Title 42The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§5102 Advisory board on child abuse and neglect

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 67— - CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT AND ADOPTION REFORM › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - GENERAL PROGRAM › § 5102

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary may set up an advisory board to give advice to the Secretary and to the appropriate Congressional committees about child abuse and neglect. The Secretary must publish a notice in the Federal Register to ask for nominations. Board members must be people from the public who know about preventing, finding, treating, or studying child abuse and neglect. The appointments should consider racial and geographic diversity and include representatives from 14 areas such as law, psychology, social services, health care, state and local government, groups serving people with disabilities and adolescents, teachers, parent and voluntary groups, family and children’s rights advocates, and Indian tribes or tribal organizations. If a seat becomes vacant, it is filled the same way as the original appointment. The board must pick a chair and vice-chair at its first meeting. Within 1 year after the board is created, it must send a report or interim report to the Secretary and the appropriate Congressional committees. The report must include recommendations on coordinating child abuse and neglect efforts with family violence prevention at Federal, State, tribal, and local levels; specific changes to laws and programs to reduce unfounded or unsubstantiated reports while improving the ability to confirm real dangerous cases; and suggestions to enable coordinated national data collection on child protection and welfare.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §5102

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary may appoint an advisory board to make recommendations to the Secretary and to the appropriate committees of Congress concerning specific issues relating to child abuse and neglect.
(b)The Secretary shall publish a notice in the Federal Register soliciting nominations for the appointment of members of the advisory board under subsection (a).
(c)In establishing the board under subsection (a), the Secretary shall appoint members from the general public who are individuals knowledgeable in child abuse and neglect prevention, intervention, treatment, or research, and with due consideration to representation of ethnic or racial minorities and diverse geographic areas, and who represent—
(1)law (including the judiciary);
(2)psychology (including child development);
(3)social services (including child protective services);
(4)health care providers (including pediatricians);
(5)State and local government;
(6)organizations providing services to disabled persons;
(7)organizations providing services to adolescents;
(8)teachers;
(9)parent self-help organizations;
(10)parents’ groups;
(11)voluntary groups;
(12)family rights groups;
(13)children’s rights advocates; and
(14)Indian tribes or tribal organizations.
(d)Any vacancy in the membership of the board shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made.
(e)The board shall elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson at its first meeting from among the members of the board.
(f)Not later than 1 year after the establishment of the board under subsection (a), the board shall submit to the Secretary and the appropriate committees of Congress a report, or interim report, containing—
(1)recommendations on coordinating Federal, State, tribal, and local child abuse and neglect activities with similar activities at the Federal, State, tribal, and local level pertaining to family violence prevention;
(2)specific modifications needed in Federal, State, and tribal laws and programs to reduce the number of unfounded or unsubstantiated reports of child abuse or neglect while enhancing the ability to identify and substantiate legitimate cases of child abuse or neglect which place a child in danger; and
(3)recommendations for modifications needed to facilitate coordinated national data collection with respect to child protection and child welfare.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2010—Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 111–320, § 111(1)(A), substituted “health care providers (including pediatricians)” for “medicine (including pediatrics)”. Subsec. (c)(14). Pub. L. 111–320, § 111(1)(B)–(D), added par. (14). Subsec. (f)(1). Pub. L. 111–320, § 111(2)(A), inserted “tribal,” after “State,” in two places. Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 111–320, § 111(2)(B), substituted “Federal, State, and tribal” for “Federal and State” and “child abuse or neglect which” for “abuse or neglect which”. 1996—Pub. L. 104–235 amended section generally, substituting present provisions for provisions which related to appointment of Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect in subsec. (a); solicitation of nominations in subsec. (b); composition of Advisory Board in subsec. (c); election of officers in subsec. (d); meetings in subsec. (e); duties in subsec. (f); compensation in subsec. (g); and authorization of appropriations in subsec. (h). 1992—Subsec. (f)(4). Pub. L. 102–295, § 111(a), added par. (4). Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 102–295, § 111(b), added subsec. (h). 1989—Subsecs. (c)(1)(A), (e), (f)(2)(E). Pub. L. 101–126, § 3(b)(1), made technical

Amendments

to references to section 5103, 5105, and 5106 of this title to reflect renumbering of corresponding sections of original act. 1988—Pub. L. 100–294 amended section generally, substituting provisions relating to Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect for provisions relating to definitions. See section 5106g of this title. 1984—Cl. (1). Pub. L. 98–457, § 121(1), designated provisions after opening phrase as cl. (1). Pub. L. 98–457, § 102(1), inserted “(including any employee of a residential facility or any staff person providing out-of-home care)”. Cl. (2). Pub. L. 98–457, § 102(2), (3), added cl. (2). Cl. (3). Pub. L. 98–457, § 121(2), (3), added cl. (3). 1978—Pub. L. 95–266 inserted “or exploitation” after “sexual abuse” and “, or the age specified by the child protection law of the State in question,” after “eighteen”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1989 Amendment Pub. L. 101–126, § 8, Oct. 25, 1989, 103 Stat. 769, provided that: “This Act and the

Amendments

made by this Act [see

Short Title

of 1989 Amendment note set out under section 5101 of this title] shall take effect October 1, 1989, or upon the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 25, 1989], whichever occurs later.”

Effective Date

of 1984 Amendment Pub. L. 98–457, title I, § 128, Oct. 9, 1984, 98 Stat. 1755, provided that: “(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the provisions of this part or any amendment made by this part [part B (§§ 121–128) of title I of Pub. L. 98–457, amending this section and section 5103 of this title and enacting provisions set out as notes under section 5101 and 5103 of this title] shall be effective on the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 9, 1984]. “(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the

Amendments

made by section 122 and 123(b) of this Act [amending section 5103 of this title] shall become effective one year after the date of such enactment [Oct. 9, 1984]. “(2) In the event that, prior to such

Effective Date

, funds have not been appropriated pursuant to section 5 of the Act (as amended by section 104 of this Act) [section 5104 of this title] for the purpose of grants under section 4(c)(1) of the Act (as added by section 123(a) of this Act) [section 5103(c)(1) of this title], any State which has not met any requirement of section 4(b)(2)(K) of the Act (as added by section 122(3) of this Act) may be granted a waiver of such requirements for a period of not more than one year, if the Secretary finds that such State is making a good-faith effort to comply with such requirements.” Termination of Advisory BoardsAdvisory boards established after Jan. 5, 1973, to terminate not later than the expiration of the 2-year period beginning on the date of its establishment, unless, in the case of a board established by the President or an officer of the Federal Government, such board is renewed by appropriate action prior to the end of such period, or in the case of a board established by the Congress, its duration is otherwise provided by law, see section 1001(2) and 1013 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Limitations on Use of Appropriated Funds Pub. L. 105–277, div. A, § 101(f) [title II, § 206], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–337, 2681–359, provided that: “None of the funds appropriated in this Act or subsequent Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Acts, may be obligated or expended for the Federal Council on Aging under the Older Americans Act [of 1965, 42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.] or the Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act [42 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.].” Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation acts: Pub. L. 105–78, title II, § 206, Nov. 13, 1997, 111 Stat. 1489. Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, § 101(e) [title II, § 208], Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–233, 3009–254. Pub. L. 104–134, title I, § 101(d) [title II, § 209], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321–211, 1321–228; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, § 1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 5102

Title 42The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73