republic-os/legal/us/code/title-34/chapter-203/section-20301.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, corpus, kind, title_number, title_name, chapter_number, chapter_name, section, citation, status, release_point, release_date, source, source_url, source_identifier, source_file, source_hash, raw_snapshot_hash, text_hash, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	corpus	kind	title_number	title_name	chapter_number	chapter_name	section	citation	status	release_point	release_date	source	source_url	source_identifier	source_file	source_hash	raw_snapshot_hash	text_hash	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
LegalText	34 U.S.C. § 20301	Findings	us	united_states_code	code_section	34	CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT	203	VICTIMS OF CHILD ABUSE	20301	34 U.S.C. § 20301	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc34@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t34/s20301	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-34/usc34.xml	cd6bbca91893ab2659dae45f3a288061ae61d859e32a1149c101dcdd8d1920ae	7528207b20373f75fea96478ab5313727f47852e5364ee8c5ea18909f66a9da3	e1a7bfc75bd3392f0b8c9bbd9fd3a2c2886be957078af54f95c8382dff5c73f0	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

34 U.S.C. § 20301 - Findings

Text

The Congress finds that—

(1) over 3,400,000 reports of suspected child abuse and neglect are made each year;

(2) the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases is extremely complex, involving numerous agencies and dozens of personnel;

(3) a key to a child victim healing from abuse is access to supportive and healthy families and communities;

(4) traditionally, community agencies and professionals have different roles in the prevention, investigation, and intervention process;

(5) in such cases, too often the system does not pay sufficient attention to the needs and welfare of the child victim, aggravating the trauma that the child victim has already experienced;

(6) there is a national need to enhance coordination among community agencies and professionals involved in the intervention system;

(7) multidisciplinary child abuse investigation and prosecution programs have been developed that increase the reporting of child abuse cases, reduce the trauma to the child victim, improve positive outcomes for the child, and increase the successful prosecution of child abuse offenders;

(8) such programs have proven effective, and with targeted Federal assistance, have expanded dramatically throughout the United States; and

(9) State chapters of children’s advocacy center networks are needed to—

(A) assist local communities in coordinating their multidisciplinary child abuse investigation, prosecution, and intervention services; and

(B) provide oversight of, and training and technical assistance in, the effective delivery of evidence-informed programming, and operations of centers.

(Pub. L. 101–647, title II, § 211, Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4792; Pub. L. 102–586, § 6(a), Nov. 4, 1992, 106 Stat. 5029; Pub. L. 115–424, § 2(a), Jan. 7, 2019, 132 Stat. 5465; Pub. L. 117–354, § 3(1), Jan. 5, 2023, 136 Stat. 6274.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 13001 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Amendments2023—Par. (1). Pub. L. 117–354, § 3(1)(A), substituted “3,400,000” for “3,300,000” and struck out “, and drug abuse is associated with a significant portion of these” after “year”. Pars. (3) to (9). Pub. L. 117–354, § 3(1)(B), (C), added par. (3) and redesignated former pars. (3) to (8) as (4) to (9), respectively. Par. (9)(B). Pub. L. 117–354, § 3(1)(D), inserted “, and operations of centers” after “programming”. 2019—Par. (1). Pub. L. 115–424, § 2(a)(1), substituted “3,300,000” for “2,000,000”. Par. (6). Pub. L. 115–424, § 2(a)(2), inserted “improve positive outcomes for the child,” before “and increase” and substituted semicolon for “; and” at end. Par. (7). Pub. L. 115–424, § 2(a)(3), substituted “have expanded dramatically throughout the United States; and” for “could be duplicated in many jurisdictions throughout the country.” Par. (8). Pub. L. 115–424, § 2(a)(4), added par. (8). 1992—Pars. (3) to (7). Pub. L. 102–586 added pars. (3) and (5) and redesignated former pars. (3), (4), and (5) as (4), (6), and (7), respectively.