H.R. 5702

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5702 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5702

To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to 
ensure that healthcare providers can assist survivors of domestic 
violence, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

October 6, 2025

Mrs. Sykes introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to 
ensure that healthcare providers can assist survivors of domestic 
violence, 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 or the ``Better Care For Domestic 
Violence Survivors Act''.

SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON TRAUMA-INFORMED, VICTIM-CENTERED 
TRAINING FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS.

(a) In General.--Subtitle Q of title IV of the Violent Crime 
Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12513 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 41702. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON TRAUMA-INFORMED, VICTIM-CENTERED 
TRAINING FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS.

``(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 `Secretary' means the Secretary of the 
Department of Health and Human Services;
``(3) 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) an administrator or personnel of a school, 
university, or other educational program or activity 
(including a campus police officer or a school resource 
officer); and
``(C) an emergency services employee;
``(4) the term `eligible entity' means a facility as 
described in paragraph (1), (2), (4), (5), or (6) of section 
1624 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300s-3); and
``(5) the term `mandatory partner' means a national, 
regional, or local victim services organization or agency 
working in collaboration with a facility described in paragraph 
(4).
``(b) Grants Authorized.--
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General, in consultation 
with the Secretary, shall award grants on a competitive basis 
to eligible entities to collaborate with their mandatory 
partners to carry out the demonstration program under this 
section by implementing evidence-based or promising 
investigative policies and practices to incorporate trauma-
informed, victim-centered techniques designed to--
``(A) prevent re-traumatization of the victim;
``(B) ensure that covered individuals use evidence-
based practices to identify, respond to, and treat 
cases of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
assault, and stalking;
``(C) increase collaboration among stakeholders who 
are part of the coordinated community response to 
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 
stalking; and
``(D) evaluate the effectiveness of the training 
process and content.
``(2) Award basis.--The Attorney General, in consultation 
with the Secretary, 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 associated with the 
eligible entity to use evidence-based, trauma-informed, and 
victim-centered techniques to identify and treat individuals 
who have experienced domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
assault, or stalking, including by--
``(A) customizing treatment approaches to ensure a 
culturally and linguistically appropriate approach to 
the community being served;
``(B) 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;
``(C) developing collaborative relationships 
between--
``(i) healthcare providers, law enforcement 
officers, and other members of the response 
team; and
``(ii) the community being served; and
``(D) 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 associated with 
the eligible entity are aware of those efforts and included in 
trainings, to the extent practicable.
``(d) Demonstration Program Trainings on Trauma-Informed, Victim-
Centered Approaches.--
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General, in consultation 
with the Secretary, shall identify trainings for covered 
individuals, in existence as of the date on which the Attorney 
General begins to solicit applications for grants under this 
section, that--
``(A) employ a trauma-informed, victim-centered 
approach to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
assault, and stalking; and
``(B) focus on the fundamentals of--
``(i) trauma responses;
``(ii) the impact of trauma on victims of 
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 
assault, and stalking; and
``(iii) techniques for effectively treating 
the medical consequences of domestic violence, 
dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
``(2) 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 paragraph (1) to test 
at the eligible entity.
``(e) Evaluations.--
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General and the Secretary, 
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--
``(A) 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;
``(B) periodically conduct an evaluation described 
in subparagraph (A); and
``(C) periodically make publicly available, during 
the grant period--
``(i) preliminary results of the 
evaluations conducted under subparagraph (B); 
and
``(ii) recommendations for improving the 
use of the grant funds.
``(2) GAO report.--Not later than three years after the 
date of the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General 
of the United States shall submit to the Committees on Ways and 
Means, Energy and Commerce, and Judiciary of the House of 
Representatives and the Committees on Judiciary and on Finance 
of the Senate a report summarizing the implementation of this 
section.
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Attorney General $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2026 through 2030 to carry out this section.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Violent 
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 10101 note) is 
amended by inserting after the item related to section 41701 the 
following:

``41702. Demonstration program on trauma-informed, victim-centered 
training for healthcare providers.''.
<all>