Protect Black Women and Girls Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8196 To establish an Interagency Task Force to examine the conditions and experi- ences of Black women and girls in education, economic development, healthcare, labor and employment, housing, justice and civil rights, to promote community-based methods for mitigating and addressing harm and ensuring accountability, and to study societal effects on Black women and girls, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 Ms. KELLY of Illinois (for herself, Mr. HURD of Texas, Mrs. WATSON COLE- MAN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. BASS, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, En- ergy and Commerce, and Financial Services, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish an Interagency Task Force to examine the con- ditions and experiences of Black women and girls in education, economic development, healthcare, labor and employment, housing, justice and civil rights, to promote community-based methods for mitigating and addressing harm and ensuring accountability, and to study societal effects on Black women and girls, and for other pur- poses. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8196 IH 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 ‘‘Protect Black Women 4 and Girls Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds as follows: 7 (1) The United States Commission on Civil 8 Rights (USCCR) advises Congress, as well as the 9 President and the American public, on ‘‘discrimina- 10 tion or denials of equal protection of the laws under 11 the Constitution of the United States because of 12 color, race, religion, sex, age, disability, or national 13 origin, or in the administration of justice’’. 14 (2) The USCCR routinely has difficulties col- 15 lecting information from Federal agencies despite 16 having the power to take depositions, issue interrog- 17 atories and subpoenas, and broad authority language 18 for the collection of information from Federal agen- 19 cies. 20 (3) The activities mandated herein for the 21 USCCR are explicitly authorized by section 3 of the 22 Civil Rights Commission Act of 1983 (42 U.S.C. 23 1975a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8196 IH (4) An interagency task force is a task force or- 1 ganized in collaboration with two or more Federal 2 agencies, using government-wide resources, and ex- 3 pertise to— 4 (A) examine a particular problem, issue, or 5 event; 6 (B) discuss strategies as a collective group 7 to address such problem, issue, or event; 8 (C) identify programs, policies, and fund- 9 ing; and 10 (D) make recommendations for changes in 11 public policy. 12 (5) Implicit bias on the basis of race is experi- 13 enced by all Black people, and demonstrated more 14 clearly, in the troubling conditions for Black women 15 and girls in our school discipline policies and the 16 connections to the school-to-prison pipeline for chil- 17 dren of color with disabilities. 18 (6) Black girls are suspended and expelled from 19 school at rates that exceed other girls and all other 20 boys except Black boys. 21 (7) In studying the conditions of confinement 22 for women in prison, Black women are admitted to 23 prison at 3.9 times the rate of White women. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8196 IH (8) Black women and girls are individuals who 1 identify as a woman, female, or femme. 2 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON BLACK WOMEN AND 3 GIRLS. 4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, 6 in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 7 Services, shall establish an Interagency Task Force on 8 Black women and girls (referred to in this Act as the 9 ‘‘Task Force’’) to carry out the purposes and duties de- 10 scribed in subsections (c) and (d), in compliance with re- 11 quirements and restrictions under law, as applicable, in- 12 cluding those prohibiting discrimination on the basis of 13 race and sex. 14 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall consist of 15 members appointed as follows: 16 (1) The head of each of the following agencies 17 shall appoint at least one officer or employee, but no 18 more than two, from a relevant office of the fol- 19 lowing: 20 (A) The Department of Health and 21 Human Services. 22 (B) The Department of Education. 23 (C) The Department of Labor. 24 (D) The National Institutes of Health. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8196 IH (E) The Department of Justice. 1 (F) The Department of Housing and 2 Urban Development. 3 (2) The Attorney General shall appoint the fol- 4 lowing: 5 (A) One officer or employee of the Federal 6 Public Defenders. 7 (B) Two representatives of community- 8 based organizations that have expertise working 9 on culturally specific issues unique to the needs 10 of Black women and girls. 11 (3) The term of a member of the Task Force 12 shall be 4 years, and they shall be eligible for con- 13 secutive reappointment by the head of their respec- 14 tive agency or the Attorney General. 15 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Task Force is to 16 examine the conditions and experiences of Black women 17 and girls, to identify and assess the efficacy of policies 18 and programs of Federal, State, and local governments de- 19 signed to improve outcomes for Black women and girls, 20 and to make recommendations to improve such policies 21 and programs as necessary. 22 (d) DUTIES.—The duties of the Task Force are as 23 follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8196 IH (1) EDUCATION.—The Task Force shall iden- 1 tify and recommend programs, policies, and incen- 2 tives for adoption by Federal, State, or local govern- 3 ments with respect to the following: 4 (A) Community-led educational and sup- 5 port programs for Black school-age girls, which 6 shall include the following: 7 (i) Social and emotional learning pro- 8 grams offered in elementary and secondary 9 schools to children in grades 7 through 12, 10 including— 11 (I) affinity spaces for particularly 12 impacted students; and 13 (II) facilitators trained in iden- 14 tity-based dialogue to attend to such 15 an affinity space or social and emo- 16 tional learning program. 17 (ii) Support for school-age girls who 18 have a parent or guardian who is incarcer- 19 ated or has a substance use disorder. 20 (iii) Support for a college scholarship 21 fund and programs to increase access to 22 post-secondary education for children of in- 23 carcerated parents. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8196 IH (iv) Classroom and after school em- 1 powerment programs for Black girls. 2 (v) Community-led civic engagement 3 and community organizing education. 4 (vi) Classroom and community-led art, 5 theater, and STEM learning centers. 6 (vii) School-based and community-led 7 programs to eliminate the detention and 8 incarceration of school-aged children. 9 (viii) Household access to school-based 10 communication technologies. 11 (ix) School-based or community-based 12 restorative justice programs to address ex- 13 pulsion of girls from school. 14 (x) Curriculum, tutoring, and activi- 15 ties support for homeschooling and virtual 16 learning families. 17 (B) Community-led educational programs 18 for Black women, including providing household 19 access to information and communication tech- 20 nologies to narrow the digital divide and en- 21 hance access to higher education. 22 (C) School-based and neighborhood restor- 23 ative and transformative justice curriculums 24 and spaces. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8196 IH (2) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.—The Task 1 Force shall identify and recommend programs, poli- 2 cies, and incentives for adoption by Federal, State, 3 or local governments with respect to the following: 4 (A) Pre-apprenticeship and career explo- 5 ration programs for careers as skilled building 6 tradeswomen. 7 (B) Programs that award not less than 10 8 percent of their yearly and multi-year contract 9 dollars to Black women-owned businesses on an 10 annual basis. 11 (C) Entrepreneurship and cooperative busi- 12 ness training for Black women. 13 (D) Incidental support for low income 14 Black women workers. 15 (E) Career mentorship for Black women. 16 (F) Support for older Black women work- 17 ers to enter the workforce. 18 (G) Support for Black women who leave 19 the workforce to care for a dependent (such as 20 an elderly relative or child) to re-enter the 21 workforce after a significant absence. 22 (H) Increase in sustainable employment 23 for women headed households. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8196 IH (I) Limitation of barriers to occupational 1 licensure for Black women. 2 (J) Establishment of vocational training 3 and career technical education. 4 (3) HEALTHCARE.—The Task Force shall iden- 5 tify and recommend programs, policies, and incen- 6 tives for adoption by Federal, State, or local govern- 7 ments with respect to the following: 8 (A) Developing a study of the health, in- 9 cluding the mental health, of Black women and 10 girls. 11 (B) Programs to improve maternal health 12 and infant mortality outcomes for Black moth- 13 ers. 14 (C) Neighborhood-based, on demand men- 15 tal health and trauma services. 16 (D) Gender-responsive domestic and inter- 17 personal violence responders. 18 (E) Local neighborhood safe houses. 19 (F) Long-term, on demand, substance use 20 disorder treatment. 21 (G) Neighborhood-based emergency re- 22 sponse teams for women and girls. 23 (H) Access to comprehensive well-women 24 care for Black women and girls, including local 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8196 IH testing for mammograms, papsmears, and other 1 medical testing. 2 (I) Local neighborhood COVID-19 testing. 3 (4) JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS.—The Task 4 Force shall identify and recommend programs, poli- 5 cies, and incentives for adoption by Federal, State, 6 or local governments with respect to the following: 7 (A) Reentry assistance and reunification 8 planning and community-based programming 9 for women victims of the war on drugs, sexual 10 or domestic violence, mental illness, or sub- 11 stance abuse. 12 (B) Programs for Black women and girls 13 that promote the treatment of underlying prob- 14 lems instead of incarceration, including the ex- 15 pansion of the use of parole and diversion pro- 16 grams and preventing the incarceration of 17 mothers who are primary caretakers of minor 18 children. 19 (C) Access to legal assistance provided by 20 the Office on Violence Against Women of the 21 Department of Justice for child custody and pa- 22 rental termination proceedings. 23 (D) Funding that enables communities to 24 reimagine community-based programming. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8196 IH (E) Support for formerly incarcerated 1 Black women, in collaboration with community- 2 led organizations. 3 (F) Permitting formerly incarcerated and 4 convicted women (not including incarceration or 5 convictions for violent offenses, human traf- 6 ficking, or sex offenses) to be eligible to serve 7 as a foster parent. 8 (G) Judicial discretion in sentencing and 9 procedures for resentencing. 10 (H) Examination of policies to reform and 11 limit laws requiring mandatory minimum sen- 12 tences. 13 (I) Examination of vacatur and 14 expungement laws for criminal offenses com- 15 mitted by victims of human and sex trafficking. 16 (5) HOUSING.—The Task Force shall identify 17 and recommend programs, policies, and incentives 18 for adoption by Federal, State, or local governments 19 with respect to the following: 20 (A) Increasing access to the following: 21 (i) Permanent and transitional hous- 22 ing for women with children, formerly in- 23 carcerated women, women with disabilities, 24 and elderly women. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8196 IH (ii) Legal representation for women 1 with children and the elderly facing evic- 2 tion. 3 (iii) Homeownership assistance funds 4 for Black women. 5 (B) Increasing accessibility and availability 6 of long-term neighborhood transitional and per- 7 manent supportive housing for Black women re- 8 entering the community following incarceration. 9 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 11 thereafter, the Task Force shall submit to Congress a re- 12 port on— 13 (1) the activities conducted under this section; 14 and 15 (2) the activities conducted under this section 16 that are ongoing or are in continuation of existing 17 Federal programs, including information on addi- 18 tional work undertaken in response to duties of the 19 Task Force under subsection (d). 20 (f) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than two years 21 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 22 thereafter, the Task Force shall submit to Congress, the 23 President, and to each chief executive of a State or local 24 government recommendations on policies, practices, pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Sep 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8196.IH H8196 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 8196 IH grams, and incent [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]