I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6542 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 

require the Attorney General to establish guidelines to prevent and address occurrences of bullying, to provide for grant funding to States 

for programs to prevent and address occurrences of bullying, and to 

reauthorize the Juvenile Accountability Block Grants program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 17, 2010 

Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas (for herself, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. WASSERMAN

SCHULTZ, Mr. GONZALEZ, and Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 to require the Attorney General to establish 

guidelines to prevent and address occurrences of bullying, 

to provide for grant funding to States for programs 

to prevent and address occurrences of bullying, and to 

reauthorize the Juvenile Accountability Block Grants 

program. 

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 ‘‘Bullying Prevention 

3 and Intervention Act of 2010’’. 

4 SEC. 2. BULLYING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION PRO5 GRAMS; REAUTHORIZATION OF JUVENILE AC6 COUNTABILITY BLOCK GRANTS. 

7 (a) ALLOWING JUVENILE ACCOUNTABILITY BLOCK

8 GRANTS TO BE USED FOR BULLYING PREVENTION AND

9 INTERVENTION PROGRAMS.—Section 1801 of the Omni10 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 

13 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(and for the purpose 

14 described in subsection (d)(1))’’ after ‘‘juvenile jus15 tice system’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub17 section: 

18 ‘‘(d) BULLYING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION

19 PROGRAMS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts paid to a State or 

21 a unit of local government under this part may be 

22 used by the State or unit of local government for 

23 bullying prevention and intervention programs de24 scribed in paragraph (2)(C) that, subject to para25 graph (3), follow the guidelines established under 

26 such paragraph (2)(C). 


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1 ‘‘(2) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 6 months 

2 after the date of this subsection, the Attorney Gen3 eral shall establish voluntary guidelines for use by 

4 States and units of local government— 

5 ‘‘(A) on ways for relevant entities to iden6 tify occurrences of bullying; 

7 ‘‘(B) on ways to provide for the participa8 tion in programs described in subparagraph (C) 

9 of juveniles who are involved in such occur10 rences of bullying; and 

11 ‘‘(C) for purposes of developing bullying 

12 prevention and intervention programs that, at a 

13 minimum— 

14 ‘‘(i) provide services to juveniles; 

15 ‘‘(ii) provide educational services that 

16 focus on the accountability of such juve17 niles for their actions, with respect to oc18 currences of bullying, including when the 

19 outcome of such actions is not intended by 

20 such juveniles; 

21 ‘‘(iii) provide counseling services for 

22 both juveniles who commit acts of bullying 

23 and juveniles who are victims of such bul24 lying; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) include notification and involve2 ment of parents and guardians of juveniles 

3 who are participating in such programs; 

4 ‘‘(v) address behavior and behavior 

5 modification of juveniles described in 

6 clause (iii); and 

7 ‘‘(vi) educate students, adult per8 sonnel (including school administration 

9 and staff and child care providers), and 

10 law enforcement officers about how to 

11 identify occurrences of bullying and how to 

12 address such occurrences. 

13 ‘‘(3) VARIATION PERMITTED.—A State or unit 

14 of local government may modify the guidelines estab15 lished under paragraph (2) for use by such State or 

16 unit, respectively (or entities within such State or 

17 unit, respectively) in order to meet the specific needs 

18 or circumstances of relevant populations. 

19 ‘‘(4) BULLYING DEFINED.—For purposes of 

20 this subsection, the term ‘bullying’ includes the fol21 lowing behavior by juvenile against another juvenile 

22 (or group of juveniles): 

23 ‘‘(A) Verbal acts, name-calling, and graph24 ic and written statements that may be threat25 ening, harmful, or humiliating and which may 


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1 include use of cell phones, the Internet, and 

2 other forms of electronic communication. 

3 ‘‘(B) Conduct that may be physically 

4 threatening, harmful, or humiliating. 

5 ‘‘(C) Conduct that creates a hostile envi6 ronment when the conduct is sufficiently severe, 

7 pervasive, or persistent so as to interfere with 

8 or limit the ability of such other juvenile to par9 ticipate in or benefit from the services, activi10 ties, or opportunities offered by a school. 

11 ‘‘(D) Harassment based on race, color, na12 tional origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation, 

13 or gender. 

14 ‘‘(E) Statements or other conduct that are 

15 based on real or perceived imbalance of power, 

16 repeated over time, and result in humiliation of 

17 the other juvenile. 

18 Behavior described in the previous sentence does not 

19 have to include the intent to harm or be directed at 

20 a specific juvenile to be considered bullying.’’. 

21 (b) REAUTHORIZATION OF JUVENILE ACCOUNT22 ABILITY BLOCK GRANTS.—Section 1810(a) of such Act 

23 is amended by inserting before the period at the end the 


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1 following: ‘‘and for each of fiscal years 2011 through 

2 2015’’. 

Æ 


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