Safe Equitable Campus Resources and Education Act of 2023

Federal

Source: Congress.gov · 1,412 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes how colleges and universities report campus security information and handle sexual misconduct cases. It requires schools to make all security-related materials and procedures accessible to students and staff with disabilities. ##

Who It Affects

Students with disabilities at colleges and universities, campus security staff, college administrators, people accused or accused in sexual misconduct cases who have disabilities. ##

Key Provisions

- Colleges must provide annual security reports in accessible formats for people with disabilities, including those who are blind, deaf, or have cognitive, intellectual, or communication disabilities (Sec. 2(a)(1)(A)) - Emergency response and evacuation procedures must account for the needs of students and staff with disabilities (Sec. 2(a)(1)(C)) - Campus security personnel and others providing information or resources must receive training about working with individuals with disabilities (Sec. 2(a)(5)(B)(I)(III)) - Accusers and accused persons with disabilities who disclose their disability are entitled to communication assistance services (like interpreters) provided by the school (Sec. 2(a)(5)(B)(II)) - All sexual misconduct investigation and hearing procedures, materials, websites and forms of communication must be provided in accessible formats, including timely procedures to address problems with accessibility technology (Sec. 2(a)(5)(D)) ##

What Changes

Colleges must now provide all security information and sexual misconduct procedures in formats accessible to people with disabilities. Campus officials must receive training on working with disabled students. Schools must provide interpreters and other communication assistance at sexual misconduct proceedings. Emergency evacuation plans must consider disabled students and staff. ##

Important Definitions

"Disability" is defined using the meaning from Section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Sec. 2(a)(4)(B)) ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1070 To address the needs of individuals with disabilities within the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 30, 2023 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. SMITH, Ms. WARREN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To address the needs of individuals with disabilities within the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. 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 ‘‘Safe Equitable Cam- 4 pus Resources and Education Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE CLERY ACT. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 485(f) of the Higher Edu- 7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Apr 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1070.IS S1070 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1070 IS (1) in paragraph (1)— 1 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 2 (A), by inserting ‘‘in an accessible format’’ after 3 ‘‘an annual security report’’; 4 (B) in subparagraph (F)(ii), by inserting 5 ‘‘and of the crimes described in clause (iii), 6 and’’ after ‘‘clause (i)’’; and 7 (C) in subparagraph (J)— 8 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 9 after the semicolon; 10 (ii) by redesignating clause (iii) as 11 clause (iv); and 12 (iii) by inserting after clause (ii) the 13 following: 14 ‘‘(iii) ensure that such emergency re- 15 sponse and evacuation procedures take into 16 account the needs of students and staff 17 with disabilities; and’’; 18 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 19 (18) as paragraphs (3) through (19), respectively; 20 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 21 lowing: 22 ‘‘(2) All reports, materials and information provided 23 in accordance with this subsection shall be available free 24 of charge, in a timely manner, and in accessible formats 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Apr 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1070.IS S1070 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1070 IS for individuals with disabilities, including those individuals 1 who are blind or deaf or have cognitive, intellectual, or 2 communication disabilities.’’; 3 (4) in paragraph (7)(A), as redesignated by 4 paragraph (2)— 5 (A) by redesignating clauses (iii) through 6 (v) as clauses (iv) through (vi), respectively; 7 and 8 (B) by inserting after clause (ii) the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘disability’ has the meaning 11 given such term in section 3 of the Americans with 12 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102).’’; and 13 (5) in paragraph (9), as redesignated by para- 14 graph (2)— 15 (A) in subparagraph (B)— 16 (i) in clause (i)— 17 (I) in subclause (I)— 18 (aa) in item (ee), by striking 19 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon and in- 20 serting ‘‘, including abusive be- 21 havior and attacks targeting indi- 22 viduals with disabilities; and’’; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Apr 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1070.IS S1070 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1070 IS (bb) in item (ff), by striking 1 ‘‘(vii); and’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘(viii);’’ 3 (II) in subclause (II), by striking 4 the period at the end and inserting a 5 semicolon; and 6 (III) by adding at the end the 7 following: 8 ‘‘(III) an assurance that all prevention and 9 awareness programs and materials are acces- 10 sible to, and inclusive of the needs of, individ- 11 uals with disabilities, including those who are 12 deaf or blind or have cognitive, intellectual, or 13 communication disabilities; and 14 ‘‘(IV) an assurance that campus security 15 personnel and other individuals responsible for 16 the provision of information or resources under 17 this subsection receive training about working 18 with individuals with disabilities.’’; 19 (ii) in the matter preceding subclause 20 (I) of clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘and in such 21 formats as are necessary to ensure their 22 accessibility to individuals with disabil- 23 ities,’’ after ‘‘writing’’; 24 (iii) in clause (iv)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Apr 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1070.IS S1070 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1070 IS (I) in subclause (I)— 1 (aa) in item (aa), by striking 2 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and 3 (bb) by inserting after item 4 (bb) the following: 5 ‘‘(cc) be conducted by officials who re- 6 ceive annual training on how to conduct an 7 investigation and hearing process with an 8 accuser or an accused who has a disability, 9 including individuals who are blind or deaf 10 or have cognitive, intellectual, or commu- 11 nication disabilities; and 12 ‘‘(dd) be accessible to individuals with 13 disabilities, including individuals who are 14 blind, deaf, or have cognitive, intellectual, 15 or communication disabilities;’’; 16 (II) in subclause (II)— 17 (aa) by striking ‘‘the ac- 18 cuser’’ and inserting ‘‘with re- 19 spect to such proceedings— 20 ‘‘(aa) the accuser’’; and 21 (bb) by inserting after item 22 (aa), as added by item (aa), the 23 following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Apr 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1070.IS S1070 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1070 IS ‘‘(bb) an accuser or an accused with a 1 disability who discloses such disability is 2 also entitled to be accompanied to any 3 such meeting or proceeding by an inter- 4 preter, transliterator, or other individual 5 providing communication assistance serv- 6 ices, provided by the institution in accord- 7 ance with section 504 of the Rehabilitation 8 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) and the 9 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 10 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), to ensure the 11 accuser or accused’s ability to fully partici- 12 pate; and 13 ‘‘(cc) the accuser and the accused are 14 entitled to the same opportunities to re- 15 quest accommodations related to their dis- 16 abilities; and’’; and 17 (III) in subclause (III), in the 18 matter preceding item (aa), by insert- 19 ing ‘‘and in such accessible format as 20 is required in the case of an accuser 21 or an accused individual with a dis- 22 ability’’ following ‘‘shall be simulta- 23 neously informed, in writing’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Apr 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1070.IS S1070 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1070 IS (iv) by adding after clause (vii) the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(viii) Information about the accommodations 3 available to individuals with disabilities with respect 4 to such programs and procedures, how individuals 5 with disabilities may request such accommodations, 6 and an assurance that such accommodations will be 7 provided in a timely manner such that access to pro- 8 grams and the timing of procedures under this sub- 9 paragraph shall not be substantially impeded.’’; 10 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking 11 ‘‘(vii)’’ and inserting ‘‘(viii)’’; and 12 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 13 the following: 14 ‘‘(D) All materials, websites, and other 15 forms of communication associated with the 16 policy described in subparagraph (A) shall be 17 provided in accessible formats for individuals 18 with disabilities, including those individuals who 19 are deaf, blind, or have cognitive, intellectual, 20 or communication disabilities. Provision of such 21 accessible formats shall be timely and shall in- 22 clude procedures for addressing problems and 23 failures of any accessibility technology in- 24 volved.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Apr 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1070.IS S1070 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1070 IS (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 1 120(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 2 U.S.C. 1011i(a)(2)(B)(i)) is amended by striking 3 ‘‘485(f)(6)’’ and inserting ‘‘485(f)(7)’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Apr 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1070.IS S1070 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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