II

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

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 Disabilities Awareness Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) although research conducted abroad dem2 onstrates that individuals with developmental dis3 abilities are at a 4 to 10 times higher risk of becom4 ing crime victims than those without disabilities,

5 there have been no significant studies on this subject

6 conducted in the United States;

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

8 conducted annually by the Bureau of Justice Statis9 tics of the Department of Justice, does not specifi10 cally collect data relating to crimes against individ11 uals with developmental disabilities;

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

13 Britain consistently show that victims with develop14 mental disabilities suffer repeated victimization be15 cause so few of the crimes against them are re16 ported, and even when they are, there is sometimes

17 a reluctance by justice officials to rely on the testi18 mony of a disabled individual, making individuals

19 with developmental disabilities a target for criminal

20 predators; and

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

22 done to—

23 (A) understand the nature and extent of

24 crimes against individuals with developmental

25 disabilities;
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1 (B) describe how the justice system re2 sponds to crimes against the developmentally

3 disabled; and

4 (C) identify programs, policies, or laws

5 that hold promises for making the justice sys6 tem more responsive to crimes against individ7 uals with developmental disabilities.

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

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

10 victims of crime who are individuals with develop11 mental disabilities;

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

13 problem of crimes against individuals with develop14 mental disabilities; and

15 (3) to develop strategies to address the safety

16 and justice needs of victims of crime who are indi17 viduals with developmental disabilities.

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. RESEARCH AGENDA.

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

25 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney
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1 General shall submit a request to the National Research

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

3 National Academy of Sciences, acting through the Na4 tional Research Council, enter into a contract with the At5 torney General to develop a research agenda to increase

6 public awareness of crimes against individuals with devel7 opmental disabilities and to reduce the incidence of crimes

8 against those individuals.

9 (b) RESEARCH AGENDA.—The research agenda de10 veloped under this section shall—

11 (1) address such issues as—

12 (A) the nature and extent of crimes

13 against individuals with developmental disabil14 ities;

15 (B) the risk factors associated with victim16 ization of the developmentally disabled;

17 (C) strategies to reduce crimes against in18 dividuals with developmental disabilities;

19 (D) the manner in which the justice and

20 social service systems respond to crimes against

21 the developmentally disabled, and the means by

22 which that response can be improved;

23 (E) the personal and social consequences

24 of victimization;
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1 (F) the importance of place and context in

2 understanding crimes against the develop3 mentally disabled; and

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

5 understanding of the interaction between care6 giver, victim, and other circumstances in im7 proving public safety; and

8 (2) include an analysis of various methodologies

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

10 which may include—

11 (A) appropriate longitudinal designs to in12 crease understanding of its causes;

13 (B) rigorous evaluation research designs to

14 inform and improve prevention, intervention,

15 and control efforts;

16 (C) a multidisciplinary approach to meas17 uring the nature and frequency of crimes

18 against the developmentally disabled, and the

19 personal and social consequences of those

20 crimes;

21 (D) survey data and analysis efforts that

22 better describe the victimization experiences of

23 the developmentally disabled, the context in

24 which victimization occurs, and the social and

25 institutional responses to these experiences; and
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1 (E) the development of a Federal research

2 response and a coordinated research strategy by

3 Federal agencies.

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

5 agenda under this section, the Committee on Law and

6 Justice shall—

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

8 shall be composed of—

9 (A) nationally recognized experts on vic10 tims of crime who are individuals with disabil11 ities, in the fields of—

12 (i) law;

13 (ii) services to individuals with disabil14 ities;

15 (iii) criminology;

16 (iv) education;

17 (v) direct services to victims of crime;

18 and

19 (vi) the social sciences; and

20 (B) crime victims with disabilities who are

21 members of diverse ethnic, social, and religious

22 communities; and

23 (2) focus primarily on preventive, educative, so24 cial, and legal strategies, including addressing the

25 needs of underserved populations.
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1 (d) REPORT.—

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

3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen4 eral shall submit to the Committees on the Judiciary

5 of the Senate and the House of Representatives a

6 report describing the research agenda developed

7 under this section.

8 (2) REPORT.—The Attorney General shall en9 sure that—

10 (A) the report submitted under paragraph

11 (1) is disseminated widely in governmental,

12 nonprofit, and academic arenas, including by

13 seminars, briefings, and the Internet; and

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

15 the report available upon request to nonprofit

16 organizations free of charge.

17 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

19 $375,000 for each of fiscal years 1999 and 2000.

20 SEC. 5. NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS SURVEY.

21 (a) SURVEY.—As part of each National Crime Vic22 tims Survey, the Attorney General shall include statistics

23 relating to the nature and characteristics of victims of

24 crime who are individuals with developmental disabilities.
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1 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out subsection (a),

2 the Attorney General shall use a methodology developed

3 in consultation with experts in the collection of criminal

4 justice data, statistics, services to individuals with disabil5 ities, and victims of crime.

6 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

7 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

8 $100,000 for fiscal year 1999.

9 SEC. 6. STATE DATABASES.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall con11 duct a study and submit to Congress and to each State

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

13 and maintain a centralized computer database on the inci14 dence of crimes against individuals with disabilities within

15 the State.

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

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

18 (1) individuals who are experts in the collection

19 of criminal justice data;

20 (2) State statistical administrators;

21 (3) law enforcement personnel;

22 (4) nonprofit nongovernmental agencies that

23 provide direct services to victims of crime who are

24 individuals with disabilities; and
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1 (5) such other individuals and entities as the

2 Attorney General considers to be appropriate.

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

4 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall sub5 mit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and

6 the House of Representatives, a report describing the re7 sults of the study under subsection (a), which report shall

8 include the views of the individuals and agencies consulted

9 under subsection (b).

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