Abby Honold Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 119 To authorize the Office on Violence Against Women to improve the handling of crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalk- ing by incorporating a trauma-informed approach into the initial response to and investigation of such crimes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 28, 2021 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To authorize the Office on Violence Against Women to im- prove 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Abby Honold Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON TRAUMA-IN- 5 FORMED TRAINING FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S119.IS S119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 119 IS (1) the term ‘‘Attorney General’’ means the At- 1 torney General, acting through the Director of the 2 Office on Violence Against Women; 3 (2) the term ‘‘covered individual’’ means an in- 4 dividual who interfaces with victims of domestic vio- 5 lence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, 6 including— 7 (A) an individual working for or on behalf 8 of an eligible entity; 9 (B) a school or university administrator; 10 and 11 (C) an emergency services or medical em- 12 ployee; 13 (3) the term ‘‘demonstration site’’, with respect 14 to an eligible entity that receives a grant under this 15 section, means— 16 (A) if the eligible entity is a law enforce- 17 ment agency described in paragraph (4)(A), the 18 area over which the eligible entity has jurisdic- 19 tion; and 20 (B) if the eligible entity is an organization 21 or agency described in paragraph (4)(B), the 22 area over which a law enforcement agency de- 23 scribed in paragraph (4)(A) that is working in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S119.IS S119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 119 IS collaboration with the eligible entity has juris- 1 diction; and 2 (4) the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 3 (A) a State, local, territorial, or Tribal law 4 enforcement agency; or 5 (B) a national, regional, or local victim 6 services organization or agency working in col- 7 laboration with a law enforcement agency de- 8 scribed in subparagraph (A). 9 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 11 award grants on a competitive basis to eligible enti- 12 ties to carry out the demonstration program under 13 this section by implementing evidence-based or 14 promising policies and practices to incorporate trau- 15 ma-informed techniques designed to— 16 (A) prevent re-traumatization of the vic- 17 tim; 18 (B) ensure that covered individuals use evi- 19 dence-based practices to respond to and inves- 20 tigate cases of domestic violence, dating vio- 21 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; 22 (C) improve communication between vic- 23 tims and law enforcement officers in an effort 24 to increase the likelihood of the successful in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S119.IS S119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 119 IS vestigation and prosecution of the reported 1 crime in a manner that protects the victim to 2 the greatest extent possible; 3 (D) increase collaboration among stake- 4 holders who are part of the coordinated commu- 5 nity response to domestic violence, dating vio- 6 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; and 7 (E) evaluate the effectiveness of the train- 8 ing process and content by measuring— 9 (i) investigative and prosecutorial 10 practices and outcomes; and 11 (ii) the well-being of victims and their 12 satisfaction with the criminal justice proc- 13 ess. 14 (2) TERM.—The Attorney General shall make 15 grants under this section for each of the first 2 fis- 16 cal years beginning after the date of enactment of 17 this Act. 18 (3) AWARD BASIS.—The Attorney General shall 19 award grants under this section to multiple eligible 20 entities for use in a variety of settings and commu- 21 nities, including— 22 (A) urban, suburban, Tribal, remote, and 23 rural areas; 24 (B) college campuses; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S119.IS S119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 119 IS (C) traditionally underserved communities. 1 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 2 a grant under this section shall use the grant to— 3 (1) train covered individuals within the dem- 4 onstration site of the eligible entity to use evidence- 5 based, trauma-informed techniques and knowledge of 6 crime victims’ rights throughout an investigation 7 into domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as- 8 sault, or stalking, including by— 9 (A) conducting victim interviews in a man- 10 ner that— 11 (i) elicits valuable information about 12 the domestic violence, dating violence, sex- 13 ual assault, or stalking; and 14 (ii) avoids re-traumatization of the 15 victim; 16 (B) conducting field investigations that 17 mirror best and promising practices available at 18 the time of the investigation; 19 (C) customizing investigative approaches to 20 ensure a culturally and linguistically appro- 21 priate approach to the community being served; 22 (D) becoming proficient in understanding 23 and responding to complex cases, including 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S119.IS S119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 119 IS cases of domestic violence, dating violence, sex- 1 ual assault, or stalking— 2 (i) facilitated by alcohol or drugs; 3 (ii) involving strangulation; 4 (iii) committed by a non-stranger; 5 (iv) committed by an individual of the 6 same sex as the victim; 7 (v) involving a victim with a disability; 8 (vi) involving a male victim; or 9 (vii) involving a lesbian, gay, bisexual, 10 or transgender (commonly referred to as 11 ‘‘LGBT’’) victim; 12 (E) developing collaborative relationships 13 between— 14 (i) law enforcement officers and other 15 members of the response team; and 16 (ii) the community being served; and 17 (F) developing an understanding of how to 18 define, identify, and correctly classify a report 19 of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as- 20 sault, or stalking; and 21 (2) promote the efforts of the eligible entity to 22 improve the response of covered individuals to do- 23 mestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 24 stalking through various communication channels, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S119.IS S119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 119 IS such as the website of the eligible entity, social 1 media, print materials, and community meetings, in 2 order to ensure that all covered individuals within 3 the demonstration site of the eligible entity are 4 aware of those efforts and included in trainings, to 5 the extent practicable. 6 (d) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM TRAININGS ON 7 TRAUMA-INFORMED APPROACHES.— 8 (1) IDENTIFICATION OF EXISTING 9 TRAININGS.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 11 shall identify trainings for law enforcement offi- 12 cers, in existence as of the date on which the 13 Attorney General begins to solicit applications 14 for grants under this section, that— 15 (i) employ a trauma-informed ap- 16 proach to domestic violence, dating vio- 17 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; and 18 (ii) focus on the fundamentals of— 19 (I) trauma responses; and 20 (II) the impact of trauma on vic- 21 tims of domestic violence, dating vio- 22 lence, sexual assault, and stalking. 23 (B) SELECTION.—An eligible entity that 24 receives a grant under this section shall select 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S119.IS S119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 119 IS one or more of the approaches employed by a 1 training identified under subparagraph (A) to 2 test within the demonstration site of the eligible 3 entity. 4 (2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out para- 5 graph (1), the Attorney General shall consult with 6 the Director of the Office for Victims of Crime in 7 order to seek input from and cultivate consensus 8 among outside practitioners and other stakeholders 9 through facilitated discussions and focus groups on 10 best practices in the field of trauma-informed care 11 for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sex- 12 ual assault, and stalking. 13 (e) EVALUATION.—The Attorney General, in con- 14 sultation with the Director of the National Institute of 15 Justice, shall require each eligible entity that receives a 16 grant under this section to identify a research partner, 17 preferably a local research partner, to— 18 (1) design a system for generating and col- 19 lecting the appropriate data to facilitate an inde- 20 pendent process or impact evaluation of the use of 21 the grant funds; 22 (2) periodically conduct an evaluation described 23 in paragraph (1); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S119.IS S119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 119 IS (3) periodically make publicly available, during 1 the grant period— 2 (A) preliminary results of the evaluations 3 conducted under paragraph (2); and 4 (B) recommendations for improving the 5 use of the grant funds. 6 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—The At- 7 torney General shall carry out this section using amounts 8 otherwise available to the Attorney General. 9 (g) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 10 tion shall be construed to interfere with the due process 11 rights of any individual. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S119.IS S119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS