S. 2160: Native American Children's Safety Act

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S. 2160: Native American Children's Safety Act

113th Congress · introduced 2014-03-26 · Native Americans · Latest: Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 113-324.

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Official title

Native American Children's Safety Act

Plain summary

Native American Children's Safety Act - Amends the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act (Act) to prohibit any foster care placement over which an Indian tribe has exclusive jurisdiction from being ordered until the tribal social services agency: (1) completes an investigation of the character of each covered individual who resides in the household or is employed at the institution in which the foster care placement will be made, and (2) concludes that each of those individuals meets the standards of character the tribe is required to establish. Defines a "covered individual" as an adult and any other individual the tribe determines is subject to such character investigation. Requires the tribal social services agency, as part of those investigations, to: (1) perform criminal records checks, including fingerprint-based checks of national crime information databases; (2) check any child abuse and neglect registry maintained by the state in which the individual resides; and (3) request any other state in which the individual resided during the preceding five years to allow the agency to check its registry. Prohibits a foster care placement from being ordered if the investigation reveals that the covered individual: (1) has been found guilty by a federal, state, or tribal court of a felony involving child abuse or neglect, spousal abuse, a crime against a child, violence, or drugs; or (2) is listed on a child abuse and neglect registry in the state where the individual resides or resided within the preceding five years. Excepts emergency foster care placements from such requirements. Requires each Indian tribe to establish procedures to recertify homes or institutions in which foster care placements are made. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate a regulation establishing: (1) procedures for investigating the character of any covered individual who resides in the home or is employed at the institution in which the child is placed after the investigations that preceded that placement occurred, (2) self-reporting requirements for foster care homes or institutions that have knowledge that a covered individual residing on their premises would fail the character investigation, (3) procedures and guidelines for emergency foster care placements, and (4) procedures for certifying compliance with the Act.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND] · 4 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

John Barrasso (R-WY)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Hoeven, John [R-ND] reported raising $523,195 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-113s2160.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/113/s>

Record fed-us-cong113-s2160 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong113 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong113