Sec. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION

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## SEC. 4 DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION ###

(a)Study ####

(1)In general The Commission shall conduct a thorough study on the use of child protective services and child welfare services funded under title IV and subtitle A of title XX of the Social Security Act to reduce fatalities from child abuse and neglect. ####

(2)Matters studied The matters studied by the Commission shall include— #####

(A)the effectiveness of the services described in paragraph

(1)and best practices in preventing child and youth fatalities that are intentionally caused or that occur due to negligence, neglect, or a failure to exercise proper care; #####

(B)the effectiveness of Federal, State, and local policies and systems within such services aimed at collecting accurate, uniform data on child fatalities in a coordinated fashion, including the identification of the most and least effective policies and systems in practice; #####

(C)the current (as of the date of the study) barriers to preventing fatalities from child abuse and neglect, and how to improve efficiency to improve child welfare outcomes; #####

(D)trends in demographic and other risk factors that are predictive of or correlated with child maltreatment, such as age of the child, child behavior, family structure, parental stress, and poverty; #####

(E)methods of prioritizing child abuse and neglect prevention within such services for families with the highest need; and #####

(F)methods of improving data collection and utilization, such as increasing interoperability among State and local and other data systems. ####

(3)Materials studied The Commission shall review— #####

(A)all current (as of the date of the study) research and documentation, including the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being and research and recommendations from the Government Accountability Office, to identify lessons, solutions, and needed improvements related to reducing fatalities from child abuse and neglect; and #####

(B)recommendations from the Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect. ###

(b)Coordination The Commission shall provide opportunities for graduate and doctoral students to coordinate research with the Commission. ###

(c)Recommendations The Commission shall— ####

(1)develop recommendations to reduce fatalities from child abuse and neglect for Federal, State, and local agencies, and private sector and nonprofit organizations, including recommendations to implement a comprehensive national strategy for such purpose; and ####

(2)develop guidelines for the type of information that should be tracked to improve interventions to prevent fatalities from child abuse and neglect. ###

(d)Report ####

(1)In general Not later than 2 years after the date on which a majority of the members of the Commission have been appointed, the Commission shall submit a report to the President and Congress, which shall contain a detailed statement of the findings and conclusions of the Commission, together with its recommendations for such legislation and administrative actions as it considers appropriate. ####

(2)Extension The President may extend the date on which the report described in paragraph

(1)shall be submitted by an additional 1 year. ####

(3)Online access The Commission shall make the report under paragraph

(1)available on the publicly available Internet Web site of the Department of Health and Human Services.