I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 884

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the training of

health professions students with respect to the identification and referral

of victims of domestic violence.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 27, 1997

Mrs. MORELLA (for herself, Mr. SERRANO, and Mr. GANSKE) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for

the training of health professions students with respect

to the identification and referral of victims of domestic

violence.

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 ‘‘Domestic Violence

5 Identification and Referral Act of 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT, FOR CERTAIN HEALTH PROFES2 SIONS PROGRAMS, OF PROVISIONS REGARD3 ING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

4 (a) TITLE VII PROGRAMS; PREFERENCES IN FINAN5 CIAL AWARDS.—Section 791 of the Public Health Service

6 Act (42 U.S.C. 295j) is amended by redesignating sub7 section (c) as subsection (d), and by inserting after sub8 section (b) the following subsection:

9 ‘‘(c) PREFERENCES REGARDING TRAINING IN IDEN10 TIFICATION AND REFERRAL OF VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC

11 VIOLENCE.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a health pro13 fessions entity specified in paragraph (2), the Sec14 retary shall, in making awards of grants or contracts

15 under this title, give preference to any such entity

16 (if otherwise a qualified applicant for the award in17 volved) that has in effect the requirement that, as a

18 condition of receiving a degree or certificate (as ap19 plicable) from the entity, each student have had sig20 nificant training in carrying out the following func21 tions as a provider of health care:

22 ‘‘(A) Identifying victims of domestic vio23 lence, and maintaining complete medical

24 records that include documentation of the ex25 amination, treatment given, and referrals made,
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1 and recording the location and nature of the

2 victim’s injuries.

3 ‘‘(B) Examining and treating such victims,

4 within the scope of the health professional’s dis5 cipline, training, and practice, including, at a

6 minimum, providing medical advice regarding

7 the dynamics and nature of domestic violence.

8 ‘‘(C) Referring the victims to public and

9 nonprofit private entities that provide services

10 for such victims.

11 ‘‘(2) RELEVANT HEALTH PROFESSIONS ENTI12 TIES.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a health pro13 fessions entity specified in this paragraph is any en14 tity that is a school of medicine, a school of osteo15 pathic medicine, a graduate program in mental

16 health practice, a school of nursing (as defined in

17 section 853), a program for the training of physician

18 assistants, or a program for the training of allied

19 health professionals.

20 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2

21 years after the date of the enactment of the Domes22 tic Violence Identification and Referral Act of 1997,

23 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on

24 Commerce of the House of Representatives, and the

25 Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the
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1 Senate, a report specifying the health professions en2 tities that are receiving preference under paragraph

3 (1); the number of hours of training required by the

4 entities for purposes of such paragraph; the extent

5 of clinical experience so required; and the types of

6 courses through which the training is being pro7 vided.

8 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub9 section, the term ‘domestic violence’ includes behav10 ior commonly referred to as domestic violence, sexual

11 assault, spousal abuse, woman battering, partner

12 abuse, child abuse, elder abuse, and acquaintance

13 rape.’’.

14 (b) TITLE VIII PROGRAMS; PREFERENCES IN FI15 NANCIAL AWARDS.—Section 860 of the Public Health

16 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 298b–7) is amended by adding at

17 the end the following subsection:

18 ‘‘(f) PREFERENCES REGARDING TRAINING IN IDEN19 TIFICATION AND REFERRAL OF VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC

20 VIOLENCE.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a health pro22 fessions entity specified in paragraph (2), the Sec23 retary shall, in making awards of grants or contracts

24 under this title, give preference to any such entity
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1 (if otherwise a qualified applicant for the award in2 volved) that has in effect the requirement that, as a

3 condition of receiving a degree or certificate (as ap4 plicable) from the entity, each student have had sig5 nificant training in carrying out the following func6 tions as a provider of health care:

7 ‘‘(A) Identifying victims of domestic vio8 lence, and maintaining complete medical

9 records that include documentation of the ex10 amination, treatment given, and referrals made,

11 and recording the location and nature of the

12 victim’s injuries.

13 ‘‘(B) Examining and treating such victims,

14 within the scope of the health professional’s dis15 cipline, training, and practice, including, at a

16 minimum, providing medical advice regarding

17 the dynamics and nature of domestic violence.

18 ‘‘(C) Referring the victims to public and

19 nonprofit private entities that provide services

20 for such victims.

21 ‘‘(2) RELEVANT HEALTH PROFESSIONS ENTI22 TIES.—For purposes of paragraph (1), a health pro23 fessions entity specified in this paragraph is any en24 tity that is a school of nursing or other public or
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1 nonprofit private entity that is eligible to receive an

2 award described in such paragraph.

3 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2

4 years after the date of the enactment of the Domes5 tic Violence Identification and Referral Act of 1997,

6 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on

7 Commerce of the House of Representatives, and the

8 Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the

9 Senate, a report specifying the health professions en10 tities that are receiving preference under paragraph

11 (1); the number of hours of training required by the

12 entities for purposes of such paragraph; the extent

13 of clinical experience so required; and the types of

14 courses through which the training is being pro15 vided.

16 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub17 section, the term ‘domestic violence’ includes behav18 ior commonly referred to as domestic violence, sexual

19 assault, spousal abuse, woman battering, partner

20 abuse, child abuse, elder abuse, and acquaintance

21 rape.’’.

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