Sec. 103. Research and assistance activities
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Section 104 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5105 ) is amended— by amending subsections
(a)through
(c)to read as follows: The Secretary shall ensure that the Administration for Children and Families, in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and other relevant Federal agencies, and in consultation with recognized experts in the field, carries out a continuing interdisciplinary program of research, including longitudinal research, that is designed to— provide information needed to improve primary prevention of child abuse and neglect; better protect children from child abuse or neglect; evaluate the efficacy of programs or practices to improve outcomes; improve the well-being of victims of child abuse or neglect; and be responsive to the research needs of the child welfare field. The research program described in paragraph
(1)may focus on— evidence-based or evidence-informed programs regarding— prevention of child abuse and neglect in families that have not had contact with the child protective services system, including through supporting the development of protective factors linked to the prevention of child abuse and neglect; and trauma-informed treatment of children and families who experience child abuse and neglect, including efforts to prevent the re-traumatization of such children and families; effective practices to reduce racial bias and disparities in the child protective services system; effective practices and programs in the use of differential response to identify children at risk of serious harm and to safely reduce the number of families unnecessarily investigated by the child protective services system; effective practices and programs designed to improve service delivery and outcomes for child protective services agencies engaged with children and families with complex needs, such as families who have experienced domestic violence, substance use disorders, and adverse childhood experiences; best practices for recruiting and retaining a child protective services workforce and providing professional development; effective collaborations, between the child protective system and domestic violence service providers, that provide for the safety of children exposed to domestic violence and their non-abusing parents and that improve the investigations, interventions, delivery of services, and treatments provided for such children and families; child abuse and neglect issues facing Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, including providing recommendations for improving the collection of child abuse and neglect data from Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian communities; and child abuse and neglect issues related to children and youth overrepresented in the child welfare system, including efforts to improve the child welfare system’s practices related to the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect to address such overrepresentation. The Secretary shall conduct research on the national incidence of child abuse and neglect and investigate the trends in such incidence, including the information on the national incidence on child abuse and neglect specified in subparagraph (B). The research described in subparagraph
(A)shall examine the national incidence of child abuse and neglect, including— the extent to which incidents of child abuse and neglect are increasing or decreasing in number and severity; the incidence of substantiated and unsubstantiated reported child abuse and neglect cases; the number of substantiated cases that result in a judicial finding of child abuse or neglect or related criminal court convictions; the extent to which the number of unsubstantiated, unfounded, or falsely reported cases of child abuse or neglect have contributed to the inability of a State to respond effectively to serious cases of child abuse or neglect; the extent to which the lack of adequate resources or the lack of adequate training of individuals required by law to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect have contributed to the inability of a State to respond effectively to serious cases of child abuse and neglect; the number of unsubstantiated, false, or unfounded reports that have resulted in a child being placed in substitute care, and the duration of such placement; the extent to which unsubstantiated reports return as more serious cases of child abuse or neglect; the incidence and prevalence of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and physical and emotional neglect in substitute care; the incidence and prevalence of child maltreatment by a wide array of demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race, family structure, household relationship (including the living arrangement of the resident parent and family size), school enrollment and education attainment, disability, grandparents as caregivers, labor force status, work status in previous year, and income in previous year; the extent to which reports of suspected or known instances of child abuse or neglect involving a potential combination of jurisdictions, such as intrastate, interstate, Federal-State, and State-Tribal, are screened out solely on the basis of the cross-jurisdictional complications; and the incidence and outcomes of child abuse and neglect allegations reported within the context of divorce, custody, or other family court proceedings, and the interaction between family courts and the child protective services system. Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2021 and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and make available on a website that is accessible to the public and submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives a report that— identifies the research priorities under paragraph
(5)and the process for determining such priorities; contains a summary of the research supported pursuant to paragraphs
(1)and (2), and a summary of relevant research on child abuse and neglect conducted by other agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services; contains the findings of the research regarding the national incidence on child abuse and neglect conducted under paragraph (3); and describes how the Secretary will continue to improve the accuracy of information on the national incidence on child abuse and neglect specified in paragraph (3). The Secretary shall establish research priorities, which may include long-term studies, for making grants or contracts for purposes of carrying out paragraph (1). The Secretary shall provide a biennial opportunity for public comment concerning the priorities proposed under subparagraph
(A)and shall maintain an official record of such public comment. The Secretary shall provide technical assistance to State and local public and private agencies and community-based organizations, including organizations that support children or youth overrepresented in the child welfare system, disability organizations, and persons who work with children with disabilities, and providers of mental health, substance use disorder treatment, and domestic violence prevention services, to assist such agencies and organizations in planning, improving, developing, carrying out, and evaluating programs and activities, including replicating successful program models, relating to the prevention, assessment, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect. The technical assistance under paragraph
(1)shall be designed to— reduce racial bias and disparities in the child protective services system; provide professional development for child protective services workers in trauma-informed practices and supports that prevent and mitigate the effects of trauma and adverse childhood experiences for infants, children, youth, and adults; promote best practices for addressing child abuse and neglect in families with complex needs, such as families who have experienced domestic violence, substance use disorders, and adverse childhood experiences; leverage community-based resources to prevent child abuse and neglect to develop a continuum of preventive services, including resources regarding health (including mental health and substance use disorder), housing, food assistance, parent support, financial assistance, early childhood care and education, education services, and other services to assist families; promote best practices for maximizing coordination and communication between State and local child welfare agencies and relevant health care entities, consistent with all applicable Federal and State privacy laws; and provide other technical assistance, as determined by the Secretary in consultation with such State and local public and private agencies and community-based organizations as the Secretary determines appropriate. The technical assistance under paragraph
(1)may include an evaluation or identification of— various methods and procedures for the investigation, assessment, and prosecution of child physical and sexual abuse cases; ways to prevent and mitigate the effects of trauma to the child victim; effective programs carried out by the States under this title and title II; and effective approaches to link child protective service agencies with health care, mental health care, and developmental services to improve forensic diagnosis and health evaluations, and barriers and shortages to such linkages. The Secretary may provide for, and disseminate information relating to, various training resources available at the State and local level to— individuals who are engaged, or who intend to engage, in the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect; and appropriate State and local officials to assist in training law enforcement, legal, judicial, medical, mental health, education, child welfare, substance use disorder, and domestic violence services personnel in appropriate methods of interacting during investigative, administrative, and judicial proceedings with children who have been subjected to, or children whom such personnel suspect have been subjected to, child abuse or neglect. The functions of the Secretary under this section may be carried out directly or through grant or contract. Grants under this section shall be made for periods of not more than 5 years. ; and by striking subsection (e).
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Sec. 103
Research and assistance activities
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