I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2994

To establish an office of family support within the Department of Justice

and to make grants to State and local law enforcement departments,

and to organizations representing State and local law enforcement personnel.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 6, 1993

Mrs. SCHROEDER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To establish an office of family support within the Department of Justice and to make grants to State and local

law enforcement departments, and to organizations representing State and local law enforcement personnel.

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 ‘‘Law Enforcement

5 Family Support Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF FAMILY SUPPORT.

2 There is established an Office of Family Support

3 within the Department of Justice under the authority of

4 the Attorney General.

5 SEC. 3. APPOINTMENT AND DUTIES OF DIRECTOR.

6 (a) APPOINTMENT.—The Office of Family Support

7 shall be headed by a Director appointed by the President,

8 by and with the consent of the Senate. The Director shall

9 report to the Attorney General.

10 (b) AUTHORITY.—The Director shall have final au11 thority for all grants awarded by the Office.

12 (c) RESTRICTION.—The Director shall not engage in

13 any employment other than that as serving as Director;

14 nor shall the Director hold any office in, or act in any

15 capacity for, any organization, agency, or institution with

16 which the Office makes any grant or other arrangement

17 under this Act.

18 (d) DUTIES.—The Director shall—

19 (1) establish guidelines and oversee the imple20 mentation of family-friendly policies within law en21 forcement-related offices and divisions in the De22 partment of Justice;

23 (2) study the effects of stress on law enforce24 ment personnel and family well-being and dissemi25 nate the findings of such studies to Federal, State,
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1 and local law enforcement agencies, related organi2 zations, and other interested parties;

3 (3) identify and evaluate model programs that

4 provide support services to law enforcement person5 nel and families;

6 (4) provide technical assistance and training

7 programs to develop stress reduction and family sup8 port to State and local law enforcement agencies;

9 (5) collect and disseminate information regard10 ing family support, stress reduction, and psycho11 logical services to Federal, State, and local law en12 forcement agencies, law enforcement-related organi13 zations, and other interested entities; and

14 (6) determine issues to be researched by the

15 Office and by grant recipients.

16 SEC. 4. GENERAL AUTHORIZATION.

17 The Director is authorized to make grants to States

18 and local law enforcement agencies and to organizations

19 representing state and local law enforcement personnel to

20 provide family support services to law enforcement person21 nel.

22 SEC. 5. USES OF FUNDS.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State or local law enforcement

24 agency or organization that receives a grant under this

25 Act shall use amounts provided under the grant to estab-
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1 lish or improve training and support programs for law en2 forcement personnel.

3 (b) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A law enforcement

4 agency or organization that receives funds under this Act

5 shall provide at least one of the following services:

6 (1) Counseling for law enforcement family

7 members.

8 (2) Child care on a 24-hour basis.

9 (3) Marital and adolescent support groups.

10 (4) Stress reduction programs.

11 (5) Stress education for law enforcement re12 cruits and families.

13 (6) Provide technical assistance and training

14 programs to support any or all of the services listed

15 in (1) through (5).

16 (c) OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES.—A law enforcement agen17 cy that receives funds under this Act may provide the fol18 lowing services:

19 (1) Post-shooting debriefing for officers and

20 their spouses.

21 (2) Group therapy.

22 (3) Hypertension clinics.

23 (4) Critical incident response on a 24-hour

24 basis.
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1 (5) Law enforcement family crisis telephone

2 services on a 24-hour basis.

3 (6) Counseling for law enforcement personnel

4 exposed to the human immunodeficiency virus.

5 (7) Counseling for peers.

6 (8) Counseling for families of personnel killed

7 in the line of duty.

8 (9) Seminars regarding alcohol, drug use, gam9 bling, and overeating.

10 (10) Technical assistance and training to sup11 port any or all of the services in (1) through (9).

12 SEC. 6. APPLICATIONS.

13 A law enforcement agency or organization desiring to

14 receive a grant under this Act shall submit to the Director

15 an application at such time, in such manner, and contain16 ing or accompanied by such information as the Director

17 may reasonably require. Such application shall—

18 (1) certify that the law enforcement agency

19 shall match all Federal funds with an equal amount

20 of cash or in-kind goods or services from other non21 Federal sources;

22 (2) include a statement from the highest rank23 ing law enforcement official from the State or local24 ity or from the highest ranking official from the or25 ganization applying for the grant that attests to the
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1 need and intended use of services to be provided

2 with grant funds; and

3 (3) assure that the Director or the Comptroller

4 General of the United States shall have access to all

5 records related to the receipt and use of grant funds

6 received under this Act.

7 SEC. 7. AWARD OF GRANTS; LIMITATION.

8 (a) GRANT DISTRIBUTION.—In approving grants

9 under this Act, the Director shall assure an equitable dis10 tribution of assistance among the States, among urban

11 and rural areas of the United States, and among urban

12 and rural areas of a State.

13 (b) DURATION.—The Director may award a grant

14 each fiscal year, not to exceed $100,000 to a State or local

15 law enforcement agency or $250,000 to a law enforcement

16 organization for a period not to exceed 5 years. In any

17 application from a State or local law enforcement agency

18 or organization for a grant to continue a program for the

19 second, third, fourth, or fifth fiscal year following the first

20 fiscal year in which a grant was awarded to such agency,

21 the Director shall review the progress made toward meet22 ing the objectives of the program. The Director may refuse

23 to award a grant if the Director finds sufficient progress

24 has not been made toward meeting such objectives, but
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1 only after affording the applicant notice and an oppor2 tunity for reconsideration.

3 (c) LIMITATION.—Not more than 10 percent of grant

4 funds received by a State or a local law enforcement agen5 cy may be used for administrative purposes.

6 SEC. 8. DISCRETIONARY RESEARCH GRANTS.

7 The Director may reserve 10 percent of funds to

8 award research grants to a State or local law enforcement

9 agency or organization to study issues of importance in

10 the law enforcement field as determined by the Director.

11 SEC. 9. REPORTS.

12 (a) REPORT FROM GRANT RECIPIENTS.—A State or

13 local law enforcement agency or organization that receives

14 a grant under this Act shall submit to the Director an

15 annual report that includes—

16 (1) program descriptions;

17 (2) the number of staff employed to administer

18 programs;

19 (3) the number of individuals who participated

20 in programs; and

21 (4) an evaluation of the effectiveness of grant

22 programs.

23 (b) REPORT FROM DIRECTOR.—(1) The Director

24 shall submit to the President, the Speaker of the House

25 of Representatives, and the President pro tempore of the
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1 Senate a report not later than March 31 of each fiscal

2 year.

3 (2) Such report shall contain—

4 (A) a description of the types of projects devel5 oped or improved through funds received under this

6 Act;

7 (B) a description of exemplary projects and ac8 tivities developed;

9 (C) a designation of the family relationship to

10 the law enforcement personnel of individuals served;

11 and

12 (D) the number of individuals served in each lo13 cation and throughout the country.

14 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

15 For purposes of this Act—

16 (1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of

17 the Office of Family Support within the Department

18 of Justice;

19 (2) the term ‘‘family-friendly policy’’ means a

20 policy to promote or improve the morale and well

21 being of law enforcement personnel;

22 (3) the term ‘‘law enforcement personnel’’

23 means individuals employed by Federal, State, and

24 local law enforcement agencies; and
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1 (4) the term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of Fam2 ily Support within the Department of Justice.

3 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; LIMITA4 TION.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro6 priated $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1994,

7 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998.

8 (b) LIMITATION.—Not more than 20 percent of the

9 amounts available under this Act may be used to accom10 plish the duties of the Director under section 2(d) and

11 to operate the Office, including administrative costs, re12 search, and training programs.

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