II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 697

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the training of

health professions students with respect to the identification and referral

of victims of domestic violence, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 6 (legislative day, APRIL 5), 1995

Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BRADLEY, and

Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice

and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for

the training of health professions students with respect

to the identification and referral of victims 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 ‘‘Domestic Violence

5 Identification and Referral Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT, FOR CERTAIN HEALTH PROFES2 SIONS PROGRAMS, OF PROVISIONS REGARD3 ING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

4 (a) TITLE VII PROGRAMS; PREFERENCES IN FINAN5 CIAL AWARDS.—Section 791 of the Public Health Service

6 Act (42 U.S.C. 295j) is amended—

7 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub8 section (d); and

9 (2) by adding at the end the following sub10 section:

11 ‘‘(c) PREFERENCES REGARDING TRAINING IN IDEN12 TIFICATION AND REFERRAL OF VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC

13 VIOLENCE.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a health pro15 fessions entity specified in paragraph (2), the Sec16 retary shall, in making awards of grants or contracts

17 under this title, give preference to any such entity

18 (if otherwise a qualified applicant for the award in19 volved) that has in effect the requirement that, as a

20 condition of receiving a degree or certificate (as ap21 plicable) from the entity, each student have had sig22 nificant training in carrying out the following func23 tions as a provider of health care:

24 ‘‘(A) Identifying victims of domestic vio25 lence, and maintaining complete medical

26 records that include documentation of the ex-
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1 amination, treatment given, and referrals made,

2 and recording the location and nature of the

3 victim’s injuries.

4 ‘‘(B) Examining and treating such victims,

5 within the scope of the health professional’s dis6 cipline, training, and practice, including, at a

7 minimum, providing medical advice regarding

8 the dynamics and nature of domestic violence.

9 ‘‘(C) Referring the victims to public and

10 nonprofit private entities that provide services

11 for such victims.

12 ‘‘(2) RELEVANT HEALTH PROFESSIONS ENTI13 TIES.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a health pro14 fessions entity specified in this paragraph is any en15 tity that is a school of medicine, a school of osteo16 pathic medicine, a graduate program in mental

17 health practice, a school of nursing (as defined in

18 section 853), a program for the training of physician

19 assistants, or a program for the training of allied

20 health professionals.

21 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2

22 years after the date of the enactment of the Domes23 tic Violence Identification and Referral Act of 1995,

24 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on

25 Commerce of the House of Representatives, and the
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1 Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the

2 Senate, a report specifying—

3 ‘‘(A) the health professions entities that

4 are receiving preference under paragraph (1);

5 ‘‘(B) the number of hours of training re6 quired by the entities for purposes of such

7 paragraph;

8 ‘‘(C) the extent of clinical experience so re9 quired; and

10 ‘‘(D) the types of courses through which

11 the training is being provided.

12 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub13 section, the term ‘domestic violence’ includes behav14 ior commonly referred to as domestic violence, sexual

15 assault, spousal abuse, woman battering, partner

16 abuse, child abuse, elder abuse, and acquaintance

17 rape.’’.

18 (b) TITLE VIII PROGRAMS; PREFERENCES IN FI19 NANCIAL AWARDS.—Section 860 of the Public Health

20 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 298b–7) is amended by adding at

21 the end the following subsection:

22 ‘‘(f) PREFERENCES REGARDING TRAINING IN IDEN23 TIFICATION AND REFERRAL OF VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC

24 VIOLENCE.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a health pro2 fessions entity specified in paragraph (2), the Sec3 retary shall, in making awards of grants or contracts

4 under this title, give preference to any such entity

5 (if otherwise a qualified applicant for the award in6 volved) that has in effect the requirement that, as a

7 condition of receiving a degree or certificate (as ap8 plicable) from the entity, each student have had sig9 nificant training in carrying out the following func10 tions as a provider of health care:

11 ‘‘(A) Identifying victims of domestic vio12 lence, and maintaining complete medical

13 records that include documentation of the ex14 amination, treatment given, and referrals made,

15 and recording the location and nature of the

16 victim’s injuries.

17 ‘‘(B) Examining and treating such victims,

18 within the scope of the health professional’s dis19 cipline, training, and practice, including, at a

20 minimum, providing medical advice regarding

21 the dynamics and nature of domestic violence.

22 ‘‘(C) Referring the victims to public and

23 nonprofit private entities that provide services

24 for such victims.
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1 ‘‘(2) RELEVANT HEALTH PROFESSIONS ENTI2 TIES.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a health pro3 fessions entity specified in this paragraph is any en4 tity that is a school of nursing or other public or

5 nonprofit private entity that is eligible to receive an

6 award described in such paragraph.

7 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2

8 years after the date of the enactment of the Domes9 tic Violence Identification and Referral Act of 1995,

10 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on

11 Commerce of the House of Representatives, and the

12 Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the

13 Senate, a report specifying—

14 ‘‘(A) the health professions entities that

15 are receiving preference under paragraph (1);

16 ‘‘(B) the number of hours of training re17 quired by the entities for purposes of such

18 paragraph;

19 ‘‘(C) the extent of clinical experience so re20 quired; and

21 ‘‘(D) the types of courses through which

22 the training is being provided.

23 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub24 section, the term ‘domestic violence’ includes behav25 ior commonly referred to as domestic violence, sexual
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1 assault, spousal abuse, woman battering, partner

2 abuse, child abuse, elder abuse, and acquaintance

3 rape.’’.

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