Domestic Violence Public Health Emergency Guidance Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6633 To require the Attorney General to issue guidance to law enforcement agencies as they respond to increased levels of domestic violence during the COVID–19 public health emergency, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 28, 2020 Ms. WEXTON (for herself, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. GRI- JALVA, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. NORTON, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. MUCARSEL- POWELL, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. LARSON of Con- necticut, Mr. SOTO, Mr. COX of California, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. KUSTER of New Hamp- shire, Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. SMITH of Washington, and Mr. HECK) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the Attorney General to issue guidance to law enforcement agencies as they respond to increased levels of domestic violence during the COVID–19 public health emergency, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 May 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6633.IH H6633 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6633 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Violence 2 Public Health Emergency Guidance Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. GUIDANCE ON ADDRESSING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 4 DURING THE COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH 5 EMERGENCY. 6 (a) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 30 days after the 7 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in 8 consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 9 Services and, to the extent practicable, domestic violence 10 stakeholders and State, local, and tribal law enforcement 11 stakeholders, shall issue guidance to Federal, State, local, 12 and tribal law enforcement agencies which contain prom- 13 ising and best practices for addressing domestic violence 14 and protecting the safety of law enforcement officers and 15 all other parties involved, during the COVID–19 public 16 health emergency. In issuing the guidance required under 17 this subsection, the Attorney General shall— 18 (1) identify law enforcement-centered promising 19 and best practices for— 20 (A) addressing domestic violence during 21 the COVID–19 public health emergency; 22 (B) adopting and implementing such pro- 23 grams and practices; 24 (C) implementing measures to mitigate ex- 25 posure to COVID–19, including adequate use of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 May 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6633.IH H6633 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6633 IH personal protective equipment, when responding 1 to domestic violence incidents that create poten- 2 tial exposure to COVID–19 for all parties in- 3 volved; and 4 (D) ensuring safety and limiting risk of ex- 5 posure to COVID–19 for family members of law 6 enforcement officers; 7 (2) identify victim-centered promising and best 8 practices for— 9 (A) assessing the potential threat of vio- 10 lence to the victim and their children, while en- 11 suring safety and privacy; 12 (B) safety planning for victims and their 13 children and taking preventive steps to ensure 14 safety for all parties involved during the 15 COVID–19 public health emergency; 16 (C) timely submission of records for do- 17 mestic violence protective orders and other re- 18 lated court orders and convictions for crimes re- 19 lated to intimate partner violence in the na- 20 tional criminal instant background check sys- 21 tem; 22 (D) enforcing domestic violence protective 23 orders, other related court orders, and child 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 May 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6633.IH H6633 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6633 IH custody orders in the context of domestic vio- 1 lence; and 2 (E) ensuring community coordinated re- 3 sponses to domestic violence; and 4 (3) create a resource guide, including— 5 (A) the promising and best practices iden- 6 tified under paragraphs (1) and (2); 7 (B) educational resources on risk factors 8 related to COVID–19 that exacerbate the risk 9 of escalation and lethality of reports of domestic 10 violence, such as fear of illness, drug and alco- 11 hol abuse, economic uncertainty, unemploy- 12 ment, and grief; 13 (C) educational resources on training, in- 14 cluding cultural humility and vicarious trauma, 15 for law enforcement officers responding to do- 16 mestic violence; 17 (D) educational resources on investigation 18 and prosecutorial tools for law enforcement offi- 19 cers responding to domestic violence; 20 (E) resources for victims of domestic vio- 21 lence during the COVID–19 public health emer- 22 gency, including information related to the na- 23 tional domestic violence hotline authorized 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 May 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6633.IH H6633 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6633 IH under section 313 of the Family Violence Pre- 1 vention and Services Act (42 U.S.C. 10413). 2 (b) DISSEMINATION.—Not later than 30 days after 3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 4 shall— 5 (1) issue the guidance developed under sub- 6 section (a) directly to Federal, State, local, and trib- 7 al law enforcement agencies; 8 (2) make the guidance publicly available by 9 posting the guidance electronically on the website of 10 the Department of Justice; 11 (3) collaborate with the Secretary of Health 12 and Human Services to make the guidance available 13 on the website of the Department of Health and 14 Human Services. 15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) The term ‘‘domestic violence’’ has the 18 meaning given the term under section 40002(a)(8) 19 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement 20 Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)(8)). 21 (2) The term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emer- 22 gency’’ means the period beginning on the date on 23 which the emergency period under section 24 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 May 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6633.IH H6633 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6633 IH 1320b–5(g)(1) was declared and ending 90 days 1 after the date on which such period ends. 2 (3) The term ‘‘COVID–19’’ means the 2019 3 Novel Coronavirus or 2019–nCoV. 4 (4) The term ‘‘personal protective equipment’’ 5 means any protective equipment required to prevent 6 the wearer from contracting COVID–19, including 7 gloves, N–95 respirator masks, gowns, goggles, face 8 shields, or other equipment required for safety. 9 (5) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 10 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 11 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin 12 Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. 13 (6) The term ‘‘Federal law enforcement agen- 14 cy’’ includes law enforcement agencies of the Armed 15 Forces. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 May 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6633.IH H6633 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS