Title: Abby Honold Act
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Abby Honold Act
This bill directs the Office on Violence Against Women within the Department of Justice to make competitive grants to law enforcement agencies and victim services organizations to implement evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches in responding to and investigating domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 649 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 649

   To authorize the Office on Violence Against Women to improve the 
   handling of crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
assault, and stalking by incorporating a trauma-informed approach into 
       the initial response to and investigation of such crimes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 1, 2021

  Mr. Emmer (for himself, Ms. Kuster, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Hagedorn, Mrs. 
Fischbach, Ms. Omar, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Phillips, Ms. Craig, Mr. Rodney 
Davis of Illinois, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Lesko, Mr. Stanton, Mr. 
  Van Drew, Mr. Ryan, and Mr. Stauber) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize the Office on Violence Against Women to improve the 
   handling of crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
assault, and stalking by incorporating a trauma-informed approach into 
       the initial response to and investigation of such crimes.

    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 ``Abby Honold Act''.

SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON TRAUMA-INFORMED TRAINING FOR LAW 
              ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section--
            (1) the term ``Attorney General'' means the Attorney 
        General, acting through the Director of the Office on Violence 
        Against Women;
            (2) the term ``covered individual'' means an individual who 
        interfaces with victims of domestic violence, dating violence, 
        sexual assault, and stalking, including--
                    (A) an individual working for or on behalf of an 
                eligible entity;
                    (B) a school or university administrator; and
                    (C) an emergency services or medical employee;
            (3) the term ``demonstration site'', with respect to an 
        eligible entity that receives a grant under this section, 
        means--
                    (A) if the eligible entity is a law enforcement 
                agency described in paragraph (4)(A), the area over 
                which the eligible entity has jurisdiction; and
                    (B) if the eligible entity is an organization or 
                agency described in paragraph (4)(B), the area over 
                which a law enforcement agency described in paragraph 
                (4)(A) that is working in collaboration with the 
                eligible entity has jurisdiction; and
            (4) the term ``eligible entity'' means--
                    (A) a State, local, territorial, or Tribal law 
                enforcement agency; or
                    (B) a national, regional, or local victim services 
                organization or agency working in collaboration with a 
                law enforcement agency described in subparagraph (A).
    (b) Grants Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--The Attorney General shall award grants on 
        a competitive basis to eligible entities to carry out the 
        demonstration program under this section by implementing 
        evidence-based or promising policies and practices to 
        incorporate trauma-informed techniques designed to--
                    (A) prevent re-traumatization of the victim;
                    (B) ensure that covered individuals use evidence-
                based practices to respond to and investigate cases of 
                domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 
                stalking;
                    (C) improve communication between victims and law 
                enforcement officers in an effort to increase the 
                likelihood of the successful investigation and 
                prosecution of the reported crime in a manner that 
                protects the victim to the greatest extent possible;
                    (D) increase collaboration among stakeholders who 
                are part of the coordinated community response to 
                domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 
                stalking; and
                    (E) evaluate the effectiveness of the training 
                process and content by measuring--
                            (i) investigative and prosecutorial 
                        practices and outcomes; and
                            (ii) the well-being of victims and their 
                        satisfaction with the criminal justice process.
            (2) Term.--The Attorney General shall make grants under 
        this section for each of the first 2 fiscal years beginning 
        after the date of enactment of this Act.
            (3) Award basis.--The Attorney General shall award grants 
        under this section to multiple eligible entities for use in a 
        variety of settings and communities, including--
                    (A) urban, suburban, Tribal, remote, and rural 
                areas;
                    (B) college campuses; or
                    (C) traditionally underserved communities.
    (c) Use of Funds.--An eligible entity that receives a grant under 
this section shall use the grant to--
            (1) train covered individuals within the demonstration site 
        of the eligible entity to use evidence-based, trauma-informed 
        techniques and knowledge of crime victims' rights throughout an 
        investigation into domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
        assault, or stalking, including by--
                    (A) conducting victim interviews in a manner that--
                            (i) elicits valuable information about the 
                        domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
                        assault, or stalking; and
                            (ii) avoids re-traumatization of the 
                        victim;
                    (B) conducting field investigations that mirror 
                best and promising practices available at the time of 
                the investigation;
                    (C) customizing investigative approaches to ensure 
                a culturally and linguistically appropriate approach to 
                the community being served;
                    (D) becoming proficient in understanding and 
                responding to complex cases, including cases of 
                domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 
                stalking--
                            (i) facilitated by alcohol or drugs;
                            (ii) involving strangulation;
                            (iii) committed by a non-stranger;
                            (iv) committed by an individual of the same 
                        sex as the victim;
                            (v) involving a victim with a disability;
                            (vi) involving a male victim; or
                            (vii) involving a lesbian, gay, bisexual, 
                        or transgender (commonly referred to as 
                        ``LGBT'') victim;
                    (E) developing collaborative relationships 
                between--
                            (i) law enforcement officers and other 
                        members of the response team; and
                            (ii) the community being served; and
                    (F) developing an understanding of how to define, 
                identify, and correctly classify a report of domestic 
                violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking; 
                and
            (2) promote the efforts of the eligible entity to improve 
        the response of covered individuals to domestic violence, 
        dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking through various 
        communication channels, such as the website of the eligible 
        entity, social media, print materials, and community meetings, 
        in order to ensure that all covered individuals within the 
        demonstration site of the eligible entity are aware of those 
        efforts and included in trainings, to the extent practicable.
    (d) Demonstration Program Trainings on Trauma-Informed 
Approaches.--
            (1) Identification of existing trainings.--
                    (A) In general.--The Attorney General shall 
                identify trainings for law enforcement officers, in 
                existence as of the date on which the Attorney General 
                begins to solicit applications for grants under this 
                section, that--
                            (i) employ a trauma-informed approach to 
                        domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
                        assault, and stalking; and
                            (ii) focus on the fundamentals of--
                                    (I) trauma responses; and
                                    (II) the impact of trauma on 
                                victims of domestic violence, dating 
                                violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
                    (B) Selection.--An eligible entity that receives a 
                grant under this section shall select one or more of 
                the approaches employed by a training identified under 
                subparagraph (A) to test within the demonstration site 
                of the eligible entity.
            (2) Consultation.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        Attorney General shall consult with the Director of the Office 
        for Victims of Crime in order to seek input from and cultivate 
        consensus among outside practitioners and other stakeholders 
        through facilitated discussions and focus groups on best 
        practices in the field of trauma-informed care for victims of 
        domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 
        stalking.
    (e) Evaluation.--The Attorney General, in consultation with the 
Director of the National Institute of Justice, shall require each 
eligible entity that receives a grant under this section to identify a 
research partner, preferably a local research partner, to--
            (1) design a system for generating and collecting the 
        appropriate data to facilitate an independent process or impact 
        evaluation of the use of the grant funds;
            (2) periodically conduct an evaluation described in 
        paragraph (1); and
            (3) periodically make publicly available, during the grant 
        period--
                    (A) preliminary results of the evaluations 
                conducted under paragraph (2); and
                    (B) recommendations for improving the use of the 
                grant funds.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--The Attorney General shall 
carry out this section using amounts otherwise available to the 
Attorney General.
    (g) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to interfere with the due process rights of any individual.
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