[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8245 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8245
To support State efforts to record all child welfare interviews.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 9, 2026
Mrs. Wagner (for herself, Ms. Stefanik, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Moore of
Utah, and Mr. Owens) introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To support State efforts to record all child welfare interviews.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Generate Recordings of All Child
protective Interviews Everywhere Act'' or the ``GRACIE Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICE INTERVIEW RECORDING GRANTS.
(a) Grants.--The Associate Commissioner may award grants to States
for the purpose of assisting State agencies responsible for conducting
child welfare interviews in recording and retaining all child welfare
interviews conducted by such State agencies.
(b) Application.--A State seeking a grant under this section shall
submit an application to the Associate Commissioner at such time and in
such manner as the Associate Commissioner may require. Such application
shall include--
(1) the State's lead agency for the grant program and that
agency's current requirements involving the recording and
retention of child welfare interviews;
(2) the challenges the State faces in developing,
implementing, and monitoring requirements involving the
recording and retention of child welfare interviews; and
(3) a description of how the State plans to use funds for
activities described in subsection (c).
(c) Use of Funds.--
(1) In general.--Amounts received under a grant under this
section shall be used exclusively for costs directly associated
with conducting and retaining for 5 years the recording of all
child welfare interviews by a State agency responsible for
conducting child welfare interviews, including initial
interviews conducted during a family assessment to the extent
practicable.
(2) Recording requirement.--A State receiving a grant under
this section shall have a statute, ordinance, policy, or
practice requiring all child welfare interviews conducted by
the State agency responsible for conducting child welfare
interviews to be recorded through electronic audio recording,
body camera video, or any other reasonable means of recording.
(3) Retention requirement.--A State receiving a grant under
this section shall have a statute, ordinance, policy, or
practice requiring the recordings described in paragraph (2) to
be retained and stored for not less than 5 years in a manner
consistent with the protocols established by the State for such
recordings, which shall include that--
(A) a copy of such recording--
(i) subject to clause (ii), may only be
released to appropriate government agencies
investigating an allegation or prosecuting an
offense relating to an allegation; and
(ii) upon request by a caregiver or
guardian in connection with a judicial
proceeding, shall be made available to the
caregiver or guardian, unless the court orders
otherwise;
(B) a penalty is imposed for a violation of the
limitation described in subparagraph (A); and
(C) the retention systems of the State agency
responsible for conducting child welfare interviews
securely manage the storage and distribution of such a
recording with access controls and role-based
permission management.
(d) Accountability.--
(1) Records.--A State that receives a grant under this
section shall maintain such records as the Associate
Commissioner may require to facilitate an effective audit
relating to the receipt of the grant, the use of amounts from
the grant, or outsourcing activities.
(2) Access.--For the purpose of conducting audits and
examinations, the Associate Commissioner shall have access to
any book, document, or record of the State agency that receives
a grant under this section if the Associate Commissioner
determines that the book, document, or record relates to--
(A) the receipt of the grant; or
(B) the use of amounts from the grant.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Associate commissioner.--The term ``Associate
Commissioner'' means the Associate Commissioner of the
Children's Bureau of the Office of the Administration for
Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human
Services.
(2) Child welfare interview.--The term ``child welfare
interview'' means a documented interview with any relevant
parties, including a child or an adult, conducted by a State
agency responsible for conducting child welfare interviews in
order to elicit information regarding concerns of abuse of a
child, neglect of a child, or other crimes against a child.
(3) State.--The term ``State'' means--
(A) each of the several States;
(B) the District of Columbia;
(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and
(D) any territory or possession of the United
States.
(f) Funding and Sunset.--For each of fiscal years 2026 through
2031, the Associate Commissioner shall use not more than $30,000,000 of
the amounts appropriated to carry out subpart 1 of part B of title IV
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) to carry out this
section.
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