I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5512 

To amend the Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs 

under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 

to add gender-responsive services to the list of authorized grant purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2016 

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. POCAN, and Mr. RANGEL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Incentive Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to add gender-responsive 

services to the list of authorized grant 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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Improving the Juvenile Justice System for Girls Act of 

6 2016’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) The proportion of girls entering the justice 

2 system has increased steadily over the past several 

3 decades, and girls are among the fastest growing 

4 segment of the juvenile justice population. In 1991, 

5 around 20 percent of the juvenile arrests were girls. 

6 By 2012, girls represented nearly 30 percent. 

7 (2) Girls’ pathways into juvenile justice involve8 ment are distinct from boys’ pathways. Girls account 

9 for a much larger proportion of nonviolent status of10 fenders than delinquency offenders (40 percent com11 pared to 14 percent, respectively). 

12 (3) Girls are, on average, younger than boys 

13 when they enter the juvenile justice system and fre14 quently experience multiple traumatic events. 

15 (4) The trauma of untreated physical and sex16 ual abuse results in lifetime consequences for girls. 

17 These consequences include a higher risk for a num18 ber of negative social and health outcomes such as 

19 higher mortality rates, a variety of psychiatric prob20 lems, dysfunctional and violent relationships, poor 

21 educational achievement, less stable work histories, 

22 increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases and 

23 early pregnancy, substance abuse or addiction, and 

24 increased reliance on social services as compared to 

25 non-delinquent girls. 


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1 (5) A growing body of evidence suggests that 

2 girls who enter the juvenile justice system have 

3 equal if not higher rates of mental health issues 

4 than boys who enter the system. 

5 (6) Current research and data have shown that 

6 gender-responsive, strength-based programming pro7 viding trauma-informed care and trauma-specific 

8 services is the most effective means of preventing ju9 venile offenses and reducing recidivism. 

10 SEC. 2. INCENTIVE GRANTS FOR LOCAL DELINQUENCY 

11 PREVENTION PROGRAMS. 

12 The second title V of the Juvenile Justice and Delin13 quency Prevention Act of 1974 (relating to Incentive 

14 Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs, as 

15 added by Public Law 102–586 and amended by Public 

16 Law 107–273) is amended— 

17 (1) by amending section 502 (42 U.S.C. 5781) 

18 to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 502. DEFINITIONS. 

20 ‘‘In this title: 

21 ‘‘(1) STATE ADVISORY GROUP.—The term 

22 ‘State advisory group’ means the advisory group ap23 pointed by the chief executive officer of a State 

24 under a plan described in section 223(a). 


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1 ‘‘(2) GENDER-RESPONSIVE SERVICES.—The 

2 term ‘gender-responsive services’ means practices or 

3 evidence-based services that— 

4 ‘‘(A) comprehensively address the unique 

5 social, emotional, and physical, mental, and be6 havioral health needs of girls in the juvenile jus7 tice system through the development or im8 provement of programs, treatment, counseling, 

9 and resources, and the selection and training of 

10 staff, in a manner that reflects an under11 standing of— 

12 ‘‘(i) the unique pathways of girls into 

13 the juvenile justice system; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the need for interventions that 

15 address experiences of girls in the juvenile 

16 justice system, including histories of phys17 ical, emotional, and sexual abuse, violence, 

18 unhealthy family relationships, and sub19 stance abuse; 

20 ‘‘(iii) the social and cultural factors 

21 affecting girls in the juvenile justice system 

22 and girls who are at risk of entering the 

23 juvenile justice system; and 

24 ‘‘(iv) the increased risk of unplanned 

25 pregnancy or sexually transmitted infecVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jun 18, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5512.IH H5512

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1 tions among girls in the juvenile justice 

2 system; and 

3 ‘‘(B) includes trauma-informed services 

4 and trauma-specific interventions, that are evi5 dence-based and research based. 

6 ‘‘(3) TRAUMA-INFORMED SERVICES.—The term 

7 ‘trauma-informed services’ means services that— 

8 ‘‘(A) address the neurological, biological, 

9 psychological, and social effects of traumatic 

10 stress on those who have experienced such 

11 stressors; 

12 ‘‘(B) provide youth, staff, and family mem13 bers with psychoeducational resources to en14 hance their understanding of trauma exposure, 

15 the impact of traumatic stress, and interven16 tions to address post-traumatic reactions; 

17 ‘‘(C) engage in efforts to strengthen the 

18 resilience and protective factors of those who 

19 have experienced traumatic stress; 

20 ‘‘(D) include trauma-informed interven21 tions that are based on an understanding of the 

22 triggers associated with post-traumatic stress, 

23 and are designed to provide support to, and 

24 avoid re-traumatization of, individuals who have 

25 experienced traumatic stressors; 


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1 ‘‘(E) emphasize continuity of care and col2 laboration among the providers of services and 

3 families of youth who have experienced trau4 matic stress; and 

5 ‘‘(F) universally screen for signs of trauma 

6 and traumatic stress, with additional assess7 ment and treatment performed by a mental 

8 health provider with specific training in, and 

9 qualified to provide, trauma-specific interven10 tions for those individuals who have experienced 

11 traumatic stress. 

12 ‘‘(4) TRAUMA-SPECIFIC INTERVENTION.—The 

13 term ‘trauma-specific intervention’ means an empiri14 cally supported therapeutic intervention designed to 

15 reduce or prevent the adverse impact of post-trau16 matic stress symptoms and enhance recovery and re17 silience for persons who have experienced traumatic 

18 stressors.’’; 

19 (2) in section 504 (42 U.S.C. 5783)— 

20 (A) in subsection (a)— 

21 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semi22 colon in paragraph (7); 

23 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (8) as 

24 paragraph (9); and 


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1 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (7) 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(8) gender-responsive services; and’’; and 

4 (B) in subsection (b)— 

5 (i) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, 

6 including a description of how the funds 

7 made available under this section will in8 crease the effectiveness of such plan and 

9 the activities to be carried out under such 

10 plan’’ before the semicolon; and 

11 (ii) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, 

12 including a description of how the funds 

13 made available under this section will in14 crease the effectiveness of such plan and 

15 the activities to be carried out under such 

16 plan’’ before the semicolon; and 

17 (3) in section 505 (42 U.S.C. 5784)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘2008’’; and 

19 (B) by inserting before the period at the 

20 end the following: ‘‘2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 

21 2021, and 2022’’. 

Æ 


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