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Incorporates ``dating violence'' into certain purpose areas for which grants may be used under the STOP, Pro-Arrest, and Rural Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Enforcement grant programs. Defines ``dating violence'' as violence committed by a person: (A) who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim; and (B) where the existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on consideration of the following factors: (i) the length of the relationship; (ii) the type of relationship; and (iii) the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.

[Page: H8883]  GPO's PDF

   Title II--Strengthening Services to Victims of Violence

   Sec. 1201. Legal Assistance to Victims of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

   Building on set-asides in past STOP grant appropriations since fiscal year 1998 for civil legal assistance, this section authorizes a separate grant program for those purposes through 2005. Helps victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault who need legal assistance as a consequence of that violence to obtain access to trained attorneys and lay advocacy services , particularly pro bono legal services . Grants support training, technical assistance, data collection, and support for cooperative efforts between victim advocacy groups and legal assistance providers.

   Defines the term ``legal assistance'' to include assistance to victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault in family, immigration, administrative agency, or housing matters, protection or stay away order proceedings, and other similar matters. For purposes of this section, ``administrative agency'' refers to a federal, state, or local governmental agency that provides financial benefits.

   Sets aside 5 percent of the amounts made available for programs assisting victims of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault in Indian country; sets aside 25 percent of the funds used for direct services , training, and technical assistance for the use of victims of sexual assault.

   Appropriation is $40 million/year (FY 2000 STOP grant appropriation included a $28 million earmark for this use).

   Sec. 1202. Expanded Shelter for Battered Women and Their Children

   Reauthorizes through 2005 current programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services to help communities provide shelter to battered women and their children, with increased funding to provide more shelter space to assist the tens of thousands who are now being turned away.

   Authorization level is $175 million/year (FY 2000 appropriation was $101.5 million).

   Sec. 1203. Transitional Housing Assistance for Victims of Domestic Violence

   Authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to make grants to provide short-term housing assistance and support services to individuals and their dependents who are homeless or in need of transitional housing or other housing assistance as a result of fleeing a situation of domestic violence, and for whom emergency shelter services are unavailable or insufficient.

   Authorization level is $25 million for FY 2001.

   Sec. 1204. National Domestic Violence Hotline

   Extends through 2005 this grant to meet the growing demands on the National Domestic Violence Hotline established under the original Violence Against Women Act due to increased call volume since its inception. Requires annual reports on the Hotline's operation.

   Authorization level is $2 million/year (FY 2000 appropriation was $2 million).

   Sec. 1205. Federal Victims Counselors Grants Reauthorization

   Extends through 2005 this program under which U.S. Attorney offices can hire counselors to assist victims and witnesses in prosecution of sex crimes and domestic violence crimes.

   Authorization level is $1 million/year (FY 1998 appropriation was $1 million).

   Sec. 1206. Study of State Laws Regarding Insurance Discrimination Against Victims of Violence Against Women

   Requires the Attorney General to conduct a national study to identify state laws that address insurance discrimination against victims of domestic violence and submit recommendations based on that study to Congress.

   Sec. 1207. Study of Workplace Effects from Violence Against Women

   Requires the Attorney General to conduct a national survey of programs to assist employers on appropriate responses in the workplace to victims of domestic violence or sexual assault and submit recommendations based on that study to Congress.

   Sec. 1208. Study of Unemployment Compensation For Victims of Violence Against Women

   Requires the Attorney General to conduct a national study to identify the impact of state unemployment compensation laws on victims of domestic violence when the victim's separation from employment is a direct result of the domestic violence, and to submit recommendations based on that study to Congress.

   Sec. 1209. Enhancing Protections for Older and Disabled Women from Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

   Adds as new purposes areas to STOP grants and Pro-Arrest grants the development of policies and initiatives that help in identifying and addressing the needs of older and disabled women who are victims of domestic violence or sexual assault.

   Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants for training programs through 2005 to assist law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and relevant court officers in recognizing, addressing, investigating, and prosecuting instances of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation and violence against individuals with disabilities, including domestic violence and sexual assault, against older or disabled individuals.

   Authorization is $5 million/year.

   Title III--Limiting the Effects of Violence on Children

   Sec. 1301. Safe Havens for Children Pilot Program

   Establishes through 2002 a pilot Justice Department grant program aimed at reducing the opportunity for domestic violence to occur during the transfer of children for visitation purposes by expanding the availability of supervised visitation and safe visitation exchange for the children of victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, or stalking.

   Authorization level is $15 million for each year.

   Sec. 1302. Reauthorization of Victims of Child Abuse Act Grants

   Extends through 2005 three grant programs geared to assist children who are victims of abuse. These are the court-appointed special advocate program, child abuse training for judicial personnel and practitioners, and grants for televised testimony of children.

   Authorization levels are $12 million/year for the special advocate program, $2.3 million/year for the judicial personnel training program, and $1 million/year for televised testimony (FY 2000 appropriations were $10 million, $2.3 million, and $1 million respectively).

   Sec. 1303. Report on Parental Kidnaping Laws

   Requires the Attorney General to study and submit recommendations on federal and state child custody laws, including custody provisions in protection orders, the Parental Kidnaping Prevention Act of 1980, and the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in July 1997, and the effect of those laws on child custody cases in which domestic violence is a factor. Amends emergency jurisdiction to cover domestic violence.

   Authorization levels is $200,000.

   Title IV--Strengthening Education and Training To Combat Violence Against Women

   Sec. 1401. Rape Prevention and Education Program Reauthorization

   Extends through 2005 this Sexual Assault Education and Prevention Grant program; includes education for college students; provides funding to continue the National Resource Center on Sexual Assault at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

   Authorization level is $80 million/year (FY 2000 appropriation was $45 million).

   Sec. 1402. Education and Training to End Violence Against and Abuse of Women with Disabilities

   Establishes a new Justice Department grant program through 2005 to educate and provide technical assistance to providers on effective ways to meet the needs of disabled women who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

   Authorization level is $7.5 million/year.

   Sec. 1403. Reauthorization of Community Initiatives to Prevent Domestic Violence

   Reauthorizes through 2005 this grant program to fund collaborative community projects targeted for the intervention and prevention of domestic violence.

   Authorization level is $6 million/year (FY 2000 appropriation was $6 million).

   Sec. 1404. Development of Research Agenda Identified under the Violence Against Women Act.

   Requires the Attorney General to direct the National Institute of Justice,in consultation with the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Academy of Sciences, through its National Research Council, to develop a plan to implement a research agenda based on the recommendations in the National Academy of Science report ``Understanding Violence Against Women,'' which was produced under a grant awarded under the original Violence Against Women Act.

   Authorization is for such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.

   Sec. 1405. Standards, Practice, and Training for Sexual Assault Forensic Examinations

   Requires the Attorney General to evaluate existing standards of training and practice for licensed health care professionals performing sexual assault forensic examinations and develop a national recommended standard for training; to recommend sexual assault forensic examination training for all health care students; and to review existing protocols on sexual assault forensic examinations and, based on this review, develop a recommended national protocol and establish a mechanism for its nationwide dissemination.

   Authorization level is $200,000 for FY 2001.

   Sec. 1406. Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel.

   Amends the Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act of 1994, authorizing $1,500,000 each year through 2005 for grants for education and training for judges and court personnel in state courts, and $500,000 each year through 2005 for grants for education and training for judges and court personnel in federal courts. Adds three areas of training eligible for grant use.

   Sec. 1407. Domestic Violence Task Force

   Requires the Attorney General to establish a task force to coordinate research on domestic violence and to report to Congress on any overlapping or duplication of efforts among the federal agencies that address domestic violence.

   Authorization level is $500,000.

   Title V--Battered Immigrant Women

   Strengthens and refines the protections for battered immigrant women in the original

[Page: H8884]  GPO's PDF

   Title VI--Miscellaneous

   Sec. 1601. Notice Requirements for Sexually Violent Offenders

   Amends the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act to require sex offenders already required to register in a State to provide notice, as required under State law, or each institution of higher education in that State at which the person is employed, carried on a vocation, or is a student. Requires that state procedures ensure that this registration information is promptly made available to law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction where the institutions of higher education are located and that it is entered into appropriate State records or data systems. These changes take effect 2 years after enactment.

   Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education to issue a statement, in addition to other disclosures required under that Act, advising the campus community where law enforcement agency information provided by a State concerning registered sex offenders may be obtained. This change takes effect 2 years after enactment.

   Amends the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 to clarify that nothing in that Act may be construed to prohibit an educational institution from disclosing information provided to the institution concerning registered sex offenders; requires the Secretary of Education to take appropriate steps to notify educational institutions that disclosure of this information is permitted.

   Sec. 1602. Teen Suicide Prevention Study

   Authorizes a study by the Secretary of Health and Human Services of predictors of suicide among at-risk and other youth, and barriers that prevent the youth from receiving treatment, to facilitate the development of model treatment programs and public education and awareness efforts.

   Authorization is for such sums as may be necessary.

   Sec. 1603. Decade of Pain Control and Research

   Designates the calendar decade beginning January 1, 2001, as the ``Decade of Pain Control and Research.''

   Division B--The Violence Against Women Act of 2000

   Title V--The Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act of 2000

   SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

   Generally designed to improve on efforts made in VAWA 1994 to prevent immigration law from being used by an abusive citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse as a tool to prevent an abused immigrant spouse from reporting abuse or leaving the abusive relationship. This could happen because generally speaking, U.S. immigration law gives citizens and lawful permanent residents the right to petition for their spouses to be granted a permanent resident visa, which is the necessary prerequisite for immigrating to the United States. In the vast majority of cases, granting the right to seek the visa to the citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse makes sense, since the purpose of family immigration visas is to allow U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents to live here with their spouses and children. But in the unusual case of the abusive relationship, an abusive citizen or lawful permanent resident can use control over his or her spouse's visa as a means to blackmail and control the spouse. The abusive spouse would do this by withholding a promised visa petition and then threatening to turn the abused spouse in to the immigration authorities if the abused spouse sought to leave the abuser or report the abuse.

   VAWA 1994 changed this by allowing immigrants who demonstrate that they have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by their U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouses to file their own petitions for visas without the cooperation of their abusive spouse. VAWA 1994 also allowed abused spouses placed in removal proceedings to seek ``cancellation of removal,'' a form of discretionary relief from removal available to individuals in unlawful immigration status with strong equities, after three years rather than the seven ordinarily required. Finally, VAWA 1994 granted similar rights to minor children abused by their citizen or lawful permanent resident parent, whose immigration status, like that of the abused spouse, would otherwise be dependent on the abusive parent. VAWA 2000 addresses residual immigration law obstacles standing in the path of battered immigrant spouses and children seeking to free themselves from abusive relationships that either had not come to the attention of the drafters of VAWA 1994 or have arisen since as a result of 1996 changes to immigration law.

   Sec. 1501. Short Title

   Names this tile the Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act of 2000.

   Sec. 1502. Findings and Purposes

   Lays out as the purpose of the title building on VAWA 1994's efforts to enable battered immigrant spouses and children to free themselves of abusive relationships and report abuse without fear of immigration law consequences controlled by their abusive citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent.

   Sec. 1503. Improved Access to Immigration Protections of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 for Battered Immigrant Women

   Allows abused spouses and children who have already demonstrated to the INS that they have been the victims of battery or extreme cruelty by their spouse or parent to file their own petition for a lawful permanent resident visa without also having to show they will suffer ``extreme hardship'' if forced to leave the U.S., a showing that is not required if their citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent files the visa petition on their behalf. Eliminates U.S. residency as a prerequisite for a spouse or child of a citizen or lawful permanent resident who has been battered in the U.S. or whose spouse is a member of the uniformed services or a U.S. government employee to file for his or her own visa, since there is no U.S. residency prerequisite for non-battered spouses' or children's visas. Retains current law's special requirement that abused spouses and children filing their own petitions (unlike spouses and children for whom their citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent petitions) demonstrate good moral character, but modifies it to give the Attorney General authority to find good moral character despite certain otherwise disqualifying acts if those acts were connected to the abuse.

   Allows a victim of battery or extreme cruelty who believed himself or herself to be a citizen's or lawful permanent resident's spouse and went through a marriage ceremony to file a visa petition as a battered spouse if the marriage was not valid solely on account of the citizen's or lawful permanent resident's bigamy. Allows a battered spouse whose citizen spouse died, whose spouse lost citizenship, whose spouse lost lawful permanent residency, or from whom the battered spouse was divorced to file a visa petition as an abused spouse within two years of the death, loss of citizenship or lawful permanent residency, or divorce, provided that the loss of citizenship, status or divorce was connected to the abuse suffered by the spouse. Allows a battered spouse to naturalize after three years residency as other spouses may do, but without requiring the battered spouse to live in marital union with the abusive spouse during that period.

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