§5106f Reports

Summary

The Secretary must send several reports to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate about child abuse and neglect programs. Within 1 year after December 20, 2010, the Secretary must report on efforts to coordinate the goals and work of agencies and groups that run these programs. The Secretary must send a second report not later than 3 years after December 20, 2010 about coordination during that 3-year period, and a third report not later than 5 years after December 20, 2010 about coordination during that 5-year period. The Secretary must also, starting 2 years after December 20, 2010 and every 2 years after that, report on how well programs that get federal assistance under the child protection law are meeting their goals. The Secretary must study and report on two specific topics. First, by 2 years after December 20, 2010, the Secretary must study how well citizen review panels work at reviewing state and local child protection policies and at checking whether agencies are doing their child protection jobs. The study must include data on who is on the panels, how they are organized and run, how many panels each State has, how they share information and work with child protection agencies and what comes from that cooperation, and whether panels and States followed reporting rules. Second, by 1 year after December 20, 2010, the Secretary must study, with experts in health care, law enforcement, education, and child welfare, how immunity from prosecution under State and local rules helps or hurts people who consult or report suspected child abuse or neglect, including mandatory reports, and must send a report with the study results and any recommended legal or regulatory changes (the report may be submitted electronically).