General Assembly Raised Bill No. 446
February Session, 2020 LCO No. 2713
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT REQUIRING THE VICTIM ADVOCATE TO STUDY WHETHER
THE STATE IS MEETING THE NEEDS OF VICTIMS OF FAMILY
VIOLENCE CRIMES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
1 Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) In accordance with the provisions
2 of subdivision (7) of section 46a-13c of the general statutes, the Victim
3 Advocate shall study whether revisions to state statutes are needed to
4 ensure that a victim of a family violence crime, as defined in section 46b-
5 38a of the general statutes, is afforded adequate paid or unpaid leave in
6 order to: (1) Seek medical care or psychological or other counseling for
7 physical or psychological injury or disability caused by the family
8 violence crime, (2) obtain appropriate services from a victim services
9 organization on behalf of the victim, (3) explore the possibility of
10 relocation due to the family violence crime, or (4) participate in any civil
11 or criminal proceeding related to or resulting from family violence
12 crimes.
13 (b) In completing such study, the Victim Advocate shall solicit
14 feedback from: (1) Public and private agencies that represent and
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15 advocate on behalf of victims of family violence crimes, (2) the Chief
16 Court Administrator, (3) the Chief Public Defender, (4) the Chief State's
17 Attorney, (5) state-wide organizations that represent employees, (6)
18 state-wide organizations that represent employers, and (7)
19 organizations that represent health care providers who offer services to
20 victims of family violence crimes.
21 (c) Not later than January 1, 2021, the Victim Advocate shall report
22 on the results of such study, in accordance with the provisions of section
23 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the
24 General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the
25 judiciary. Such report may include legislative or policy
26 recommendations that should be enacted in order to ensure that a victim
27 of a family violence crime is afforded required assistance, including, but
28 not limited to, adequate leave from his or her employment.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To require the Victim Advocate to study whether the state is meeting
the needs of victims of family violence crimes.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]
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