On May 25, the Senate passed, by unanimous consent, a bill (S. 398) to amend the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act (P.L. 101-630) to identify and remove barriers to reducing child abuse. The legislation would reauthorize the Indian Child Abuse treatment grant program for FY2008-2012.
Sponsored by Sen. Byron Doran (D-ND), the bill would require local law enforcement and child protection agency reports to include federal, state, or tribal final convictions. The measure also would require the local agencies to send such reports to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which would keep the reports accessible to local law enforcement agencies. In addition, the bill would require the FBI, in conjunction with the Department of Interior secretary and the attorney general, to report to Congress about child abuse in Indian country; prescribe confidentiality guidelines for handling child abuse cases; permit, without parental consent, forensic examinations of Indian children believed to be victims of child abuse; and require character investigations of individuals who have regular contact with, or control over, Indian children.
