I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1704
To amend the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 to provide for transitional 
housing assistance grants for child victims of domestic violence. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 9, 2003
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of Cali-
fornia, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. LEE, Ms. JACKSON-
LEE of Texas, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. SANDLIN, Mr. CUMMINGS, 
Mrs. MALONEY, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. RUSH, Mr. 
HINCHEY, 
Mr. 
HOEFFEL, 
Ms. 
KAPTUR, 
Mr. 
GONZALEZ, 
Ms. 
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. 
UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. COSTELLO, and Mr. OLVER) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
in addition to the Committee on 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 con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 to 
provide for transitional housing assistance grants for 
child victims of domestic violence.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TRANSITIONAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE GRANTS 
FOR CHILD VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIO-
LENCE, STALKING, OR SEXUAL ASSAULT. 
Subtitle B of the Violence Against Women Act of 
1994 (42 U.S.C. 13701 note; 108 Stat. 1925) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘CHAPTER 11—TRANSITIONAL HOUSING 
ASSISTANCE GRANTS FOR CHILD VIC-
TIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, STALK-
ING, OR SEXUAL ASSAULT 
‘‘SEC. 40299. TRANSITIONAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE GRANTS 
FOR CHILD VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIO-
LENCE, STALKING, OR SEXUAL ASSAULT. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, acting in 
consultation with the Director of the Violence Against 
Women Office of the Department of Justice, shall award 
grants under this section to States, units of local govern-
ment, Indian tribes, and other organizations (referred to 
in this section as the ‘recipient’) to carry out programs 
to provide assistance to minors, adults, and their depend-
ents—
‘‘(1) who are homeless, or in need of transi-
tional housing or other housing assistance, as a re-
sult of fleeing a situation of domestic violence; and
‘‘(2) for whom emergency shelter services or 
other crisis intervention services are unavailable or 
insufficient. 
‘‘(b) GRANTS.—Grants awarded under this section 
may be used for programs that provide—
‘‘(1) short-term housing assistance, including 
rental or utilities payments assistance and assistance 
with related expenses such as payment of security 
deposits and other costs incidental to relocation to 
transitional housing for persons described in sub-
section (a); and 
‘‘(2) support services designed to enable a 
minor, an adult, or a dependent of such minor or 
adult, who is fleeing a situation of domestic violence 
to—
‘‘(A) locate and secure permanent housing; 
and 
‘‘(B) integrate into a community by pro-
viding that minor, adult, or dependent with 
services, such as transportation, counseling, 
child care services, case management, employ-
ment counseling, and other assistance. 
‘‘(c) DURATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), a minor, an adult, or a dependent, who
receives assistance under this section shall receive 
that assistance for not more than 18 months. 
‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The recipient of a grant under 
this section may waive the restriction under para-
graph (1) for not more than an additional 6 month 
period with respect to any minor, adult, or depend-
ent, who—
‘‘(A) has made a good-faith effort to ac-
quire permanent housing; and 
‘‘(B) has been unable to acquire perma-
nent housing. 
‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desir-
ing a grant under this section shall submit an appli-
cation to the Attorney General at such time, in such 
manner, and accompanied by such information as 
the Attorney General may reasonably require. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—
‘‘(A) describe the activities for which as-
sistance under this section is sought; and 
‘‘(B) provide such additional assurances as 
the Attorney General determines to be essential 
to ensure compliance with the requirements of 
this section.
‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—Nothing in this subsection 
shall be construed to require—
‘‘(A) victims to participate in the criminal 
justice system in order to receive services; or 
‘‘(B) domestic violence advocates to breach 
client confidentiality. 
‘‘(e) REPORT TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—A recipient of a grant 
under this section shall annually prepare and submit 
to the Attorney General a report describing—
‘‘(A) the number of minors, adults, and de-
pendents assisted under this section; and 
‘‘(B) the types of housing assistance and 
support services provided under this section. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report prepared and 
submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include 
information regarding—
‘‘(A) the amount of housing assistance pro-
vided to each minor, adult, or dependent, as-
sisted under this section and the reason for that 
assistance; 
‘‘(B) the number of months each minor, 
adult, or dependent, received assistance under 
this section;
‘‘(C) the number of minors, adults, and de-
pendents who—
‘‘(i) were eligible to receive assistance 
under this section; and 
‘‘(ii) were not provided with assistance 
under this section solely due to a lack of 
available housing; and 
‘‘(D) the type of support services provided 
to each minor, adult, or dependent, assisted 
under this section. 
‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—
‘‘(1) REPORTING
REQUIREMENT.—The Attor-
ney General, with the Director of the Violence 
Against Women Office, shall annually prepare and 
submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the Senate a report that contains a 
compilation of the information contained in the re-
port submitted under subsection (e). 
‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF REPORT.—In order to 
coordinate efforts to assist the victims of domestic 
violence, the Attorney General, in coordination with 
the Director of the Violence Against Women Office, 
shall transmit a copy of the report submitted under 
paragraph (1) to—
‘‘(A) the Office of Community Planning 
and Development at the United States Depart-
ment of Housing and Urban Development; and 
‘‘(B) the Office of Women’s Health at the 
United States Department of Health and 
Human Services. 
‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $30,000,000 
for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2008. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—Of the amount made avail-
able to carry out this section in any fiscal year, not 
more than 3 percent may be used by the Attorney 
General for salaries and administrative expenses. 
‘‘(3) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), unless all eligible applica-
tions submitted by any States, units of local 
government, Indian tribes, or organizations 
within a State for a grant under this section 
have been funded, that State, together with the 
grantees within the State (other than Indian 
tribes), shall be allocated in each fiscal year, 
not less than 0.75 percent of the total amount
appropriated in the fiscal year for grants pursu-
ant to this section. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The United States Vir-
gin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 
Northern Mariana Islands shall each be allo-
cated not less than 0.25 percent of the total 
amount appropriated in the fiscal year for 
grants pursuant to this section.’’.
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