10 U.S.C. § 1787 — Reporting of child abuse

Page 1609 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 1787 tate the integration of dependent children of members of the armed forces into new sur- roundings when moving to that military instal- lation as a result of a parent’s permanent change of station. (b) DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAMS.—The program at each installation shall provide for involve- ment of dependent children of members pres- ently stationed at the military installation and shall be directed primarily toward children in their preteen and teenage years. (Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 331.) § 1786. Dependent student travel within the United States Funds available to the Department of Defense for the travel and transportation of dependent students of members of the armed forces sta- tioned overseas may be obligated for transpor- tation allowances for travel within or between the contiguous States. (Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 331.) § 1787. Reporting of child abuse (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall request each State to provide for the re- porting to the Secretary of any report the State receives of known or suspected instances of child abuse and neglect in which the person hav- ing care of the child is a member of the armed forces (or the spouse of the member). (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘child abuse and neglect’’ has the meaning pro- vided in section 3 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (Public Law 93–247; 42 U.S.C. 5101 note). (Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 331; amended Pub. L. 112–239, div. A, title X, § 1076(d)(2), Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 1951.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2013—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–239 substituted ‘‘section 3’’ for ‘‘section 3(1)’’ and ‘‘Public Law 93–247; 42 U.S.C. 5101 note’’ for ‘‘42 U.S.C. 5102’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries IMPROVEMENTS TO DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TRACKING OF AND RESPONSE TO INCIDENTS OF CHILD ABUSE, ADULT CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN, AND SERIOUS HARMFUL BEHAVIOR BETWEEN CHILDREN AND YOUTH INVOLVING MILITARY DEPENDENTS ON MILITARY IN- STALLATIONS Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title V, § 549B, Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3621, provided that: ‘‘(a) IMPROVEMENTS REQUIRED.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall, consistent with recommendations of the Comptroller General of the United States in Government Account- ability Office report GA0–20–110, take actions in ac- cordance with this section in order to improve the ef- forts of the Department of Defense to track and re- spond to incidents of serious harm to children involv- ing dependents of members of the Armed Forces that occur on military installations (in this section re- ferred to as ‘covered incidents of serious harm to children’). ‘‘(2) SERIOUS HARM TO CHILDREN DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘serious harm to children’ includes the following: ‘‘(A) Caregiver child abuse involving physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, or neglect. ‘‘(B) Non-caregiver adult crimes against children. ‘‘(C) Serious harmful behaviors between children and youth of a physical, sexual, or emotional na- ture. ‘‘(b) DATA COLLECTION AND TRACKING OF INCIDENTS OF HARM TO CHILDREN.— ‘‘(1) NON-CAREGIVER ADULT CRIMES AGAINST CHIL- DREN.—The Secretary of Defense shall establish a process for the Department of Defense to track re- ported covered incidents of serious harm to children described in subsection (a)(2)(B) in which the alleged offender is an adult who is not a parent, guardian, or someone in a caregiving role at the time of the inci- dent. The information so tracked shall comport with the information tracked by the Department in re- ported covered incidents of serious harm to children in which the alleged offender is a parent, guardian, or someone in a caregiving role at the time of the inci- dent. ‘‘(2) SERIOUS HARMFUL BEHAVIORS BETWEEN CHILDREN AND YOUTH.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall develop and maintain in the Department of Defense a centralized database to track incidents of serious harmful behaviors between children and youth de- scribed in subsection (a)(2)(C), including informa- tion across the Department on problematic sexual behavior in children and youth that are reported to an appropriate office, as determined by the Sec- retary, or investigated by a military criminal in- vestigative organization, regardless of whether the alleged offender was another child, an adult, or someone in a non-caregiving role at the time of an incident. ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—The centralized database re- quired by this paragraph shall include, for each in- cident within the database, the following: ‘‘(i) Information pertinent to a determination by the Department on whether such incident meets the definition of an incident of serious harmful behavior between children and youth. ‘‘(ii) The results of any investigation of such in- cident by a military criminal investigative orga- nization. ‘‘(iii) Information on the ultimate disposition of the incident, if any, including any administrative or prosecutorial action taken. ‘‘(C) ANNUAL REPORTS ON INFORMATION.—The in- formation collected and maintained in the central- ized database required by this paragraph shall be reported on an annual basis as part of the annual reports by the Secretary on child abuse and domes- tic abuse in the military as required by section 574 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fis- cal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 130 Stat. 2141). ‘‘(D) BRIEFINGS.—Not later than March 31, 2021, and every six months thereafter until the central- ized database required by this paragraph is fully operational, the Secretary shall brief the Commit- tees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives on the status of the database. ‘‘(3) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE REPORTING GUID- ANCE.—The Secretary of Defense shall issue guidance regarding which incidents of serious harmful behav- ior between children and youth require reporting to the Family Advocacy Program, a military criminal investigative organization, or another component of the Department of Defense designated by the Sec- retary. ‘‘(c) RESPONSE PROCEDURES FOR INCIDENTS OF SERIOUS HARM TO CHILDREN REPORTED TO FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAMS.— ‘‘(1) INCIDENT DETERMINATION COMMITTEE MEMBER- SHIP.—The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the voting membership of each Incident Determination Page 1610 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 1787 Committee, as defined in paragraph (7), on a military installation includes medical personnel with the knowledge and expertise required to determine whether a reported incident of serious harm to a child meets the criteria of the Department of Defense for treatment as child abuse. ‘‘(2) SCREENING REPORTED INCIDENTS OF SERIOUS HARM TO CHILDREN.— ‘‘(A) DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDIZED PROCESS.— The Secretary of Defense shall develop a standard- ized process by which the Family Advocacy Pro- grams of the military departments screen reported covered incidents of serious harm to children to de- termine whether to present such incident to an In- cident Determination Committee. ‘‘(B) MONITORING.—The Secretary of each mili- tary department shall develop a process to monitor the manner in which reported incidents of serious harm to children are screened by each installation under the jurisdiction of such Secretary in order to ensure that such screening complies with the stand- ardized screening process developed pursuant to subparagraph (A). ‘‘(3) REQUIRED NOTIFICATIONS.— ‘‘(A) DOCUMENTATION.—The Secretary of each military department shall require that installation Family Advocacy Programs and military criminal investigative organizations under the jurisdiction of such Secretary document in their respective databases the date on which they notified the other of a reported incident of serious harm to a child. ‘‘(B) OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary of each military department shall require that the Family Advocacy Program of such military department, and the headquarters of the military criminal investigative organizations of such military department, develop processes to oversee the documentation of notifica- tions required by subparagraph (A) in order to en- sure that such notifications occur on a consistent basis at installation level. ‘‘(4) CERTIFIED PEDIATRIC SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EXAMINERS.— ‘‘(A) GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS FOR EXAMINERS.—The Secretary of Defense shall specify geographic re- gions in which military families reside for purposes of the availability of and access to certified pedi- atric sexual assault examiners in such regions. ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall ensure that— ‘‘(i) one or more certified pediatric sexual as- sault examiners are located in each geographic region specified pursuant to subparagraph (A); and ‘‘(ii) examiners so located serve as certified pe- diatric sexual assault examiners throughout such region, without regard to Armed Force or instal- lation. ‘‘(5) REMOVAL OF CHILDREN FROM UNSAFE HOMES OVERSEAS.—The Secretary of Defense shall issue pol- icy that clarifies and standardizes across the Armed Forces the circumstances under which a commander may remove a child from a potentially unsafe home at an installation overseas. ‘‘(6) RESOURCE GUIDE FOR VICTIMS OF SERIOUS HARM TO CHILDREN.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of each military department shall develop and maintain a com- prehensive guide on resources available through the Department of Defense and such military depart- ment for military families under the jurisdiction of such Secretary who are victims of serious harm to children. ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—Each guide under this paragraph shall include the following: ‘‘(i) Information on the response processes of the Family Advocacy Programs and military criminal investigative organizations of the mili- tary department concerned. ‘‘(ii) Lists of available support services, such as legal, medical, and victim advocacy services, through the Department of Defense and the mili- tary department concerned. ‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTION.—A resource guide under this paragraph shall be presented to a military family by an installation Family Advocacy Program and military criminal investigative personnel when a covered incident of serious harm to a child involv- ing a child in such family is reported. ‘‘(D) AVAILABILITY ON INTERNET.—A current version of each resource guide under this paragraph shall be available to the public on an Internet website of the military department concerned available to the public. ‘‘(7) INCIDENT DETERMINATION COMMITTEE DEFINED.— In this subsection, the term ‘Incident Determination Committee’ means a committee established at a mili- tary installation that is responsible for reviewing re- ported incidents of child abuse and determining whether such incidents constitute serious harm to children according to the applicable criteria of the Department of Defense. ‘‘(d) COORDINATION AND COLLABORATION WITH NON- MILITARY RESOURCES.— ‘‘(1) CONSULTATION WITH STATES.—The Secretary of Defense shall— ‘‘(A) continue the outreach efforts of the Depart- ment of Defense to the States in order to ensure that States are notified when a member of the Armed Forces or a military dependent is involved in a reported incident of serious harm to a child off a military installation; and ‘‘(B) increase efforts at information sharing be- tween the Department and the States on such inci- dents of serious harm to children, including entry into memoranda of understanding with State child welfare agencies on information sharing in connec- tion with such incidents. ‘‘(2) COLLABORATION WITH NATIONAL CHILDREN’S ALLI- ANCE.— ‘‘(A) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec- retary of each military department shall seek to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the National Children’s Alliance, or similar organi- zation, under which— ‘‘(i) the children’s advocacy center services of the Alliance are available to all installations in the continental United States under the jurisdic- tion of such Secretary; and ‘‘(ii) members of the Armed Forces under the jurisdiction of such Secretary are made aware of the nature and availability of such services. ‘‘(B) PARTICIPATION OF CERTAIN ENTITIES.—Each memorandum of understanding under this para- graph shall provide for the appropriate participa- tion of the Family Advocacy Program and military criminal investigative organizations of the military department concerned in activities under such memorandum of understanding. ‘‘(C) BRIEFING.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 1, 2021], the Secretary of each military department shall pro- vide to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a briefing on the status of the development of a memorandum of understanding with the National Children’s Alli- ance under this paragraph, together with informa- tion on which installations, if any, under the juris- diction of such Secretary have entered into a writ- ten agreement with a local children’s advocacy cen- ter with respect to serious harm to children on such installations.’’ REPORTING ON ALLEGATIONS OF CHILD ABUSE IN MILITARY FAMILIES AND HOMES Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title V, § 575(a), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2142, provided that: ‘‘(a) REPORTS TO FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAM OF- FICES.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The following information shall be reported immediately to the Family Advocacy Page 1611 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 1788 Program office at the military installation to which the member of the Armed Forces concerned is as- signed: ‘‘(A) Credible information (which may include a reasonable belief), obtained by any individual with- in the chain of command of the member, that a child in the family or home of the member has suf- fered an incident of child abuse. ‘‘(B) Information, learned by a member of the Armed Forces engaged in a profession or activity described in section 226(b) of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13031(b)) [now 34 U.S.C. 20341(b)] for members of the Armed Forces and their dependents, that gives reason to suspect that a child in the family or home of the member has suf- fered an incident of child abuse. ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security (with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy) shall jointly prescribe regulations to carry out this subsection. ‘‘(3) CHILD ABUSE DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘child abuse’ has the meaning given that term in section 226(c) of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13031(c)) [now 34 U.S.C. 20341(c)].’’ PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENT Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title V, § 568(c), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 335, directed Secretary of Defense to submit to Congress, not later than Apr. 1, 1997, a plan for carrying out the requirements of this section. § 1788. Additional family assistance (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Defense may provide for the families of members of the armed forces serving on active duty, in addition to any other assistance available for such fami- lies, any assistance that the Secretary considers appropriate to ensure that the children of such members obtain needed child care, education, and other youth services. (b) PRIMARY PURPOSE OF ASSISTANCE.—The as- sistance authorized by this section should be di- rected primarily toward providing needed family support, including child care, education, and other youth services, for children of members of the armed forces who are deployed, assigned to duty, or ordered to active duty in connection with a contingency operation. (Added Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title VI, § 652(a)(1), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2581; amended Pub. L. 111–383, div. A, title X, § 1075(b)(25), Jan. 7, 2011, 124 Stat. 4370.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2011—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 111–383 substituted ‘‘armed forces’’ for ‘‘Armed Forces’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title VI, § 652(b), Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2581, provided that: ‘‘Section 1788 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on October 1, 2002.’’ PILOT PROGRAM FOR MILITARY FAMILIES: PREVENTION OF CHILD ABUSE AND TRAINING ON SAFE CHILDCARE PRACTICES Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title V, § 578, Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1783, provided that: ‘‘(a) PILOT PROGRAM.— ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—In order to reduce child abuse and fatalities due to abuse or neglect in covered house- holds, the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Defense Health Agency, shall carry out a pilot pro- gram to— ‘‘(A) provide information regarding safe childcare practices to covered households; ‘‘(B) identify and assess risk factors for child abuse in covered households; and ‘‘(C) facilitate connections between covered households and community resources. ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON DELEGATION.—The Secretary may not carry out the pilot program through the Family Advocacy Program. ‘‘(3) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall carry out the pilot program at no fewer than five military installa- tions that reflect a range of characteristics including the following: ‘‘(A) Urban location. ‘‘(B) Rural location. ‘‘(C) Large population. ‘‘(D) Small population. ‘‘(E) High incidence of child abuse, neglect, or both. ‘‘(F) Low incidence of child abuse, neglect, or both. ‘‘(G) Presence of a hospital or clinic. ‘‘(H) Lack of a hospital or clinic. ‘‘(I) Joint installation. ‘‘(J) Serving only one Armed Force. ‘‘(4) TERM.—The pilot program shall terminate two years after implementation. ‘‘(5) DESIGN.—The Secretary shall design the pilot program in consultation with military family groups to respond to the needs of covered households. ‘‘(6) ELEMENTS.—The pilot program shall include the following elements: ‘‘(A) Postnatal services, including screening to identify family needs and potential risk factors, and make referrals to appropriate community serv- ices with the use of the electronic data described in subparagraphs (F) and (G). ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall identify at least three approaches to screening, identification, and referral under subparagraph (A) that empirically improve outcomes for parents and infants. ‘‘(C) Services and resources designed for a covered household by the Secretary after considering the information gained from the screening and identi- fication under subparagraph (A). Such services and resources may include or address the following: ‘‘(i) General maternal and infant health exam. ‘‘(ii) Safe sleeping environments. ‘‘(iii) Feeding and bathing. ‘‘(iv) Adequate child supervision. ‘‘(v) Common hazards. ‘‘(vi) Self-care. ‘‘(vii) Postpartum depression, substance abuse, or domestic violence. ‘‘(viii) Community violence. ‘‘(ix) Skills for management of infant crying. ‘‘(x) Other positive parenting skills and prac- tices. ‘‘(xi) The importance of participating in ongo- ing healthcare for an infant and for treating postpartum depression. ‘‘(xii) Finding, qualifying for, and participating in available community resources with respect to infant care, childcare, parenting support, and home visits. ‘‘(xiii) Planning for parenting or guardianship of children during deployment and reintegration. ‘‘(xiv) Such other matters as the Secretary, in consultation with military families, considers ap- propriate. ‘‘(D) Home visits to provide support, screening and referral services shall be offered as needed. The number of visits offered shall be guided by parental interest and family need, but in general is expected to be no more than three.