1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2019”.
CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2019
A BILL
To amend and reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and for other purposes.
2. Findings
Section 2 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended—
in paragraph (1), by striking “2008, approximately 772,000” and inserting “2017, approximately 674,000”;
in paragraph (2)—
in subparagraph (A)—
by striking “close to 1/3” and inserting “75 percent”; and
by striking “2008” and inserting “2017”; and
by amending subparagraph (B) to read as follows:
“(B) investigations have determined that approximately 75 percent of children who were victims of maltreatment in fiscal year 2017 suffered neglect, 18 percent suffered physical abuse, and 9 percent suffered sexual abuse;”
in paragraph (3)—
in subparagraph (B), by striking “2008, an estimated 1,740” and inserting “2017, an estimated 1,720”; and
by amending subparagraph (C) to read as follows:
“(C) in fiscal year 2017, children younger than 1 year old comprised 40 percent of child maltreatment fatalities and 72 percent of child maltreatment fatalities were younger than 3 years of age;”
in paragraph (4)(B)—
by striking “37” and inserting “40”; and
by striking “2008” and inserting “2017”;
in paragraph (5), by striking “, American Indian children, Alaska Native children, and children of multiple races and ethnicities” and inserting “and American Indian or Alaska Native children”;
in paragraph (6)—
in subparagraph (A), by inserting “to strengthen families” before the semicolon; and
in subparagraph (C), by striking “neighborhood” and inserting “community”;
in paragraph (11), by inserting “trauma-informed,” after “comprehensive,”; and
in paragraph (15)—
in subparagraph (D), by striking “implementing community plans” and inserting “supporting community-based programs to strengthen and support families in order to prevent child abuse and neglect”; and
by amending subparagraph (E) to read as follows:
“(E) improving professional, paraprofessional, and volunteer resources to strengthen the child welfare workforce; and”
3. General definitions
Section 3 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 note) is amended—
in paragraph (7), by striking “; and” and inserting a semicolon;
in paragraph (8), by striking the period and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(9) the term underserved or overrepresented groups in the child welfare system includes youth that enter the child welfare system following family rejection, parental abandonment, sexual abuse or sexual exploitation, or unaccompanied homelessness.”