I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 789 

To reduce and prevent teen dating violence, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2009 

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reduce and prevent teen dating violence, and for other 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teen Dating Violence 

5 Prevention Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are to establish Federal 

8 grant programs that prevent and reduce verbal, mental, 

9 emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in youth dating rela10 tionships and to improve coordination, collaboration, and 

11 cross-training among Federal, State, and local agencies 


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1 and nonprofit entities that serve or interact with offenders 

2 and victims of youth dating violence. 

3 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Violence is cyclical; violent juvenile 

6 delinquents are four times more likely than other 

7 youths to come from homes in which their fathers 

8 beat their mothers. 

9 (2) Technological advancements can enhance 

10 stalking, verbal, emotional, and social abuse while 

11 avoiding parental and adult intervention in abusive 

12 teen dating relationships. 

13 (3) Girls between the ages of 16 and 24 are 

14 most likely to experience domestic and dating vio15 lence. 

16 (4) Teen dating violence is prevalent regardless 

17 of race, gender, or socio-economic status. 

18 (5) More than half of all rape victims are as19 saulted between the ages of 12 and 24. 

20 (6) Approximately, 1 in 3 teens reports some 

21 kind of abuse in a romantic relationship, including 

22 emotional and verbal abuse. 

23 (7) Nearly 50 percent of all adult sex offenders 

24 report committing their first offense prior to age 18. 


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1 (8) Abusive dating partners isolate teens from 

2 their families and tend to intentionally create family 

3 discord. 

4 (9) Teens involved in abusive relationships are 

5 also more likely to face legal and drug problems, 

6 pregnancy, and other issues. 

7 (10) Most parents are unaware of teen dating 

8 violence and have not discussed teen dating violence 

9 with their children. 

10 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A TEEN DATING VIOLENCE 

11 PROGRAM. 

12 (a) GRANTS.—The Attorney General may award 

13 grants to eligible grant entities for the purposes of— 

14 (1) designing and implementing programs and 

15 services targeting runaway and homeless youth, 

16 youth in the foster care system, or youth in the juve17 nile justice system who are victims of domestic or 

18 dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking; 

19 (2) designing and implementing violence pre20 vention programs to provide education, awareness, 

21 and counseling to deter abusive behaviors and traits 

22 in youth dating relationships; 

23 (3) assessing and analyzing available services 

24 for youth victims of dating violence, determining 

25 barriers to such services, and developing communityVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:28 Feb 02, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789

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1 based, collaborative strategies to address such vio2 lence; and 

3 (4) providing preventative, rehabilitative, and 

4 other counseling services to youth victims and youth 

5 offenders of domestic violence, dating violence, sex6 ual assault, or stalking. 

7 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Each recipient of a grant 

8 under this Act— 

9 (1) shall use funds provided by such grant to 

10 ensure that program services developed, modified, 

11 and provided to youth victims and youth offenders 

12 of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 

13 or stalking are developed, modified, and provided 

14 with an understanding of and sensitivity to the lin15 guistic, cultural, social, racial, geographic, and eco16 nomic backgrounds of such youth; 

17 (2) shall ensure that victim services organiza18 tions, schools, and families impacted by youth dating 

19 violence are consulted in the development of the pro20 gram and activities to be carried out with such 

21 grant, and that such organizations, schools, and 

22 families have a significant role in evaluating the re23 sults of the program; 

24 (3) shall develop programs that exhibit collabo25 rative activities and training models to provide apVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:28 Feb 02, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H789.IH H789

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1 propriate resources, protection, and support to 

2 youth, and to their families, as needed; 

3 (4) may include mental health services for 

4 youth who have experienced domestic violence, dat5 ing violence, sexual assault, or stalking; 

6 (5) may include legal assistance and counseling 

7 for youth victims of domestic violence, dating vio8 lence, sexual assault, or stalking; and 

9 (6) shall not use more than 30 percent of the 

10 funds provided by such grant to provide childcare, 

11 transportation, educational support, respite care, 

12 and other indirect support services (excluding the 

13 services described in paragraphs (4) and (5)) to 

14 youth victims and youth offenders of domestic vio15 lence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. 

16 (c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this Act, 

17 the Attorney General shall give priority to eligible grant 

18 entities that have submitted applications in partnership 

19 with other community organizations and service providers 

20 that work primarily with youth, especially teens, and eligi21 ble grant entities that have demonstrated a commitment 

22 to coalition building and cooperative problem solving in 

23 dealing with problems of dating violence, domestic vio24 lence, sexual assault, and stalking in youth populations. 


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1 (d) GRANTEE REQUIREMENTS.—For the purpose of 

2 this Act, an eligible grant entity includes— 

3 (1) State, local, or tribal governments or agen4 cies focusing on at-risk youth; 

5 (2) nonprofit organizations providing services 

6 for runaway, homeless, or foster care youth, or 

7 youth in the juvenile justice system who have been 

8 victims of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual 

9 assault, or stalking; 

10 (3) nonprofit, community-based victim services 

11 organizations specializing in intervention or violence 

12 prevention services, youth batterer and offender 

13 treatment programs, teen parenting, or health and 

14 sex education services targeting youth; 

15 (4) faith-based organizations that focus on 

16 youth counseling and crime prevention; and 

17 (5) community-based, nonprofit organizations 

18 serving marginalized and at-risk youth. 

19 (e) EVALUATION AND REPORTING.—Each year for 

20 which an entity receives a grant under this Act, the entity 

21 shall submit to the Attorney General an annual report de22 tailing the activities carried out with such grant, including 

23 any additional information the Attorney General may re24 quire. 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORTING. 

2 For each fiscal year for which amounts are appro3 priated to carry out this Act, the Attorney General shall 

4 submit to the appropriate Congressional committees and 

5 make widely available, including through electronic means, 

6 summaries of the activities carried out by the entities re7 ceiving grants under this Act. 

8 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) DATING VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘dating vio11 lence’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

12 40002 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 

13 (42 U.S.C. 13925). 

14 (2) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘domestic 

15 violence’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

16 40002 of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 

17 (42 U.S.C. 13925). 

18 (3) STALKING.—The term ‘‘stalking’’ has the 

19 meaning given the term in section 40002 of the Vio20 lence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 

21 13925). 

22 (4) VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING

23 VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, OR STALKING.—The 

24 term ‘‘victim of domestic violence, dating violence, 

25 sexual assault, or stalking’’ includes— 


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1 (A) a person who has been a victim of do2 mestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 

3 or stalking; and 

4 (B) a person whose family member or 

5 household member has been a victim of domes6 tic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 

7 stalking. 

8 (5) VICTIM SERVICES ORGANIZATION.—The 

9 term ‘‘victim services organization’’ means a non10 profit, nongovernmental organization that provides 

11 assistance to victims of domestic violence, dating vio12 lence, sexual assault, or stalking, or to advocates for 

13 such victims, including a rape crisis center, an orga14 nization carrying out a domestic violence program, 

15 an organization operating a shelter or providing 

16 counseling services, or an organization providing as17 sistance through the legal process. 

18 (6) YOUTH.—The term ‘‘youth’’ means any in19 dividual age 11 to 25. 

20 (7) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT21 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate Congressional com22 mittees’’ means the Committee on the Judiciary of 

23 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

24 the Judiciary of the Senate. 


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1 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act, $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 

4 through 2015. Not more than 10 percent of funds appro5 priated to carry out this Act may be used for administra6 tion, monitoring and evaluation, or technical assistance. 

Æ 


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