I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4720 

To authorize the Office on Violence Against Women to improve the handling 

of crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by incorporating a trauma-informed approach into the initial response 

to and investigation of such crimes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 21, 2017 

Mr. EMMER (for himself, Mrs. HANDEL, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. 

JAYAPAL, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, and Mr. WALZ) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize the Office on Violence Against Women to improve the handling of crimes of domestic violence, dating 

violence, sexual assault, and stalking by incorporating 

a trauma-informed approach into the initial response to 

and investigation of such crimes. 

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 ‘‘Abby Honold Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON TRAUMA-IN6 FORMED TRAINING FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘Attorney General’’ means the At2 torney General, acting through the Director of the 

3 Office on Violence Against Women; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘covered individual’’ means an in5 dividual who interfaces with victims of domestic vio6 lence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, 

7 including— 

8 (A) an individual working for or on behalf 

9 of an eligible entity; 

10 (B) a school or university administrator; 

11 and 

12 (C) an emergency services or medical em13 ployee; 

14 (3) the term ‘‘demonstration site’’, with respect 

15 to an eligible entity that receives a grant under this 

16 section, means— 

17 (A) if the eligible entity is a law enforce18 ment agency described in paragraph (4)(A), the 

19 area over which the eligible entity has jurisdic20 tion; and 

21 (B) if the eligible entity is an organization 

22 or agency described in paragraph (4)(B), the 

23 area over which a law enforcement agency de24 scribed in paragraph (4)(A) that is working in 


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1 collaboration with the eligible entity has juris2 diction; and 

3 (4) the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 

4 (A) a State, local, territorial, or tribal law 

5 enforcement agency; or 

6 (B) a national, regional, or local victim 

7 services organization or agency working in col8 laboration with a law enforcement agency de9 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

10 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

12 award grants on a competitive basis to eligible enti13 ties to carry out the demonstration program under 

14 this section by implementing evidence-based or 

15 promising policies and practices to incorporate trau16 ma-informed techniques designed to— 

17 (A) prevent re-traumatization of the vic18 tim; 

19 (B) ensure that covered individuals use evi20 dence-based practices to respond to and inves21 tigate cases of domestic violence, dating vio22 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; 

23 (C) improve communication between vic24 tims and law enforcement officers in an effort 

25 to increase the likelihood of the successful inVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:24 Dec 23, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4720.IH H4720

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1 vestigation and prosecution of the alleged crime 

2 in a manner that protects the victim to the 

3 greatest extent possible; 

4 (D) increase collaboration among stake5 holders who are part of the coordinated commu6 nity response to domestic violence, dating vio7 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; and 

8 (E) evaluate the effectiveness of the train9 ing process and content by measuring— 

10 (i) investigative and prosecutorial 

11 practices and outcomes; and 

12 (ii) the well-being of victims and their 

13 satisfaction with the criminal justice proc14 ess. 

15 (2) TERM.—The Attorney General shall make 

16 grants under this section for each of the first 2 fis17 cal years beginning after the date of enactment of 

18 this Act. 

19 (3) AWARD BASIS.—The Attorney General shall 

20 award grants under this section to multiple eligible 

21 entities for use in a variety of settings and commu22 nities, including— 

23 (A) urban, suburban, tribal, remote, and 

24 rural areas; 

25 (B) college campuses; or 


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1 (C) traditionally underserved communities. 

2 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

3 a grant under this section shall use the grant to— 

4 (1) train covered individuals within the dem5 onstration site of the eligible entity to use evidence6 based, trauma-informed techniques throughout an 

7 investigation into domestic violence, dating violence, 

8 sexual assault, or stalking, including by— 

9 (A) conducting victim interviews in a man10 ner that— 

11 (i) elicits valuable information about 

12 the domestic violence, dating violence, sex13 ual assault, or stalking; and 

14 (ii) avoids re-traumatization of the 

15 victim; 

16 (B) conducting field investigations that 

17 mirror best and promising practices available at 

18 the time of the investigation; 

19 (C) customizing investigative approaches to 

20 ensure a culturally and linguistically appro21 priate approach to the community being served; 

22 (D) becoming proficient in understanding 

23 and responding to complex cases, including 

24 cases of domestic violence, dating violence, sex25 ual assault, or stalking— 


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1 (i) facilitated by alcohol or drugs; 

2 (ii) involving strangulation; 

3 (iii) committed by a non-stranger; 

4 (iv) committed by an individual of the 

5 same sex as the victim; 

6 (v) involving a victim with a disability; 

7 (vi) involving a male victim; or 

8 (vii) involving a lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

9 or transgender (commonly referred to as 

10 ‘‘LGBT’’) victim; 

11 (E) developing collaborative relationships 

12 between— 

13 (i) law enforcement officers and other 

14 members of the response team; and 

15 (ii) the community being served; and 

16 (F) developing an understanding of how to 

17 define, identify, and correctly classify a report 

18 of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as19 sault, or stalking; and 

20 (2) promote the efforts of the eligible entity to 

21 improve the response of covered individuals to do22 mestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 

23 stalking through various communication channels, 

24 such as the website of the eligible entity, social 

25 media, print materials, and community meetings, in 


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1 order to ensure that all covered individuals within 

2 the demonstration site of the eligible entity are 

3 aware of those efforts and included in trainings, to 

4 the extent practicable. 

5 (d) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM TRAININGS ON

6 TRAUMA-INFORMED APPROACHES.— 

7 (1) IDENTIFICATION OF EXISTING

8 TRAININGS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

10 shall identify trainings for law enforcement offi11 cers, in existence as of the date on which the 

12 Attorney General begins to solicit applications 

13 for grants under this section, that— 

14 (i) employ a trauma-informed ap15 proach to domestic violence, dating vio16 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; and 

17 (ii) focus on the fundamentals of 

18 the— 

19 (I) neurobiology of trauma; and 

20 (II) impact of trauma on victims 

21 of domestic violence, dating violence, 

22 sexual assault, and stalking. 

23 (B) SELECTION.—An eligible entity that 

24 receives a grant under this section shall select 

25 1 or more of the approaches employed by a 


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1 training identified under subparagraph (A) to 

2 test within the demonstration site of the eligible 

3 entity. 

4 (2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out para5 graph (1), the Attorney General shall consult with 

6 the Director of the Office for Victims of Crime in 

7 order to seek input from and cultivate consensus 

8 among outside practitioners and other stakeholders 

9 through facilitated discussions and focus groups on 

10 best practices in the field of trauma-informed care 

11 for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sex12 ual assault, and stalking. 

13 (e) EVALUATION.—The Attorney General, in con14 sultation with the Director of the National Institute of 

15 Justice, shall require each eligible entity that receives a 

16 grant under this section to identify a research partner, 

17 preferably a local research partner to— 

18 (1) design a system for generating and col19 lecting the appropriate data to facilitate an inde20 pendent process or impact evaluation of the use of 

21 the grant funds; 

22 (2) periodically conduct an evaluation described 

23 in paragraph (1); and 

24 (3) periodically make publicly available, during 

25 the grant period— 


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1 (A) preliminary results of the evaluations 

2 conducted under paragraph (2); and 

3 (B) recommendations for improving the 

4 use of the grant funds. 

5 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—The At6 torney General shall carry out this section using amounts 

7 otherwise available to the Attorney General. 

Æ 


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