I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6168 

To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 

to ensure that healthcare providers can assist survivors of domestic 

violence, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 1, 2023 

Mrs. SYKES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement 

Act of 1994 to ensure that healthcare providers can 

assist survivors of domestic violence, 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 or the ‘‘Better Care 

5 For Domestic Violence Survivors Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON TRAUMA-IN2 FORMED, VICTIM-CENTERED TRAINING FOR 

3 HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle Q of title IV of the Vio5 lent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 

6 U.S.C. 12513 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 41702. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON TRAUMA-IN9 FORMED, VICTIM-CENTERED TRAINING FOR 

10 HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS. 

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Attorney General’ means the At13 torney General, acting through the Director of the 

14 Office on Violence Against Women; 

15 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary 

16 of the Department of Health and Human Services; 

17 ‘‘(3) the term ‘covered individual’ means an in18 dividual who interfaces with victims of domestic vio19 lence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, 

20 including— 

21 ‘‘(A) an individual working for or on behalf 

22 of an eligible entity; 

23 ‘‘(B) an administrator or personnel of a 

24 school, university, or other educational program 

25 or activity (including a campus police officer or 

26 a school resource officer); and 

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1 ‘‘(C) an emergency services employee; 

2 ‘‘(4) the term ‘eligible entity’ means a facility 

3 as described in paragraph (1), (2), (4), (5), or (6) 

4 of section 1624 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 300s–3); and 

6 ‘‘(5) the term ‘mandatory partner’ means a na7 tional, regional, or local victim services organization 

8 or agency working in collaboration with a facility de9 scribed in paragraph (4). 

10 ‘‘(b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in 

12 consultation with the Secretary, shall award grants 

13 on a competitive basis to eligible entities to collabo14 rate with their mandatory partners to carry out the 

15 demonstration program under this section by imple16 menting evidence-based or promising investigative 

17 policies and practices to incorporate trauma-in18 formed, victim-centered techniques designed to— 

19 ‘‘(A) prevent re-traumatization of the vic20 tim; 

21 ‘‘(B) ensure that covered individuals use 

22 evidence-based practices to identify, respond to, 

23 and treat cases of domestic violence, dating vio24 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; 

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1 ‘‘(C) increase collaboration among stake2 holders who are part of the coordinated commu3 nity response to domestic violence, dating vio4 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; and 

5 ‘‘(D) evaluate the effectiveness of the 

6 training process and content. 

7 ‘‘(2) AWARD BASIS.—The Attorney General, in 

8 consultation with the Secretary, shall award grants 

9 under this section to multiple eligible entities for use 

10 in a variety of settings and communities, including— 

11 ‘‘(A) urban, suburban, Tribal, remote, and 

12 rural areas; 

13 ‘‘(B) college campuses; or 

14 ‘‘(C) traditionally underserved commu15 nities. 

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

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

18 ‘‘(1) train covered individuals associated with 

19 the eligible entity to use evidence-based, trauma-in20 formed, and victim-centered techniques to identify 

21 and treat individuals who have experienced domestic 

22 violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, 

23 including by— 

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1 ‘‘(A) customizing treatment approaches to 

2 ensure a culturally and linguistically appro3 priate approach to the community being served; 

4 ‘‘(B) becoming proficient in understanding 

5 and responding to complex cases, including 

6 cases of domestic violence, dating violence, sex7 ual assault, or stalking— 

8 ‘‘(i) facilitated by alcohol or drugs; 

9 ‘‘(ii) involving strangulation; 

10 ‘‘(iii) committed by a non-stranger; 

11 ‘‘(iv) committed by an individual of 

12 the same sex as the victim; 

13 ‘‘(v) involving a victim with a dis14 ability; 

15 ‘‘(vi) involving a male victim; or 

16 ‘‘(vii) involving a lesbian, gay, bisex17 ual, or transgender (commonly referred to 

18 as ‘LGBT’) victim; 

19 ‘‘(C) developing collaborative relationships 

20 between— 

21 ‘‘(i) healthcare providers, law enforce22 ment officers, and other members of the 

23 response team; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) the community being served; and 

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1 ‘‘(D) developing an understanding of how 

2 to define, identify, and correctly classify a re3 port of domestic violence, dating violence, sex4 ual assault, or stalking; and 

5 ‘‘(2) promote the efforts of the eligible entity to 

6 improve the response of covered individuals to do7 mestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 

8 stalking through various communication channels, 

9 such as the website of the eligible entity, social 

10 media, print materials, and community meetings, in 

11 order to ensure that all covered individuals associ12 ated with the eligible entity are aware of those ef13 forts and included in trainings, to the extent prac14 ticable. 

15 ‘‘(d) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM TRAININGS ON

16 TRAUMA-INFORMED, VICTIM-CENTERED APPROACHES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in 

18 consultation with the Secretary, shall identify 

19 trainings for covered individuals, in existence as of 

20 the date on which the Attorney General begins to so21 licit applications for grants under this section, 

22 that— 

23 ‘‘(A) employ a trauma-informed, victim24 centered approach to domestic violence, dating 

25 violence, sexual assault, and stalking; and 

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1 ‘‘(B) focus on the fundamentals of— 

2 ‘‘(i) trauma responses; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the impact of trauma on victims 

4 of domestic violence, dating violence, sex5 ual assault, and stalking; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) techniques for effectively treat7 ing the medical consequences of domestic 

8 violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 

9 and stalking. 

10 ‘‘(2) SELECTION.—An eligible entity that re11 ceives a grant under this section shall select one or 

12 more of the approaches employed by a training iden13 tified under paragraph (1) to test at the eligible en14 tity. 

15 ‘‘(e) EVALUATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General and 

17 the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of 

18 the National Institute of Justice, shall require each 

19 eligible entity that receives a grant under this sec20 tion to identify a research partner, preferably a local 

21 research partner, to— 

22 ‘‘(A) design a system for generating and 

23 collecting the appropriate data to facilitate an 

24 independent process or impact evaluation of the 

25 use of the grant funds; 

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1 ‘‘(B) periodically conduct an evaluation de2 scribed in subparagraph (A); and 

3 ‘‘(C) periodically make publicly available, 

4 during the grant period— 

5 ‘‘(i) preliminary results of the evalua6 tions conducted under subparagraph (B); 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) recommendations for improving 

9 the use of the grant funds. 

10 ‘‘(2) GAO REPORT.—Not later than three years 

11 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

12 Comptroller General of the United States shall sub13 mit to the Committees on Ways and Means, Energy 

14 and Commerce, and Judiciary of the House of Rep15 resentatives and the Committees on Judiciary and 

16 on Finance of the Senate a report summarizing the 

17 implementation of this section. 

18 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 

20 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 

21 to carry out this section.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

23 for the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 

24 of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 10101 note) is amended by inserting 

25 after the item related to section 41701 the following: 

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‘‘41702. Demonstration program on trauma-informed, victim-centered training 

for healthcare providers.’’. 

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