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42 U.S. Code § 5105. Research and assistance activities
(a) Research
(1) TopicsThe Secretary shall, in consultation with other Federal agencies and recognized experts in the field, carry out a continuing interdisciplinary program of research, including longitudinal research, that is designed to provide information needed to better protect children from child abuse or neglect and to improve the well-being of victims of child abuse or neglect, with at least a portion of such research being field initiated. Such research program may focus on—
(A)
the nature and scope of child abuse and neglect;
(B)
causes, prevention, assessment, identification, treatment, cultural and socio-economic distinctions, and the consequences of child abuse and neglect, including the effects of child abuse and neglect on a child’s development and the identification of successful early intervention services or other services that are needed;
(C)
effective approaches to improving the relationship and attachment of infants and toddlers who experience child abuse or neglect with their parents or primary caregivers in circumstances where reunification is appropriate;
(D)
appropriate, effective and culturally sensitive investigative, administrative, and judicial systems, including multidisciplinary, coordinated decisionmaking procedures with respect to cases of child abuse and neglect;
(E)
the evaluation and dissemination of best practices, including best practices to meet the needs of special populations, consistent with the goals of achieving improvements in the child protective services systems of the States in accordance with paragraphs (1) through (14) of section 5106a(a) of this title;
(F)
effective approaches to interagency collaboration between the child protection system and the juvenile justice system that improve the delivery of services and treatment, including methods for continuity of treatment plan and services as children transition between systems;
(G) effective practices and programs to improve activities such as identification, screening, medical diagnosis, forensic diagnosis, health evaluations, and services, including activities that promote collaboration between—
(i)
the child protective service system; and
(ii)
(I)
the medical community, including providers of mental health and developmental disability services; and
(II)
providers of early childhood intervention services and special education for children who have been victims of child abuse or neglect;
(H)
an evaluation of the redundancies and gaps in the services in the field of child abuse and neglect prevention in order to make better use of resources;
(I)
effective collaborations, between the child protective system and domestic violence service providers, that provide for the safety of children exposed to domestic violence and their nonabusing parents and that improve the investigations, interventions, delivery of services, and treatments provided for such children and families;
(J)
the nature, scope, and practice of voluntary relinquishment for foster care or State guardianship of low-income children who need health services, including mental health services;
(K)
the impact of child abuse and neglect on the incidence and progression of disabilities;
(L)
the nature and scope of effective practices relating to differential response, including an analysis of best practices conducted by the States;
(M)
child abuse and neglect issues facing Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, including providing recommendations for improving the collection of child abuse and neglect data from Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian communities;
(N)
the information on the national incidence of child abuse and neglect specified in clauses (i) through (x) [1] of subparagraph (O); and
(O) the national incidence of child abuse and neglect, including—
(i)
the extent to which incidents of child abuse and neglect are increasing or decreasing in number and severity;
(ii)
the incidence of substantiated and unsubstantiated reported child abuse and neglect cases;
(iii)
the number of substantiated cases that result in a judicial finding of child abuse or neglect or related criminal court convictions;
(iv)
the extent to which the number of unsubstantiated, unfounded and false reported cases of child abuse or neglect have contributed to the inability of a State to respond effectively to serious cases of child abuse or neglect;
(v)
the extent to which the lack of adequate resources and the lack of adequate training of individuals required by law to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect have contributed to the inability of a State to respond effectively to serious cases of child abuse and neglect;
(vi)
the number of unsubstantiated, false, or unfounded reports that have resulted in a child being placed in substitute care, and the duration of such placement;
(vii)
the extent to which unsubstantiated reports return as more serious cases of child abuse or neglect;
(viii)
the incidence and prevalence of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and physical and emotional neglect in substitute care;
(ix)
the incidence and prevalence of child maltreatment by a wide array of demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race, family structure, household relationship (including the living arrangement of the resident parent and family size), school enrollment and education attainment, disability, grandparents as caregivers, labor force status, work status in previous year, and income in previous year;
(x)
the extent to which reports of suspected or known instances of child abuse or neglect involving a potential combination of jurisdictions, such as intrastate, interstate, Federal-State, and State-Tribal, are being screened out solely on the basis of the cross-jurisdictional complications; and
(xi)
the incidence and outcomes of child abuse and neglect allegations reported within the context of divorce, custody, or other family court proceedings, and the interaction between this venue and the child protective services system.