[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8813 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8813
To provide for a grant program to support the establishment and
operation of a national faith-based resource center on domestic
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 14, 2026
Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida (for herself, Mrs. Kim, Mr. Fitzpatrick,
Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Randall, Ms. Salazar, Ms. Simon, and Ms. Wilson
of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for a grant program to support the establishment and
operation of a national faith-based resource center on domestic
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
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 ``Supporting Survivors from Faith-
based Communities Act''
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) 41 percent of American women and 26.3 percent of
American men experience, over their lifetimes, physical
violence, sexual assault, or stalking by an intimate partner
with associated impacts such as injury, post-traumatic stress
disorder, the need for medical care, or law enforcement
involvement.
(2) Faith and faith communities often play a central role
in the lives of individuals experiencing domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, particularly in
underserved or culturally specific populations. Faith and faith
communities can be a source of strength and support for victims
and survivors, and can improve survivors' outcomes and
resilience.
(3) Many survivors of domestic or sexual violence want to
be able to talk about the faith or spiritual dimensions of
their healing journey with advocates, yet it is rare for
advocacy programs to take into account religious or spiritual
concerns raised by survivors.
(4) Studies have found that spiritual and religious sources
of resilience are common among survivors of domestic violence,
sexual assault, and child abuse.
(5) Clergy respondents have often reported that they have
been approached by victims of domestic abuse and were often the
first professional the survivor approached.
(6) Religious involvement can promote greater psychological
well-being for domestic violence survivors, including a greater
quality of life, and decreased depression.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE,
SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND STALKING IN FAITH COMMUNITIES.
(a) Definitions.--
(1) Consortium of eligible entities.--The term ``consortium
of eligible entities'' means--
(A) an agreement among three or more eligible
entities to collaborate in carrying out the purposes of
this section, including at least two faith-based
organizations representing different underserved faith
communities and one culturally specific organization;
and
(B) wherein at least one of the eligible entities
of the consortium described in subparagraph (A) has
previously completed not fewer than two grants
administered by the Office on Violence Against Women as
a lead applicant.
(2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity''--
(A) means--
(i) a faith-based nonprofit, non-
governmental organization with a demonstrated
history of providing trauma-informed, victim-
centered training and technical assistance
about the needs and experiences of victims with
faith, including a population-specific
organization, culturally specific organization,
or tribal organization; or
(ii) a non-faith-based culturally specific
organization, including a tribal organization;
and
(B) does not include any organization or subgrantee
or contractor thereof that prioritizes family cohesion,
marriage, family or community privacy, opposition to
divorce, sexual purity, or other considerations over
the safety, autonomy, needs, and preferences of
victims.
A history of providing faith-based marriage counseling shall
not, by itself, qualify an organization as an eligible entity.
(3) Faith community.--The term ``faith community'' means a
community of individuals who share a common religion or
spiritual practice, including a denomination within a religion
or culturally-based spiritual practice, a specific
congregation, or a culturally-based spiritual community.
(4) Faith institution.--The term ``faith institution''
means an organized entity within a religious community, such as
a house of worship, denominational body, or other official
structure of that community.
(5) Religious divorce denial.--The term ``religious divorce
denial'' means the refusal to cooperate in a religious divorce
process or other religious marriage termination process,
thereby preventing the victim from exiting the marriage despite
any civil legal proceedings or civil legal judgment of divorce.
(6) Spiritual abuse.--The term ``spiritual abuse'' means
the use or manipulation of religion, religious law, sacred
texts, or spiritual beliefs as a means of exerting coercive
control or to justify domestic violence, dating violence,
sexual assault, or stalking.
(7) Victim with faith.--The term ``victim with faith''
means a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, or stalking who identifies with a faith or spiritual
tradition, including identifying culturally with a faith or
spiritual tradition, or holds religious or spiritual beliefs,
whether or not they are officially affiliated with a faith
community or institution or participate in religious
observances.
(b) Application of Provisions of VAWA.--The definitions and grant
conditions set forth in section 40002 of the Violence Against Women Act
of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291) apply for purposes of this Act.
(c) In General.--The Attorney General, acting through the Director
of the Office on Violence Against Women, may award grants to a
consortium of eligible entities in order to provide for the
establishment and operation of a national faith-based resource center
on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
The resource center shall provide education, training, and technical
assistance to faith communities, faith institutions, victim service
providers, community-based and culturally specific organizations, and
Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies, and criminal and civil
legal system stakeholders, and shall engage in other activities to--
(1) improve the response of victim service organizations,
legal assistance providers, law enforcement, prosecutors,
courts, child protective services, housing providers, and other
stakeholders to victims with faith; and
(2) enhance the capacity of faith communities and faith
institutions to prevent and respond to domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
(d) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this
section, a consortium of eligible entities shall submit an application
to the Attorney General at such time, in such manner, and containing
such information as the Attorney General may require, including--
(1) information to demonstrate a collective history of
providing training and technical assistance to one or more
faith communities about trauma-informed, victim-centered
prevention and responses to domestic violence, dating violence,
sexual assault, and stalking;
(2) information to demonstrate a collective history of
providing training and technical assistance about one or more
faith communities and the needs of victims with faith to
mainstream victim service providers;
(3) an attestation that the safety and autonomy of victims
with faith and their children are the primary priority of all
consortium members, and consortium members, subgrantees, or
contractors will not prioritize family cohesion, marriage,
family or community privacy, opposition to divorce, sexual
purity, or other considerations over the safety, autonomy,
needs, and preferences of victims;
(4) a plan to engage with experts from faith communities
not directly represented by consortium members to provide
training and technical assistance to and about those
communities;
(5) evidence of longstanding relationships with faith-based
organizations and stakeholders representing a variety of other
faith communities; and
(6) a plan to establish and be advised by a victim advisory
working group composed of victims with faith, including those
who are underserved for reasons in addition to faith, which
shall meet periodically throughout the grant period to inform
the activities carried out under the grant. Members of the
victim advisory working group shall be compensated for their
participation.
(e) Use of Funds.--A consortium of eligible entities may use funds
under this section to--
(1) provide training and technical assistance to faith
communities, faith institutions, seminaries and clergy training
programs, faith-based schools and institutes of higher
education, faith youth groups, clergy and lay leaders, and
other faith stakeholders to equip them to--
(A) understand and recognize domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking,
including the impact on children;
(B) draw upon faith values and texts to raise
awareness about and address domestic violence, dating
violence, sexual assault, and stalking;
(C) develop and implement prevention programs that
are consistent with faith teachings and trauma-
informed, victim-centered practices;
(D) educate community members about religious
arbitration agreements, terms of religious marital
contracts, and other religious premarital or marital
documents intended to prevent or discourage religious
divorce denial;
(E) support victims with faith within their faith
communities in a victim-centered and trauma-informed
manner;
(F) refer victims with faith to local victim
service providers, including population-specific and
culturally specific programs, and other resources;
(G) hold offenders accountable, including
implementing restorative practices in collaboration
with entities receiving funding authorized under
section 41801 of the Violence Against Women Act of
1994;
(H) support offender behavior change;
(I) enact safety protocols to protect victims with
faith;
(J) understand legal issues impacting victims with
faith and uphold protection orders and child custody
orders;
(K) engage in peer-to-peer learning and teaching,
including with other faith communities;
(L) participate in coordinated community responses;
(M) prevent and respond to forced marriage; or
(N) undertake other activities to prevent, respond
to, address, or support victims of faith;
(2) provide training and technical assistance to victim
service providers and State and Tribal coalitions, legal
service providers, housing providers, and other nonprofit
organizations working with victims with faith, and to criminal
and civil justice agencies, including law enforcement,
prosecutors, courts, probation and parole staff, and child
protective services to empower them to--
(A) incorporate faith communities into coordinated
community responses;
(B) address unique needs and experiences of victims
with faith, including spiritual abuse;
(C) understand and address barriers that victims
with faith face when seeking safety and services,
including unconscious bias;
(D) implement faith-specific considerations and
best practices for working with and supporting victims
with faith, including--
(i) providing religiously-appropriate food
and dietary accommodations in shelters and
transitional housing;
(ii) to the greatest extent practicable,
understanding and taking into account faith-
based modesty norms, dress requirements, and
related cultural norms, including during
interactions involving law enforcement
personnel; and
(iii) accommodating daily prayer, rituals,
or other faith-based observances, such as
prayer timing and pre- and post-meal blessings;
(E) implement best practices for interacting with
and collaborating with faith communities;
(F) in the context of intimate partner homicides,
honor faith traditions related to the care and handling
of the deceased; or
(G) undertake other activities to prevent, respond
to, address, or support victims of faith;
(3) provide appropriate training and technical assistance
to other stakeholders, including--
(A) health professionals;
(B) researchers;
(C) disaster response coordinators and organizers;
and
(D) faith-based, secular, and non-sectarian social
service agencies;
(4) support the Office on Violence Against Women in
convening faith communities, victim service providers,
culturally specific programs, population-specific programs,
victims, other stakeholders, and federal government personnel
to identify areas of strength, ongoing challenges, and emerging
issues to guide future training and technical assistance, and
grantmaking; and
(5) support the establishment and operation of a victim
advisory working group required under subsection (c)(6),
including compensation for members.
(f) Establishment Phase.--During the first year of the initial
grant cycle, the consortium shall use grant funds solely for the
purpose of establishing the basic administrative and operational
infrastructure necessary to operate the National Resource Center,
including initial staffing, governance structures, and core systems to
support its activities, as well as developing partnerships to
understand and address the needs of communities that are underserved
for reasons other than, or in addition to, faith.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $2,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2027 through 2031.
(h) Availability of Grant Funds.--Funds appropriated under this
section shall remain available until expended.
(i) Rules of Construction.--
(1) Funds made available under this section shall not be
used to proselytize, to promote any religion or religious
viewpoint, to promote religiosity or increased religious
observance, or for any other purposes related to faith or
religion that are prohibited under federal, state, Tribal, or
local law or violate the Constitutional separation of religion
and state.
(2) Funds made available under this section shall
supplement, not supplant, existing Office on Violence Against
Women grants focused on specific faith communities.
SEC. 4. MODEL STATE CODE.
The Attorney General shall, in consultation with experts in
religious divorce denial, advocates working with victims experiencing
religious divorce denial, victims who have experienced religious
divorce denial, faith leaders, faith communities, and population-
specific victim service providers, develop and publish model State
legislative language to address religious divorce denial. This model
legislative language shall take into account relevant religious laws
and cultural practices, and be designed to be workable within affected
faith communities, while remaining consistent with the requirements of
the Constitution.
SEC. 5. REPORTING AND EVALUATION.
(a) Reports to the Attorney General.--On the date that is 1 year
after first receiving a grant under this Act, and annually thereafter
for the duration of the grant period, each consortium of eligible
entities shall submit to the Attorney General, acting through the
Director of the Office on Violence Against Women, a report that
includes--
(1) a description of activities conducted under the grant
and populations served; and
(2) an assessment of the effectiveness of such activities
in achieving the purposes of this Act.
(b) Reports to Congress.--Not later than November 1 of each even-
numbered fiscal year, the Director of the Office on Violence Against
Women shall compile and summarize the reports submitted under
subsection (a) and submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of the
Senate a report on the activities and effectiveness of the program
established under this Act.
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