Abby Honold Act
This bill directs the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women to make competitive grants to law enforcement agencies and victim services organizations to implement evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches in responding to and investigating domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4720 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4720
To authorize the Office on Violence Against Women to improve the
handling of crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, and stalking by incorporating a trauma-informed approach into
the initial response to and investigation of such crimes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 21, 2017
Mr. Emmer (for himself, Mrs. Handel, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms.
Jayapal, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, and Mr. Walz) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Office on Violence Against Women to improve the
handling of crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, and stalking by incorporating a trauma-informed approach into
the initial response to and investigation of such crimes.
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 ``Abby Honold Act''.
SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON TRAUMA-INFORMED TRAINING FOR LAW
ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``Attorney General'' means the Attorney
General, acting through the Director of the Office on Violence
Against Women;
(2) the term ``covered individual'' means an individual who
interfaces with victims of domestic violence, dating violence,
sexual assault, and stalking, including--
(A) an individual working for or on behalf of an
eligible entity;
(B) a school or university administrator; and
(C) an emergency services or medical employee;
(3) the term ``demonstration site'', with respect to an
eligible entity that receives a grant under this section,
means--
(A) if the eligible entity is a law enforcement
agency described in paragraph (4)(A), the area over
which the eligible entity has jurisdiction; and
(B) if the eligible entity is an organization or
agency described in paragraph (4)(B), the area over
which a law enforcement agency described in paragraph
(4)(A) that is working in collaboration with the
eligible entity has jurisdiction; and
(4) the term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) a State, local, territorial, or tribal law
enforcement agency; or
(B) a national, regional, or local victim services
organization or agency working in collaboration with a
law enforcement agency described in subparagraph (A).
(b) Grants Authorized.--
(1) In general.--The Attorney General shall award grants on
a competitive basis to eligible entities to carry out the
demonstration program under this section by implementing
evidence-based or promising policies and practices to
incorporate trauma-informed techniques designed to--
(A) prevent re-traumatization of the victim;
(B) ensure that covered individuals use evidence-
based practices to respond to and investigate cases of
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and
stalking;
(C) improve communication between victims and law
enforcement officers in an effort to increase the
likelihood of the successful investigation and
prosecution of the alleged crime in a manner that
protects the victim to the greatest extent possible;
(D) increase collaboration among stakeholders who
are part of the coordinated community response to
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and
stalking; and
(E) evaluate the effectiveness of the training
process and content by measuring--
(i) investigative and prosecutorial
practices and outcomes; and
(ii) the well-being of victims and their
satisfaction with the criminal justice process.
(2) Term.--The Attorney General shall make grants under
this section for each of the first 2 fiscal years beginning
after the date of enactment of this Act.
(3) Award basis.--The Attorney General shall award grants
under this section to multiple eligible entities for use in a
variety of settings and communities, including--
(A) urban, suburban, tribal, remote, and rural
areas;
(B) college campuses; or
(C) traditionally underserved communities.
(c) Use of Funds.--An eligible entity that receives a grant under
this section shall use the grant to--
(1) train covered individuals within the demonstration site
of the eligible entity to use evidence-based, trauma-informed
techniques throughout an investigation into domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including by--
(A) conducting victim interviews in a manner that--
(i) elicits valuable information about the
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, or stalking; and
(ii) avoids re-traumatization of the
victim;
(B) conducting field investigations that mirror
best and promising practices available at the time of
the investigation;
(C) customizing investigative approaches to ensure
a culturally and linguistically appropriate approach to
the community being served;
(D) becoming proficient in understanding and
responding to complex cases, including cases of
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or
stalking--
(i) facilitated by alcohol or drugs;
(ii) involving strangulation;
(iii) committed by a non-stranger;
(iv) committed by an individual of the same
sex as the victim;
(v) involving a victim with a disability;
(vi) involving a male victim; or
(vii) involving a lesbian, gay, bisexual,
or transgender (commonly referred to as
``LGBT'') victim;
(E) developing collaborative relationships
between--
(i) law enforcement officers and other
members of the response team; and
(ii) the community being served; and
(F) developing an understanding of how to define,
identify, and correctly classify a report of domestic
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking;
and
(2) promote the efforts of the eligible entity to improve
the response of covered individuals to domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking through various
communication channels, such as the website of the eligible
entity, social media, print materials, and community meetings,
in order to ensure that all covered individuals within the
demonstration site of the eligible entity are aware of those
efforts and included in trainings, to the extent practicable.
(d) Demonstration Program Trainings on Trauma-Informed
Approaches.--
(1) Identification of existing trainings.--
(A) In general.--The Attorney General shall
identify trainings for law enforcement officers, in
existence as of the date on which the Attorney General
begins to solicit applications for grants under this
section, that--
(i) employ a trauma-informed approach to
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, and stalking; and
(ii) focus on the fundamentals of the--
(I) neurobiology of trauma; and
(II) impact of trauma on victims of
domestic violence, dating violence,
sexual assault, and stalking.
(B) Selection.--An eligible entity that receives a
grant under this section shall select 1 or more of the
approaches employed by a training identified under
subparagraph (A) to test within the demonstration site
of the eligible entity.
(2) Consultation.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the
Attorney General shall consult with the Director of the Office
for Victims of Crime in order to seek input from and cultivate
consensus among outside practitioners and other stakeholders
through facilitated discussions and focus groups on best
practices in the field of trauma-informed care for victims of
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and
stalking.
(e) Evaluation.--The Attorney General, in consultation with the
Director of the National Institute of Justice, shall require each
eligible entity that receives a grant under this section to identify a
research partner, preferably a local research partner to--
(1) design a system for generating and collecting the
appropriate data to facilitate an independent process or impact
evaluation of the use of the grant funds;
(2) periodically conduct an evaluation described in
paragraph (1); and
(3) periodically make publicly available, during the grant
period--
(A) preliminary results of the evaluations
conducted under paragraph (2); and
(B) recommendations for improving the use of the
grant funds.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--The Attorney General shall
carry out this section using amounts otherwise available to the
Attorney General.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
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