[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 973 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 973
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for additional
programs funded by grants to strengthen the healthcare system's
response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and
stalking, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 5, 2019
Mrs. Dingell (for herself, Mr. Katko, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms.
Castor of Florida, Mrs. Rodgers of Washington, Ms. Eshoo, Ms. Stefanik,
Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Cardenas, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Miss Gonzalez-
Colon of Puerto Rico, and Mr. Marshall) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for additional
programs funded by grants to strengthen the healthcare system's
response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and
stalking, 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 ``Violence Against Women Health Act of
2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) millions of Americans continue to experience domestic
or sexual violence each year with more than three women
murdered by their partners each day;
(2) this type of violence and abuse results in short-term
and chronic physical and behavioral health consequences that
have a significant economic burden to victims and communities;
(3) new CDC data found the lifetime per-victim cost of
intimate partner violence was $103,767 for women victims with
59 percent going to medical costs and public funding paid 37
percent of this total cost;
(4) victims are also at a higher risk for developing
addictions to tobacco, alcohol, or drugs; for example, 31
percent to 67 percent of women in substance use disorder
treatment programs report experiencing domestic violence within
the past year;
(5) over 50 percent of survivors of domestic violence have
experienced depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and
substance use and 23 percent have experienced suicidality;
(6) a study conducted by the National Domestic Violence
Hotline, in conjunction with the National Center on Domestic
Violence, Trauma & Mental Health practice mental health and
substance use coercion where abusers intentionally undermine
their partners' sanity or sobriety, control their access to
medication, and sabotage their treatment and recovery efforts
among other coercion tactics;
(7) researchers have also found that exposure to multiple
childhood traumas such as sexual abuse and domestic violence
can cause long-term negative physical and emotional health
outcomes such as heart disease, cancer and depression;
(8) health care providers can identify survivors of
violence and interventions can decrease risk for violence and
improve health outcomes, but health providers need training and
systems level support in order to do so;
(9) Congress authorized a public health response to victims
of domestic and sexual violence in the Violence Against Women
Act of 2005;
(10) since its enactment, the VAWA Health program has
trained more than 13,000 health care providers to assess for
and respond to domestic and sexual violence in over 230
clinical settings serving more than 1.3 million patients;
(11) last year, the Health Resources & Services
Administration made this issue a priority across all of its
bureaus and released the ``HRSA Strategy to Address Intimate
Partner Violence 2017-2020'' with four key priorities:
(A) Train the Nation's health care and public
health workforce to address intimate partner violence
(IPV) at the community and health systems levels.
(B) Develop partnerships to raise awareness about
IPV within HRSA and HHS.
(C) Increase access to quality IPV-informed health
care services across all populations.
(D) Address gaps in knowledge about IPV risks,
impacts, and interventions.; and
(12) a strong public health response can prevent and
address the immediate and long-term health impacts of this type
of violence and abuse.
SEC. 3. GRANTS TO STRENGTHEN THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM'S RESPONSE TO
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND
STALKING, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Section 399P of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g-4) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) development or enhancement and implementation of
training programs to improve the capacity of early childhood
programs to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, and stalking among families they serve.'';
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting
after ``and other forms of violence and abuse''
the following: ``(including labor and sex
trafficking)''; and
(ii) in subparagraph (B)--
(I) in clause (ii)--
(aa) by striking ``on-site
access to''; and
(bb) by striking ``or to
model other services
appropriate to the geographic
and cultural needs of a site''
and inserting the following:
``or by providing funding to
national, State, Tribal, or
territorial domestic and sexual
violence coalitions to improve
their capacity to coordinate
and support health advocates
and health system
partnerships'';
(II) in clause (iii), by striking
``and'' at the end;
(III) in clause (iv), by striking
the period at the end and inserting ``,
with priority given to programs
administered through the Health
Resources and Services Administration,
Office of Women's Health; and''; and
(IV) by adding at the end the
following:
``(v) the development, dissemination, and
evaluation of best practices, tools and
training materials for behavioral health
professionals to identify and respond to
domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking,
and dating violence.''; and
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), to read as
follows:
``(A) Child abuse and abuse in later life.--To the
extent consistent with the purpose of this section, a
grantee may address, as part of a comprehensive
programmatic approach implemented under a grant under
this section, issues relating to child abuse or abuse
in later life.''; and
(ii) in subparagraph (C)--
(I) in clause (i), by striking
``elder abuse'' and inserting ``abuse
in later life'';
(II) in clause (iv)--
(aa) by inserting ``,
mental health'' after
``dental'';
(bb) by inserting ``and
certification'' after
``exams''; and
(cc) by striking the period
at the end and inserting ``;
and''; and
(III) by adding at the end the
following:
``(v) development of a state-level pilot
program to improve the response of substance
use disorder treatment programs and systems to
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, and stalking and the capacity of
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, and stalking to serve survivors
dealing with substance use disorder; and
``(vi) development and utilization of
existing technical assistance and training
resources to improve the capacity of substance
use disorder treatment programs to address
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, and stalking among patients they
serve.'';
(3) in subsection (d)(2)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) by inserting ``or behavioral health,''
after ``a State department (or other division)
of health,''; and
(ii) by striking ``mental health care'' and
inserting ``behavioral health care''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B)--
(i) by striking ``or health system'' and
inserting ``behavioral health treatment
system''; and
(ii) by striking ``mental health care'' and
inserting ``behavioral health care'';
(4) in subsection (f), to read as follows:
``(f) Research, and Evaluation, and Data Collection.--
``(1) In general.--Of the funds made available to carry out
this section for any fiscal year, the Secretary may use not
more than 20 percent to make a grant or enter into a contract
for research, and evaluation, or data collection of--
``(A) grants awarded under this section; and
``(B) other training for health professionals and
effective interventions in the health care or
behavioral health setting that prevent domestic
violence, dating violence, and sexual assault across
the lifespan, prevent the health effects of such
violence, and improve the safety and health of
individuals who are currently being victimized.
``(2) Research and data collection.--Research or data
collection authorized in paragraph (1) may include--
``(A) research on the effects of domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault, and childhood exposure
to domestic, dating or sexual violence on health
behaviors, health conditions, and health status of
individuals, families, and populations, including
underserved populations;
``(B) research to determine effective health care
interventions to respond to and prevent domestic
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and
stalking;
``(C) research on the impact of domestic, dating
and sexual violence, childhood exposure to such
violence, and stalking on the health care system,
health care utilization, health care costs, and health
status;
``(D) research on the impact of adverse childhood
experiences on adult experience with domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and adult
health outcomes, including how to reduce or prevent the
impact of adverse childhood experiences through the
health care setting;
``(E) research on the intersection of substance use
disorder and domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, and stalking, including effect of coerced use
and efforts by an abusive partner or other to interfere
with substance use disorder treatment and recovery; and
``(F) improved data collection using existing
federal surveys by including questions about domestic
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking
and substance use disorder, coerced use, and mental
health.''; and
(5) in subsection (g), by striking ``2014 through 2018''
and inserting ``2019 through 2023''.
<all>
Violence Against Women Health Act of 2019
#973 | HR Congress #116
Policy Area: Health
Subjects: Assault and harassment offensesChild healthCrime victimsCrimes against childrenCrimes against womenDomestic violence and child abuseDrug, alcohol, tobacco useHealth information and medical recordsHealth programs administration and fundingHuman traffickingIndian social and development programsMedical researchMental healthResearch administration and fundingSex offenses
Last Action: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. (2/5/2019)
Bill Text Source: Congress.gov
Summary and Impacts
Original Text