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