[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1862 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1862

To provide for grants to assist States and communities in developing a 
 comprehensive approach to helping children 5 and under who have been 
exposed to domestic violence or a violent act in the home or community.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            December 20 (legislative day, December 18), 2001

  Mr. Durbin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for grants to assist States and communities in developing a 
 comprehensive approach to helping children 5 and under who have been 
exposed to domestic violence or a violent act in the home or community.

    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 ``Safe From the Start Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. YOUNG CHILDREN WHO WITNESS VIOLENCE.

    Title III of the Violence Against Women Act 2000 (Division B, 
Public Law 106-386) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 1304. YOUNG CHILDREN WHO WITNESS VIOLENCE.

    ``(a) In General.--The Attorney General shall award grants to 
eligible State entities that shall award grants to community coalitions 
throughout the State to design and implement a comprehensive and 
coordinated approach to identify, respond to, and serve young children 
who have been witnesses to or victims of violence.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Eligible state entity.--The term `eligible State 
        entity' includes--
                    ``(A) the State Attorney General's office;
                    ``(B) the Department of Public Health;
                    ``(C) the Department of Children and Family 
                Services;
                    ``(D) any other State agency that has been 
                designated as a State agency for violence prevention; 
                or
                    ``(E) a partnership between 2 or more agencies 
                listed in subparagraphs (A) through (D).
            ``(2) Exposed to violence.--The term `exposed to violence' 
        includes--
                    ``(A) witnessing, witnessing the immediate 
                aftermath of, or otherwise being directly affected by 
                an act of domestic violence, child abuse, or a violent 
                act in the child's home;
                    ``(B) witnessing, witnessing the immediate 
                aftermath of, or otherwise being directly affected by, 
                a violent act in the child's neighborhood; or
                    ``(C) being in a home in which child abuse or a 
                violent act was committed against a sibling.
            ``(3) Young children.--The term `young children' means 
        children aged 5 years old and under.
    ``(c) State Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--From funds appropriated by subsection 
        (f), the Attorney General shall award grants to eligible State 
        entities--
                    ``(A) on a competitive basis;
                    ``(B) in an amount equal to not less than $500,000; 
                and
                    ``(C) for a term of 3 years.
            ``(2) Limitation.--The Attorney General shall award only 1 
        grant under this subsection to a State.
            ``(3) Priority.--In awarding a grant under this subsection, 
        the Attorney General shall give priority to an entity that--
                    ``(A) submits a description of how the State grants 
                will contribute to a comprehensive State approach to 
                identifying and serving young children exposed to 
                violence;
                    ``(B) describes the technical assistance the entity 
                will provide to community coalitions, including 
                evaluation efforts; and
                    ``(C) demonstrates a history of building 
                partnerships and networks.
    ``(d) Community Coalition Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each eligible State entity that receives 
        a grant under subsection (c) for a fiscal year shall use the 
        funds to award grants to community coalitions that, at a 
        minimum (and where available), should include--
                    ``(A) a Child Advocacy Center;
                    ``(B) a domestic violence agency;
                    ``(C) a sexual assault agency;
                    ``(D) the local health department;
                    ``(E) the local branch of the State department of 
                children and family services; and
                    ``(F) local law enforcement.
            ``(2) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant from 
        an eligible State entity, a community coalition shall, to the 
        greatest extent practicable--
                    ``(A) inventory the local resources available to 
                identify and respond to young children exposed to 
                violence;
                    ``(B) design a response system that uses existing 
                resources and community assets and fills the gaps 
                necessary to--
                            ``(i) ensure that young children exposed to 
                        violence are identified, assessed, and receive 
                        appropriate services;
                            ``(ii) provide case management services for 
                        the children and their families; and
                            ``(iii) create specialized child care 
                        services for children exposed to violence 
                        through training of Head Start and child care 
                        workers who can work with these children under 
                        the supervision of an appropriate expert;
                    ``(C) incorporate a public awareness component to 
                educate the community and gain input from residents 
                about the coordination project, the scope of the 
                problem, and community capacity to successfully address 
                the needs of the targeted population and their 
                families; and
                    ``(D) participate in technical assistance and 
                evaluation efforts sponsored by the eligible State 
                entity.
            ``(3) Technical assistance.--Each eligible State entity 
        that receives a grant under this section may use not more than 
        15 percent of the allotted funds for a fiscal year for the 
        costs of providing technical assistance and assistance in 
        evaluation to community coalition grantees.
    ``(e) Administrative Expenses.--Each eligible State entity that 
receives a grant under this section may not use more than 5 percent of 
the allotted funds for a fiscal year for the administrative costs of 
carrying out this section.
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000 in each of fiscal 
years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006.''.
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