Title: Megan Rondini and Leah Griffin Sexual Assault Victims Protection Act of 2018
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Megan Rondini and Leah Griffin Sexual Assault Victims Protection Act of 2018
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct a series of activities relating to sexual assault evidence and treatment. Among other things, HHS must establish a task force that addresses barriers to improving access to sexual assault forensic examiners, sexual assault nurse examiners, and other forensic medical examiners.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7292 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7292

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish the 
    Megan Rondini and Leah Griffin national sexual assault care and 
             treatment task force, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 13, 2018

  Mr. Poe of Texas (for himself, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Griffith, and Mrs. 
    Black) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on 
  Ways and Means, and the Judiciary, 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 concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish the 
    Megan Rondini and Leah Griffin national sexual assault care and 
             treatment task force, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Megan Rondini and Leah Griffin 
Sexual Assault Victims Protection Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. MEGAN RONDINI AND LEAH GRIFFIN NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT CARE AND 
              TREATMENT TASK FORCE.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
shall establish a task force to be known as the ``Megan Rondini and 
Leah Griffin National Sexual Assault Care and Treatment Task Force'' 
(referred to in this section as the ``Task Force'') to identify 
barriers to improving access to sexual assault forensic examiners, 
sexual assault nurse examiners, and other forensic medical examiners.
    (b) Membership.--The Task Force shall include a representative from 
the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Health and Human 
Services Immediate Office of the Secretary, the Health Resources and 
Services Administration, the Indian Health Service, the Office for 
Victims of Crime of the Department of Justice, the Office on Women's 
Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Office 
on Violence Against Women of the Department of Justice, a survivor of 
sexual assault; representatives from regional and national 
organizations that collectively have expertise in forensic nursing, 
rape trauma or crisis counseling, investigating rape and gender 
violence cases, survivors' advocacy and support, sexual assault 
prevention education, rural health, and responding to sexual violence 
in Native communities; representatives from hospitals, patient groups, 
and emergency department physicians; representatives of States, 
including States that have in effect State laws or procedures that 
address the objectives described in subsection (c); and any other 
governmental or nongovernmental representative or stakeholder as 
specified by the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General.
    (c) Objectives.--To assist and standardize State-level efforts to 
improve medical forensic evidence collection relating to sexual 
assault, the Task Force shall--
            (1) identify barriers to the recruitment, training, and 
        retention of sexual assault forensic examiners, sexual assault 
        response teams, sexual assault nurse examiners, and others who 
        perform such examinations;
            (2) make recommendations for improving access to medical 
        forensic examinations, including the feasibility of, or 
        barriers to, utilizing mobile units and telehealth services;
            (3) make recommendations for improving coordination of 
        services, other protocols regarding the care and treatment of 
        sexual assault survivors, and the preservation of evidence 
        between law enforcement officials and health care providers;
            (4) make recommendations for updating national minimum 
        standards for forensic medical examiner training and forensic 
        medical evidence collection relating to sexual assault;
            (5) make recommendations for the development of resources 
        and best practices described in subsection (e) for inclusion on 
        the public website of the Department of Health and Human 
        Services;
            (6) make recommendations on the collection and retention of 
        sexual assault kits, including anonymous or unreported sexual 
        assault kits;
            (7) make recommendations on processes and best practices 
        for communicating to sexual assault survivors who seek care in 
        the emergency room information about the availability of 
        forensic medical evidence collection as part of the care and 
        treatment of such survivors;
            (8) make recommendations to develop, promote, and inculcate 
        trauma-informed approaches (as defined in subsection (g)) in 
        the treatment of sexual assault victims through training, 
        leadership and supervision;
            (9) make recommendations to inform the development of 
        protocols to use when patients seeking medical forensic care 
        have not yet reported a crime to law enforcement, including 
        developing guidance related to presenting patients with their 
        options when they request a medical forensic exam;
            (10) obtain feedback and review how the best practices, 
        protocols, care, and treatment for sexual assault are impacting 
        sexual assault survivors in States with laws or procedures that 
        address any of the task force objectives described in a 
        previous paragraph of this subsection, including Texas, 
        Washington, and Illinois, including the impact on a patient of 
        any financial obligations associated with a sexual assault 
        forensic exam, including when the exam is performed in a 
        different jurisdiction than where the assault was committed; 
        and
            (11) any other objective specified by the Secretary, in 
        consultation with the Attorney General.
    (d) Transparency Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Task Force shall submit to the 
        Secretary a report on the recommendations, findings, and 
        conclusions of the Task Force.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 
        report on the recommendations, findings, and conclusions of the 
        Task Force.
    (e) Sexual Assault Treatment Resources.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than July 1, 2019, the Secretary 
        shall post on the public website of the Department of Health 
        and Human Services resources and best practices developed by 
        health care providers, forensic scientists, law enforcement 
        representatives, and advocates of sexual assault victims, 
        relating to the treatment of individuals for sexual assault by 
        health care providers. Such resources and best practices shall 
        include the following:
                    (A) Resources for health care providers.--Resources 
                and best practices for health care providers, 
                including--
                            (i) best practices for training personnel 
                        on sexual assault forensic evidence collection;
                            (ii) best practices relating to providing 
                        counseling and appropriate referrals to such 
                        individuals; and
                            (iii) other resources and best practices 
                        determined appropriate by the Secretary.
                    (B) Resources for sexual assault survivors.--
                Resources and best practices for sexual assault 
                survivors, including--
                            (i) information about the forensic exam 
                        furnished by a sexual assault forensic 
                        examiner, including the process and potential 
                        benefits of collecting evidence;
                            (ii) information on available State-wide 
                        databases of sexual assault nurse examiner-
                        ready or sexual assault forensic examiner-ready 
                        facilities;
                            (iii) survivor advocacy group websites and 
                        hotlines;
                            (iv) next-steps guides for survivors with 
                        best practices for preserving evidence and 
                        seeking treatment after an assault; and
                            (v) other resources and best practices 
                        determined appropriate by the Secretary.
            (2) Updates.--As soon as practicable after the submission 
        of the report under subsection (d)(1) to the Secretary, the 
        Secretary shall update the resources and best practices posted 
        on the website of the Department of Health and Human Services 
        under paragraph (1) to take into consideration the 
        recommendations, findings, and conclusions of the Task Force 
        contained in such report. The Secretary shall update such 
        resources and best practices periodically, but not less 
        frequently than annually, including for purposes of taking into 
        account the most recent recommendations, findings, and 
        conclusions of the Task Force.
    (f) Annual Meeting.--The Task Force shall meet annually to address 
gaps in health care provider care relating to sexual assault and report 
findings, recommendations, and conclusions to the Secretary in a timely 
manner.
    (g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) Medical forensic examination.--The term ``medical 
        forensic examination'' means an examination provided to a 
        sexual assault survivor by medical personnel trained to gather 
        evidence of a sexual assault in a manner suitable for use in a 
        court of law.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services.
            (3) Sexual assault.--The term ``sexual assault'' means any 
        non-consensual sexual act proscribed by Federal, tribal, or 
        State law, including when the individual lacks capacity to 
        consent.
            (4) Sexual assault examiner.--The term ``sexual assault 
        examiner'' means a registered nurse, advanced practice nurse, 
        physician, or physician assistant specifically trained to 
        provide comprehensive care to sexual assault forensic 
        examinations.
            (5) Sexual assault forensic examiner.--The term ``sexual 
        assault forensic examiner'' means a medical practitioner who 
        has specialized forensic training in treating sexual assault 
        survivors and conducting medical forensic examinations.
            (6) Sexual assault nurse examiner.--The term ``sexual 
        assault nurse examiner'' means a registered nurse who has 
        specialized forensic training in treating sexual assault 
        survivors and conducting medical forensic examinations.
            (7) Sexual assault response team.--The term ``sexual 
        assault response team'' means a multidisciplinary team that 
        provides a specialized and immediate response to survivors of 
        sexual assault, and may include health care personnel, law 
        enforcement representatives, community-based survivor 
        advocates, prosecutors, and forensic scientists.
            (8) Trauma-informed approach.--The term ``trauma-informed 
        approach'' means an approach that is built on an understanding 
        of how trauma affects a person's physical, emotional, and 
        psychological health, and accounts for the potential for health 
        care systems to unintentionally cause further trauma.

SEC. 3. PROMOTING COORDINATION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT CARE IN LOCAL 
              COMMUNITIES.

    Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall revise section 
489.24(j) of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, to require each 
formal community call plan (as described in section 489.24(j)(2)(iii) 
of such title (or a successor regulation)) to provide--
            (1) with respect to the delineation of on-call coverage 
        responsibilities described in subparagraph (A) of such section, 
        for a delineation of such coverage responsibilities for 
        screening and treatment relating to sexual assault and includes 
        a schedule of the on-call coverage availability for such 
        screening and treatment at each hospital with on-call coverage 
        responsibilities for such treatment; and
            (2) with respect to assurances related to local and 
        regional EMS system protocols described in subparagraph (D) of 
        such section, for an assurance that such protocols include 
        information with respect to community on-call arrangements for 
        screening and treatment relating to sexual assault.
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