Speak Up to Protect Every Abused Kid Act

Speak Up to Protect Every Abused Kid Act

This bill amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to eligible entities to carry out educational campaigns and provide evidence-based or evidence-informed training regarding state laws for mandatory reporting of incidents of child abuse or neglect.

A state plan under a grant program for child abuse or neglect prevention and treatment shall contain specified assurances about:

• mandatory reporting of suspected or known incidents of child abuse or neglect to state child protective services agencies or law enforcement agencies;
• procedures to ensure coordination with law enforcement and state or community-based victims' services agencies to ensure that child abuse victims are referred for appropriate follow-up services;
• primary state responsibility to accept and investigate reports of known and suspected child abuse or neglect for an incident that occurred in the state, even if the child or alleged perpetrator resides in a different state; and
• established state procedures to screen for domestic violence in the course of investigating child abuse.

The bill specifies those individuals and professionals who are required to report suspected or known incidents of child abuse or neglect.

HHS shall collect information on state laws for mandatory reporting of incidents of child abuse or neglect in order to assess the implementation of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.