II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 355 

To support the provision of safe relationship behavior education and training. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2015 

Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mrs. MCCASKILL, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To support the provision of safe relationship behavior 

education and training. 

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 ‘‘Teach Safe Relation5 ships Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FUND FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATION. 

7 Part D of title V of the Elementary and Secondary 

8 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7241 et seq.) is amend9 ed by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘Subpart 22—Providing Safe Relationship Behavior 

2 Education and Training 

3 ‘‘SEC. 5621. SHORT TITLE. 

4 ‘‘This subpart may be cited as the ‘Teach Safe Rela5 tionships Act of 2015’. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 5622. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

7 ‘‘It is the purpose of this subpart: 

8 ‘‘(1) To help ensure that all students receive 

9 evidence-informed safe relationship behavior edu10 cation and training, including education and training 

11 regarding the prevention of teen and adolescent dat12 ing violence or relationship abuse, domestic abuse, 

13 and sexual violence and harassment. 

14 ‘‘(2) To promote safe and healthy relationships 

15 between and among students. 

16 ‘‘(3) To help students and school faculty and 

17 staff to develop healthy and respectful attitudes and 

18 insights necessary for students to understand them19 selves in the context of relationships with others and 

20 with society. 

21 ‘‘(4) To provide financial assistance to support 

22 local educational agencies in meeting the require23 ments of title IX of the Educational Amendments of 

24 1972. 

25 ‘‘SEC. 5623. FINDINGS. 

26 ‘‘Congress finds the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Educating students about safe relationship 

2 behavior will aid in the prevention of unsafe dating 

3 practices, including dating violence, sexual assault, 

4 and stalking. 

5 ‘‘(2) The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 

6 (42 U.S.C. 13925 et seq.) included programs to de7 velop and implement prevention and intervention 

8 policies in middle and high schools, including appro9 priate responses to, and identification and referral 

10 procedures for, students who are experiencing or 

11 perpetrating domestic violence, dating violence, sex12 ual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, or sex traf13 ficking. 

14 ‘‘(3) Schools can play an important role in pro15 viding students with a knowledge base that may 

16 allow students to make informed decisions and form 

17 a healthy lifestyle. 

18 ‘‘(4) According to the Department of Justice, 

19 there is an average of 293,066 victims (age 12 or 

20 older) of rape and sexual assault each year. 

21 ‘‘(5) Young women between the ages of 16 and 

22 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner 

23 violence. According to one national study, 29 percent 

24 of the young women surveyed who had ever been in 


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1 a relationship said they had been pressured to have 

2 sex or to engage in sexual activity they did not want. 

3 ‘‘(6) From 1997 to 2013, females ages 18 to 24 

4 consistently experienced higher rates of rape and 

5 sexual assault than females in other age brackets. 

6 ‘‘(7) Partners of all genders and those in same7 sex relationships also experience dating violence. A 

8 2013 survey of grade school students found that 43 

9 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 

10 youth reported being victims of physical dating vio11 lence, compared to 29 percent of heterosexual youth. 

12 ‘‘(8) Experiencing dating violence is associated 

13 with an increase in sexual risk-taking behaviors, 

14 health risks, and is associated with adolescent and 

15 unintended pregnancy. 

16 ‘‘(9) Teaching and learning practices in the 

17 United States frequently do not address safe rela18 tionship behavior education and training, for exam19 ple— 

20 ‘‘(A) sex education curriculum should ad21 dress emotional relationship health; 

22 ‘‘(B) sexual harassment undermines the 

23 ability of schools to provide safe and equitable 

24 learning or workplace environments; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) classroom textbooks and educational 

2 materials do not sufficiently reflect the pro3 motion of safe and healthy relationships. 

4 ‘‘(10) Efforts to improve the quality of public 

5 education must also include efforts to ensure pro6 grams for safe relationship behavior training. 

7 ‘‘(11) Federal support should address not only 

8 research and development of innovative model cur9 ricula and teaching and learning strategies to pro10 mote healthy behavior, but should also assist schools 

11 and local communities with implementing a cur12 riculum that includes sexual assault and teen dating 

13 violence. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 5624. DEFINITIONS. 

15 ‘‘In this subpart: 

16 ‘‘(1) CONSENT.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘consent’ 

18 means affirmative, unambiguous, and voluntary 

19 agreement to engage in a specific sexual activity 

20 during a sexual encounter. 

21 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—Consent cannot be 

22 given by an individual who is— 

23 ‘‘(i) asleep, or mentally or physically 

24 incapacitated, either through the effect of 

25 drugs or alcohol or for any other reason; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) under duress or experiencing a 

2 threat, coercion, or force; or 

3 ‘‘(iii) inferred under circumstances in 

4 which consent is not clear, including the 

5 absence of language or actions that indi6 cate unwillingness (such as saying ‘no’ or 

7 ‘stop’), or the existence of a prior or cur8 rent relationship or prior or current sexual 

9 activity. 

10 ‘‘(2) SAFE RELATIONSHIP BEHAVIOR EDU11 CATION.—The term ‘safe relationship behavior edu12 cation’ means education that— 

13 ‘‘(A) is medically accurate and appropriate 

14 for an individual’s age, developmental stage, 

15 and culture; 

16 ‘‘(B) promotes safe relationships and 

17 teaches students to recognize and prevent— 

18 ‘‘(i) physical and emotional relation19 ship abuse; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) coercion, violence, or abuse, in21 cluding teen and adolescent dating vio22 lence, domestic abuse, and sexual violence 

23 and harassment; 

24 ‘‘(C) includes education regarding relation25 ship communication skills, emotional health, acVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Feb 10, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S355.IS S355

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1 countability, and well-being in relationships, 

2 and consent; and 

3 ‘‘(D) includes education regarding healthy 

4 relationships, including the development of 

5 healthy attitudes and insights necessary for un6 derstanding relationships between oneself, fam7 ily, partners, others, and society, including 

8 skills on healthy self-esteem, and self-efficacy 

9 and stress management. 

10 ‘‘(3) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The term ‘sexual as11 sault’ means any nonconsensual sexual act pro12 scribed by Federal, State, or tribal law, including 

13 when a victim lacks capacity to consent. 

14 ‘‘(4) SEXUAL HARASSMENT.—The term ‘sexual 

15 harassment’ means unwelcome conduct of a sexual 

16 nature, including unwelcome sexual advances, re17 quests for sexual favors, and other verbal, nonverbal, 

18 or physical conduct of a sexual nature. 

19 ‘‘(5) SEXUAL VIOLENCE.—The term ‘sexual vio20 lence’ means physical sexual acts perpetrated 

21 against a person’s will or when or where a person 

22 is incapable of giving consent. 

23 ‘‘(6) TEEN AND ADOLESCENT DATING VIO24 LENCE.—The term ‘teen and adolescent dating vio25 lence’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) violence committed by a person who 

2 is or has been in a social relationship of a ro3 mantic or intimate nature with the victim; and 

4 ‘‘(B) where the existence of such a rela5 tionship shall be determined based on a consid6 eration of factors, including— 

7 ‘‘(i) the length of the relationship; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the type of relationship; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) the frequency of interaction be10 tween the persons involved in the relation11 ship. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 5625. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

13 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary is authorized to 

14 award grants to local educational agencies in order to en15 able such agencies— 

16 ‘‘(1) to provide professional development to 

17 school administrators, teachers, and staff in safe re18 lationship behavior education and teaching and 

19 learning practices; and 

20 ‘‘(2) to provide educational programming and 

21 curricula that is age appropriate and develop22 mentally and culturally appropriate for students re23 garding safe relationship behavior education and 

24 training. 


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1 ‘‘(b) AWARD BASIS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

2 award grants under this section— 

3 ‘‘(1) on a competitive basis; and 

4 ‘‘(2) in a manner that ensures that such grants 

5 are equitably distributed among local educational 

6 agencies located in rural, urban, and suburban 

7 areas. 

8 ‘‘(c) DURATION.—Grants awarded under this section 

9 shall be for a period of 4 years. 

10 ‘‘(d) POLICY DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary shall 

11 disseminate to local educational agencies any Department 

12 policy guidance regarding safe relationship behavior train13 ing and the promotion of safe and healthy relationships. 

14 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—Each local educational agency 

15 that receives a grant under this subpart shall use grant 

16 funds to develop and implement curricula for students 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(1) incorporate elements of effective and evi19 dence-based or evidence-informed programs that in20 clude— 

21 ‘‘(A) safe relationship behavior training, 

22 including for the prevention of teen and adoles23 cent dating violence, domestic abuse, and sexual 

24 violence and harassment; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) education about healthy relationships 

2 between oneself and family, others, and society; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(2) are age appropriate, developmentally ap5 propriate, and culturally and linguistically appro6 priate, reflecting the diverse circumstance and reali7 ties of young people. 

8 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under 

9 this section, a local educational agency shall submit an 

10 application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

11 and containing such information as the Secretary may re12 quire. Each application shall include a description of the 

13 local educational agency’s— 

14 ‘‘(1) need for funds provided under this sub15 part; 

16 ‘‘(2) plan for implementing the activities de17 scribed under subsection (e); and 

18 ‘‘(3) measurable objectives for, and expected re19 sults from, the use of funds provided by the grant 

20 under this subpart. 

21 ‘‘(g) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall deter23 mine, based on the peer review process described in 

24 paragraph (3), which local educational agencies shall 

25 receive funding under this subpart, and the amount 


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1 of the grant funding under this subpart that each 

2 selected local educational agency will receive. 

3 ‘‘(2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—In determining the 

4 amount of each grant awarded under this subpart, 

5 the Secretary shall take into account the total 

6 amount of funds available for all grants under this 

7 subpart and the types of activities proposed to be 

8 carried out by each local educational agency, in 

9 order to ensure that all grants are of sufficient size, 

10 scope, and quality to be effective. 

11 ‘‘(3) PEER REVIEW PROCESS.—The Secretary 

12 shall convene a peer review committee to review ap13 plications for grants under this subpart and to make 

14 recommendations to the Secretary regarding the se15 lection of grantees.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. GENERAL PROHIBITION. 

17 Section 9526(a)(3) of the Elementary and Secondary 

18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7906(a)(3)) is amended 

19 by adding ‘‘and safe relationship behavior education (as 

20 defined in section 5624)’’ after ‘‘abstinence’’. 

Æ 


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