§1794 Child abuse prevention and safety at facilities

Summary

The Defense Department must keep a special task force to respond to reports of widespread child abuse at a military base. The team will include people from fields like medicine, psychology, and child development when needed. The task force must help the base commander and the parents deal with the allegations. The Department must run a national phone line to report suspected child abuse or safety problems at military child development centers and family home day care sites. Callers may be anonymous and there must be rules to follow up on tips. The phone number must be posted in public areas of centers and given to parents and guardians. Commanders or the task force must ask local child protective authorities for help when available. The Department must set uniform safety and operating rules for all military child care centers. Each center must have at least four unannounced inspections a year, including one by the installation and one by the major command. Any safety, health, or welfare violation must be fixed right away unless a non-life‑threatening problem gets a waiver for up to 90 days. If not fixed after 90 days, the center must close until it is fixed, unless the military department secretary allows it to stay open because repairs take longer or major rebuilding is needed. The center director must notify a parent or guardian within 24 hours after a child care worker learns of suspected abuse or neglect at the center, unless telling them would harm a law enforcement investigation.