PAYMENTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES UNDER PUBLIC LAW 874, 87 STAT. 564 SEC. 11. Section 5(d) (2) of the Act of September 30, 1950 (Public Law 874, 81st Congress), shall not operate to deprive any local educa- 82 Stat. 1097. tional agency of payments under such Act during the fiscal year ending 20 USC 240. June 30, 1974, if such local educational agency is in a State which after June 30, 1972, has adopted a program of State aid for free public education which is designed to equalize expenditures for education among local educational agencies in that State. This section shall be Effective effective on and after July 1, 1973, and shall be deemed to have been date. enacted on June 30, 1973. Approved November 7, 1973. LEG IS LAT IVE HISTORY: HOUSE REPORTS No. 93-458 (Comm. on Education and Labor) and SENATE REPORT No. 93-404 (Comm. on Agriculture and Forestry). Sept. 13, Oct. 12, 18, 24, considered and passed House. 93rd Congress, S. 1191 January 31, 1974 An Act To provide financial assistance for a demonstration program for the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect, to establish a National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may Child Abuse be cited as the "Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act". THE NATIONAL CENTER ON CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT Prevention and 88 STAT. 4 88 STAT. 5 SEC. 2. (a) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (here- Establishment. inafter referred to in this Act as the "Secretary") shall establish an office to be known as the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (hereinafter referred to in this Act as the "Center"). (b) The Secretary, through the Center, shall (1) compile, analyze, and publish a summary annually of Annual research recently conducted and currently conducted research on child summary. abuse and neglect; (2) develop and maintain an information clearinghouse on all Information programs, including private programs, showing promise of suc- clearinghouse. cess, for the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect; (3) compile and publish training materials for personnel who are engaged or intend to engage in the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect; (4) provide technical assistance (directly or through grant or contract) to public and nonprofit private agencies and organizations to assist them in planning, improving, developing, and carrying out programs and activities relating to the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect; (5) conduct research into the causes of child abuse and neglect, and into the prevention, identification, and treatment thereof; and (6) make a complete and full study and investigation of the national incidence of child abuse and neglect, including a deter- Study. mination of the extent to which incidents of child abuse and neglect are increasing in number or severity. DEFINITION SEC. 3. For purposes of this Act the term "child abuse and neglect" means the physical or mental injury, sexual abuse, negligent treatment, or maltreatment of a child under the age of eighteen by a person who is responsible for the child's welfare under circumstances which indicate that the child's health or welfare is harmed or threatened thereby, as determined in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS SEC. 4. (a) The Secretary, through the Center, is authorized to make Grants and grants to, and enter into contracts with, public agencies or nonprofit contracts. private organizations (or combinations thereof) for demonstration programs and projects designed to prevent, identify, and treat child abuse and neglect. Grants or contracts under this subsection may be (1) for the development and establishment of training programs for professional and paraprofessional personnel in the fields of medicine, law, education, social work, and other relevant 88 STAT. 6 Grants to fields who are engaged in, or intend to work in, the field of the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect; and training programs for children, and for persons responsible for the welfare of children, in methods of protecting children from child abuse and neglect; (2) for the establishment and maintenance of centers, serving defined geographic areas, staffed by multidisciplinary teams of personnel trained in the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect cases, to provide a broad range of services related to child abuse and neglect, including direct support and supervision of satellite centers and attention homes, as well as providing advice and consultation to individuals, agencies, and organizations which request such services; (3) for furnishing services of teams of professional and paraprofessional personnel who are trained in the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect cases, on`a consulting basis to small communities where such services are not available; and (4) for such other innovative programs and projects, including programs and projects for parent self-help, and for prevention and treatment of drug-related child abuse and neglect, that show promise of successfully preventing or treating cases of child abuse and neglect as the Secretary may approve. Not less than 50 per centum of the funds appropriated under this Act for any fiscal year shall be used only for carrying out the provisions of this subsection. (b) (1) Of the sums appropriated under this Act for any fiscal year, not less than 5 per centum and not more than 20 per centum may be used by the Secretary for making grants to the States for the payment of reasonable and necessary expenses for the purpose of assisting the States in developing, strengthening, and carrying out child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment programs. (2) In order for a State to qualify for assistance under this subsection, such State shall (A) have in effect a State child abuse and neglect law which shall include provisions for immunity for persons reporting instances of child abuse and neglect from prosecution, under any State or local law, arising out of such reporting; (B) provide for the reporting of known and suspected instances of child abuse and neglect; (C) provide that upon receipt of a report of known or suspected instances of child abuse or neglect an investigation shall be initiated promptly to substantiate the accuracy of the report, and, upon a finding of abuse or neglect, immediate steps shall be taken to protect the health and welfare of the abused or neglected child, as well as that of any other child under the same care who may be in danger of abuse or neglect; (D) demonstrate that there are in effect throughout the State, in connection with the enforcement of child abuse and neglect laws and with the reporting of suspected instances of child abuse and neglect, such administrative procedures, such personnel trained in child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment, such training procedures, such institutional and other facilities (public and private), and such related multidisciplinary programs and services as may be necessary or appropriate to assure that the State will deal effectively with child abuse and neglect cases in the State; (E) provide for methods to preserve the confidentiality of all records in order to protect the rights of the child, his parents or guardians; (F) provide for the cooperation of law enforcement officials, courts of competent jurisdiction, and appropriate State agencies providing human services; (G) provide that in every case involving an abused or neglected child which results in a judicial proceeding a guardian ad litem shall be appointed to represent the child in such proceedings; (H) provide that the aggregate of support for programs or projects related to child abuse and neglect assisted by State funds shall not be reduced below the level provided during fiscal year 1973, and set forth policies and procedures designed to assure that Federal funds made available under this Act for any fiscal year will be so used as to supplement and, to the extent practicable, increase the level of State funds which would, in the absence of Federal funds, be available for such programs and projects; (I) provide for dissemination of information to the general public with respect to the problem of child abuse and neglect and the facilities and prevention and treatment methods available to combat instances of child abuse and neglect ; and (J) to the extent feasible, insure that parental organizations combating child abuse and neglect receive preferential treatment. (3) Programs or projects related to child abuse and neglect assisted under part A or B of title IV of the Social Security Act shall comply with the requirements set forth in clauses (B), (C), (E), and (F) of paragraph (2). (c) Assistance provided pursuant to this section shall not be available for construction of facilities; however, the Secretary is authorized to supply such assistance for the lease or rental of facilities where adequate facilities are not otherwise available, and for repair or minor remodeling or alteration of existing facilities. (d) The Secretary shall establish criteria designed to achieve equitable distribution of assistance under this section among the States, among geographic areas of the Nation, and among rural and urban areas. To the extent possible, citizens of each State shall receive assistance from at least one project under this section. AUTHORIZATIONS SEC. 5. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this Act $15,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974, $20,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, and $25,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976, and for the succeeding fiscal year. ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT 88 STAT. 7 49 Stat. 627; 81 Stat. 911. 42 USC 601, 620, SEC. 6. (a) The Secretary shall, within sixty days after the date of enactment of this Act, appoint an Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect (hereinafter referred to as the "Advisory Board"), which shall be composed of representatives from Federal agencies with Membership. responsibility for programs and activities related to child abuse and neglect, including the Office of Child Development, the Office of Education, the National Institute of Education, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Social and Rehabilitation Service, and the Health Services Administration. The Advisory Board shall assist the Secre- Funotions. tary in coordinating programs and activities related to child abuse 88 STAT. 8 Report to and neglect administered or assisted under this Act with such programs and activities administered or assisted by the Federal agencies whose representatives are members of the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board shall also assist the Secretary in the development of Federal standards for child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment programs and projects. (b) The Advisory Board shall prepare and submit, within eighteen months after the date of enactment of this Act, to the President and to the Congress a report on the programs assisted under this Act and the programs, projects, and activities related to child abuse and neglect administered or assisted by the Federal agencies whose representatives are members of the Advisory Board. Such report shall include a study of the relationship between drug addiction and child abuse and neglect. (c) Of the funds appropriated under section 5, one-half of I per centum, or $1,000,000, whichever is the lesser, may be used by the Secretary only for purposes of the report under subsection (b). COORDINATION SEC. 7. The Secretary shall promulgate regulations and make such arrangements as may be necessary or appropriate to ensure that there is effective coordination between programs related to child abuse and neglect under this Act and other such programs which are assisted by Federal funds. Approved January 31, 1974. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: HOUSE REPORT No. 93-685 (Comm. on Education and Labor). July 14, considered and passed Senate. Deo. 3, considered and passed House, amended. Dec. 20, Senate agreed to House amendments with amendments. |