Sexual Assault Victims Protection Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4758 To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a national sexual assault care and treatment task force; and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 18, 2019 Mr. GRIFFITH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently de- termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a national sexual assault care and treatment task force; and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Sexual Assault Victims 4 Protection Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4758.IH H4758 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4758 IH SEC. 2. NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT CARE AND TREAT- 1 MENT TASK FORCE. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health and 3 Human Services shall establish a task force to be known 4 as the ‘‘National Sexual Assault Care and Treatment 5 Task Force’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Task 6 Force’’) to identify barriers to improving access to sexual 7 assault forensic examiners, sexual assault nurse exam- 8 iners, and other forensic medical examiners. 9 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall include a 10 representative from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 11 Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 the Health Resources and Services Administration, the In- 13 dian Health Service, the Office for Victims of Crime of 14 the Department of Justice, the Office on Women’s Health 15 of the Department of Health and Human Services, and 16 the Office on Violence Against Women of the Department 17 of Justice, a survivor of sexual assault; representatives 18 from regional and national organizations with expertise in 19 forensic nursing, rape trauma or crisis counseling, inves- 20 tigating rape and gender violence cases, survivors’ advo- 21 cacy and support, sexual assault prevention education, 22 rural health, and responding to sexual violence in Native 23 communities; representatives from hospitals, patient 24 groups, and emergency department physicians; and rep- 25 resentatives of States, including States that have in effect 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4758.IH H4758 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4758 IH State laws or procedures that address the objectives de- 1 scribed in subsection (c). 2 (c) OBJECTIVES.—To assist and standardize State- 3 level efforts to improve medical forensic evidence collection 4 relating to sexual assault, the Task Force shall— 5 (1) identify barriers to the recruitment, train- 6 ing, and retention of sexual assault forensic exam- 7 iners, sexual assault response teams, sexual assault 8 nurse examiners, and others who perform such ex- 9 aminations; 10 (2) make recommendations for improving access 11 to medical forensic examinations, including the feasi- 12 bility of, or barriers to, utilizing mobile units and 13 telehealth services; 14 (3) make recommendations for improving co- 15 ordination of services, other protocols regarding the 16 care and treatment of sexual assault survivors, and 17 the preservation of evidence between law enforce- 18 ment officials and health care providers; 19 (4) make recommendations for updating na- 20 tional minimum standards for forensic medical ex- 21 aminer training and forensic medical evidence collec- 22 tion relating to sexual assault; 23 (5) make recommendations for the development 24 of resources and best practices described in sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4758.IH H4758 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4758 IH section (e) for inclusion on the public website of the 1 Department of Health and Human Services; 2 (6) make recommendations on the collection 3 and retention of sexual assault kits, including anony- 4 mous or unreported sexual assault kits; and 5 (7) make recommendations on processes and 6 best practices for communicating to sexual assault 7 survivors who seek care in the emergency room in- 8 formation about the availability of forensic medical 9 evidence collection as part of the care and treatment 10 of such survivors. 11 (d) TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 13 after first convening, the Task Force shall submit to 14 the Secretary a report on the recommendations, 15 findings, and conclusions of the Task Force. 16 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 18 shall submit to Congress a report on the rec- 19 ommendations, findings, and conclusions of the Task 20 Force. 21 (e) SEXUAL ASSAULT TREATMENT RESOURCES.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than July 1, 2020, 23 the Secretary shall post on the public website of the 24 Department of Health and Human Services re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4758.IH H4758 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4758 IH sources and best practices developed by health care 1 providers, forensic scientists, law enforcement rep- 2 resentatives, and advocates of sexual assault victims, 3 relating to the treatment of individuals for sexual 4 assault by health care providers. Such resources and 5 best practices shall include the following: 6 (A) RESOURCES FOR HEALTH CARE PRO- 7 VIDERS.—Resources and best practices for 8 health care providers, including— 9 (i) best practices for training per- 10 sonnel on sexual assault forensic evidence 11 collection; 12 (ii) best practices relating to providing 13 counseling and appropriate referrals to 14 such individuals; and 15 (iii) other resources and best practices 16 determined appropriate by the Secretary. 17 (B) RESOURCES FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT 18 SURVIVORS.—Resources and best practices for 19 sexual assault survivors, including— 20 (i) information about the forensic 21 exam furnished by a sexual assault forensic 22 examiner, including the process and poten- 23 tial benefits of collecting evidence; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4758.IH H4758 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4758 IH (ii) information on available State- 1 wide databases of sexual assault nurse ex- 2 aminer-ready or sexual assault forensic ex- 3 aminer-ready facilities; 4 (iii) survivor advocacy group websites 5 and hotlines; 6 (iv) next-steps guides for survivors 7 with best practices for preserving evidence 8 and seeking treatment after an assault; 9 and 10 (v) other resources and best practices 11 determined appropriate by the Secretary. 12 (2) UPDATES.—As soon as practicable after the 13 submission of the report under subsection (d)(1) to 14 the Secretary, the Secretary shall update the re- 15 sources and best practices posted on the website of 16 the Department of Health and Human Services 17 under paragraph (1) to take into consideration the 18 recommendations, findings, and conclusions of the 19 Task Force contained in such report. The Secretary 20 shall update such resources and best practices peri- 21 odically, but not less frequently than annually. 22 (f) ANNUAL SUMMIT.—The Secretary shall convene 23 an annual stakeholder meeting to address gaps in health 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4758.IH H4758 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4758 IH care provider care relating to sexual assault that includes 1 the Task Force. 2 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 3 (1) MEDICAL FORENSIC EXAMINATION.—The 4 term ‘‘medical forensic examination’’ means an ex- 5 amination provided to a sexual assault survivor by 6 medical personnel trained to gather evidence of a 7 sexual assault in a manner suitable for use in a 8 court of law. 9 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 10 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 11 (3) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The term ‘‘sexual as- 12 sault’’ means any non-consensual sexual act pro- 13 scribed by Federal, tribal, or State law, including 14 when the individual lacks capacity to consent. 15 (4) SEXUAL ASSAULT EXAMINER.—The term 16 ‘‘sexual assault examiner’’ means a registered nurse, 17 advanced practice nurse, physician, or physician as- 18 sistant specifically trained to provide comprehensive 19 care to sexual assault forensic examinations. 20 (5) SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EXAMINER.— 21 The term ‘‘sexual assault forensic examiner’’ means 22 a medical practitioner who has specialized forensic 23 training in treating sexual assault survivors and con- 24 ducting medical forensic examinations. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4758.IH H4758 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4758 IH (6) SEXUAL ASSAULT NURSE EXAMINER.—The 1 term ‘‘sexual assault nurse examiner’’ means a reg- 2 istered nurse who has specialized forensic training in 3 treating sexual assault survivors and conducting 4 medical forensic examinations. 5 (7) SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE TEAM.—The 6 term ‘‘sexual assault response team’’ means a multi- 7 disciplinary team that provides a specialized and im- 8 mediate response to survivors of sexual assault, and 9 may include health care personnel, law enforcement 10 representatives, community-based survivor advo- 11 cates, prosecutors, and forensic scientists. 12 SEC. 3. PROMOTING COORDINATION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT 13 CARE IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES. 14 Not later than one year after the date of the enact- 15 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 16 Services shall revise section 489.24(j) of title 42, Code of 17 Federal Regulations, to require each formal community 18 call plan (as described in section 489.24(j)(2)(iii) of such 19 title (or a successor regulation)) to provide— 20 (1) with respect to the delineation of on-call 21 coverage responsibilities described in subparagraph 22 (A) of such section, for a delineation of such cov- 23 erage responsibilities for screening and treatment re- 24 lating to sexual assault and includes a schedule of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4758.IH H4758 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4758 IH the on-call coverage availability for such screening 1 and treatment at each hospital with on-call coverage 2 responsibilities for such treatment; and 3 (2) with respect to assurances related to local 4 and regional EMS system protocols described in sub- 5 paragraph (D) of such section, for an assurance that 6 such protocols include information with respect to 7 community on-call arrangements for screening and 8 treatment relating to sexual assault. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4758.IH H4758 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS