II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3668 

To create a grant program for collaboration programs that ensure coordination among criminal justice agencies, adult protective services agencies, 

victim assistance programs, and other agencies or organizations providing 

services to individuals with disabilities in the investigation and response 

to abuse of or crimes committed against such individuals. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 1 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Mr. BIDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To create a grant program for collaboration programs that 

ensure coordination among criminal justice agencies, 

adult protective services agencies, victim assistance programs, and other agencies or organizations providing 

services to individuals with disabilities in the investigation and response to abuse of or crimes committed 

against such individuals. 

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 Act of 2008’’. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

2 

•S 3668 IS

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Adults with disabilities experience violence 

4 or abuse at least twice as often as people without 

5 disabilities, and adults with developmental disabil6 ities are at risk of being physically or sexually as7 saulted at rates four to ten times greater than other 

8 adults. 

9 (2) Individuals with disabilities suffer from ad10 ditional ‘‘victimization’’ within the justice system, 

11 due to lack of physical, programmatic, and commu12 nications accommodations needed for equal access. 

13 (3) Women with disabilities are more likely to 

14 be victimized, to experience more severe and pro15 longed violence, and to suffer more serious and 

16 chronic effects from that violence, than women with17 out such disabilities. 

18 (4) Sixty-eight to 83 percent of women with de19 velopmental disabilities will be sexually assaulted in 

20 their lifetime. 

21 (5) An estimated 5,000,000 crimes are com22 mitted against individuals with developmental dis23 abilities annually. 

24 (6) Over 70 percent of crimes committed 

25 against individuals with developmental disabilities 

26 are not reported. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

3 

•S 3668 IS

1 (7) Studies in the United States, Canada, Aus2 tralia, and Great Britain consistently show that vic3 tims with developmental disabilities suffer repeated 

4 victimization because so few of the crimes against 

5 them are reported. 

6 (8) The National Crime Victims Survey con7 ducted annually by the Bureau of Justice Statistics 

8 of the Department of Justice, does not specifically 

9 collect data relating to crimes against individuals 

10 with developmental disabilities, nor do they use dis11 ability as a demographic variable as they use other 

12 important demographic variables, such as gender, 

13 age, and racial and ethnic membership. 

14 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The purpose of this Act is to in16 crease the awareness, investigation, prosecution, and pre17 vention of crimes against individuals with a disability, in18 cluding developmental disabilities, and improve services to 

19 those who are victimized, by facilitating collaboration 

20 among the criminal justice system and a range of agencies 

21 and other organizations that provide services to individ22 uals with disabilities. 

23 (b) NEED FOR COLLABORATION.—Collaboration 

24 among the criminal justice system and agencies and other 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

4 

•S 3668 IS

1 organizations that provide services to individuals with dis2 abilities is needed to— 

3 (1) protect individuals with disabilities by en4 suring that crimes are reported, and that reported 

5 crimes are actively investigated by both law enforce6 ment agencies and agencies and other organizations 

7 that provide services to individuals with disabilities; 

8 (2) provide prosecutors and victim assistance 

9 organizations with adequate training to ensure that 

10 crimes against individuals with disabilities are ap11 propriately and effectively addressed in court; 

12 (3) identify and ensure that appropriate reason13 able accommodations are provided to individuals 

14 with disabilities in a safe and conducive environ15 ment, allowing crimes to be reported accurately to 

16 law enforcement agencies; and 

17 (4) promote communication among criminal 

18 justice agencies, and agencies and other organiza19 tions that provide services to individuals with dis20 abilities, including Victim Assistance Organizations, 

21 to ensure that the needs of crime victims with dis22 abilities are met. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

5 

•S 3668 IS

1 SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CRIME VICTIMS WITH 

2 DISABILITIES COLLABORATION PROGRAM. 

3 The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

4 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following: 

6 ‘‘PART JJ—GRANTS TO RESPOND TO CRIMES 

7 AGAINST INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES 

8 ‘‘SEC. 3001. CRIME VICTIMS WITH DISABILITIES COLLABO9 RATION PROGRAM GRANTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘applicant’ means 

12 a State, unit of local government, Indian tribe, or 

13 tribal organization that applies for a grant under 

14 this section. 

15 ‘‘(2) COLLABORATION PROGRAM.—The term 

16 ‘collaboration program’ means a program to ensure 

17 coordination between or among a criminal justice 

18 agency, an adult protective services agency, a victim 

19 assistance organization, and an agency or other or20 ganization that provides services to individuals with 

21 disabilities, including but not limited to individuals 

22 with developmental disabilities, to address crimes 

23 committed against individuals with disabilities and 

24 to provide services to individuals with disabilities 

25 who are victims of crimes. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

6 

•S 3668 IS

1 ‘‘(3) CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCY.—The term 

2 ‘criminal justice agency’ means an agency of a 

3 State, unit of local government, Indian tribe, or trib4 al organization that is responsible for detection, in5 vestigation, arrest, enforcement, adjudication, or in6 carceration relating to the violation of the criminal 

7 laws of that State, unit of local government, Indian 

8 tribe, or tribal organization, or an agency contracted 

9 to provide such services. 

10 ‘‘(4) ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES AGENCY.— 

11 The term ‘adult protective services agency’ means an 

12 agency that provides adult protective services to 

13 adults with disabilities, such as the protection and 

14 advocacy systems established under section 143 of 

15 the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of 

16 Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15043), including— 

17 ‘‘(A) receiving reports of abuse, neglect, or 

18 exploitation; 

19 ‘‘(B) investigating the reports described in 

20 subparagraph (A); 

21 ‘‘(C) case planning, monitoring, evaluation, 

22 and other casework and services; and 

23 ‘‘(D) providing, arranging for, or facili24 tating the provision of medical, social service, 

25 economic, legal, housing, law enforcement, or 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

7 

•S 3668 IS

1 other protective, emergency, or support services 

2 for adults with disabilities. 

3 ‘‘(5) DAY PROGRAM.—The term ‘day program’ 

4 means a government or privately funded program 

5 that provides care, supervision, social opportunities, 

6 or jobs to individuals with disabilities. 

7 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT.—The term ‘im8 plementation grant’ means a grant under subsection 

9 (e). 

10 ‘‘(7) INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.—The 

11 term ‘individuals with disabilities’ means individ12 uals— 

13 ‘‘(A) 18 years of age or older; and 

14 ‘‘(B) who have a developmental, cognitive, 

15 physical, or other disability that results in sub16 stantial functional limitations in one or more of 

17 the following areas of major life activity: 

18 ‘‘(i) Self-care. 

19 ‘‘(ii) Receptive and expressive lan20 guage. 

21 ‘‘(iii) Learning. 

22 ‘‘(iv) Mobility. 

23 ‘‘(v) Self-direction. 

24 ‘‘(vi) Capacity for independent living. 

25 ‘‘(vii) Economic self-sufficiency. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

8 

•S 3668 IS

1 ‘‘(viii) Cognitive functioning. 

2 ‘‘(ix) Emotional adjustment. 

3 ‘‘(8) PLANNING GRANT.—The term ‘planning 

4 grant’ means a grant under subsection (f). 

5 ‘‘(9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

6 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

7 ‘‘(10) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The 

8 term ‘unit of local government’ means any city, 

9 county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or 

10 other general purpose political subdivision of a 

11 State. 

12 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION.—In consultation with the Sec13 retary, the Attorney General may make grants to appli14 cants to prepare a comprehensive plan for or to implement 

15 a collaboration program that provides for— 

16 ‘‘(1) the investigation and remediation of in17 stances of abuse of or crimes committed against in18 dividuals with disabilities; or 

19 ‘‘(2) the provision of services to individuals with 

20 disabilities who are the victims of a crime or abuse. 

21 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant under this section 

22 shall be used for a collaborative program that— 

23 ‘‘(1) receives reports of abuse of individuals 

24 with disabilities or crimes committed against such 

25 individuals; 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

9 

•S 3668 IS

1 ‘‘(2) investigates and evaluates reports of abuse 

2 of or crimes committed against individuals with dis3 abilities; 

4 ‘‘(3) visits the homes or other locations of 

5 abuse, and, if applicable, the day programs of indi6 viduals with disabilities who have been victims of 

7 abuse or a crime for purposes of, among other 

8 things, assessing the scene of the abuse and evalu9 ating the condition and needs of the victim; 

10 ‘‘(4) identifies the individuals responsible for 

11 the abuse of or crimes committed against individuals 

12 with disabilities; 

13 ‘‘(5) remedies issues identified during an inves14 tigation described in paragraph (2); 

15 ‘‘(6) prosecutes the perpetrator, where appro16 priate, of any crime identified during an investiga17 tion described in paragraph (2); 

18 ‘‘(7) provides services to and enforces statutory 

19 rights of individuals with disabilities who are the vic20 tims of a crime; and 

21 ‘‘(8) develops curricula and provides inter22 disciplinary training for prosecutors, criminal justice 

23 agencies, protective service agencies, victims assist24 ance agencies, educators, community based providers 

25 and health, mental health, and allied health profesmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

10 

•S 3668 IS

1 sionals in the area of disabilities, including develop2 mental disabilities. 

3 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a planning grant 

5 or an implementation grant, an applicant shall sub6 mit an application to the Attorney General at such 

7 time, in such manner, and containing such informa8 tion as the Attorney General, in consultation with 

9 the Secretary, may reasonably require, in addition to 

10 the information required by subsection (e)(1) or 

11 (f)(1), respectively. 

12 ‘‘(2) COMBINED PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTA13 TION GRANT APPLICATION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, 

15 in consultation with the Secretary, shall develop 

16 a procedure allowing an applicant to submit a 

17 single application requesting both a planning 

18 grant and an implementation grant. 

19 ‘‘(B) CONDITIONAL GRANT.—The award of 

20 an implementation grant to an applicant sub21 mitting an application under subparagraph (A) 

22 shall be conditioned on successful completion of 

23 the activities funded under the planning grant, 

24 if applicable. 

25 ‘‘(e) PLANNING GRANTS.— 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

11 

•S 3668 IS

1 ‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS.—An application for a 

2 planning grant shall include, at a minimum— 

3 ‘‘(A) a budget; 

4 ‘‘(B) a budget justification; 

5 ‘‘(C) a description of the outcome meas6 ures that will be used to measure the effective7 ness of the program; 

8 ‘‘(D) a schedule for completing the activi9 ties proposed in the application; 

10 ‘‘(E) a description of the personnel nec11 essary to complete activities proposed in the ap12 plication; and 

13 ‘‘(F) provide assurances that program ac14 tivities and locations are and will be in compli15 ance with section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 

16 of 1973 throughout the grant period. 

17 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF GRANT.—A planning grant 

18 shall be made for a period of 1 year, beginning on 

19 the first day of the month in which the planning 

20 grant is made. 

21 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT.—The amount of planning grant 

22 shall not exceed $50,000, except that the Attorney 

23 General may, for good cause, approve a grant in a 

24 higher amount. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

12 

•S 3668 IS

1 ‘‘(4) LIMIT ON NUMBER.—The Attorney Gen2 eral, in consultation with the Secretary, shall not 

3 make more than one such planning grant to any 

4 State, unit of local government, Indian tribe, or trib5 al organization. 

6 ‘‘(f) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT APPLICA8 TIONS.—An application for an implementation grant 

9 shall include the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) COLLABORATION.—An application for 

11 an implementation grant shall— 

12 ‘‘(i) identify not fewer than one crimi13 nal justice enforcement agency or adult 

14 protective services organization and not 

15 fewer than one agency, crime victim assist16 ance program, or other organization that 

17 provides services to individuals with dis18 abilities, such as the protection and advo19 cacy systems established under section 143 

20 of the Developmental Disabilities Assist21 ance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 

22 U.S.C. 15043), that will participate in the 

23 collaborative program; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) describe the responsibilities of 

25 each participating agency or organization, 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

13 

•S 3668 IS

1 including how each agency or organization 

2 will use grant funds to facilitate improved 

3 responses to reports of abuse and crimes 

4 committed against individuals with disabil5 ities. 

6 ‘‘(B) GUIDELINES.—An application for an 

7 implementation grant shall describe the guide8 lines that will be developed for personnel of a 

9 criminal justice agency, adult protective services 

10 organization, crime victim assistance program, 

11 and agencies or other organizations responsible 

12 for services provided to individuals with disabil13 ities to carry out the goals of the collaborative 

14 program. 

15 ‘‘(C) FINANCIAL.—An application for an 

16 implementation grant shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) explain why the applicant is un18 able to fund the collaboration program 

19 adequately without Federal funds; 

20 ‘‘(ii) specify how the Federal funds 

21 provided will be used to supplement, and 

22 not supplant, the funding that would oth23 erwise be available from the State, unit of 

24 local government, Indian tribe, or tribal or25 ganization; and 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

14 

•S 3668 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) outline plans for obtaining nec2 essary support and continuing the pro3 posed collaboration program following the 

4 conclusion of the grant under this section. 

5 ‘‘(D) OUTCOMES.—An application for an 

6 implementation grant shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) identify the methodology and out8 come measures, as required by the Attor9 ney General, in consultation with the Sec10 retary, for evaluating the effectiveness of 

11 the collaboration program, which may in12 clude— 

13 ‘‘(I) the number and type of 

14 agencies participating in the collabo15 ration; 

16 ‘‘(II) any trends in the number 

17 and type of cases referred for multi18 disciplinary case review; 

19 ‘‘(III) any trends in the timeli20 ness of law enforcement review of re21 ported cases of violence against indi22 viduals with a disability; and 

23 ‘‘(IV) the number of persons re24 ceiving training by type of agency; 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

15 

•S 3668 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) describe the mechanisms of any 

2 existing system to capture data necessary 

3 to evaluate the effectiveness of the collabo4 ration program, consistent with the meth5 odology and outcome measures described 

6 in clause (i) and including, where possible, 

7 data regarding— 

8 ‘‘(I) the number of cases referred 

9 by the adult protective services agen10 cy, or other relevant agency, to law 

11 enforcement for review; 

12 ‘‘(II) the number of charges filed 

13 and percentage of cases with charges 

14 filed as a result of such referrals; 

15 ‘‘(III) the period of time between 

16 reports of violence against individuals 

17 with disabilities and law enforcement 

18 review; and 

19 ‘‘(IV) the number of cases result20 ing in criminal prosecution, and the 

21 result of each such prosecution; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) include an agreement from any 

23 participating or affected agency or organi24 zation to provide the data described in 

25 clause (ii). 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

16 

•S 3668 IS

1 ‘‘(E) FORM OF DATA.—The Attorney Gen2 eral, in consultation with the Secretary, shall 

3 promulgate and supply a common electronic re4 porting form or other standardized mechanism 

5 for reporting of data required under this sec6 tion. 

7 ‘‘(F) COLLABORATION SET ASIDE.—Not 

8 less than 5 percent and not more than 10 per9 cent of the funds provided under an implemen10 tation grant shall be set aside to procure tech11 nical assistance from any recognized State 

12 model program or from a recognized national 

13 organization, as determined by the Attorney 

14 General (in consultation with the Secretary), in15 cluding the National District Attorneys Associa16 tion and the National Adult Protective Services 

17 Association. 

18 ‘‘(G) OTHER PROGRAMS.—An applicant for 

19 an implementation grant shall describe the rela20 tionship of the collaboration program to any 

21 other program of a criminal justice agency or 

22 other agencies or organizations providing serv23 ices to individuals with disabilities of the State, 

24 unit of local government, Indian tribe, or tribal 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

17 

•S 3668 IS

1 organization applying for an implementation 

2 grant. 

3 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF GRANT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An implementation 

5 grant shall be made for a period of 2 years, be6 ginning on the first day of the month in which 

7 the implementation grant is made. 

8 ‘‘(B) RENEWAL.—An implementation 

9 grant may be renewed for one additional period 

10 of 2 years, if the applicant submits to the At11 torney General and the Secretary a detailed ex12 planation of why additional funds are nec13 essary. 

14 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT.—An implementation grant shall 

15 not exceed $300,000. 

16 ‘‘(g) EVALUATION OF PROGRAM EFFICACY.— 

17 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Attorney General, 

18 in consultation with the Secretary, shall establish a 

19 national center to evaluate the overall effectiveness 

20 of the collaboration programs funded under this sec21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The national center 

23 established under paragraph (1) shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) analyze information and data sup25 plied by grantees under this section; and 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

18 

•S 3668 IS

1 ‘‘(B) submit an annual report to the Attor2 ney General and the Secretary that evaluates 

3 the number and rate of change of reporting, in4 vestigation, and prosecution of charges of a 

5 crime or abuse against individuals with disabil6 ities. 

7 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General 

8 may use not more than $500,000 of amounts made 

9 available under subsection (h) to carry out this sub10 section. 

11 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of 

13 Justice to carry out this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; and 

15 ‘‘(2) such sums as are necessary for each of fis16 cal years 2010 through 2015.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. RESEARCH GRANT AND REPORT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The purpose of this section is to 

19 provide for research to assist the Attorney General in col20 lecting valid, reliable national data relating to crimes 

21 against individuals with developmental and related disabil22 ities for the National Crime Victims Survey conducted by 

23 the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the Department of Jus24 tice as required by the Crime Victims with Disabilities 

25 Awareness Act. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

19 

•S 3668 IS

1 (b) NATIONAL INTERDISCIPLINARY ADVISORY COUN2 CIL.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

5 Health and Human Services shall establish a na6 tional interdisciplinary advisory council (referred to 

7 in this section as the ‘‘advisory council’’), that in8 cludes individuals with disabilities, which shall pro9 vide input into the methodologies used to collect 

10 valid, reliable national data on crime victims with 

11 developmental and related disabilities, participate in 

12 reviewing the data collected through the research 

13 grant program, and assist in writing the final report. 

14 (2) RECOMMENDED METHODOLOGY.—Not later 

15 than 6 months after the establishment of the advi16 sory council, the advisory council shall provide to the 

17 Secretary of Health and Human Services its rec18 ommended methodology for collecting incidence data 

19 on violence against people with developmental and 

20 related disabilities. 

21 (c) RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAM.—Not later than 12 

22 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

23 Secretary of Health and Human Services shall— 

24 (1) review the methodology developed by the ad25 visory council related to collecting incidence data on 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

20 

•S 3668 IS

1 violence against people with developmental and re2 lated disabilities; and 

3 (2) based on such review, shall award grants in 

4 accordance with this section to eligible recipients, to 

5 collect valid, reliable national data on crime victims 

6 with developmental and related disabilities that can 

7 be validly compared to data from the National Crime 

8 Victims Survey. 

9 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 

10 Secretary of Health and Human Services awards the re11 search grants under subsection (c), the advisory council 

12 shall review the data eligible recipients of the grants col13 lected and write a report to be presented to the Secretary 

14 of Health and Human Services, the Attorney General, and 

15 the Bureau of Justice Statistics. 

16 (e) DEFINITIONS.— 

17 (1) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

18 recipient’’ means— 

19 (A) a State agency; 

20 (B) a private, nonprofit organization; 

21 (C) a University Center for Excellence in 

22 Developmental Disabilities; or 

23 (D) any public entity that has a dem24 onstrated ability to— 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

21 

•S 3668 IS

1 (i) collaborate with criminal justice, 

2 child welfare, and other agencies and orga3 nizations that provide services to individ4 uals with disabilities, including victim as5 sistance and violence prevention organiza6 tions, to ensure that incidence data can be 

7 aggregated to accurately show the inci8 dence of abuse of individuals with disabil9 ities nationally; and 

10 (ii) conduct research and collect data 

11 to measure the extent of the problem of 

12 crimes against individuals with develop13 mental and related disabilities, including— 

14 (I) understanding the nature and 

15 extent of crimes against individuals 

16 with developmental and related dis17 abilities, including domestic violence 

18 and all types of abuse; 

19 (II) describing the manner in 

20 which the justice system responds to 

21 crimes against individuals with devel22 opmental and related disabilities; and 

23 (III) identifying programs, poli24 cies, or laws that hold promises for 

25 making the justice system more remstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

22 

•S 3668 IS

1 sponsive to crimes against individuals 

2 with developmental and related dis3 abilities. 

4 (2) DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.—The term 

5 ‘‘developmental disabilities’’ has the meaning given 

6 that term in section 102(8) of the Developmental 

7 Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 

8 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15002(8)). 

9 (3) RELATED DISABILITIES.—The term ‘‘re10 lated disabilities’’ means autism spectrum disorders, 

11 cerebral palsy, spina bifida, epilepsy, traumatic brain 

12 injury, or other lifelong disabilities that are acquired 

13 prior to the age of 21. 

14 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

16 $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012. 

Æ 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS