II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2416

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants

and contracts to establish community response teams and a technical

assistance center to address the development and support of community

response teams.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 23 (legislative day, AUGUST 18), 1994

Mr. BRADLEY (for himself, Mr. WOFFORD, 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 community

response teams and a technical assistance center to address the development and support of community response teams.

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 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is 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 follow up

5 services in order to prevent future incidents of do6 mestic 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 develop community response teams to com16 bat domestic violence. Grants shall be awarded in a man17 ner that ensures geographic and demographic diversity.

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

19 award a grant under this section in an amount which ex20 ceeds $500,000.

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

22 under this section for a period not to exceed 3 years.

23 (d) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section,

25 the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a nonprofit, com-
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1 munity-based organization whose primary purpose

2 involves domestic violence prevention. The organiza3 tion must have a proven track record of expertise in

4 providing services to victims of domestic violence and

5 collaborating with existing service providers and sup6 port agencies in the community.

7 (2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—An eligible

8 entity shall—

9 (A) act in partnership with local law en10 forcement agencies to carry out the purposes of

11 this Act; and

12 (B) understand, be able to respond ade13 quately to, and if possible reflect the racial, eth14 nic, and lingual diversity of the community.

15 (e) ROLE OF COMMUNITY RESPONSE TEAMS.—Com16 munity response teams established pursuant to this sec17 tion shall—

18 (1) provide community advocates to work (in

19 conjunction with local police) with victims imme20 diately after incidents of domestic violence;

21 (2) educate victims about the legal process with

22 respect to restraining orders and civil and criminal

23 charges;
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1 (3) discuss immediate safety arrangements and

2 child care needs, and educate victims about re3 sources provided by local agencies;

4 (4) provide for follow-up services and counseling

5 with local support agencies; and

6 (5) educate victims regarding abuse tactics, in7 cluding increased incidence of violence that occurs

8 after repeated episodes of violence.

9 (f) APPLICATIONS.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Applications for grants pur11 suant to this section shall be submitted to the Sec12 retary at such time, in such manner, and accom13 panied by such information as the Secretary may

14 reasonably require.

15 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted

16 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—

17 (A) include a complete description of the

18 eligible entity’s plan for operating a community19 based partnership between law enforcement of20 ficials and community organizations;

21 (B) demonstrate effective community lead22 ership, commitment to community action, and

23 commitment to working with affected popu24 lations;
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1 (C) provide for periodic project evaluation

2 through written report and analysis in order to

3 assist in applying successful programs to other

4 communities; and

5 (D) demonstrate an understanding of the

6 population to be served (racial, ethnic, and so7 cioeconomic characteristics which influence

8 women’s roles and affect treatment).

9 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER.

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

11 award a contract to an eligible entity to serve as a tech12 nical assistance center under this Act. The technical as13 sistance center shall—

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

15 and material development source for the develop16 ment and support of community response teams na17 tionwide; and

18 (2) provide technical support and input to com19 munity programs, including helping local groups

20 start their own programs and providing training for

21 community volunteer staff persons.

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

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

24 with a primary focus on domestic violence prevention and

25 a proven track record of expertise in providing technical
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1 assistance, information, training, and resource develop2 ment on some aspect of domestic violence service provision

3 or prevention. An eligible entity shall be selected by the

4 Secretary under this section based on competence, experi5 ence, and a proven ability to conduct national-level organi6 zation and program development. The eligible entity shall

7 provide the Secretary with evidence of support from com8 munity-based domestic violence organizations for the des9 ignation of the eligible entity as the technical assistance

10 center.

11 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

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

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

14 provisions of this Act of which $300,000 shall be available

15 for a grant under section 4. Not to exceed 5 percent of

16 any grant made under this Act may be used by the grantee

17 for administrative purposes.

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