to check 
                                any child abuse and neglect registry 
                                maintained by that State for such 
                                information; and
                            ``(ii) any other additional requirement 
                        that the Indian tribe determines is necessary 
                        and permissible within the existing authority 
                        of the Indian tribe, such as the creation of 
                        voluntary agreements with State entities in 
                        order to facilitate the sharing of information 
                        related to the performance of criminal records 
                        checks.
                    ``(C) Results.--Except as provided in paragraph 
                (3), no foster care placement shall be ordered in any 
                proceeding described in subparagraph (A) if an 
                investigation described in clause (i) of that 
                subparagraph reveals that a covered individual 
                described in that clause has been found by a Federal, 
                State, or tribal court to have committed any crime 
                listed in clause (i) or (ii) of section 471(a)(20)(A) 
                of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(A)).
            ``(3) Emergency placement.--Paragraph (2) shall not apply 
        to an emergency foster care placement, as determined by a 
        tribal social services agency.
            ``(4) Recertification of foster homes or institutions.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the 
                date of enactment of this subsection, each Indian tribe 
                shall establish procedures to recertify homes or 
                institutions in which foster care placements are made.
                    ``(B) Contents.--The procedures described in 
                subparagraph (A) shall include, at a minimum, periodic 
                intervals at which the home or institution shall be 
                subject to recertification to ensure--
                            ``(i) the safety of the home or institution 
                        for the Indian child; and
                            ``(ii) that each covered individual who 
                        resides in the home or is employed at the 
                        institution is subject to a criminal records 
                        check in accordance with this subsection, 
                        including any covered individual who--
                                    ``(I) resides in the home or is 
                                employed at the institution on the date 
                                on which the procedures established 
                                under subparagraph (A) commences; and
                                    ``(II) did not reside in the home 
                                or was not employed at the institution 
                                on the date on which the investigation 
                                described in paragraph (2)(A)(i) was 
                                completed.
                    ``(C) Guidance issued by the secretary.--The 
                procedures established under subparagraph (A) shall be 
                subject to any regulation or guidance issued by the 
                Secretary that is in accordance with the purpose of 
                this subsection.
            ``(5) Guidance.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of this subsection and after consultation with Indian 
        tribes, the Secretary shall issue guidance regarding--
                    ``(A) procedures for a criminal records check of 
                any covered individual who--
                            ``(i) resides in the home or is employed at 
                        the institution in which the foster care 
                        placement is made after the date on which the 
                        investigation described in paragraph (2)(A)(i) 
                        is completed; and
                            ``(ii) was not the subject of an 
                        investigation described in paragraph (2)(A)(i) 
                        before the foster care placement was made;
                    ``(B) self-reporting requirements for foster care 
                homes or institutions in which any covered individual 
                described in subparagraph (A) resides if the head of 
                the household or the operator of the institution has 
                knowledge that the covered individual--
                            ``(i) has been found by a Federal, State, 
                        or tribal court to have committed any crime 
                        listed in clause (i) or (ii) of section 
                        471(a)(20)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 
                        U.S.C. 671(a)(20)(A)); or
                            ``(ii) is listed on a registry described in 
                        clause (II) or (III) of paragraph (2)(B)(i);
                    ``(C) promising practices used by Indian tribes to 
                address emergency foster care placement procedures 
                under paragraph (3); and
                    ``(D) procedures for certifying compliance with 
                this Act.''.
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