GRANT PROGRAM FOR CHILD ABUSE NEGLECT PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

SEC. 114. GRANT PROGRAM FOR CHILD ABUSE NEGLECT PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. (a) Development and Operation Grants.—Section 107(a) (42 U.S.C. 5106a(a)) is amended to read as follows: “(a) Development and Operation Grants.—The Secretary, acting through the Center, shall make grants to the States, based on the population of children under the age of 18 in each State that applies for a grant under this section, for purposes of assisting the States in improving the child protective service system of each such State in— “(1) the intake and screening of reports of abuse and neglect through the improvement of the receipt of information, decisionmaking, public awareness, and training of staff; “(2)(A) investigating such reports through improving response time, decision making, referral to services, and training of staff; “(B) creating and improving the use of multidisciplinary teams and interagency protocols to enhance investigations; and “(C) improving legal preparation and representation; “(3) case management and delivery services provided to families through the improvement of response time in service provision, improving the training of staff, and increasing the numbers of families to be served; “(4) enhancing the general child protective system by improving assessment tools, automation systems that support the program, information referral systems, and the overall training of staff to meet minimum competencies; or “(5) developing, strengthening, and carrying out child abuse and neglect prevention, treatment, and research programs. Not more than 15 percent of a grant under this subsection may be expended for carrying out paragraph (5). The preceding sentence does not apply to any program or activity authorized in any of paragraphs (1) through (4).”. (b) Establishment of Certain Requirement.—Section 107 (42 U.S.C. 5106a) is amended— (1) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) as subsections (d) through (g), respectively; and (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new subsection: “(c) State Program Plan.—To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, a State shall submit every four years a plan 106 STAT. 193 to the Secretary that specifies the child protective service system area or areas described in subsection (a) that the State intends to address with funds received under the grant. The plan shall describe the current system capacity of the State in the relevant area or areas from which to assess programs with grant funds and specify the manner in which funds from the State’s programs will be used to make improvements. The plan required under this subsection shall contain, with respect to each area in which the State intends to use funds from the grant, the following information with respect to the State: “(1) Intake and screening.— “(A) Staffing.—The number of child protective service workers responsible for the intake and screening of reports of abuse and neglect relative to the number of reports filed in the previous year. “(B) Training.—The types and frequency of pre-service and in-service training programs available to support direct line and supervisory personnel in report-taking, screening, decisionmaking, and referral for investigation. “(C) Public education.— An assessment of the State or local agency’s public education program with respect to— “(i) what is child abuse and neglect; “(ii) who is obligated to report and who may choose to report; and “(iii) how to report. “(2) Investigation of reports.— “(A) Response time.—The number of reports of child abuse and neglect filed in the State in the previous year where appropriate, the agency response time to each with respect to initial investigation, the number of substantiated and unsubstantiated reports, and where appropriate, the response time with respect to the provision of services. “(B) Staffing.—The number of child protective service workers responsible for the investigation of child abuse and neglect reports relative to the number of reports investigated in the previous year. “(C) Interagency coordination.— A description of the extent to which interagency coordination processes exist and are available Statewide, and whether protocols or formal policies governing interagency relationships exist in the following areas— “(i) multidisciplinary investigation teams among child welfare and law enforcement agencies; “(ii) interagency coordination for the prevention, intervention and treatment of child abuse and neglect among agencies responsible for child protective services, criminal justice, schools, health, mental health, and substance abuse; and “(iii) special interagency child fatality review panels, including a listing of those agencies that are involved. “(D) Training.—The types and frequency of pre-service and in-service training programs available to support direct line and supervisory personnel in such areas as investigation, risk assessment, court preparation, and referral to and provision of services. 106 STAT. 194 “(E) Legal representation.—A description of the State agency’s current capacity for legal representation, including the manner in which workers are prepared and trained for court preparation and attendance, including procedures for appealing substantiated reports of abuse and neglect. “(3) Case management and delivery of ongoing family services.—For children for whom a report of abuse and neglect has been substantiated and the children remain in their own homes and are not currently at risk of removal, the State shall assess the activities and the outcomes of the following services: “(A) Response time.—The number of cases opened for services as a result of investigation of child abuse and neglect reports filed in the previous year, including the response time with respect to the provision of services from the time of initial report and initial investigation. “(B) Staffing.—The number of child protective service workers responsible for providing services to children and their families in their own homes as a result of investigation of reports of child abuse and neglect. “(C) Training.—The types and frequency of pre-service and in-service training programs available to support direct line and supervisory personnel in such areas as risk assessment, court preparation, provision of services and determination of case disposition, including how such training is evaluated for effectiveness. “(D) Interagency coordination.—The extent to which treatment services for the child and other family members are coordinated with child welfare, social service, mental health, education, and other agencies. “(4) General system enhancement.— “(A) Automation.—A description of the capacity of current automated systems for tracking reports of child abuse and neglect from intake through final disposition and how personnel are trained in the use of such system. “(B) Assessment tools.—A description of whether, how, and what risk assessment tools are used for screening reports of abuse and neglect, determining whether child abuse and neglect has occurred, and assessing the appropriate level of State agency protection and intervention, including the extent to which such tool is used statewide and how workers are trained in its use. “(C) Information and referral.— A description and assessment of the extent to which a State has in place— “(i) information and referral systems, including their availability and ability to link families to various child welfare services such as homemakers, intensive family-based services, emergency caretakers, home health visitors, daycare and services outside the child welfare system such as housing, nutrition, health care, special education, income support, and emergency resource assistance; and “(ii) efforts undertaken to disseminate to the public information concerning the problem of child abuse and neglect and the prevention and treatment programs and services available to combat instances of such abuse and neglect. 106 STAT. 195 “(D) Staff capacity and competence.—An assessment of basic and specialized training needs of all staff and current training provided staff. Assessment of the competencies of staff with respect to minimum knowledge in areas such as child development, cultural and ethnic diversity, functions and relationship of other systems to child protective services and in specific skills such as interviewing, assessment, and decision making relative to the child and family, and the need for training consistent with such minimum competencies. “(5) Innovative approaches.— A description of— “(A) research and demonstration efforts for developing, strengthening, and carrying out child abuse and neglect prevention, treatment, and research programs, including the interagency efforts at the State level; and “(B) the manner in which proposed research and development activities build on existing capacity in the programs being addressed.”. (c) Technical Correction.—Section 107(d), as redesignated by subsection (b) of this section, is amended in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by striking “this subsection” and inserting “subsection (a)”. (d) Delayed Effective Date for New Requirements.—The amendments described in subsections (a) and (b) are made upon the date of the enactment of this Act. Such amendments take effect on October 1, 1993, or on October 1 of the first fiscal year for which $40,000,000 or more is made available under subsection (a)(2)(B)(ii) of section 114 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (as amended by section 117 of this Act), whichever occurs first. Prior to such amendments taking effect, section 107(a) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act, continues to be in effect.