I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 649 

To authorize the Office on Violence Against Women to improve the handling 

of crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by incorporating a trauma-informed approach into the initial response 

to and investigation of such crimes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2021 

Mr. EMMER (for himself, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. HAGEDORN, Mrs. 

FISCHBACH, Ms. OMAR, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. PHILLIPS, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. 

RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. 

STANTON, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. RYAN, and Mr. STAUBER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize the Office on Violence Against Women to improve the handling of crimes of domestic violence, dating 

violence, sexual assault, and stalking by incorporating 

a trauma-informed approach into the initial response to 

and investigation of such crimes. 

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 ‘‘Abby Honold Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON TRAUMA-IN2 FORMED TRAINING FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

4 (1) the term ‘‘Attorney General’’ means the At5 torney General, acting through the Director of the 

6 Office on Violence Against Women; 

7 (2) the term ‘‘covered individual’’ means an in8 dividual who interfaces with victims of domestic vio9 lence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, 

10 including— 

11 (A) an individual working for or on behalf 

12 of an eligible entity; 

13 (B) a school or university administrator; 

14 and 

15 (C) an emergency services or medical em16 ployee; 

17 (3) the term ‘‘demonstration site’’, with respect 

18 to an eligible entity that receives a grant under this 

19 section, means— 

20 (A) if the eligible entity is a law enforce21 ment agency described in paragraph (4)(A), the 

22 area over which the eligible entity has jurisdic23 tion; and 

24 (B) if the eligible entity is an organization 

25 or agency described in paragraph (4)(B), the 

26 area over which a law enforcement agency deVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H649.IH H649

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1 scribed in paragraph (4)(A) that is working in 

2 collaboration with the eligible entity has juris3 diction; and 

4 (4) the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— 

5 (A) a State, local, territorial, or Tribal law 

6 enforcement agency; or 

7 (B) a national, regional, or local victim 

8 services organization or agency working in col9 laboration with a law enforcement agency de10 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

11 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

13 award grants on a competitive basis to eligible enti14 ties to carry out the demonstration program under 

15 this section by implementing evidence-based or 

16 promising policies and practices to incorporate trau17 ma-informed techniques designed to— 

18 (A) prevent re-traumatization of the vic19 tim; 

20 (B) ensure that covered individuals use evi21 dence-based practices to respond to and inves22 tigate cases of domestic violence, dating vio23 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; 

24 (C) improve communication between vic25 tims and law enforcement officers in an effort 


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1 to increase the likelihood of the successful in2 vestigation and prosecution of the reported 

3 crime in a manner that protects the victim to 

4 the greatest extent possible; 

5 (D) increase collaboration among stake6 holders who are part of the coordinated commu7 nity response to domestic violence, dating vio8 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; and 

9 (E) evaluate the effectiveness of the train10 ing process and content by measuring— 

11 (i) investigative and prosecutorial 

12 practices and outcomes; and 

13 (ii) the well-being of victims and their 

14 satisfaction with the criminal justice proc15 ess. 

16 (2) TERM.—The Attorney General shall make 

17 grants under this section for each of the first 2 fis18 cal years beginning after the date of enactment of 

19 this Act. 

20 (3) AWARD BASIS.—The Attorney General shall 

21 award grants under this section to multiple eligible 

22 entities for use in a variety of settings and commu23 nities, including— 

24 (A) urban, suburban, Tribal, remote, and 

25 rural areas; 


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1 (B) college campuses; or 

2 (C) traditionally underserved communities. 

3 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

4 a grant under this section shall use the grant to— 

5 (1) train covered individuals within the dem6 onstration site of the eligible entity to use evidence7 based, trauma-informed techniques and knowledge of 

8 crime victims’ rights throughout an investigation 

9 into domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as10 sault, or stalking, including by— 

11 (A) conducting victim interviews in a man12 ner that— 

13 (i) elicits valuable information about 

14 the domestic violence, dating violence, sex15 ual assault, or stalking; and 

16 (ii) avoids re-traumatization of the 

17 victim; 

18 (B) conducting field investigations that 

19 mirror best and promising practices available at 

20 the time of the investigation; 

21 (C) customizing investigative approaches to 

22 ensure a culturally and linguistically appro23 priate approach to the community being served; 

24 (D) becoming proficient in understanding 

25 and responding to complex cases, including 


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1 cases of domestic violence, dating violence, sex2 ual assault, or stalking— 

3 (i) facilitated by alcohol or drugs; 

4 (ii) involving strangulation; 

5 (iii) committed by a non-stranger; 

6 (iv) committed by an individual of the 

7 same sex as the victim; 

8 (v) involving a victim with a disability; 

9 (vi) involving a male victim; or 

10 (vii) involving a lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

11 or transgender (commonly referred to as 

12 ‘‘LGBT’’) victim; 

13 (E) developing collaborative relationships 

14 between— 

15 (i) law enforcement officers and other 

16 members of the response team; and 

17 (ii) the community being served; and 

18 (F) developing an understanding of how to 

19 define, identify, and correctly classify a report 

20 of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as21 sault, or stalking; and 

22 (2) promote the efforts of the eligible entity to 

23 improve the response of covered individuals to do24 mestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 

25 stalking through various communication channels, 


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1 such as the website of the eligible entity, social 

2 media, print materials, and community meetings, in 

3 order to ensure that all covered individuals within 

4 the demonstration site of the eligible entity are 

5 aware of those efforts and included in trainings, to 

6 the extent practicable. 

7 (d) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM TRAININGS ON

8 TRAUMA-INFORMED APPROACHES.— 

9 (1) IDENTIFICATION OF EXISTING

10 TRAININGS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

12 shall identify trainings for law enforcement offi13 cers, in existence as of the date on which the 

14 Attorney General begins to solicit applications 

15 for grants under this section, that— 

16 (i) employ a trauma-informed ap17 proach to domestic violence, dating vio18 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; and 

19 (ii) focus on the fundamentals of— 

20 (I) trauma responses; and 

21 (II) the impact of trauma on vic22 tims of domestic violence, dating vio23 lence, sexual assault, and stalking. 

24 (B) SELECTION.—An eligible entity that 

25 receives a grant under this section shall select 


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1 one or more of the approaches employed by a 

2 training identified under subparagraph (A) to 

3 test within the demonstration site of the eligible 

4 entity. 

5 (2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out para6 graph (1), the Attorney General shall consult with 

7 the Director of the Office for Victims of Crime in 

8 order to seek input from and cultivate consensus 

9 among outside practitioners and other stakeholders 

10 through facilitated discussions and focus groups on 

11 best practices in the field of trauma-informed care 

12 for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sex13 ual assault, and stalking. 

14 (e) EVALUATION.—The Attorney General, in con15 sultation with the Director of the National Institute of 

16 Justice, shall require each eligible entity that receives a 

17 grant under this section to identify a research partner, 

18 preferably a local research partner, to— 

19 (1) design a system for generating and col20 lecting the appropriate data to facilitate an inde21 pendent process or impact evaluation of the use of 

22 the grant funds; 

23 (2) periodically conduct an evaluation described 

24 in paragraph (1); and 


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1 (3) periodically make publicly available, during 

2 the grant period— 

3 (A) preliminary results of the evaluations 

4 conducted under paragraph (2); and 

5 (B) recommendations for improving the 

6 use of the grant funds. 

7 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—The At8 torney General shall carry out this section using amounts 

9 otherwise available to the Attorney General. 

10 (g) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

11 shall be construed to interfere with the due process rights 

12 of any individual. 

Æ 


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