I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2665

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants

and contracts to establish domestic violence community response teams

and a technical assistance center to address the development and support

of such community response teams, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 18, 1995

Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania (for himself, Ms. MOLINARI, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN,

Mr. FORBES, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr. ZIMMER, Mr. ENGLISH

of Pennsylvania, Mr. HEINEMAN, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. DAVIS, Mr.

MCHALE, Mr. KLINK, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. LONGLEY, Mr. MARTINI, Ms.

KAPTUR, Mr. KING, Mr. UPTON, Mr. FOLEY, and Mrs. ROUKEMA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services

to award grants and contracts to establish domestic violence community response teams and a technical assistance center to address the development and support of

such community response teams, and for other 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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Domestic Violence

5 Community Response Team Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

2 The purposes of this Act are to—

3 (1) establish and strengthen the partnership be4 tween law enforcement and community groups in

5 order to assist victims of domestic violence;

6 (2) provide early intervention and followup serv7 ices in order to prevent future incidents of domestic

8 violence; and

9 (3) establish a central technical assistance cen10 ter for the collection and provision of programmatic

11 information and technical assistance.

12 SEC. 3. GRANTS AUTHORIZED FOR COMMUNITY RESPONSE

13 TEAMS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and

15 Human Services (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec16 retary’’), is authorized to award grants to encourage eligi17 ble entities to serve as community response teams to assist

18 in the prevention of domestic violence. Grants awarded

19 under this section shall be awarded in a manner that en20 sures geographic and demographic diversity.

21 (b) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall not

22 award a grant under this section in an amount that ex23 ceeds $500,000.

24 (c) DURATION.—The Secretary shall award grants

25 under this section for periods of not to exceed 3 years.

26 (d) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section,

2 the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a nonprofit, com3 munity-based organization whose primary purpose

4 involves domestic violence prevention, and who has

5 demonstrated expertise in providing services to vic6 tims of domestic violence and collaborating with

7 service providers and support agencies in the com8 munity.

9 (2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In order to

10 be considered an eligible entity for purposes of this

11 section, an entity shall—

12 (A) have an understanding of the racial,

13 ethnic, and lingual diversity of the community

14 in which such entity serves as a community re15 sponse team;

16 (B) be able to respond adequately to such

17 community; and

18 (C) to the extent practicable, include per19 sonnel that reflect the racial, ethnic, and lingual

20 diversity of such community.

21 (3) PREFERENCE IN MAKING GRANTS.—In

22 making grants under subsection (a) for a fiscal year,

23 the Secretary shall give preference to qualified eligi24 ble entities who for such year are not receiving any
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1 other Federal grant for carrying out activities to

2 prevent domestic violence.

3 (e) ROLE OF COMMUNITY RESPONSE TEAMS.—Com4 munity response teams established pursuant to this sec5 tion shall—

6 (1) provide community advocates to work (in

7 conjunction with local police) with victims, imme8 diately after incidents of domestic violence;

9 (2) educate victims of domestic violence about

10 the legal process with respect to restraining orders

11 and civil and criminal charges;

12 (3) discuss with such victims immediate safety

13 arrangements and child care needs, and educate vic14 tims about resources provided by local agencies;

15 (4) provide for followup services and counseling

16 with local support agencies;

17 (5) educate victims regarding abuse tactics, in18 cluding increased incidence of violence that occurs

19 after repeated episodes of violence; and

20 (6) act in partnership with local law enforce21 ment agencies to carry out the purposes of this Act.

22 (f) APPLICATIONS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Applications for grants

24 under this section shall be submitted to the Sec25 retary at such time, in such manner, and accom-
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1 panied by such information as the Secretary may

2 reasonably require.

3 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted

4 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—

5 (A) include a complete description of the

6 eligible entity’s plan for operating a community7 based partnership between law enforcement of8 ficials and community organizations;

9 (B) demonstrate effective community lead10 ership, commitment to community action, and

11 commitment to working with affected popu12 lations;

13 (C) provide for periodic project evaluation

14 through written reports and analysis in order to

15 assist in applying successful programs to other

16 communities; and

17 (D) demonstrate an understanding of the

18 population to be served, including an under19 standing of the racial, ethnic, and socio20 economic characteristics that influence the roles

21 of women and affect treatment.

22 (g) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the amount

23 made available under section 5 for a grant under this sec24 tion for a community response team, not more than 5 per-
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1 cent of such amount may be expended to cover the admin2 istrative expenses of the community response team.

3 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to

5 award a contract to an eligible entity to serve as a tech6 nical assistance center under this Act. The technical as7 sistance center shall—

8 (1) serve as a national information, training,

9 and material development source for the develop10 ment and support of community response teams na11 tionwide; and

12 (2) provide technical support and input to com13 munity programs, including assisting local groups in

14 the establishment of programs and providing train15 ing to community volunteer staff persons.

16 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—For purposes of this section,

17 the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a nonprofit organization

18 with a primary focus on domestic violence prevention and

19 demonstrated expertise in providing technical assistance,

20 information, training, and resource development on some

21 aspect of domestic violence service provision or prevention.

22 An eligible entity shall be selected by the Secretary under

23 this section based on competence, experience, and a proven

24 ability to conduct national-level organization and program

25 development. In order to be considered an eligible entity
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1 for purposes of this section, an entity shall provide the

2 Secretary with evidence of support from community-based

3 domestic violence organizations for the designation of the

4 entity as the technical assistance center.

5 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the amount

6 made available under section 5 for a contract under this

7 section for a technical assistance center, not more than

8 5 percent of such amount may be expended to cover the

9 administrative expenses of the technical assistance center.

10 SEC. 5. FUNDING.

11 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

12 purpose of carrying out this Act, there is authorized to

13 be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years

14 1996 through 1998.

15 (b) ALLOCATION.—Of the amounts appropriated

16 under subsection (a) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall

17 make available $300,000 for a contract under section 4.

18 (c) SOURCE OF FUNDING FOR PROGRAM.—

19 (1) OFFSETTING REDUCTION IN FUNDING FOR

20 ENERGY INFORMATION AGENCY.—With respect to

21 the authorizations of appropriations that have been

22 established for the programs and activities of the

23 Energy Information Administration, the total

24 amount of such authorizations is, for each of the fis25 cal years specified in subsection (a), reduced by
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1 $5,000,000. The preceding sentence applies notwith2 standing any other provision of law.

3 (2) REPORT REGARDING OTHER SOURCES OF

4 FUNDS FOR ENERGY INFORMATION AGENCY.—Not

5 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment

6 of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit to

7 the Congress a report providing a determination by

8 the Secretary of whether it would be practicable for

9 the Energy Information Administration to provide

10 for some or all of the funding for the Administration

11 through imposing a charge for some or all of the

12 services or materials that the Administration pro13 vides to the public.

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