Text of US HB 5702 (2025)

I 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 pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the or the ‘‘Better Care 4 For Domestic Violence Survivors Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 10, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5702.IH H5702 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5702 IH SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON TRAUMA-IN- 1 FORMED, VICTIM-CENTERED TRAINING FOR 2 HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle Q of title IV of the Vio- 4 lent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 5 U.S.C. 12513 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 6 the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 41702. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM ON TRAUMA-IN- 8 FORMED, VICTIM-CENTERED TRAINING FOR 9 HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS. 10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 11 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Attorney General’ means the At- 12 torney General, acting through the Director of the 13 Office on Violence Against Women; 14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary 15 of the Department of Health and Human Services; 16 ‘‘(3) the term ‘covered individual’ means an in- 17 dividual who interfaces with victims of domestic vio- 18 lence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, 19 including— 20 ‘‘(A) an individual working for or on behalf 21 of an eligible entity; 22 ‘‘(B) an administrator or personnel of a 23 school, university, or other educational program 24 or activity (including a campus police officer or 25 a school resource officer); and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 10, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5702.IH H5702 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5702 IH ‘‘(C) an emergency services employee; 1 ‘‘(4) the term ‘eligible entity’ means a facility 2 as described in paragraph (1), (2), (4), (5), or (6) 3 of section 1624 of the Public Health Service Act (42 4 U.S.C. 300s–3); and 5 ‘‘(5) the term ‘mandatory partner’ means a na- 6 tional, regional, or local victim services organization 7 or agency working in collaboration with a facility de- 8 scribed in paragraph (4). 9 ‘‘(b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in 11 consultation with the Secretary, shall award grants 12 on a competitive basis to eligible entities to collabo- 13 rate with their mandatory partners to carry out the 14 demonstration program under this section by imple- 15 menting evidence-based or promising investigative 16 policies and practices to incorporate trauma-in- 17 formed, victim-centered techniques designed to— 18 ‘‘(A) prevent re-traumatization of the vic- 19 tim; 20 ‘‘(B) ensure that covered individuals use 21 evidence-based practices to identify, respond to, 22 and treat cases of domestic violence, dating vio- 23 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 10, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5702.IH H5702 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5702 IH ‘‘(C) increase collaboration among stake- 1 holders who are part of the coordinated commu- 2 nity response to domestic violence, dating vio- 3 lence, sexual assault, and stalking; and 4 ‘‘(D) evaluate the effectiveness of the 5 training process and content. 6 ‘‘(2) AWARD BASIS.—The Attorney General, in 7 consultation with the Secretary, shall award grants 8 under this section to multiple eligible entities for use 9 in a variety of settings and communities, including— 10 ‘‘(A) urban, suburban, Tribal, remote, and 11 rural areas; 12 ‘‘(B) college campuses; or 13 ‘‘(C) traditionally underserved commu- 14 nities. 15 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 16 a grant under this section shall use the grant to— 17 ‘‘(1) train covered individuals associated with 18 the eligible entity to use evidence-based, trauma-in- 19 formed, and victim-centered techniques to identify 20 and treat individuals who have experienced domestic 21 violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, 22 including by— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 10, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5702.IH H5702 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5702 IH ‘‘(A) customizing treatment approaches to 1 ensure a culturally and linguistically appro- 2 priate approach to the community being served; 3 ‘‘(B) becoming proficient in understanding 4 and responding to complex cases, including 5 cases of domestic violence, dating violence, sex- 6 ual assault, or stalking— 7 ‘‘(i) facilitated by alcohol or drugs; 8 ‘‘(ii) involving strangulation; 9 ‘‘(iii) committed by a non-stranger; 10 ‘‘(iv) committed by an individual of 11 the same sex as the victim; 12 ‘‘(v) involving a victim with a dis- 13 ability; 14 ‘‘(vi) involving a male victim; or 15 ‘‘(vii) involving a lesbian, gay, bisex- 16 ual, or transgender (commonly referred to 17 as ‘LGBT’) victim; 18 ‘‘(C) developing collaborative relationships 19 between— 20 ‘‘(i) healthcare providers, law enforce- 21 ment officers, and other members of the 22 response team; and 23 ‘‘(ii) the community being served; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 10, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5702.IH H5702 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5702 IH ‘‘(D) developing an understanding of how 1 to define, identify, and correctly classify a re- 2 port of domestic violence, dating violence, sex- 3 ual assault, or stalking; and 4 ‘‘(2) promote the efforts of the eligible entity to 5 improve the response of covered individuals to do- 6 mestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and 7 stalking through various communication channels, 8 such as the website of the eligible entity, social 9 media, print materials, and community meetings, in 10 order to ensure that all covered individuals associ- 11 ated with the eligible entity are aware of those ef- 12 forts and included in trainings, to the extent prac- 13 ticable. 14 ‘‘(d) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM TRAININGS ON 15 TRAUMA-INFORMED, VICTIM-CENTERED APPROACHES.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in 17 consultation with the Secretary, shall identify 18 trainings for covered individuals, in existence as of 19 the date on which the Attorney General begins to so- 20 licit applications for grants under this section, 21 that— 22 ‘‘(A) employ a trauma-informed, victim- 23 centered approach to domestic violence, dating 24 violence, sexual assault, and stalking; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 10, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5702.IH H5702 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5702 IH ‘‘(B) focus on the fundamentals of— 1 ‘‘(i) trauma responses; 2 ‘‘(ii) the impact of trauma on victims 3 of domestic violence, dating violence, sex- 4 ual assault, and stalking; and 5 ‘‘(iii) techniques for effectively treat- 6 ing the medical consequences of domestic 7 violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 8 and stalking. 9 ‘‘(2) SELECTION.—An eligible entity that re- 10 ceives a grant under this section shall select one or 11 more of the approaches employed by a training iden- 12 tified under paragraph (1) to test at the eligible en- 13 tity. 14 ‘‘(e) EVALUATIONS.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General and 16 the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of 17 the National Institute of Justice, shall require each 18 eligible entity that receives a grant under this sec- 19 tion to identify a research partner, preferably a local 20 research partner, to— 21 ‘‘(A) design a system for generating and 22 collecting the appropriate data to facilitate an 23 independent process or impact evaluation of the 24 use of the grant funds; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 10, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5702.IH H5702 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5702 IH ‘‘(B) periodically conduct an evaluation de- 1 scribed in subparagraph (A); and 2 ‘‘(C) periodically make publicly available, 3 during the grant period— 4 ‘‘(i) preliminary results of the evalua- 5 tions conducted under subparagraph (B); 6 and 7 ‘‘(ii) recommendations for improving 8 the use of the grant funds. 9 ‘‘(2) GAO REPORT.—Not later than three years 10 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 11 Comptroller General of the United States shall sub- 12 mit to the Committees on Ways and Means, Energy 13 and Commerce, and Judiciary of the House of Rep- 14 resentatives and the Committees on Judiciary and 15 on Finance of the Senate a report summarizing the 16 implementation of this section. 17 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 19 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 20 to carry out this section.’’. 21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 22 for the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 23 of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 10101 note) is amended by inserting 24 after the item related to section 41701 the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 10, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5702.IH H5702 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5702 IH ‘‘41702. Demonstration program on trauma-informed, victim-centered training for healthcare providers.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Oct 10, 2025 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5702.IH H5702 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS