I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1833 

To amend the Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs 

under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 

to add gender-responsive services to the list of authorized grant purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 6, 2013 

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. MOORE, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. ELLISON, and Mr. SCOTT of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to add gender-responsive 

services to the list of authorized grant purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Improving the Juvenile Justice System for Girls Act of 

6 2013’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) The proportion of girls entering the justice 

2 system has increased steadily over the past several 

3 decades, rising from 20 percent in 1980 to 30 per4 cent in 2009. Most of these girls, up to 73 percent, 

5 have histories of physical and sexual violence, and 

6 their entry into the criminal and juvenile justice sys7 tem is linked to their sexual and physical victimiza8 tion. 

9 (2) Girls’ pathways into juvenile justice involve10 ment are distinct from boys’ pathways. Girls account 

11 for a much larger proportion of nonviolent status of12 fenders than delinquency offenders (40 percent com13 pared to 14 percent, respectively). 

14 (3) A study by the Oregon Social Learning 

15 Center found the average reported age of first sexual 

16 encounter for girls in juvenile justice is 6.75. 

17 (4) The trauma of untreated physical and sex18 ual abuse results in lifetime consequences for girls. 

19 These consequences include a higher risk for a num20 ber of negative social and health outcomes such as 

21 higher mortality rates, a variety of psychiatric prob22 lems, dysfunctional and violent relationships, poor 

23 educational achievement, less stable work histories, 

24 increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases and 

25 early pregnancy, substance abuse or addiction, and 


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1 increased reliance on social services as compared to 

2 non-delinquent girls. 

3 (5) A growing body of evidence suggests that 

4 girls who enter the juvenile justice system have 

5 equal if not higher rates of mental health issues 

6 than boys who enter the system. 

7 (6) Current research and data have shown that 

8 gender-responsive, strength-based programming pro9 viding trauma-informed care and trauma-specific 

10 services is the most effective means of preventing ju11 venile offenses and reducing recidivism. 

12 SEC. 2. INCENTIVE GRANTS FOR LOCAL DELINQUENCY 

13 PREVENTION PROGRAMS. 

14 The second title V of the Juvenile Justice and Delin15 quency Prevention Act of 1974 (relating to Incentive 

16 Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs, as 

17 added by Public Law 102–586 and amended by Public 

18 Law 107–273) is amended— 

19 (1) by amending section 502 (42 U.S.C. 5781) 

20 to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 502. DEFINITIONS. 

22 ‘‘In this title: 

23 ‘‘(1) STATE ADVISORY GROUP.—The term 

24 ‘State advisory group’ means the advisory group apVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:20 May 07, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1833.IH H1833

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1 pointed by the chief executive officer of a State 

2 under a plan described in section 223(a). 

3 ‘‘(2) GENDER-RESPONSIVE SERVICES.—The 

4 term ‘gender-responsive services’ means promising 

5 practices or evidence-based services that— 

6 ‘‘(A) comprehensively address the needs of 

7 girls in the juvenile justice system through the 

8 development or improvement of programs, 

9 treatment, counseling, and resources, and the 

10 selection and training of staff, in a manner that 

11 reflects an understanding of— 

12 ‘‘(i) the unique pathways of girls into 

13 the juvenile justice system; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the need for interventions that 

15 address common experiences of girls in the 

16 juvenile justice system, including histories 

17 of abuse, violence, broken family relation18 ships, and substance abuse; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) the social and cultural factors 

20 affecting girls in the juvenile justice system 

21 and girls who are at risk of entering the 

22 juvenile justice system; and 

23 ‘‘(B) includes trauma-specific services. 

24 ‘‘(3) TRAUMA-SPECIFIC SERVICES.—The term 

25 ‘trauma-specific services’ means services that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) address the neurological, biological, 

2 psychological, and social effects of trauma on 

3 the victims of trauma; 

4 ‘‘(B) provide resources on trauma expo5 sure, the impact or trauma, and trauma treat6 ment to such victims; 

7 ‘‘(C) engage in efforts to strengthen the 

8 resilience and protective factors of such victims; 

9 ‘‘(D) include trauma-informed therapeutic 

10 interventions that are based on an under11 standing of the vulnerabilities or triggers of vic12 tims of trauma, and are designed to provide 

13 support to, and avoid re-traumatization of, such 

14 victims; and 

15 ‘‘(E) emphasize continuity of care and col16 laboration among the providers of services to 

17 such victims.’’; 

18 (2) in section 504 (42 U.S.C. 5783)— 

19 (A) in subsection (a)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semi21 colon in paragraph (7); 

22 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (8) as 

23 paragraph (9); and 

24 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (7) 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(8) gender-responsive services; and’’; and 

2 (B) in subsection (b)— 

3 (i) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, 

4 including a description of how the funds 

5 made available under this section will in6 crease the effectiveness of such plan and 

7 the activities to be carried out under such 

8 plan’’ before the semicolon; and 

9 (ii) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, 

10 including a description of how the funds 

11 made available under this section will in12 crease the effectiveness of such plan and 

13 the activities to be carried out under such 

14 plan’’ before the semicolon; and 

15 (3) in section 505 (42 U.S.C. 5784), by striking 

16 ‘‘for fiscal years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 

17 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 

18 2014 through 2019’’. 

Æ 


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