Native American Children's Safety Act
Latest action · Apr 2, 2014 Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 113-324.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 26, 2014
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Native American Children's Safety Act - Amends the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act (Act) to prohibit any foster care placement over which an Indian tribe has exclusive jurisdiction from being ordered until the tribal social services agency: (1) completes an investigation of the character of each covered individual who resides in the household or is employed at the institution in which the foster care placement will be made, and (2) concludes that each of those individuals meets the standards of character the tribe is required to establish.
Defines a "covered individual" as an adult and any other individual the tribe determines is subject to such character investigation.
Requires the tribal social services agency, as part of those investigations, to: (1) perform criminal records checks, including fingerprint-based checks of national crime information databases; (2) check any child abuse and neglect registry maintained by the state in which the individual resides; and (3) request any other state in which the individual resided during the preceding five years to allow the agency to check its registry.
Prohibits a foster care placement from being ordered if the investigation reveals that the covered individual: (1) has been found guilty by a federal, state, or tribal court of a felony involving child abuse or neglect, spousal abuse, a crime against a child, violence, or drugs; or (2) is listed on a child abuse and neglect registry in the state where the individual resides or resided within the preceding five years.
Excepts emergency foster care placements from such requirements.
Requires each Indian tribe to establish procedures to recertify homes or institutions in which foster care placements are made.
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate a regulation establishing: (1) procedures for investigating the character of any covered individual who resides in the home or is employed at the institution in which the child is placed after the investigations that preceded that placement occurred, (2) self-reporting requirements for foster care homes or institutions that have knowledge that a covered individual residing on their premises would fail the character investigation, (3) procedures and guidelines for emergency foster care placements, and (4) procedures for certifying compliance with the Act.
Cosponsors 4
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 26, 2014 to Apr 28, 2014, with 3 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-ND | Heidi Heitkamp | Original | Mar 26, 2014 |
| R-WY | John Barrasso | Original | Mar 26, 2014 |
| D-MT | Jon Tester | Original | Mar 26, 2014 |
| D-AK | Mark Begich | Apr 28, 2014 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 2, 2014Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 113-324.
- Mar 26, 2014Introduced in Senate
- Mar 26, 2014Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 4534 | Native American Children's Safety Act | Identical bill | Dec 22, 2014 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Native Americans.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 26, 2014Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.