To establish a grant program within the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to award grants to States that require the recording of all child welfare interviews with children and adults, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The GRACIE Act creates a federal grant program to help states pay for recording all child protective services interviews. To qualify, states must pass laws requiring their CPS agencies to record interviews with children and adults during abuse or neglect investigations, and store those recordings securely for at least 5 years.
Who Benefits and How
Child protective services agencies benefit by receiving federal funding to purchase recording equipment and build secure storage systems. Children and families involved in CPS investigations may benefit from having an objective record of interviews that can be reviewed if disputes arise. Caregivers and guardians gain the right to access recordings during judicial proceedings.
Who Bears the Burden and How
States must enact new recording requirement laws or policies to become eligible for grants. Child protective services agencies face new compliance mandates to record every interview, implement secure storage systems with access controls, and retain recordings for 5 years. They must also establish penalty systems for unauthorized release of recordings.
Key Provisions
- Creates grants through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for states requiring CPS interview recordings
- Mandates 5-year retention of recordings with secure access controls and role-based permissions
- Requires states to impose penalties for unauthorized release of interview recordings
- Guarantees caregivers/guardians access to recordings during judicial proceedings
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Establishes a federal grant program to incentivize states to require recording and retention of all child welfare interviews conducted by child protective services agencies.
Key Policy Areas
Child Welfare, Criminal Justice, State Grants
Primary Purpose
Establishes a federal grant program to incentivize states to require recording and retention of all child welfare interviews conducted by child protective services agencies.
Policy Domains
GRACIE Act of 2025
Identified Gains
- Child protective services agencies
- Children in CPS investigations
- Caregivers/guardians in judicial proceedings
- Recording equipment manufacturers
Identified Costs
- State governments
- Child protective services agencies (compliance)
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMrs. Blackburn introduced the following bill; which was read twice …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
State child protective services agencies, State legislatures
State child protective services agencies faces effects in multiple directions
Caregivers and guardians in judicial proceedings, Children and families in CPS investigations
Recording and audio/video equipment manufacturers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_director"
- → Director of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A documented interview with all relevant parties, including a child and an adult, conducted by a child protective services agency of a State to elicit information regarding concerns of abuse, neglect, or exposure to violence.
The Director of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the Department of Justice.
A child protective services agency of a State that has in effect a statute, ordinance, policy, or practice requiring child welfare interviews to be recorded and retained for at least 5 years with proper access controls.
Each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United States.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology