I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6268 

To establish an Interagency Task Force to examine the conditions and experiences of Black women and girls in education, economic development, 

healthcare, labor and employment, housing, justice and civil rights, to 

promote community-based methods for mitigating and addressing harm 

and ensuring accountability, and to study societal effects on Black women 

and girls, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 14, 2021 

Ms. KELLY of Illinois (for herself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 

FITZPATRICK, and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 

to the Committees on Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, and 

Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish an Interagency Task Force to examine the conditions and experiences of Black women and girls in 

education, economic development, healthcare, labor and 

employment, housing, justice and civil rights, to promote 

community-based methods for mitigating and addressing 

harm and ensuring accountability, and to study societal 

effects on Black women and girls, and for other purposes. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 6268 IH

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 ‘‘Protect Black Women 

5 and Girls Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) The United States Commission on Civil 

9 Rights (USCCR) advises Congress, as well as the 

10 President and the American public, on ‘‘discrimina11 tion or denials of equal protection of the laws under 

12 the Constitution of the United States because of 

13 color, race, religion, sex, age, disability, or national 

14 origin, or in the administration of justice’’. 

15 (2) The USCCR routinely has difficulties col16 lecting information from Federal agencies despite 

17 having the power to take depositions, issue interrog18 atories and subpoenas, and broad authority language 

19 for the collection of information from Federal agen20 cies. 

21 (3) The activities mandated herein for the 

22 USCCR are explicitly authorized by section 3 of the 

23 Civil Rights Commission Act of 1983 (42 U.S.C. 

24 1975a). 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (4) An interagency task force is a task force or2 ganized in collaboration with two or more Federal 

3 agencies, using government-wide resources, and ex4 pertise to— 

5 (A) examine a particular problem, issue, or 

6 event; 

7 (B) discuss strategies as a collective group 

8 to address such problem, issue, or event; 

9 (C) identify programs, policies, and fund10 ing; and 

11 (D) make recommendations for changes in 

12 public policy. 

13 (5) Black women and girls are individuals who 

14 identify as a woman, female, or femme. 

15 (6) Implicit bias on the basis of race is experi16 enced by all Black people, and demonstrated more 

17 clearly, in the troubling conditions for Black women 

18 and girls in our school discipline policies and the 

19 connections to the school-to-prison pipeline for chil20 dren of color with disabilities. 

21 (7) Black girls are suspended and expelled from 

22 school at rates that exceed other girls and all other 

23 boys except Black boys. 

24 (8) 40 percent of all suspected human traf25 ficking victims in the U.S. are Black, and Black 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 6268 IH

1 children account for nearly 51 percent of all juvenile 

2 prostitution arrests. 

3 (9) In studying the conditions of confinement 

4 for women in prison, Black women are admitted to 

5 prison at 3.9 times the rate of White women. 

6 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON BLACK WOMEN AND 

7 GIRLS. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, 

10 in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 

11 Services, shall establish an Interagency Task Force on 

12 Black women and girls (referred to in this Act as the 

13 ‘‘Task Force’’) to carry out the purposes and duties de14 scribed in subsections (c) and (d), in compliance with re15 quirements and restrictions under law, as applicable, in16 cluding those prohibiting discrimination on the basis of 

17 race and sex. 

18 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall consist of 

19 members appointed as follows: 

20 (1) The head of each of the following agencies 

21 shall appoint at least one officer or employee, but no 

22 more than two, from a relevant office of the fol23 lowing: 

24 (A) The Department of Health and 

25 Human Services. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (B) The Department of Education. 

2 (C) The Department of Labor. 

3 (D) The National Institutes of Health. 

4 (E) The Department of Justice. 

5 (F) The Department of Housing and 

6 Urban Development. 

7 (2) The Attorney General shall appoint the fol8 lowing: 

9 (A) One officer or employee of the Federal 

10 Public Defenders. 

11 (B) Two representatives of community12 based organizations that have expertise working 

13 on culturally specific issues unique to the needs 

14 of Black women and girls. 

15 (3) The term of a member of the Task Force 

16 shall be 4 years, and they shall be eligible for con17 secutive reappointment by the head of their respec18 tive agency or the Attorney General. 

19 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Task Force is to 

20 examine the conditions and experiences of Black women 

21 and girls, to identify and assess the efficacy of policies 

22 and programs of Federal, State, and local governments de23 signed to improve outcomes for Black women and girls, 

24 and to make recommendations to improve such policies 

25 and programs as necessary. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (d) DUTIES.—The duties of the Task Force are as 

2 follows: 

3 (1) EDUCATION.—The Task Force shall iden4 tify and recommend programs, policies, and incen5 tives for adoption by Federal, State, or local govern6 ments with respect to the following: 

7 (A) Community-led educational and sup8 port programs for Black school-age girls, which 

9 shall include the following: 

10 (i) Social and emotional learning pro11 grams offered in elementary and secondary 

12 schools to children in grades 7 through 12, 

13 including— 

14 (I) affinity spaces for particularly 

15 impacted students; and 

16 (II) facilitators trained in iden17 tity-based dialogue to attend to such 

18 an affinity space or social and emo19 tional learning program. 

20 (ii) Support for school-age girls who 

21 have a parent or guardian who is incarcer22 ated or has a substance use disorder. 

23 (iii) Support for a college scholarship 

24 fund and programs to increase access to 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 6268 IH

1 post-secondary education for children of in2 carcerated parents. 

3 (iv) Classroom and after school em4 powerment programs for Black girls. 

5 (v) Community-led civic engagement 

6 and community organizing education. 

7 (vi) Classroom and community-led art, 

8 theater, and STEM learning centers. 

9 (vii) School-based and community-led 

10 programs to eliminate the detention and 

11 incarceration of school-aged children. 

12 (viii) Household access to school-based 

13 communication technologies. 

14 (ix) School-based or community-based 

15 restorative justice programs to address ex16 pulsion of girls from school. 

17 (x) Curriculum, tutoring, and activi18 ties support for homeschooling and virtual 

19 learning families. 

20 (B) Community-led educational programs 

21 for Black women, including providing household 

22 access to information and communication tech23 nologies to narrow the digital divide and en24 hance access to higher education. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (C) School-based and neighborhood restor2 ative and transformative justice curriculums 

3 and spaces. 

4 (2) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.—The Task 

5 Force shall identify and recommend programs, poli6 cies, and incentives for adoption by Federal, State, 

7 or local governments with respect to the following: 

8 (A) Pre-apprenticeship and career explo9 ration programs for careers as skilled building 

10 tradeswomen. 

11 (B) Programs that award not less than 10 

12 percent of their yearly and multi-year contract 

13 dollars to Black women-owned businesses on an 

14 annual basis. 

15 (C) Entrepreneurship and cooperative busi16 ness training for Black women. 

17 (D) Incidental support for low income 

18 Black women workers. 

19 (E) Career mentorship for Black women. 

20 (F) Support for older Black women work21 ers to enter the workforce. 

22 (G) Support for Black women who leave 

23 the workforce to care for a dependent (such as 

24 an elderly relative or child) to re-enter the 

25 workforce after a significant absence. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (H) Increase in sustainable employment 

2 for women headed households. 

3 (I) Limitation of barriers to occupational 

4 licensure for Black women. 

5 (J) Establishment of vocational training 

6 and career technical education. 

7 (3) HEALTHCARE.—The Task Force shall iden8 tify and recommend programs, policies, and incen9 tives for adoption by Federal, State, or local govern10 ments with respect to the following: 

11 (A) Developing a study of the health, in12 cluding the mental health, of Black women and 

13 girls. 

14 (B) Programs to improve maternal health 

15 and infant mortality outcomes for Black moth16 ers. 

17 (C) Neighborhood-based, on demand men18 tal health and trauma services. 

19 (D) Gender-responsive domestic violence 

20 (including violence against an intimate partner) 

21 and interpersonal violence responders. 

22 (E) Local neighborhood safe houses. 

23 (F) Long-term, on demand, substance use 

24 disorder treatment. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (G) Neighborhood-based emergency re2 sponse teams for women and girls. 

3 (H) Access to comprehensive well-women 

4 care for Black women and girls, including local 

5 testing for mammograms, papsmears, and other 

6 medical testing. 

7 (I) Local neighborhood COVID–19 testing. 

8 (4) JUSTICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS.—The Task 

9 Force shall identify and recommend programs, poli10 cies, and incentives for adoption by Federal, State, 

11 or local governments with respect to the following: 

12 (A) Reentry assistance and reunification 

13 planning and community-based programming 

14 for women victims of the war on drugs, sexual, 

15 domestic, or intimate partner violence, mental 

16 illness, or substance abuse. 

17 (B) Programs for Black women and girls 

18 that promote the treatment of underlying prob19 lems instead of incarceration, including the ex20 pansion of the use of parole and diversion pro21 grams and preventing the incarceration of 

22 mothers who are primary caretakers of minor 

23 children. 

24 (C) Access to legal assistance provided by 

25 the Office on Violence Against Women of the 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 6268 IH

1 Department of Justice for child custody and pa2 rental termination proceedings. 

3 (D) Funding that enables communities to 

4 reimagine community-based programming. 

5 (E) Support for formerly incarcerated 

6 Black women, in collaboration with community7 led organizations. 

8 (F) Permitting formerly incarcerated and 

9 convicted women (not including incarceration or 

10 convictions for violent offenses, human traf11 ficking, or sex offenses) to be eligible to serve 

12 as a foster parent. 

13 (G) Judicial discretion in sentencing and 

14 procedures for resentencing. 

15 (H) Examination of policies to reform and 

16 limit laws requiring mandatory minimum sen17 tences. 

18 (I) Examination of vacatur and 

19 expungement laws for criminal offenses com20 mitted by victims of human and sex trafficking. 

21 (5) HOUSING.—The Task Force shall identify 

22 and recommend programs, policies, and incentives 

23 for adoption by Federal, State, or local governments 

24 with respect to the following: 

25 (A) Increasing access to the following: 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (i) Permanent and transitional hous2 ing for women with children, formerly in3 carcerated women, women with disabilities, 

4 and elderly women. 

5 (ii) Legal representation for women 

6 with children and the elderly facing evic7 tion. 

8 (iii) Homeownership assistance funds 

9 for Black women. 

10 (B) Increasing accessibility and availability 

11 of long-term neighborhood transitional and per12 manent supportive housing for Black women re13 entering the community following incarceration. 

14 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

16 thereafter, the Task Force shall submit to Congress a re17 port on— 

18 (1) the activities conducted under this section; 

19 and 

20 (2) the activities conducted under this section 

21 that are ongoing or are in continuation of existing 

22 Federal programs, including information on addi23 tional work undertaken in response to duties of the 

24 Task Force under subsection (d). 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (f) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than two years 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

3 thereafter, the Task Force shall submit to Congress, the 

4 President, and to each chief executive of a State or local 

5 government recommendations on policies, practices, pro6 grams, and incentives that may be adopted to improve out7 comes for Black women and girls. 

8 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS RE9 PORT ON ISSUES IMPACTING BLACK WOMEN 

10 AND GIRLS. 

11 (a) DUTIES.—Not later than one year after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

13 United States Commission on Civil Rights shall conduct 

14 a comprehensive study and collect data with respect to the 

15 effects on Black women and girls of the following: 

16 (1) The lack of contract opportunities with the 

17 Federal Government, for Black women. 

18 (2) The wage gap and pay equity for Black 

19 women in comparison to other individuals. 

20 (3) The high maternal mortality rate and the 

21 steps needed to reduce such rate. 

22 (4) The high infant mortality rate of Black 

23 girls. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (5) The impact of screening for breast cancer 

2 at an earlier age than 40 years of age for Black 

3 women. 

4 (6) The school-to-prison pipeline and its impact 

5 on Black women and girls. 

6 (7) Housing stability, homelessness, and access 

7 to affordable rental housing and home loans for 

8 Black women. 

9 (8) The prevalence and rate of violence against 

10 Black women and girls, including Black transgender 

11 women and girls, and the effect of prevention strate12 gies, barriers to service, and increased lethality for 

13 these individuals. 

14 (9) Excessive use of force by law enforcement, 

15 including where death results, against Black women 

16 and girls, including Black transgender women and 

17 girls. 

18 (10) The over-incarceration of Black women 

19 and girls, including Black transgender women and 

20 girls, in the juvenile and adult justice system. 

21 (11) Restoring Federal parole. 

22 (12) Establishing a moratorium on building 

23 new women’s prisons or jails. 

24 (13) Ending contracts for private prisons and 

25 electronic monitoring. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
15 

•HR 6268 IH

1 (14) Repealing of the Adoption Safe Families 

2 Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–89; 111 Stat. 2115). 

3 (15) Repealing any policy or law that creates 

4 barriers to housing or precludes formerly incarcer5 ated people from living with family members in pub6 lic or private housing. 

7 (16) Neighborhood family reunification support. 

8 (17) The high rate of sex trafficking of Black 

9 women and girls, and the impact of State vacatur 

10 and expungement laws for victims of human and sex 

11 trafficking. 

12 (18) Any additional items described in section 

13 3(d) that the Commission determines appropriate. 

14 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

15 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

16 United States Commission on Civil Rights shall submit to 

17 Congress, the President, and make publicly available on18 line, a report outlining the Commission’s activities and 

19 findings under subsection (a). 

20 (c) INFORMATION SHARING.—All relevant entities of 

21 the United States Government, including the Department 

22 of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Serv23 ices, the Department of Education, the Department of 

24 Labor, and the National Institutes of Health, shall provide 

25 information to the United States Commission on Civil 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
16 

•HR 6268 IH

1 Rights in order for the Commission to carry out its duties 

2 under this section. 

3 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

5 may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS