II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 282

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 26 (legislative day, JANUARY 10), 1995

Mr. BRADLEY (for himself, Mr. HATFIELD, and Mr. WELLSTONE) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on Labor and Human Resources

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purposes of this Act are to—
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1 (1) establish and strengthen the partnership be2 tween law enforcement and community groups in

3 order to assist victims of domestic violence;

4 (2) provide early intervention and followup serv5 ices in order to prevent future incidents of domestic

6 violence; and

7 (3) establish a central technical assistance cen8 ter for the collection and provision of programmatic

9 information and technical assistance.

10 SEC. 3. GRANTS AUTHORIZED FOR COMMUNITY RESPONSE

11 TEAMS.

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

13 Human Services (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec14 retary’’), is authorized to award grants to encourage eligi15 ble entities to serve as community response teams to assist

16 in the prevention of domestic violence. Grants awarded

17 under this section shall be awarded in a manner that en18 sures geographic and demographic diversity.

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

20 award a grant under this section in an amount that ex21 ceeds $500,000.

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

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

24 (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 (e) ROLE OF COMMUNITY RESPONSE TEAMS.—Com22 munity response teams established pursuant to this sec23 tion shall—
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1 (1) provide community advocates to work (in

2 conjunction with local police) with victims, imme3 diately after incidents of domestic violence;

4 (2) educate victims of domestic violence about

5 the legal process with respect to restraining orders

6 and civil and criminal charges;

7 (3) discuss with such victims immediate safety

8 arrangements and child care needs, and educate vic9 tims about resources provided by local agencies;

10 (4) provide for followup services and counseling

11 with local support agencies;

12 (5) educate victims regarding abuse tactics, in13 cluding increased incidence of violence that occurs

14 after repeated episodes of violence; and

15 (6) act in partnership with local law enforce16 ment agencies to carry out the purposes of this Act.

17 (f) APPLICATIONS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Applications for grants

19 under this section shall be submitted to the Sec20 retary at such time, in such manner, and accom21 panied by such information as the Secretary may

22 reasonably require.

23 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted

24 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—
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1 (A) include a complete description of the

2 eligible entity’s plan for operating a community3 based partnership between law enforcement of4 ficials and community organizations;

5 (B) demonstrate effective community lead6 ership, commitment to community action, and

7 commitment to working with affected popu8 lations;

9 (C) provide for periodic project evaluation

10 through written reports and analysis in order to

11 assist in applying successful programs to other

12 communities; and

13 (D) demonstrate an understanding of the

14 population to be served, including an under15 standing of the racial, ethnic, and socio16 economic characteristics that influence the roles

17 of women and affect treatment.

18 (g) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the amount

19 made available under section 5 for a grant under this sec20 tion for a community response team, not more than 5 per21 cent of such amount may be expended to cover the admin22 istrative expenses of the community response team.

23 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER.

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

25 award a contract to an eligible entity to serve as a tech-
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1 nical assistance center under this Act. The technical as2 sistance center shall—

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

4 and material development source for the develop5 ment and support of community response teams na6 tionwide; and

7 (2) provide technical support and input to com8 munity programs, including assisting local groups in

9 the establishment of programs and providing train10 ing to community volunteer staff persons.

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

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

13 with a primary focus on domestic violence prevention and

14 demonstrated expertise in providing technical assistance,

15 information, training, and resource development on some

16 aspect of domestic violence service provision or prevention.

17 An eligible entity shall be selected by the Secretary under

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

19 ability to conduct national-level organization and program

20 development. In order to be considered an eligible entity

21 for purposes of this section, an entity shall provide the

22 Secretary with evidence of support from community-based

23 domestic violence organizations for the designation of the

24 entity as the technical assistance center.
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1 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the amount

2 made available under section 5 for a contract under this

3 section for a technical assistance center, not more than

4 5 percent of such amount may be expended to cover the

5 administrative expenses of the technical assistance center.

6 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 There are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000

8 for fiscal years 1996, 1997, and 1998 to carry out the

9 provisions of this Act, of which $300,000 shall be made

10 available for a contract under section 4.

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