I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 871

To provide rental assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing

Act of 1937 for victims of domestic violence to enable such victims to relocate.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 27, 1997

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. JACKSON-LEE

of Texas, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. OBERSTAR,

Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. FROST, Ms. PELOSI, Mr.

DEFAZIO, and Ms. SLAUGHTER) introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To provide rental assistance under section 8 of the United

States Housing Act of 1937 for victims of domestic

violence to enable such victims to relocate.

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 Vic5 tims Housing Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 The budget authority under section 5(c) of the

8 United States Housing Act of 1937 for assistance under
2

•HR 871 IH

1 subsections (b) and (o) of section 8 of such Act is author2 ized to be increased by $50,000,000 on or after October

3 1, 1997 and by such sums as may be necessary on or after

4 October 1, 1998.

5 SEC. 3. USE OF AMOUNTS FOR HOUSING ASSISTANCE FOR

6 VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Amounts available pursuant to

8 section 2 shall be made available by the Secretary of Hous9 ing and Urban Development only to public housing agen10 cies and qualified nonprofit organizations only for use for

11 providing tenant-based rental assistance on behalf of fami12 lies victimized by domestic violence (as such term is de13 fined in section 4 of this Act) who have left or are leaving

14 a residence as a result of the domestic violence.

15 (b) DETERMINATION.—For purposes of subsection

16 (a), a family victimized by domestic violence shall be con17 sidered to have left or to be leaving a residence as a result

18 of domestic violence if the public housing agency or quali19 fied nonprofit organization providing rental assistance

20 under this Act determines that the member of the family

21 who was subject to the domestic violence reasonably be22 lieves that relocation from such residence will assist in

23 avoiding future domestic violence against such member or

24 another member of the family.
3

•HR 871 IH

1 (c) ALLOCATION.—Amounts made available pursuant

2 to section 2 shall be allocated by the Secretary on the basis

3 of a national competition to the public housing agencies

4 and qualified nonprofit organizations that submit applica5 tions to the Secretary that best demonstrate a need for

6 such assistance and the ability to undertake and carry out

7 a program under this Act, as the Secretary shall deter8 mine.

9 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS RELATING TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

10 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions

11 shall apply:

12 (1) ABUSE.—The term ‘‘abuse’’ includes any

13 act that constitutes or causes, any attempt to com14 mit, or any threat to commit—

15 (A) any bodily injury or physical illness,

16 including placing, by physical menace, another

17 in fear of imminent serious bodily injury;

18 (B) any rape, sexual assault, or involun19 tary sexual activity, or any sexual activity with

20 a dependent child;

21 (C) the infliction of false imprisonment or

22 other nonconsensual restraints on liberty of

23 movement;

24 (D) deprivation of medical care, housing,

25 food, or other necessities of life; or
4

•HR 871 IH

1 (E) mental or psychological abuse, includ2 ing repeated or severe humiliation, intimidation,

3 criticism, acts designed to induce terror, or

4 verbal abuse.

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

6 violence’’ means abuse that is committed against an

7 individual by—

8 (A) a spouse or former spouse of the indi9 vidual;

10 (B) an individual who is the biological par11 ent or stepparent of a child of the individual

12 subject to the abuse, who adopted such child, or

13 who is a legal guardian to such a child;

14 (C) an individual with whom the individual

15 subject to the abuse is or was cohabiting;

16 (D) a current or former romantic, inti17 mate, or sexual partner of the individual; or

18 (E) an individual from whom the individ19 ual subject to the abuse would be eligible for

20 protection under the domestic violence, protec21 tion order, or family laws of the applicable ju22 risdiction.

23 (3) FAMILY VICTIMIZED BY DOMESTIC VIO24 LENCE.—
5

•HR 871 IH

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘family vic2 timized by domestic violence’’ means a family or

3 household that includes an individual who has

4 been determined under subparagraph (B) to

5 have been subject to domestic violence, but does

6 not include any individual described in para7 graph (3) who committed the domestic violence.

8 The term includes any such family or household

9 in which only a minor or minors are the individ10 ual or individuals who was or were subject to

11 domestic violence only if such family or house12 hold also includes a parent, stepparent, legal

13 guardian, or other responsible caretaker for the

14 child.

15 (B) DETERMINATION THAT FAMILY OR IN16 DIVIDUAL WAS SUBJECT TO DOMESTIC VIO17 LENCE.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), a

18 determination under this subparagraph is a de19 termination that domestic violence has been

20 committed, which is made by any agency or of21 ficial of a State or unit of general local govern22 ment (including a public housing agency) based

23 upon—
6

•HR 871 IH

1 (i) information provided by any medi2 cal, legal, counseling, or other clinic, shel3 ter, or other program or entity licensed,

4 recognized, or authorized by the State or

5 unit of general local government to provide

6 services to victims of domestic violence;

7 (ii) information provided by any agen8 cy of the State or unit of general local gov9 ernment that provides or administrates the

10 provision of social, medical, legal, or health

11 services;

12 (iii) information provided by any cler13 gy;

14 (iv) information provided by any hos15 pital, clinic, medical facility, or doctor li16 censed or authorized by the State or unit

17 of general local government to provide

18 medical services;

19 (v) a petition or complaint filed in a

20 court or law or documents or records of ac21 tion of any court or law enforcement agen22 cy, including any record of any protection

23 order, injunction, or temporary or final

24 order issued by civil or criminal courts or

25 any police report; or
7

•HR 871 IH

1 (vi) any other reliable evidence that

2 domestic violence has occurred.

3 SEC. 5. OTHER DEFINITIONS.

4 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions

5 shall apply:

6 (1) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY.—The term

7 ‘‘public housing agency’’ has the meaning given the

8 term in section 3(b) of the United States Housing

9 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)).

10 (2) QUALIFIED NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—

11 The term ‘‘qualified nonprofit organization’’ means

12 a private organization that—

13 (A) is organized, or has as one of its pri14 mary purposes, to provide shelter or transi15 tional housing for victims of domestic violence;

16 (B) is organized under State or local laws;

17 (C) has no part of its net earnings inuring

18 to the benefit of any member, shareholder,

19 founder, contributor, or individual; and

20 (D) is approved by the Secretary as to fi21 nancial responsibility.

22 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

23 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
8

•HR 871 IH

1 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the

2 States of the United States, the District of Colum3 bia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Com4 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam,

5 the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and any other

6 territory or possession of the United States.

7 (5) UNIT OF GENERAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—

8 The term ‘‘unit of general local government’’ has the

9 meaning given the term in section 102(a) of the

10 Housing and Community Development Act of 1974

11 (42 U.S.C. 5302(a)).

Æ