34 U.S.C. § 12291 — Definitions and grant provisions
submitted 20 years ago by Pub. L. 103-322 to r/title-34-CRIME-CONTROL-AND-LAW-ENFORCEMENT · 6,291 words · no verdicts yet
This section defines terms used in Violence Against Women Act grants, like domestic violence and sexual assault. It also sets grant rules, like protecting victim privacy and banning discrimination. Grantees must follow these rules to receive and keep funding.
This section has two parts: (a) defines words used throughout the grant programs in this subchapter, and (b) sets the rules grantees and subgrantees must follow to get and keep that funding.
(a) Definitions
(1) Abuse in later life means neglect, abandonment, economic abuse, or willful harm done to someone 50 or older by someone in an ongoing trusted relationship with them, or domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking against someone 50 or older by anyone. It does not include a person neglecting themselves.
(2) Alaska Native village has the same meaning as in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
(3) Child abuse and neglect means a recent act, or failure to act, by a parent or caregiver meant to cause death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or that creates an immediate risk of serious harm to an unemancipated minor. This does not mean that failing to leave an abusive relationship, without some other action that is abuse or neglect, is itself abuse or neglect.
(4) Child maltreatment means physical or psychological abuse or neglect of a child or youth, including sexual assault and abuse.
(5) Community-based organization means a nonprofit, nongovernmental, or tribal group that serves a specific geographic community and meets one of these descriptions: it focuses mainly on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking; it has established a specialized culturally specific program addressing those issues; it focuses mainly on underserved populations and those issues and includes representatives of those populations; or it obtains expertise, or shows demonstrated capacity to work effectively, on all four issues through collaboration.
(6) Court-based personnel and court-related personnel mean paid or volunteer people working in courts, including clerks, mediators, guardians ad litem, lawyers, probation and parole officers, interpreters, victim advocates, and similar legal-process staff; court security staff; staff in related offices like child support enforcement; and any other court or community staff who deal with domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking in the court system.
(7) Courts means any civil, criminal, tribal, Alaska Native Village, federal, state, local, or territorial court -- including immigration, family, juvenile, and dependency courts -- that can hear domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking cases, and the judges, magistrates, commissioners, justices of the peace, and other decision-makers in those courts.
(8) Culturally specific means aimed mainly at racial and ethnic minority groups, as that phrase is defined in the Public Health Service Act.
(9) Culturally specific services means community-based services that include culturally relevant and language-specific resources for culturally specific communities.
(10) Dating partner means someone who is or was in a romantic or intimate relationship with the abuser. Whether that relationship existed depends on its length, its type, and how often the two people interacted.
(11) Dating violence means violence by someone who is or was in a romantic or intimate relationship with the victim, judged by the same three factors: length, type, and frequency of interaction.
(12) Domestic violence includes felony or misdemeanor crimes committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner under the domestic violence laws of the place giving the grant. For victim services, it also includes physical or sexual abuse, or a pattern of coercive behavior -- including verbal, psychological, economic, or technological abuse, even if it isn't a crime -- used to gain or keep power and control over a victim, when done by a current or former spouse or intimate partner (or someone in a similar role), someone who lives or lived with the victim as a partner, someone who shares a child with the victim, or someone who commits acts against a victim protected under the jurisdiction's domestic violence laws.
(13) Economic abuse, in the domestic violence, dating violence, and abuse-in-later-life context, means coercive, deceptive, or unreasonably controlling behavior that restricts a person's ability to get, use, or keep economic resources they're entitled to. This includes using coercion, fraud, or manipulation to cut off someone's access to money, assets, credit, or financial information; use their money or assets for one's own benefit; or improperly control their financial decisions -- for example, forcing them to default on joint debts, misusing a power of attorney or guardianship, or failing to act in their best interest when owed a fiduciary duty.
(14) Elder abuse means willfully injuring, unreasonably confining, intimidating, or cruelly punishing a person 50 or older causing physical harm, pain, or mental anguish, or willfully depriving them (including by a caregiver) of goods or services meant to cause physical harm, mental anguish, or mental illness.
(15) Female genital mutilation or cutting has the meaning given in section 116 of title 18.
(16) Forced marriage means a marriage where one or both people can't or don't consent, and where force, fraud, or coercion is involved. It can cause, or result from, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
(17) Homeless has the meaning given in section 12473 of this title.
(18) Indian means a member of an Indian tribe.
(19) Indian country has the same meaning as in section 1151 of title 18.
(20) Indian housing means housing assistance described in the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996.
(21) Indian law enforcement means the departments or people under an Indian tribe's direction who keep public order.
(22) Indian tribe means a tribe, band, pueblo, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians -- including an Alaska Native village or corporation under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act -- that the United States recognizes as eligible for special Indian programs and services.
(23) Law enforcement means a public agency charged with policing, including its component bureaus such as government victim services programs or Village Public Safety Officers.
(24) Legal assistance means help given by, or under the direct supervision of, a licensed attorney, an accredited immigration representative, a VA-authorized representative, or a tribal-court attorney or lay advocate, to an adult, youth, or child victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. It covers matters such as divorce, parental rights, child support, Tribal, territorial, immigration, employment, administrative-agency, housing, campus, education, healthcare, privacy, contract, consumer, civil-rights, protection, and other injunctive proceedings; related enforcement proceedings; and similar matters. It also covers criminal-justice investigations, prosecutions, and post-conviction matters, including sentencing, parole, and probation, that affect the victim’s safety, privacy, or other interests as a victim; alternative dispute resolution, restorative practices, and other processes meant to promote victim safety, privacy, and autonomy and offender accountability, whether or not a court is involved; and post-conviction-relief proceedings in State, local, Tribal, or territorial court for a conviction of the victim relating to or arising from the victim’s domestic-violence, dating-violence, sexual-assault, stalking, or sex-trafficking victimization. Intake or referral alone is not legal assistance.
(25) Personally identifying information or personal information means information that individually identifies a person or is about a person, including information likely to reveal the location of a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, whether or not it is encoded, encrypted, hashed, or otherwise protected. It includes a first and last name; a home or other physical address; contact information such as a postal, email, Internet-protocol, telephone, or fax address or number; a Social Security, driver-license, passport, or student-identification number; and any other information, such as date of birth, racial or ethnic background, or religious affiliation, that would identify a person.
(26) Population specific organization means a nonprofit, nongovernmental group that mainly serves members of one specific underserved population and has demonstrated experience and expertise providing targeted services to members of that population.
(27) Population specific services means victim-centered services addressing safety, health, economic, legal, housing, workplace, immigration, confidentiality, or other needs, designed and targeted for one specific underserved population.
(28) Prosecution means any public agency directly responsible for prosecuting criminal offenders, including its component bureaus like government victim assistance programs.
(29) Protection order or restraining order includes any injunction, restraining order, or other order from a civil or criminal court meant to prevent violent or threatening acts, harassment, sexual violence, sexual contact or communication, or physical proximity to another person. This includes temporary and final orders, whether obtained by filing an independent action or as a pendente lite order in another proceeding, as long as a civil order was issued in response to a complaint, petition, or motion filed by or for the person seeking protection. It also includes support, child-custody, or visitation provisions, orders, remedies, or relief issued as part of a protection order, restraining order, or stay-away injunction under State, Tribal, territorial, or local law authorizing such orders or injunctions to protect victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
(30) Rape crisis center means a nonprofit, nongovernmental, tribal, or (outside a territory) governmental organization that provides the intervention and assistance described in section 12511(b)(2)(C) to sexual assault victims of any age. A governmental rape crisis center can't be part of the criminal justice system and must offer confidentiality as strong as a nonprofit's.
(31) Restorative practice means a practice relating to a specific harm that is community-based and not connected with a civil or criminal legal process, and that a victim starts. On a voluntary basis, without evidence that any person who caused the harm or anyone associated with that person coerced or intimidated a victim, it involves one or more people who caused the harm, one or more victims, and the affected community through one or more community representatives. It must have the goal of collectively seeking accountability from the people who caused the harm; developing a written process under which they take responsibility for the actions that caused harm; and developing a written action plan that responds to victims’ needs and that the victims, the people who caused the harm, and the community can agree to. It must be conducted within a victim-services framework that protects the victims’ safety and supports the autonomy of the victims and the community.
(32) Rural area and rural community mean an area or community with no part inside an area designated as a standard metropolitan statistical area by the Office of Management and Budget; an area or community within, or considered part of, a metropolitan statistical area that is located in a rural census tract; or any federally recognized Indian tribe.
(33) Rural State means a State with a population density of 57 or fewer people per square mile, or a State whose largest county has fewer than 250,000 people, based on the most recent decennial census.
(34) Sex trafficking means conduct that section 1591 of title 18 makes illegal, whether or not it crosses state or national lines or happens on federal territory.
(35) Sexual assault means any nonconsensual sexual act made illegal by federal, tribal, or state law, including when the victim can't legally consent.
(36) Stalking means a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their own safety or someone else’s safety, or to suffer substantial emotional distress.
(37) State means each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., and, unless stated otherwise, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
(38) State domestic violence coalition means a program the Administration for Children and Families recognizes under sections 10402 and 10411 of title 42.
(39) State sexual assault coalition means a program the CDC's Center for Injury Prevention and Control recognizes under the Public Health Service Act.
(40) Technological abuse means an act or pattern of behavior occurring within domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, or stalking that is meant to harm, threaten, intimidate, control, stalk, harass, impersonate, exploit, extort, or, unless otherwise permitted by law, monitor another person. It uses any form of technology, including internet-enabled devices, online spaces and platforms, computers, mobile devices, cameras and imaging programs, apps, location-tracking devices, communication technologies, and other emerging technologies.
(41) Territorial domestic violence or sexual assault coalition means an established nonprofit territorial coalition addressing domestic or sexual violence, or a nongovernmental group with a track record on those issues that plans to become one.
(42) Tribal coalition means an established nonprofit, nongovernmental Indian organization, Alaska Native organization, or Native Hawaiian organization that provides education, support, and technical assistance to member Indian service providers, Native Hawaiian organizations, or the Native Hawaiian community in a way that enables those providers, organizations, or communities to establish and maintain culturally appropriate services, including shelters and rape-crisis services, to Indian women or Native Hawaiian women and their dependents who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Its board and general membership must represent the member service providers, Native Hawaiian organizations, or Native Hawaiian community, and the tribal or Native Hawaiian communities where the services are provided.
(43) Tribal government means the governing body of an Indian tribe, or a tribe, band, pueblo, nation, or similar group -- including an Alaska Native village or corporation -- recognized by the United States as eligible for special Indian programs.
(44) Tribal nonprofit organization means a victim services provider whose main purpose is helping Native victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, staffed and led by people with a real history of helping American Indian or Alaska Native victims.
(45) Tribal organization means the governing body of any Indian tribe; any Indian-controlled or tribally chartered organization, or one democratically elected by the community it serves, that maximizes Indian participation; or any tribal nonprofit organization as just defined.
(46) Underserved populations means groups facing barriers to victim services -- because of where they live, their religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, race or ethnicity, special needs like language barriers, disability, immigration status, or age -- plus any other group the Attorney General or the Secretary of Health and Human Services identifies as underserved.
(47) Unit of local government means any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general-purpose political subdivision of a state.
(48) Victim advocate means a paid or volunteer person who provides services to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or dating violence victims through a victim services program.
(49) Victim assistant means a paid or volunteer person who provides those services through a court, law enforcement agency, or prosecution agency.
(50) Victim service provider means a nonprofit, nongovernmental, or tribal organization or rape crisis center -- including a state or tribal coalition -- with a documented track record of helping or advocating for domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking victims, including shelters and faith-based groups.
(51) Victim services (or services) means services for those victims, including hotlines, legal help and advocacy, economic advocacy, shelter, support through medical, justice, and immigration systems, crisis intervention, short-term individual and group support, referrals, and culturally or population specific services.
(52) Youth means a person 11 to 24 years old.
(b) Grant conditions
(1) Match: Tribes, territories, and victim service providers never have to put up matching funds. Other entities, including states, don't have to match funds either if they ask for a waiver and the Attorney General or the Secretaries of Health and Human Services or Housing and Urban Development find they genuinely need the waiver.
(2) Nondisclosure of confidential or private information:
(A) Grantees and subgrantees must protect the confidentiality and privacy of the people they serve, to keep victims and their families safe.
(B) They can't disclose personally identifying or individual information collected through their services -- encoded or not -- and can't disclose an individual client's information without that person's informed, written, time-limited consent (or, for an unemancipated minor, the minor's and a parent's or guardian's consent, or a court-appointed guardian's consent for someone legally incapacitated). Consent to release information may not be given by the abuser of a minor, the abuser of an incapacitated person, or the abuser of the other parent of a minor. If the law lets a minor or a person with a guardian get services without parental or guardian consent, that minor or person can release their own information without extra consent.
(C) If a law or court order forces release of that information, the grantee must try to notify the affected victims and take steps to protect their privacy and safety.
(D) Grantees may share nonpersonally identifying aggregate data to meet reporting requirements; court- and law-enforcement-generated information in secure government registries for enforcing protection orders; and law-enforcement or prosecution information needed for law enforcement or prosecution. But a victim can never be required to consent to releasing personal information as a condition of getting services, and personally identifying information can never be shared just to meet reporting requirements.
(E) Nothing here stops a grantee from making a legally required report of suspected abuse or neglect under state or tribal law.
(F) The Attorney General may still disclose grant activities to the House and Senate Judiciary Committee leaders for oversight, but must protect confidentiality and leave out personally identifying and location information.
(G) Grantees must document that they're complying with these confidentiality and privacy rules.
(H) If a victim whose confidentiality and privacy must be protected dies, a grantee or subgrantee may share information about that deceased victim with a fatality review, as far as the jurisdiction’s law permits, only if: the review seeks to prevent future deaths, improve victim safety, and increase offender accountability; it has policies and procedures protecting identifying information, including information about the victim’s children, from further release outside the review team; the grantee or subgrantee makes a reasonable effort to obtain a release from the victim’s personal representative, if one has been appointed, and from any surviving minor children or their guardian, but not if the guardian is the abuser of the deceased parent, if the children are not capable of knowingly consenting; and the released information is limited to what is necessary for the review.
(3) Approved activities: Grantees may work with government officials and agencies to develop policy and legislation reducing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, as long as they keep confidentiality rules and don't share personally identifying victim information.
(4) Non-supplantation: Federal grant money must add to, not replace, non-federal funds that would otherwise pay for these activities.
(5) Use of funds: Grant money can only be used for the purposes this subchapter describes, and stays available until it's spent.
(6) Reports: A grantee must report to the agency that gave the grant on what it did with the money, plus whatever else the agency asks for.
(7) Evaluation: Agencies giving out these grants must set aside up to 3 percent of the funds to evaluate specific funded programs or research, and to evaluate promising practices or emerging problems in the field. They must post final evaluation reports on their websites.
(8) Nonexclusivity: Nothing here stops male victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking from getting benefits and services under this subchapter.
(9) Prohibition on tort litigation: Grant funds can't pay for civil representation in a tort lawsuit, but they can pay for help getting restitution in a protection order or criminal case.
(10) Prohibition on lobbying: Grant funds are subject to the lobbying ban in section 1913 of title 18.
(11) Technical assistance:
(A) At least 3 percent and up to 8 percent of the total money appropriated must go to training and technical assistance for grantees, subgrantees, and other entities, unless noted otherwise. If the Office on Violence Against Women has a history of setting aside more than 8 percent, it can keep doing so.
(B) The Office must offer that technical assistance as broadly as possible to any eligible grantee, subgrantee, or potential grantee, whether or not they've gotten funding before, prioritizing recipients that got a grant before March 15, 2022.
(12) Delivery of legal assistance: A grantee providing legal assistance with this money must meet the eligibility rules in section 20121(d) of this title.
(13) Civil rights:
(A) No one in the United States can be excluded, denied benefits, or discriminated against based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability in any program funded under the Violence Against Women Acts of 1994, 2000, 2005, or 2013, or any other Office on Violence Against Women-funded program.
(B) If sex-segregated or sex-specific programming is essential to how a program runs, this rule doesn't stop it from considering sex -- but the grantee must offer comparable services to people who can't be placed in that sex-specific programming.
(C) The Attorney General and Office of Justice Programs enforce this the same way they enforce section 10228 of this title.
(D) This rule doesn't replace, weaken, or preempt any other state or federal civil rights law.
(14) Clarification of victim services and legal assistance: These services and assistance also cover victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking who are also victims of severe trafficking, adult survivors of child sexual abuse, and victims who are also victims of female genital mutilation/cutting or forced marriage.
(15) Accountability:
(A) Starting the first fiscal year after enactment, the Justice Department's Inspector General must audit grant recipients each year to catch waste, fraud, and abuse, choosing how many grantees to audit. An "unresolved audit finding" is one not closed within 12 months of the final audit report. A grantee with an unresolved finding gets individualized technical assistance to fix it, for up to the next two fiscal years. The Attorney General must prioritize grant applicants without an unresolved finding in the past three fiscal years. If an entity gets grant funds while barred for an unresolved finding, the Attorney General must deposit the improperly awarded amount into the Treasury's General Fund and try to recoup the repayment costs from that grantee.
(B) A "nonprofit organization" here is one that qualifies under section 501(c)(3) of title 26 and is tax-exempt under section 501(a). The Attorney General can't give a grant to a nonprofit that holds money offshore to dodge the tax in section 511(a). A nonprofit using the standard procedure to presume its executive pay is reasonable must disclose to the Attorney General, in its grant application, how it set that pay, including who reviewed it, what comparison data it used, and its contemporaneous records -- and the Attorney General must make that disclosure available to the public on request.
(C) No more than $100,000 in Department of Justice funds under this Act can go to a conference unless a senior named official gives prior written authorization, including a written cost estimate covering food, audiovisual equipment, speaker fees, and entertainment. The Deputy Attorney General must report all approved conference spending to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees each year.
(D) Starting the first fiscal year after enactment, the Attorney General must certify annually to the Judiciary and Appropriations Committees of both chambers that all required audits are done and reviewed, all mandatory exclusions have been issued, all required reimbursements have been made, and list any grantees excluded that year.
(16) Innovation fund: Up to 1 percent of the money appropriated for this subchapter can fund pilot projects, demonstrations, and special initiatives to improve how federal, state, local, tribal, and other community responses address gender-based violence.
In this subchapter, for the purpose of grants authorized under this subchapter:
The term “abuse in later life”—
means—
neglect, abandonment, economic abuse, or willful harm of an adult aged 50 or older by an individual in an ongoing relationship of trust with the victim; or
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking of an adult aged 50 or older by any individual; and
does not include self-neglect.
The term “Alaska Native village” has the same meaning given such term in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).
The term “child abuse and neglect” means any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caregiver with intent to cause death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm to an unemancipated minor. This definition shall not be construed to mean that failure to leave an abusive relationship, in the absence of other action constituting abuse or neglect, is itself abuse or neglect.
The term “child maltreatment” means the physical or psychological abuse or neglect of a child or youth, including sexual assault and abuse.
The term “community-based organization” means a nonprofit, nongovernmental, or tribal organization that serves a specific geographic community that—
focuses primarily on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking;
has established a specialized culturally specific program that addresses domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking;
has a primary focus on underserved populations (and includes representatives of these populations) and domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking; or
obtains expertise, or shows demonstrated capacity to work effectively, on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking through collaboration.
The terms “court-based personnel” and “court-related personnel” mean individuals working in the court, whether paid or volunteer, including—
clerks, special masters, domestic relations officers, administrators, mediators, custody evaluators, guardians ad litem, lawyers, negotiators, probation, parole, interpreters, victim assistants, victim advocates, and judicial, administrative, or any other professionals or personnel similarly involved in the legal process;
court security personnel;
personnel working in related supplementary offices or programs (such as child support enforcement); and
any other court-based or community-based personnel having responsibilities or authority to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking in the court system.
The term “courts” means any civil or criminal, tribal, and Alaska Native Village, Federal, State, local or territorial court having jurisdiction to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking, including immigration, family, juvenile, and dependency courts, and the judicial officers serving in those courts, including judges, magistrate judges, commissioners, justices of the peace, or any other person with decisionmaking authority.
The term “culturally specific” means primarily directed toward racial and ethnic minority groups (as defined in section 1707(g) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–6(g)).1
The term “culturally specific services” means community-based services that include culturally relevant and linguistically specific services and resources to culturally specific communities.
The term “dating partner” refers to a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the abuser, and where the existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on a consideration of—
the length of the relationship;
the type of relationship; and
the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
The term “dating violence” means violence committed by a person—
who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim; and
where the existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on a consideration of the following factors:
The length of the relationship.
The type of relationship.
The frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
The term “domestic violence” includes felony or misdemeanor crimes committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim under the family or domestic violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving grant funding and, in the case of victim services, includes the use or attempted use of physical abuse or sexual abuse, or a pattern of any other coercive behavior committed, enabled, or solicited to gain or maintain power and control over a victim, including verbal, psychological, economic, or technological abuse that may or may not constitute criminal behavior, by a person who—
is a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, or person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim;
is cohabitating, or has cohabitated, with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner;
shares a child in common with the victim; or
commits acts against a youth or adult victim who is protected from those acts under the family or domestic violence laws of the jurisdiction.
The term “economic abuse”, in the context of domestic violence, dating violence, and abuse in later life, means behavior that is coercive, deceptive, or unreasonably controls or restrains a person’s ability to acquire, use, or maintain economic resources to which they are entitled, including using coercion, fraud, or manipulation to—
restrict a person’s access to money, assets, credit, or financial information;
unfairly use a person’s personal economic resources, including money, assets, and credit, for one’s own advantage; or
exert undue influence over a person’s financial and economic behavior or decisions, including forcing default on joint or other financial obligations, exploiting powers of attorney, guardianship, or conservatorship, or failing or neglecting to act in the best interests of a person to whom one has a fiduciary duty.
The term “elder abuse” means any action against a person who is 50 years of age or older that constitutes the willful—
infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or cruel punishment with resulting physical harm, pain, or mental anguish; or
deprivation by a person, including a caregiver, of goods or services with intent to cause physical harm, mental anguish, or mental illness.
The term “female genital mutilation or cutting” has the meaning given such term in section 116 of title 18.
The term “forced marriage” means a marriage to which 1 or both parties do not or cannot consent, and in which 1 or more elements of force, fraud, or coercion is present. Forced marriage can be both a cause and a consequence of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking.
The term “Indian” means a member of an Indian tribe.
The term “Indian country” has the same meaning given such term in section 1151 of title 18.
The term “Indian housing” means housing assistance described in the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq., as amended).
The term “Indian law enforcement” means the departments or individuals under the direction of the Indian tribe that maintain public order.
The terms “Indian tribe” and “Indian Tribe” mean a tribe, band, pueblo, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation (as defined in, or established pursuant to, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)), that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.
The term “law enforcement” means a public agency charged with policing functions, including any of its component bureaus (such as governmental victim services programs or Village Public Safety Officers), including those referred to in section 2802 of title 25.
The term “legal assistance” means assistance provided by or under the direct supervision of a person described in subparagraph (B) to an adult, youth, or child victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking relating to a matter described in subparagraph (C).
A person described in this subparagraph is—
a licensed attorney;
in immigration proceedings, a Board of Immigration Appeals accredited representative;
in claims of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a representative authorized by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or
any person who functions as an attorney or lay advocate in tribal court.
A matter described in this subparagraph is a matter relating to—
divorce, parental rights, child support, Tribal, territorial, immigration, employment, administrative agency, housing, campus, education, healthcare, privacy, contract, consumer, civil rights, protection or other injunctive proceedings, related enforcement proceedings, and other similar matters;
criminal justice investigations, prosecutions, and post-conviction matters (including sentencing, parole, and probation) that impact the victim’s safety, privacy, or other interests as a victim;
alternative dispute resolution, restorative practices, or other processes intended to promote victim safety, privacy, and autonomy, and offender accountability, regardless of court involvement; or
with respect to a conviction of a victim relating to or arising from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or sex trafficking victimization of the victim, post-conviction relief proceedings in State, local, Tribal, or territorial court.
For purposes of this paragraph, intake or referral, by itself, does not constitute legal assistance.
The term “personally identifying information” or “personal information” means individually identifying information for or about an individual including information likely to disclose the location of a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, regardless of whether the information is encoded, encrypted, hashed, or otherwise protected, including—
a first and last name;
a home or other physical address;
contact information (including a postal, e-mail or Internet protocol address, or telephone or facsimile number);
a social security number, driver license number, passport number, or student identification number; and
any other information, including date of birth, racial or ethnic background, or religious affiliation, that would serve to identify any individual.
The term “population specific organization” means a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that primarily serves members of a specific underserved population and has demonstrated experience and expertise providing targeted services to members of that specific underserved population.
The term “population specific services” means victim-centered services that address the safety, health, economic, legal, housing, workplace, immigration, confidentiality, or other needs of victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and that are designed primarily for and are targeted to a specific underserved population.
The term “prosecution” means any public agency charged with direct responsibility for prosecuting criminal offenders, including such agency’s component bureaus (such as governmental victim assistance programs).
The term “protection order” or “restraining order” includes—
any injunction, restraining order, or any other order issued by a civil or criminal court for the purpose of preventing violent or threatening acts or harassment against, sexual violence or contact or communication with or physical proximity to, another person, including any temporary or final orders issued by civil or criminal courts whether obtained by filing an independent action or as a pendente lite order in another proceeding so long as any civil order was issued in response to a complaint, petition, or motion filed by or on behalf of a person seeking protection; and
any support, child custody or visitation provisions, orders, remedies, or relief issued as part of a protection order, restraining order, or stay away injunction pursuant to State, tribal, territorial, or local law authorizing the issuance of protection orders, restraining orders, or injunctions for the protection of victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
The term “rape crisis center” means a nonprofit, nongovernmental, or tribal organization, or governmental entity in a State other than a Territory that provides intervention and related assistance, as specified in section 12511(b)(2)(C) of this title, to victims of sexual assault without regard to their age. In the case of a governmental entity, the entity may not be part of the criminal justice system (such as a law enforcement agency) and must be able to offer a comparable level of confidentiality as a nonprofit entity that provides similar victim services.
The term “restorative practice” means a practice relating to a specific harm that—
is community-based and unaffiliated with any civil or criminal legal process;
is initiated by a victim of the harm;
involves, on a voluntary basis and without any evidence of coercion or intimidation of any victim of the harm by any individual who committed the harm or anyone associated with any such individual—
1 or more individuals who committed the harm;
1 or more victims of the harm; and
the community affected by the harm through 1 or more representatives of the community;
shall include and has the goal of—
collectively seeking accountability from 1 or more individuals who committed the harm;
developing a written process whereby 1 or more individuals who committed the harm will take responsibility for the actions that caused harm to 1 or more victims of the harm; and
developing a written course of action plan—
that is responsive to the needs of 1 or more victims of the harm; and
upon which 1 or more victims, 1 or more individuals who committed the harm, and the community can agree; and
is conducted in a victim services framework that protects the safety and supports the autonomy of 1 or more victims of the harm and the community.
The term “rural area” and “rural community” mean—
any area or community, respectively, no part of which is within an area designated as a standard metropolitan statistical area by the Office of Management and Budget;
any area or community, respectively, that is—
within an area designated as a metropolitan statistical area or considered as part of a metropolitan statistical area; and
located in a rural census tract; or
any federally recognized Indian tribe.
The term “rural State” means a State that has a population density of 57 or fewer persons per square mile or a State in which the largest county has fewer than 250,000 people, based on the most recent decennial census.
The term “sex trafficking” means any conduct proscribed by section 1591 of title 18, whether or not the conduct occurs in interstate or foreign commerce or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
The term “sexual assault” means any nonconsensual sexual act proscribed by Federal, tribal, or State law, including when the victim lacks capacity to consent.
The term “stalking” means engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to—
fear for his or her safety or the safety of others; or
suffer substantial emotional distress.
The term “State” means each of the several States and the District of Columbia, and except as otherwise provided, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
The term “State domestic violence coalition” means a program determined by the Administration for Children and Families under sections 10402 and 10411 of title 42.
The term “State sexual assault coalition” means a program determined by the Center for Injury Prevention and Control of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280b et seq.).
The term “technological abuse” means an act or pattern of behavior that occurs within domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence or stalking and is intended to harm, threaten, intimidate, control, stalk, harass, impersonate, exploit, extort, or monitor, except as otherwise permitted by law, another person, that occurs using any form of technology, including but not limited to: internet enabled devices, online spaces and platforms, computers, mobile devices, cameras and imaging programs, apps, location tracking devices, or communication technologies, or any other emerging technologies.
The term “territorial domestic violence or sexual assault coalition” means a program addressing domestic or sexual violence that is—
an established nonprofit, nongovernmental territorial coalition addressing domestic violence or sexual assault within the territory; or
a nongovernmental organization with a demonstrated history of addressing domestic violence or sexual assault within the territory that proposes to incorporate as a nonprofit, nongovernmental territorial coalition.
The term “tribal coalition” means an established nonprofit, nongovernmental Indian organization, Alaska Native organization, or a Native Hawaiian organization that—
provides education, support, and technical assistance to member Indian service providers, Native Hawaiian organizations, or the Native Hawaiian community in a manner that enables those member providers, organizations, or communities to establish and maintain culturally appropriate services, including shelter and rape crisis services, designed to assist Indian or Native Hawaiian women and the dependents of those women who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; and
is comprised of board and general members that are representative of—
the member service providers, organizations, or communities described in subparagraph (A); and
the tribal communities or Native Hawaiian communities in which the services are being provided.
The term “tribal government” means—
the governing body of an Indian tribe; or
a tribe, band, pueblo, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation (as defined in, or established pursuant to, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)), that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.
The term “tribal nonprofit organization” means—
a victim services provider that has as its primary purpose to assist Native victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking; and
staff and leadership of the organization must include persons with a demonstrated history of assisting American Indian or Alaska Native victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
The term “tribal organization” means—
the governing body of any Indian tribe;
any legally established organization of Indians which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered by such governing body of a tribe or tribes to be served, or which is democratically elected by the adult members of the Indian community to be served by such organization and which includes the maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its activities; or
any tribal nonprofit organization.
The term “underserved populations” means populations who face barriers in accessing and using victim services, and includes populations underserved because of geographic location, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, underserved racial and ethnic populations, populations underserved because of special needs (such as language barriers, disabilities, alienage status, or age), and any other population determined to be underserved by the Attorney General or by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, as appropriate.
The term “unit of local government” means any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State.
The term “victim advocate” means a person, whether paid or serving as a volunteer, who provides services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or dating violence under the auspices or supervision of a victim services program.
The term “victim assistant” means a person, whether paid or serving as a volunteer, who provides services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or dating violence under the auspices or supervision of a court or a law enforcement or prosecution agency.
The term “victim service provider” means a nonprofit, nongovernmental or tribal organization or rape crisis center, including a State or tribal coalition, that assists or advocates for domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking victims, including domestic violence shelters, faith-based organizations, and other organizations, with a documented history of effective work concerning domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
The terms “victim services” and “services” mean services provided to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including telephonic or web-based hotlines, legal assistance and legal advocacy, economic advocacy, emergency and transitional shelter, accompaniment and advocacy through medical, civil or criminal justice, immigration, and social support systems, crisis intervention, short-term individual and group support services, information and referrals, culturally specific services, population specific services, and other related supportive services.
The term “youth” means a person who is 11 to 24 years old.
No matching funds shall be required for any grant or subgrant made under this Act for—
any tribe, territory, or victim service provider; or
any other entity, including a State, that—
petitions for a waiver of any match condition imposed by the Attorney General or the Secretaries of Health and Human Services or Housing and Urban Development; and
whose petition for waiver is determined by the Attorney General or the Secretaries of Health and Human Services or Housing and Urban Development to have adequately demonstrated the financial need of the petitioning entity.
In order to ensure the safety of adult, youth, and child victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and their families, grantees and subgrantees under this subchapter shall protect the confidentiality and privacy of persons receiving services.
Subject to subparagraphs (C) and (D), grantees and subgrantees shall not—
disclose, reveal, or release any personally identifying information or individual information collected in connection with services requested, utilized, or denied through grantees’ and subgrantees’ programs, regardless of whether the information has been encoded, encrypted, hashed, or otherwise protected; or
disclose, reveal, or release individual client information without the informed, written, reasonably time-limited consent of the person (or in the case of an unemancipated minor, the minor and the parent or guardian or in the case of legal incapacity, a court-appointed guardian) about whom information is sought, whether for this program or any other Federal, State, tribal, or territorial grant program, except that consent for release may not be given by the abuser of the minor, incapacitated person, or the abuser of the other parent of the minor.
If a minor or a person with a legally appointed guardian is permitted by law to receive services without the parent’s or guardian’s consent, the minor or person with a guardian may release information without additional consent.
If release of information described in subparagraph (B) is compelled by statutory or court mandate—
grantees and subgrantees shall make reasonable attempts to provide notice to victims affected by the disclosure of information; and
grantees and subgrantees shall take steps necessary to protect the privacy and safety of the persons affected by the release of the information.
Grantees and subgrantees may share—
nonpersonally identifying data in the aggregate regarding services to their clients and nonpersonally identifying demographic information in order to comply with Federal, State, tribal, or territorial reporting, evaluation, or data collection requirements;
court-generated information and law enforcement-generated information contained in secure, governmental registries for protection order enforcement purposes; and
law enforcement-generated and prosecution-generated information necessary for law enforcement and prosecution purposes.
In no circumstances may—
an adult, youth, or child victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking be required to provide a consent to release his or her personally identifying information as a condition of eligibility for the services provided by the grantee or subgrantee;
any personally identifying information be shared in order to comply with Federal, tribal, or State reporting, evaluation, or data collection requirements, whether for this program or any other Federal, tribal, or State grant program.
Nothing in this section prohibits a grantee or subgrantee from reporting suspected abuse or neglect, as those terms are defined and specifically mandated by the State or tribe involved.
Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the Attorney General from disclosing grant activities authorized in this Act to the chairman and ranking members of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate exercising Congressional oversight authority. All disclosures shall protect confidentiality and omit personally identifying information, including location information about individuals.
Grantees and subgrantees must document their compliance with the confidentiality and privacy provisions required under this section.
In the event of the death of any victim whose confidentiality and privacy is required to be protected under this subsection, grantees and subgrantees may share personally identifying information or individual information that is collected about deceased victims being sought for a fatality review to the extent permitted by their jurisdiction’s law and only if the following conditions are met:
The underlying objectives of the fatality review are to prevent future deaths, enhance victim safety, and increase offender accountability.
The fatality review includes policies and protocols to protect identifying information, including identifying information about the victim’s children, from further release outside the fatality review team.
The grantee or subgrantee makes a reasonable effort to get a release from the victim’s personal representative (if one has been appointed) and from any surviving minor children or the guardian of such children (but not if the guardian is the abuser of the deceased parent), if the children are not capable of knowingly consenting.
The information released is limited to that which is necessary for the purposes of the fatality review.
In carrying out the activities under this subchapter, grantees and subgrantees may collaborate with or provide information to Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial public officials and agencies to develop and implement policies and develop and promote State, local, or tribal legislation or model codes designed to reduce or eliminate domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking if—
the confidentiality and privacy requirements of this subchapter are maintained; and
personally identifying information about adult, youth, and child victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking is not requested or included in any such collaboration or information-sharing.
Any Federal funds received under this subchapter shall be used to supplement, not supplant, non-Federal funds that would otherwise be available for activities under this subchapter.
Funds authorized and appropriated under this subchapter may be used only for the specific purposes described in this subchapter and shall remain available until expended.
An entity receiving a grant under this subchapter shall submit to the disbursing agency a report detailing the activities undertaken with the grant funds, including and providing additional information as the agency shall require.
Federal agencies disbursing funds under this subchapter shall set aside up to 3 percent of such funds in order to conduct—
evaluations of specific programs or projects funded by the disbursing agency under this subchapter or related research; or
evaluations of promising practices or problems emerging in the field or related research, in order to inform the agency or agencies as to which programs or projects are likely to be effective or responsive to needs in the field.
Final reports of such evaluations shall be made available to the public via the agency’s website.
Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to prohibit male victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking from receiving benefits and services under this subchapter.
Funds appropriated for the grant program under this subchapter may not be used to fund civil representation in a lawsuit based on a tort claim. This paragraph should not be construed as a prohibition on providing assistance to obtain restitution in a protection order or criminal case.
Any funds appropriated for the grant program shall be subject to the prohibition in section 1913 of title 18, relating to lobbying with appropriated moneys.
Of the total amounts appropriated under this subchapter, not less than 3 percent and up to 8 percent, unless otherwise noted, shall be available for providing training and technical assistance relating to the purposes of this subchapter to improve the capacity of the grantees, subgrantees, and other entities. If there is a demonstrated history that the Office on Violence Against Women has previously set aside amounts greater than 8 percent for technical assistance and training relating to grant programs authorized under this subchapter, the Office has the authority to continue setting aside amounts greater than 8 percent.
The Office on Violence Against Women shall make all technical assistance available as broadly as possible to any appropriate grantees, subgrantees, potential grantees, or other entities without regard to whether the entity has received funding from the Office on Violence Against Women for a particular program or project, with priority given to recipients awarded a grant before March 15, 2022.
Any grantee or subgrantee providing legal assistance with funds awarded under this subchapter shall comply with the eligibility requirements in section 20121(d) of this title.
No person in the United States shall, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity (as defined in paragraph 249(c)(4) of title 18), sexual orientation, or disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds made available under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (title IV of Public Law 103–322; 108 Stat. 1902), the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 (division B of Public Law 106–386; 114 Stat. 1491), the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (title IX of Public Law 109–162; 119 Stat. 3080),2 the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, and any other program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds appropriated for grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance administered by the Office on Violence Against Women.
If sex segregation or sex-specific programming is necessary to the essential operation of a program, nothing in this paragraph shall prevent any such program or activity from consideration of an individual’s sex. In such circumstances, grantees may meet the requirements of this paragraph by providing comparable services to individuals who cannot be provided with the sex-segregated or sex-specific programming.
The authority of the Attorney General and the Office of Justice Programs to enforce this paragraph shall be the same as it is under section 10228 of this title.2
Nothing contained in this paragraph shall be construed, interpreted, or applied to supplant, displace, preempt, or otherwise diminish the responsibilities and liabilities under other State or Federal civil rights law, whether statutory or common.
Victim services and legal assistance under this subchapter also include services and assistance to—
victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking who are also victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons as defined by section 7102 of title 22;
adult survivors of child sexual abuse; and
victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking who are also victims of female genital mutilation or cutting, or forced marriage.
All grants awarded by the Attorney General under this Act shall be subject to the following accountability provisions:
Beginning in the first fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act,2 and in each fiscal year thereafter, the Inspector General of the Department of Justice shall conduct audits of recipients of grants under this Act to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by grantees. The Inspector General shall determine the appropriate number of grantees to be audited each year.
In this paragraph, the term “unresolved audit finding” means a finding in the final audit report of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice that the audited grantee has utilized grant funds for an unauthorized expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed or resolved within 12 months from the date when the final audit report is issued.
A recipient of grant funds under this Act that is found to have an unresolved audit finding shall be eligible to receive prompt, individualized technical assistance to resolve the audit finding and to prevent future findings, for a period not to exceed the following 2 fiscal years.
In awarding grants under this Act, the Attorney General shall give priority to eligible entities that did not have an unresolved audit finding during the 3 fiscal years prior to submitting an application for a grant under this Act.
If an entity is awarded grant funds under this Act during the 2-fiscal-year period in which the entity is barred from receiving grants under paragraph (2), the Attorney General shall—
deposit an amount equal to the grant funds that were improperly awarded to the grantee into the General Fund of the Treasury; and
seek to recoup the costs of the repayment to the fund from the grant recipient that was erroneously awarded grant funds.
For purposes of this paragraph and the grant programs described in this Act, the term “nonprofit organization” means an organization that is described in section 501(c)(3) of title 26 and is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such title.
The Attorney General may not award a grant under any grant program described in this Act to a nonprofit organization that holds money in offshore accounts for the purpose of avoiding paying the tax described in section 511(a) of title 26.
Each nonprofit organization that is awarded a grant under a grant program described in this Act and uses the procedures prescribed in regulations to create a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness for the compensation of its officers, directors, trustees and key employees, shall disclose to the Attorney General, in the application for the grant, the process for determining such compensation, including the independent persons involved in reviewing and approving such compensation, the comparability data used, and contemporaneous substantiation of the deliberation and decision. Upon request, the Attorney General shall make the information disclosed under this subsection available for public inspection.
No amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Justice under this Act may be used by the Attorney General, or by any individual or organization awarded discretionary funds through a cooperative agreement under this Act, to host or support any expenditure for conferences that uses more than $100,000 in Department funds, unless the Director or Principal Deputy Director of the Office on Violence Against Women or the Deputy Attorney General or such Assistant Attorney Generals, Directors, or principal deputies as the Deputy Attorney General may designate, provides prior written authorization that the funds may be expended to host a conference.
Written approval under clause (i) shall include a written estimate of all costs associated with the conference, including the cost of all food and beverages, audiovisual equipment, honoraria for speakers, and any entertainment.
The Deputy Attorney General shall submit an annual report to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives on all approved conference expenditures referenced in this paragraph.
Beginning in the first fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act,2 the Attorney General shall submit, to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, an annual certification that—
all audits issued by the Office of the Inspector General under paragraph (1) have been completed and reviewed by the appropriate Assistant Attorney General or Director;
all mandatory exclusions required under subparagraph (A)(iii) have been issued;
all reimbursements required under subparagraph (A)(v) have been made; and
includes a list of any grant recipients excluded under subparagraph (A) from the previous year.
Of the amounts appropriated to carry out this subchapter, not more than 1 percent shall be made available for pilot projects, demonstration projects, and special initiatives designed to improve Federal, State, local, Tribal, and other community responses to gender-based violence.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 103–322, title IV, § 40002, as added Pub. L. 109–162, § 3(a), Jan. 5, 2006, 119 Stat. 2964; amended Pub. L. 109–271, §§ 1(d)–(f), 2(e), Aug. 12, 2006, 120 Stat. 751, 752; Pub. L. 111–320, title II, § 202(d), Dec. 20, 2010, 124 Stat. 3509; Pub. L. 113–4, § 3, Mar. 7, 2013, 127 Stat. 56; Pub. L. 117–103, div. W, § 2(a), Mar. 15, 2022, 136 Stat. 840; Pub. L. 117–315, § 2(b), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4404.)
- 2006Enacted · Pub. L. 103-322 · 119 Stat. 2964
- 2006Amended · Pub. L. 109-271 · 120 Stat. 751, 752
- 2010Amended · Pub. L. 111-320 · 124 Stat. 3509
- 2013Amended · Pub. L. 113-4 · 127 Stat. 56
- 2022Amended · Pub. L. 117-103 · 136 Stat. 840
- 2022Amended · Pub. L. 117-315 · 136 Stat. 4404
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 103-322 on 2006-01-05.
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