119-s659

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 659 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 659

To establish a grant program within the Office of Juvenile Justice and 
 Delinquency Prevention to award grants to States that require the 
recording of all child welfare interviews with children and adults, and 
 for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 February 20, 2025

Mrs. Blackburn introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
 referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To establish a grant program within the Office of Juvenile Justice and 
 Delinquency Prevention to award grants to States that require the 
recording of all child welfare interviews with children and adults, and 
 for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Generate Recordings of All Child 
protective Interviews Everywhere Act'' or the ``GRACIE Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICE INTERVIEW RECORDING GRANTS.

    (a) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Child welfare interview.--The term ``child welfare 
 interview'' means a documented interview with all relevant 
 parties, including a child and an adult, conducted by a child 
 protective services agency of a State in order to elicit 
 information regarding concerns of abuse, neglect, or exposure 
 to violence.

    (2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
 the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of 
 the Department of Justice.

    (3) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a 
 child protective services agency of a State that has in effect 
 a statute, ordinance, policy, or practice that requires--
        (A) any child welfare interview conducted by a 
 child protective services agency of the State to be 
 recorded through--
            (i) electronic audio recording;
            (ii) body camera video; or
            (iii) any other reasonable means of 
 recording; and
        (B) the retention and storage of a recording 
 described in subparagraph
        (A) --
            (i) for not less than 5 years; and
            (ii) in a manner consistent with the 
 protocols established by the State for such 
 recordings, which shall include that--
            (I) a copy of such a recording--

    (aa) subject to item

    (bb) , 
 may only be released to those 
 investigating an allegation; 
 and

    (bb) upon a request by a 
 caregiver or guardian in 
 connection with a judicial 
 proceeding, shall be made 
 available to the caregiver or 
 guardian, unless the court 
 orders otherwise;
            (II) a penalty is imposed for a 
 violation of a limitation described in 
 subclause
            (I) ; and
            (III) the retention systems of the 
 child protective services agency 
 securely manage the storage and 
 distribution of such a recording with 
 access controls and role-based 
 permission management.

    (4) State.--The term ``State'' means--
        (A) each of the several States;
        (B) the District of Columbia;
            (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and
            (D) any territory or possession of the United 
 States.

    (b) Grants.--The Director may award a grant to an eligible entity 
for the purpose of recording and storing all child welfare interviews 
conducted by the eligible entity.
            (c) Application.--An eligible entity seeking a grant under this 
section shall submit to the Director an application at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such information as the Director may 
require.
            (d) Use of Funds.--Amounts received under a grant under this 
section shall be used exclusively for costs directly associated with 
conducting and retaining for 5 years the recording of all child welfare 
interviews by a child protective services agency of a State, including 
initial interviews conducted during a family assessment.

    (e) Funding.--The Director shall carry out this section using 
amounts otherwise available to the Director.
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