Justice Hotline Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8803 To establish the National Telephone Hotline and Online Resource Service for Victims of Police Violence and Harassment, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 20, 2020 Mr. MCEACHIN (for himself, Mr. RASKIN, and Mr. RICHMOND) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish the National Telephone Hotline and Online Re- source Service for Victims of Police Violence and Harass- ment, 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 ‘‘Justice Hotline Act 4 of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TELEPHONE HOTLINE AND ONLINE RE- 6 SOURCE SERVICE FOR VICTIMS OF POLICE 7 VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in fiscal year 2021, 9 and in each fiscal year thereafter, the Attorney General, 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8803.IH H8803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8803 IH in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human 1 Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), 2 shall make grants for a national, confidential telephone 3 hotline and online resource service to assist victims of law 4 enforcement officer violence and harassment in commu- 5 nicating with service providers. The Attorney General 6 shall give priority to grant applicants that have experience 7 in providing services and supports to victims of law en- 8 forcement officer violence or harassment. 9 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Eligible entities shall in- 10 clude the following: 11 (1) Institutions of higher learning, such as His- 12 torically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority 13 serving institution, and Tribal College or Univer- 14 sities. 15 (2) Private nonprofit agencies. 16 (c) GRANTS.—The Attorney General, in coordination 17 with the Secretary, shall make grants which shall be used 18 for the performance of the organization’s national pro- 19 grams, including the following: 20 (1) Operation of a confidential 24-hour, na- 21 tional, toll-free telephone hotline and a confidential 22 24-hour, national, free online resource service for 23 victims of law enforcement officer violence, law en- 24 forcement officer harassment, family and household 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8803.IH H8803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8803 IH members of such victims, and persons affected by 1 the victimization, by which individuals may— 2 (A) report information regarding the loca- 3 tion of any law enforcement officer violence or 4 harassment; and 5 (B) request information pertaining to pro- 6 cedures necessary to file formal complaints 7 against law enforcement officers; receive infor- 8 mation and assistance for adult and youth vic- 9 tims of law enforcement officer violence, law en- 10 forcement officer harassment, family and house- 11 hold members of such victims, and persons af- 12 fected by the victimization. 13 (2) Providing to State and local governments, 14 public and private nonprofit agencies, State and 15 local educational agencies, and individuals, resource 16 information regarding victims of law enforcement of- 17 ficer violence, law enforcement officer harassment, 18 family and household members of such victims, and 19 persons affected by the victimization. 20 (d) ACTIVITIES.—In establishing and operating the 21 telephone hotline and online resource service, the entity— 22 (1) shall contract with a carrier for the use of 23 a toll-free, single telephone line; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8803.IH H8803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8803 IH (2) shall employ, train (including providing 1 technology training), and supervise personnel to an- 2 swer incoming calls and online messages, provide 3 counseling and referral services on a 24-hour-a-day 4 basis, and direct connections to service providers; 5 (3) shall assemble and maintain a database of 6 information relating to services for adult and youth 7 victims of law enforcement officer violence or harass- 8 ment to which callers may be referred throughout 9 the United States, including information on the 10 availability of supportive services for victims of law 11 enforcement officer violence or harassment; 12 (4) shall widely publicize the contact informa- 13 tion of the telephone hotline and online resource 14 service throughout the United States, including to 15 potential users; 16 (5) shall provide assistance and referrals to 17 meet the needs of underserved populations and indi- 18 viduals with disabilities; 19 (6) shall collect audio or visual recordings, if 20 applicable; 21 (7) shall provide assistance and referrals for 22 youth victims of law enforcement officer violence or 23 harassment who are minors; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8803.IH H8803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8803 IH (8) shall collect geographic information relating 1 to the location, time, and date of the law enforce- 2 ment officer violence or harassment; 3 (9) shall not collect any personally identifiable 4 information unless informed consent is provided by 5 the person who is the subject of an incident of law 6 enforcement officer harassment or violence and by 7 the person who reports an incident of law enforce- 8 ment officer harassment or violence, if such person 9 is not the subject of the incident; and 10 (10) may provide appropriate assistance and re- 11 ferrals for family and household members of victims 12 of law enforcement officer violence and harassment, 13 and persons affected by the victimization described 14 in subsection (c)(1). 15 (e) GRANT APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive 16 a grant under this section, an entity shall submit an appli- 17 cation to the Attorney General that shall— 18 (1) contain such agreements, assurances, and 19 information, be in such form, and be submitted in 20 such manner, as the Attorney General shall pre- 21 scribe; 22 (2) include a complete description of the appli- 23 cant’s plan for the operation of a telephone hotline 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8803.IH H8803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8803 IH and online resource service, including descriptions 1 of— 2 (A) the training program for telephone 3 hotline and online resource service personnel, 4 including technology training to ensure that all 5 persons affiliated with the telephone hotline and 6 online resource service are able to effectively op- 7 erate any technological systems used by the 8 telephone hotline and online resource service; 9 (B) the hiring criteria and qualifications 10 for telephone hotline and online resource service 11 personnel; 12 (C) the methods for the creation, mainte- 13 nance, and updating of an online resource serv- 14 ice; 15 (D) a plan for publicizing the availability 16 of the telephone hotline and online resource 17 service; 18 (E) plan for providing services to Limited 19 English Proficient individuals, including service 20 through telephone hotline and online resource 21 service personnel who have non-English lan- 22 guage capabilities; and 23 (F) a plan for facilitating access to the 24 telephone hotline and online resource service by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8803.IH H8803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8803 IH persons with disabilities, including persons who 1 are deaf or have hearing impairments; 2 (3) demonstrate that the applicant has recog- 3 nized expertise in the area of social service oper- 4 ations and a record of high quality service to victims 5 of violence and harassment, including a demonstra- 6 tion of support from advocacy groups; 7 (4) demonstrate that the applicant has the ca- 8 pacity and the expertise to maintain a telephone hot- 9 line and online resource service and a comprehensive 10 database of service providers for victims of law en- 11 forcement violence and harassment; 12 (5) demonstrate the ability to provide informa- 13 tion and referrals for callers, directly connect callers 14 to service providers, and employ crisis interventions 15 meeting the standards; 16 (6) demonstrate that the applicant has a com- 17 mitment to diversity and to the provision of services 18 to underserved populations, including to ethnic, ra- 19 cial, and non-English speaking minorities, in addi- 20 tion to older individuals and individuals with disabil- 21 ities; 22 (7) demonstrate that the applicant complies 23 with non-disclosure requirements and follows com- 24 prehensive quality assurance practices; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8803.IH H8803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8803 IH (8) contain such other information as the Attor- 1 ney General may require. 2 (f) NOTICE.—The national telephone hotline and the 3 URL of the online resource service described in this sec- 4 tion shall be posted in a visible place in all Federal build- 5 ings. 6 (g) DURATION.—Grants awarded to eligible entities 7 and institutions under this subsection shall be 2 years in 8 duration. A grant may be extended for additional 2-year 9 periods. 10 (h) CONDITIONS ON PAYMENT.—The provision of 11 payments under a grant awarded under this section shall 12 be subject to annual approval by the Attorney General and 13 subject to the availability of appropriations for each fiscal 14 year to make the payment. 15 (i) GRANTEE REPORT.—Each eligible entity or insti- 16 tution that receives a grant shall submit a yearly report 17 to the Attorney General detailing how the grant recipient 18 has been able to meet the goals of its plans and reporting 19 the statistical summaries. 20 (j) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 21 after the date of enactment of this Act, and every year 22 thereafter, the Attorney General shall report to Congress 23 on the implementation operations and statistical sum- 24 maries developed and collected under this section and pol- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8803.IH H8803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8803 IH icy changes made within the Department of Justice in re- 1 sponse to the implementation operations and statistical 2 summaries. 3 (k) GAO REVIEW AND REPORT.— 4 (1) REVIEW.—Not later than 2 years after the 5 date on which the Attorney General establishes the 6 national telephone hotline and online resource serv- 7 ice to assist victims of law enforcement officer vio- 8 lence and harassment in communicating with service 9 providers, the Comptroller General of the United 10 States shall conduct a review of the program to en- 11 sure the effectiveness of the telephone hotline and 12 online resource service in enhancing awareness and 13 education of services available to victims of law en- 14 forcement officer violence or harassment, which shall 15 include— 16 (A) an assessment of the effectiveness of 17 the telephone hotline and online resource serv- 18 ice, including— 19 (i) assessing the effectiveness of the 20 telephone hotline and online resource serv- 21 ice in reaching underserved and minority 22 communities; 23 (ii) assessing the effectiveness of 24 grant recipients to undertake efforts to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8803.IH H8803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8803 IH educate the public about the telephone hot- 1 line and online resource service; and 2 (iii) a comprehensive review of the ac- 3 tivities data described in subsection (d); 4 and 5 (B) recommendations for any changes to 6 the program. 7 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after 8 the date on which the Comptroller General of the 9 United States begins the review required under 10 paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall submit 11 to the appropriate congressional committees a report 12 on the review. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Dec 02, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8803.IH H8803 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS