[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2431 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2431

       To improve the training of child protection professionals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 18, 2015

 Ms. Klobuchar (for herself, Mr. Boozman, and Mr. Franken) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                            on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
       To improve the training of child protection professionals.

    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 ``National Child Protection Training 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL TRAINING CENTERS.

    (a) Regional Training Centers.--The Attorney General, acting 
through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and 
in coordination with the National Child Protection Training Center, 
shall establish a program to sustain not less than 4 regional training 
centers affiliated with institutions of higher education.
    (b) Responsibilities.--The regional training centers described in 
subsection (a) shall--
            (1) develop model undergraduate curricula on recognizing 
        and responding to cases of child maltreatment that is 
        interdisciplinary and that, at a minimum, consists of a 3-
        course certificate program or minor degree;
            (2) develop model graduate curricula on recognizing and 
        responding to cases of child maltreatment for medical schools, 
        law schools, seminaries, and other institutions of higher 
        education that instruct students likely to become child 
        protection professionals or other professionals required by law 
        to report cases of child maltreatment;
            (3) after approval by the Attorney General, disseminate 
        model undergraduate and graduate child maltreatment curricula 
        to institutions of higher education, including graduate 
        schools, law schools, and medical schools;
            (4) develop ``laboratory'' training facilities that include 
        mock houses, medical facilities, courtrooms, and forensic 
        interview rooms that allow for simulated, interactive, and 
        intensive training of undergraduate or graduate students 
        preparing for child protection careers as well as for training 
        child protection professionals currently in the field 
        (including child protection workers, child protection 
        attorneys, medical and mental health professionals, law 
        enforcement officers, forensic interviewers, and other 
        professionals who work directly with maltreated children);
            (5) assist communities in developing evidence-based 
        prevention programs; and
            (6) assist States in developing and maintaining forensic 
        interview training programs.
    (c) Definition.--In this section, the term ``institution of higher 
education'' has the meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
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