Sponsors (6)
The bill provides federal funding and standardized rules to record and retain child-welfare interviews—improving accuracy, oversight, and privacy controls—while creating ongoing costs and risks to privacy, candor, and potential retraumatization that states and families will need to manage.
State and local child-welfare agencies receive up to $30 million per year in pooled federal grants to build and operate recording, storage, and related systems, reducing the immediate fiscal burden on state budgets.
Children and families benefit from more complete, recorded records of child-welfare interviews, improving case accuracy and decision-making in investigations and court proceedings.
Children and families gain stronger privacy protections from required secure storage, role-based access controls, and penalties for unlawful release, reducing the risk of unauthorized disclosures.
State and local agencies — and ultimately taxpayers — may face substantial ongoing operational costs (storage, maintenance, personnel) to retain recordings for five years after federal grants expire.
Parents and children remain at risk of privacy breaches if recordings are improperly accessed or disclosed despite required access controls and penalties.
Mandatory recording of interviews could discourage candid disclosures from children or caregivers who are uncomfortable being recorded, potentially reducing the quality of information gathered for investigations.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates grants to help states record and securely retain all child welfare interviews and requires state laws/policies for five-year retention and access controls.
Introduced April 9, 2026 by Ann Wagner · Last progress April 9, 2026
Creates a federal grant program that pays states to record and keep all child welfare interviews and to adopt laws, policies, or ordinances that require recording and five-year retention with secure access controls. Grants may be used only for costs directly tied to making and storing recordings; the program is funded up to $30 million per year for FY2026–FY2031 from specified child welfare appropriations. States must apply and describe current practices, challenges, and how they will use funds. Recipients must have a legal or policy requirement to record interviews, retain recordings at least five years, protect access, limit disclosure (generally to government agencies, but available to caregivers in court-related requests unless a court orders otherwise), and impose penalties for unlawful release. The administering agency may audit grants and inspect records related to fund use.