HR 573 — Family Poverty is Not Child Neglect Act

(a) Development and operation grants The Secretary shall make grants to the States, from allotments made under subsection (f) for each State that applies for a grant under this section, for purposes of assisting the States in improving the child protective services system of each such State in— (1) the intake, assessment, screening, and investigation of reports of child abuse or neglect; (2) (A) creating and improving the use of multidisciplinary teams and interagency, intra-agency, interstate, and intrastate protocols to enhance investigations; and (B) improving legal preparation and representation, including— (i) procedures for appealing and responding to appeals of substantiated reports of child abuse or neglect; and (ii) provisions for the appointment of an individual appointed to represent a child in judicial proceedings; (3) case management, including ongoing case monitoring, and delivery of services and treatment provided to children and their families; (4) enhancing the general child protective system by developing, improving, and implementing risk and safety assessment tools and protocols, including the use of differential response; (5) developing and updating systems of technology that support the program and track reports of child abuse and neglect from intake through final disposition and allow interstate and intrastate information exchange; (6) developing, strengthening, and facilitating training including— (A) training regarding research-based strategies, including the use of differential response, to promote collaboration with the families; (B) training regarding the legal duties of such individuals; (C) personal safety training for case workers; and (D) training in early childhood, child, and adolescent development; (7) improving the skills, qualifications, and availability of individuals providing services to children and families, and the supervisors of such individuals, through the child protection system, including improvements in the recruitment and retention of caseworkers; (8) developing, facilitating the use of, and implementing research-based strategies and training protocols for individuals mandated to report child abuse and neglect; (9) developing, implementing, or operating programs to assist in obtaining or coordinating necessary services for families of disabled infants with life-threatening conditions, including— (A) existing social and health services; (B) financial assistance; (C) services necessary to facilitate adoptive placement of any such infants who have been relinquished for adoption; and (D) the use of differential response in preventing child abuse and neglect; (10) developing and delivering information to improve public education relating to the role and responsibilities of the child protection system and the nature and basis for reporting suspected incidents of child abuse and neglect, including the use of differential response; (11) developing and enhancing the capacity of community-based programs to integrate shared leadership strategies between parents and professionals to prevent and treat child abuse and neglect at the neighborhood level; (12) supporting and enhancing interagency collaboration between the child protection system and the juvenile justice system for improved delivery of services and treatment, including methods for continuity of treatment plan and services as children transition between systems; (13) supporting and enhancing interagency collaboration among public health agencies, agencies in the child protective service system, and agencies carrying out private community-based programs— (A) to provide child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment services (including linkages with education systems), and the use of differential response; and (B) to address the health needs, including mental health needs, of children identified as victims of child abuse or neglect;,1 including supporting prompt, comprehensive health and developmental evaluations for children w...