Calendar No. 438

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1976

A BILL

To increase public awareness of the plight of vicdevelopmental disabilities. safety and justice needs of victims of crime with problem, and to develop strategies to address the collect data to measure the magnitude of the tims of crime with developmental disabilities, to

JUNE 25, 1998.

Reported with an amendment
II

Calendar No. 438

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1976

To increase public awareness of the plight of victims of crime with developmental disabilities, to collect data to measure the magnitude of the

problem, and to develop strategies to address the safety and justice

needs of victims of crime with developmental disabilities.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 23, 1998

Mr. DEWINE (for himself and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

JUNE 25, 1998

Reported by Mr. HATCH, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To increase public awareness of the plight of victims of

crime with developmental disabilities, to collect data to

measure the magnitude of the problem, and to develop

strategies to address the safety and justice needs of

victims of crime with developmental disabilities.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Crime Victims With

3 Disabilities Awareness Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

6 (1) although research conducted abroad dem7 onstrates that individuals with developmental dis8 abilities are at a 4 to 10 times higher risk of becom9 ing crime victims than those without disabilities,

10 there have been no significant studies on this subject

11 conducted in the United States;

12 (2) in fact, the National Crime Victim’s Survey,

13 conducted annually by the Bureau of Justice Statis14 tics of the Department of Justice, does not specifi15 cally collect data relating to crimes against individ16 uals with developmental disabilities;

17 (3) studies in Canada, Australia, and Great

18 Britain consistently show that victims with develop19 mental disabilities suffer repeated victimization be20 cause so few of the crimes against them are re21 ported, and even when they are, there is sometimes

22 a reluctance by justice officials to rely on the testi23 mony of a disabled individual, making individuals

24 with developmental disabilities a target for criminal

25 predators; and
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1 (4) research in the United States needs to be

2 done to—

3 (A) understand the nature and extent of

4 crimes against individuals with developmental

5 disabilities;

6 (B) describe how the justice system re7 sponds to crimes against the developmentally

8 disabled; and

9 (C) identify programs, policies, or laws

10 that hold promises for making the justice sys11 tem more responsive to crimes against individ12 uals with developmental disabilities.

13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

14 (1) to increase public awareness of the plight of

15 victims of crime who are individuals with develop16 mental disabilities;

17 (2) to collect data to measure the extent of the

18 problem of crimes against individuals with develop19 mental disabilities; and

20 (3) to develop strategies to address the safety

21 and justice needs of victims of crime who are indi22 viduals with developmental disabilities.

23 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY.

24 In this Act, the term ‘‘developmental disability’’ has

25 the meaning given the term in section 102 of the Develop-
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1 mental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (42

2 U.S.C. 6001).

3 SEC. 4. RESEARCH AGENDA.

4 (a) REQUEST FOR CONTRACT.—Not later than 90

5 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney

6 General shall submit a request to the National Research

7 Council, that the Committee on Law and Justice of the

8 National Academy of Sciences, acting through the Na9 tional Research Council, enter into a contract with the At10 torney General to develop a research agenda to increase

11 public awareness of crimes against individuals with devel12 opmental disabilities and to reduce the incidence of crimes

13 against those individuals.

14 (b) RESEARCH AGENDA.—The research agenda de15 veloped under this section shall—

16 (1) address such issues as—

17 (A) the nature and extent of crimes

18 against individuals with developmental disabil19 ities;

20 (B) the risk factors associated with victim21 ization of the developmentally disabled;

22 (C) strategies to reduce crimes against in23 dividuals with developmental disabilities;

24 (D) the manner in which the justice and

25 social service systems respond to crimes against
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1 the developmentally disabled, and the means by

2 which that response can be improved;

3 (E) the personal and social consequences

4 of victimization;

5 (F) the importance of place and context in

6 understanding crimes against the develop7 mentally disabled; and

8 (G) the means by which to achieve a better

9 understanding of the interaction between care10 giver, victim, and other circumstances in im11 proving public safety; and

12 (2) include an analysis of various methodologies

13 for addressing the issues described in paragraph (1),

14 which may include—

15 (A) appropriate longitudinal designs to in16 crease understanding of its causes;

17 (B) rigorous evaluation research designs to

18 inform and improve prevention, intervention,

19 and control efforts;

20 (C) a multidisciplinary approach to meas21 uring the nature and frequency of crimes

22 against the developmentally disabled, and the

23 personal and social consequences of those

24 crimes;
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1 (D) survey data and analysis efforts that

2 better describe the victimization experiences of

3 the developmentally disabled, the context in

4 which victimization occurs, and the social and

5 institutional responses to these experiences; and

6 (E) the development of a Federal research

7 response and a coordinated research strategy by

8 Federal agencies.

9 (c) PANEL OF EXPERTS.—In developing the research

10 agenda under this section, the Committee on Law and

11 Justice shall—

12 (1) convene and consult with a panel, which

13 shall be composed of—

14 (A) nationally recognized experts on vic15 tims of crime who are individuals with disabil16 ities, in the fields of—

17 (i) law;

18 (ii) services to individuals with disabil19 ities;

20 (iii) criminology;

21 (iv) education;

22 (v) direct services to victims of crime;

23 and

24 (vi) the social sciences; and
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1 (B) crime victims with disabilities who are

2 members of diverse ethnic, social, and religious

3 communities; and

4 (2) focus primarily on preventive, educative, so5 cial, and legal strategies, including addressing the

6 needs of underserved populations.

7 (d) REPORT.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen10 eral shall submit to the Committees on the Judiciary

11 of the Senate and the House of Representatives a

12 report describing the research agenda developed

13 under this section.

14 (2) REPORT.—The Attorney General shall en15 sure that—

16 (A) the report submitted under paragraph

17 (1) is disseminated widely in governmental,

18 nonprofit, and academic arenas, including by

19 seminars, briefings, and the Internet; and

20 (B) shall make not less than 100 copies of

21 the report available upon request to nonprofit

22 organizations free of charge.

23 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

24 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

25 $375,000 for each of fiscal years 1999 and 2000.
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1 SEC. 5. NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS SURVEY.

2 (a) SURVEY.—As part of each National Crime Vic3 tims Survey, the Attorney General shall include statistics

4 relating to the nature and characteristics of victims of

5 crime who are individuals with developmental disabilities.

6 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out subsection (a),

7 the Attorney General shall use a methodology developed

8 in consultation with experts in the collection of criminal

9 justice data, statistics, services to individuals with disabil10 ities, and victims of crime.

11 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

12 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

13 $100,000 for fiscal year 1999.

14 SEC. 6. STATE DATABASES.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall con16 duct a study and submit to Congress and to each State

17 a report on the means by which each State may establish

18 and maintain a centralized computer database on the inci19 dence of crimes against individuals with disabilities within

20 the State.

21 (b) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the study under

22 subsection (a), the Attorney General shall consult with—

23 (1) individuals who are experts in the collection

24 of criminal justice data;

25 (2) State statistical administrators;

26 (3) law enforcement personnel;
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1 (4) nonprofit nongovernmental agencies that

2 provide direct services to victims of crime who are

3 individuals with disabilities; and

4 (5) such other individuals and entities as the

5 Attorney General considers to be appropriate.

6 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date

7 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall sub8 mit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and

9 the House of Representatives, a report describing the re10 sults of the study under subsection (a), which report shall

11 include the views of the individuals and agencies consulted

12 under subsection (b).

13 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

14 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Crime Victims With Dis15 abilities Awareness Act’’.

16 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

17 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

18 (1) although research conducted abroad dem19 onstrates that individuals with developmental disabil20 ities are at a 4 to 10 times higher risk of becoming

21 crime victims than those without disabilities, there

22 have been no significant studies on this subject con23 ducted in the United States;

24 (2) in fact, the National Crime Victim’s Survey,

25 conducted annually by the Bureau of Justice Statis-
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1 tics of the Department of Justice, does not specifically

2 collect data relating to crimes against individuals

3 with developmental disabilities;

4 (3) studies in Canada, Australia, and Great

5 Britain consistently show that victims with develop6 mental disabilities suffer repeated victimization be7 cause so few of the crimes against them are reported,

8 and even when they are, there is sometimes a reluc9 tance by police, prosecutors, and judges to rely on the

10 testimony of a disabled individual, making individ11 uals with developmental disabilities a target for

12 criminal predators;

13 (4) research in the United States needs to be

14 done to—

15 (A) understand the nature and extent of

16 crimes against individuals with developmental

17 disabilities;

18 (B) describe the manner in which the justice

19 system responds to crimes against individuals

20 with developmental disabilities; and

21 (C) identify programs, policies, or laws that

22 hold promises for making the justice system more

23 responsive to crimes against individuals with de24 velopmental disabilities; and
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1 (5) the National Academy of Science Committee

2 on Law and Justice of the National Research Council

3 is a premier research institution with unique experi4 ence in developing seminal, multidisciplinary studies

5 to establish a strong research base from which to make

6 public policy.

7 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

8 (1) to increase public awareness of the plight of

9 victims of crime who are individuals with develop10 mental disabilities;

11 (2) to collect data to measure the extent of the

12 problem of crimes against individuals with develop13 mental disabilities; and

14 (3) to develop a basis to find new strategies to

15 address the safety and justice needs of victims of

16 crime who are individuals with developmental dis17 abilities.

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY.

19 In this Act, the term ‘‘developmental disability’’ has

20 the meaning given the term in section 102 of the Develop21 mental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (42

22 U.S.C. 6001).

23 SEC. 4. STUDY.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall conduct

25 a study to increase knowledge and information about crimes
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1 against individuals with developmental disabilities that

2 will be useful in developing new strategies to reduce the in3 cidence of crimes against those individuals.

4 (b) ISSUES ADDRESSED.—The study conducted under

5 this section shall address such issues as—

6 (1) the nature and extent of crimes against indi7 viduals with developmental disabilities;

8 (2) the risk factors associated with victimization

9 of individuals with developmental disabilities;

10 (3) the manner in which the justice system re11 sponds to crimes against individuals with develop12 mental disabilities; and

13 (4) the means by which States may establish and

14 maintain a centralized computer database on the in15 cidence of crimes against individuals with disabilities

16 within a State.

17 (c) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—In carrying

18 out this section, the Attorney General shall consider con19 tracting with the Committee on Law and Justice of the Na20 tional Research Council of the National Academy of

21 Sciences to provide research for the study conducted under

22 this section.

23 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the date

24 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit

25 to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the
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1 House of Representatives a report describing the results of

2 the study conducted under this section.

3 SEC. 5. NATIONAL CRIME VICTIM’S SURVEY.

4 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of

5 this Act, as part of each National Crime Victim’s Survey,

6 the Attorney General shall include statistics relating to—

7 (1) the nature of crimes against individuals with

8 developmental disabilities; and

9 (2) the specific characteristics of the victims of

10 those crimes.