II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1431 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide loan forgiveness 

for attorneys who represent low-income families or individuals involved 

in the family or domestic relations court system. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2005 

Mr. DEWINE (for himself and Mr. ROCKEFELLER) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 

loan forgiveness for attorneys who represent low-income 

families or individuals involved in the family or domestic 

relations court system. 

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) Across the United States, family, juvenile, 

6 and domestic relations courts experience shortages 

7 of qualified attorneys to represent the interests of 
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1 men, women, and children involved in the court sys2 tem. 

3 (2) The Constitution of the United States pro4 vides that everyone charged with a crime is entitled 

5 to adequate counsel. 

6 (3) In 1967, the Supreme Court held, for the 

7 first time, that children were persons under the pro8 visions of the 14th amendment to the Constitution 

9 relating to due process and entitled to certain con10 stitutional rights. 

11 (4) In the case of In re Gault (387 U.S. 1) 

12 (1967), the Supreme Court held that juveniles are 

13 entitled to notice of the charges against them, legal 

14 counsel, questioning of witnesses, and protection 

15 against self-incrimination in a hearing that could re16 sult in commitment to an institution. 

17 (5) Studies have indicated that many juveniles 

18 do not receive the due process protections to which 

19 they are entitled. More importantly, they frequently 

20 do not receive effective assistance of legal counsel. 

21 (6) Lawyers who represent juveniles often labor 

22 under enormous caseloads with little training or sup23 port staff. 

24 (7) Public defenders who represent juveniles 

25 have, on average, more than 500 cases per year, 
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1 with more than 300 of those cases being juvenile 

2 cases. 

3 (8) Public defenders often lack specialized 

4 training in representing juveniles. Approximately 

5 one-half of public defender offices do not even have 

6 a section devoted to juvenile delinquency practice in 

7 their office training manuals. 

8 (9) Due to relatively low wages, there is a na9 tionwide shortage of family law attorneys willing to 

10 represent juveniles. 

11 (10) The shortage of family law attorneys re12 sults in a severe, disproportionate, and negative im13 pact upon children, impoverished parents, and vic14 tims of domestic violence. 

15 (11) Children involved in family court cases are 

16 assigned attorneys to protect their interests. Adults 

17 are entitled to representation by attorneys. The lack 

18 of available representation by family law attorneys 

19 causes children to spend more time in foster care be20 cause cases are adjourned or postponed due to lack 

21 of appropriate representation. Victims of domestic 

22 violence seeking protection from their abusers often 

23 will remain in the abusive situation, choose to rep24 resent themselves, or wait until an attorney becomes 

25 available, all of which risk their personal safety. 
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1 (12) In 1995, 3,100,000 children were reported 

2 to child protection agencies as being abused or ne3 glected, which is about double the number reported 

4 in 1984. Of these, 996,000 children were confirmed 

5 after investigation to be abused or neglected. A 1996 

6 study by the Department of Health and Human 

7 Services found that the number of children seriously 

8 injured nearly quadrupled between 1986 and 1993 

9 from 141,700 to 565,000. 

10 (13) As of 1995, year-end, about 494,000 chil11 dren were in foster care, a considerable rise from the 

12 estimated 280,000 children in foster care at the end 

13 of 1986. Most of these children were in foster care 

14 because of abuse, neglect, or abandonment by their 

15 parents. Many are also placed in foster care due to 

16 a court order during a child protection case. 

17 (14) Some estimates suggest that in 70 percent 

18 of homes where there is domestic violence, there is 

19 also child abuse. 

20 (15) Children who witness domestic violence 

21 can also develop posttraumatic stress disorder, low 

22 self-esteem, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, 

23 and destructive behavior that can last through adult24 hood, limiting an individual’s ability to achieve aca25 demically, socially, and on the job. However, early 
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1 intervention and education can help prevent further 

2 danger to children. 

3 (16) Continued adjournment forces victims to 

4 repeatedly confront their abusers in court. This not 

5 only increases the risk of retribution, but also the 

6 chance that the victim will abandon the process be7 cause of the burden. 

8 (17) Between 1984 and 1994 there was a 65 

9 percent increase in domestic relations cases and a 59 

10 percent increase in the number of juvenile cases. 

11 (18) The caseload for child abuse in New York 

12 State alone has increased by more than 300 percent 

13 between 1984 and 1988. 

14 (19) Judges in Chicago hear on average 1,700 

15 delinquency cases per month, and in Los Angeles 

16 judges for juvenile cases have about 10 minutes to 

17 devote to each case. 

18 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

19 The purposes of this Act are— 

20 (1) to encourage attorneys to enter the field of 

21 family law, juvenile law, or domestic relations law; 

22 (2) to increase the number of attorneys who will 

23 represent low-income families and individuals, and 

24 who are trained and educated in such field; and 
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1 (3) to keep more highly trained family law, ju2 venile law, and domestic relations attorneys in those 

3 fields of law for longer periods of time. 

4 SEC. 3. LOAN FORGIVENESS. 

5 Part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

6 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

7 after section 428K (20 U.S.C. 1078–11) the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 428L. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR FAMILY LAW, JUVE9 NILE LAW, AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS AT10 TORNEYS WHO WORK IN THE DEFENSE OF 

11 LOW-INCOME FAMILIES, INDIVIDUALS, OR 

12 CHILDREN. 

13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE LOAN.—The term ‘eligible loan’ 

15 means a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under 

16 this part or part D (excluding loans made under sec17 tion 428B or 428C, or comparable loans made under 

18 part D) for attendance at a law school. 

19 ‘‘(2) FAMILY LAW OR DOMESTIC RELATIONS AT20 TORNEY.—The term ‘family law or domestic rela21 tions attorney’ means an attorney who works in the 

22 field of family law or domestic relations, including 

23 juvenile justice, truancy, child abuse or neglect, 

24 adoption, domestic relations, child support, pater25 nity, and other areas which fall under the field of 
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1 family law or domestic relations law as determined 

2 by State law. 

3 ‘‘(3) HIGHLY QUALIFIED ATTORNEY.—The 

4 term ‘highly qualified attorney’ means an attorney 

5 who has at least 2 consecutive years of experience in 

6 the field of family or domestic relations law serving 

7 as a representative of low-income families or minors. 

8 ‘‘(b) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry 

10 out a demonstration program of assuming the obli11 gation to repay eligible loans for any new borrower 

12 after the date of enactment of this section who— 

13 ‘‘(A) obtains a Juris Doctorate (JD) and 

14 takes not less than 1 law school class in family 

15 law, juvenile law, domestic relations law, or a 

16 class that the Secretary finds equivalent to any 

17 such class pursuant to regulations prescribed by 

18 the Secretary; and 

19 ‘‘(B) has worked full-time for a State or 

20 local government entity, or a nonprofit private 

21 entity, as a family law or domestic relations at22 torney on behalf of low-income individuals in 

23 the family or domestic relations court system 

24 for 2 consecutive years immediately preceding 

25 the year for which the determination was made. 
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1 ‘‘(2) AWARD BASIS.—Loan repayment under 

2 this section shall be on a first-come, first-served 

3 basis and subject to the availability of appropria4 tions. 

5 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri6 ority in providing loan repayment under this section 

7 for a fiscal year to student borrowers who received 

8 loan repayment under this section for the preceding 

9 fiscal year. 

10 ‘‘(c) LOAN REPAYMENT.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each eligible individual 

12 selected for the demonstration program under sub13 section (b), the Secretary shall assume the obligation 

14 to repay— 

15 ‘‘(A) after the third consecutive year of 

16 employment described in subparagraph (B) of 

17 subsection (b)(1), 20 percent of the total 

18 amount of all eligible loans; 

19 ‘‘(B) after the fourth consecutive year of 

20 such employment, 30 percent of the total 

21 amount of all eligible loans; and 

22 ‘‘(C) after the fifth consecutive year of 

23 such employment, 50 percent of the total 

24 amount of all eligible loans. 
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1 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 

2 shall be construed to authorize any refunding of any 

3 repayment of a loan made under this part or part 

4 D. 

5 ‘‘(3) INTEREST.—If a portion of a loan is re6 paid by the Secretary under this section for any 

7 year, the proportionate amount of interest on such 

8 loan that accrues for such year shall be repaid by 

9 the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(4) INELIGIBILITY OF NATIONAL SERVICE

11 AWARD RECIPIENTS.—No student borrower may, for 

12 the same service, receive a benefit under both this 

13 section and subtitle D of title I of the National and 

14 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601 

15 et seq.). 

16 ‘‘(d) REPAYMENT TO ELIGIBLE LENDERS.—The Sec17 retary shall pay to each eligible lender or holder for each 

18 fiscal year an amount equal to the aggregate amount of 

19 eligible loans which are subject to repayment pursuant to 

20 this section for such year. 

21 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION FOR REPAYMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible individual de23 siring loan repayment under this section shall sub24 mit a complete and accurate application to the Sec-
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1 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

2 such information as the Secretary may require. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—An eligible individual may 

4 apply for loan repayment under this section after 

5 completing each year of qualifying employment. The 

6 borrower shall receive forbearance while engaged in 

7 qualifying employment unless the borrower is in 

8 deferment while so engaged. 

9 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con11 duct, by grant or contract, an independent national 

12 evaluation of the impact of the demonstration pro13 gram assisted under this section on the field of fam14 ily and domestic relations law. 

15 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—The grant or con16 tract described in this subsection shall be awarded 

17 on a competitive basis. 

18 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—The evaluation described in 

19 this subsection shall determine whether the loan for20 giveness program assisted under this section— 

21 ‘‘(A) has increased the number of highly 

22 qualified attorneys; 

23 ‘‘(B) has contributed to increased time on 

24 the job for family law or domestic relations at25 torneys, as measured by— 
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1 ‘‘(i) the length of time family law or 

2 domestic relations attorneys receiving loan 

3 forgiveness under this section have worked 

4 in the family law or domestic relations 

5 field; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the length of time family law or 

7 domestic relations attorneys continue to 

8 work in such field after the attorneys meet 

9 the requirements for loan forgiveness 

10 under this section; 

11 ‘‘(C) has increased the experience and the 

12 quality of family law or domestic relations at13 torneys; and 

14 ‘‘(D) has contributed to better family out15 comes, as determined after consultation with 

16 the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

17 and the Attorney General. 

18 ‘‘(4) INTERIM AND FINAL EVALUATION RE19 PORTS.—The Secretary shall prepare and submit to 

20 the President and Congress such interim reports re21 garding the evaluation described in this section as 

22 the Secretary determines appropriate, and shall pre23 pare and submit a final report regarding the evalua24 tion by September 30, 2010. 
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1 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

2 prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry 

3 out the provisions of this section. 

4 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

6 $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and such sums as are 

7 necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

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