Teen Dating Violence Prevention Act

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish within the Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services a program (in this section referred to as the Program) to award grants on a competitive basis to covered entities for providing to or developing for schools and youth-serving organizations evidence-based educational resources or training on preventing teen dating violence and forming healthy relationships, including awarding grants for—

(1) providing or developing—

(A) physical or digital materials that are designed to improve awareness on how to recognize, prevent, and safely report teen dating violence;

(B) professional development training for teachers, school leaders, school officials, and specialized instructional support personnel on how to recognize signs of abuse resulting from teen dating violence, identify different types of such abuse, intervene in cases of such abuse, and provide referrals to support services for victims of such abuse; and

(C) workshops at schools or youth-serving organizations for students, parents, and teachers that provide information about preventing teen dating violence and forming healthy relationships;

(2) supporting or expanding existing educational resources or training on preventing teen dating violence and forming healthy relationships; and

(3) recruiting and retaining domestic and sexual violence professionals to provide or develop educational resources or training on preventing teen dating violence and forming healthy relationships.

A covered entity may apply for a grant under the Program by submitting to the Secretary an application in such form, at such time, and containing such information as the Secretary determines appropriate, which shall include a description of the initiative, activity, program, or training the covered entity proposes to provide or develop using such grant.

In providing or developing educational resources or training on preventing teen dating violence and forming healthy relationships, a covered entity shall—

(1) ensure that any person providing or developing educational resources or training using grant funds is adequately trained to provide or develop such resources or training; and

(2) ensure that domestic and sexual violence professionals, school leaders, school officials, specialized instructional support personnel, staff of youth-serving organizations, and parents are involved in the design of any educational resources or training provided or developed using such a grant.

In this section:

(1) The term community-based organization means a nonprofit, nongovernmental, or Tribal organization that serves a specific geographic community and—

(A) focuses primarily on preventing teen dating violence or forming healthy relationships;

(B) has established a specialized program on preventing teen dating violence or forming healthy relationships; or

(C) obtains expertise, or shows demonstrated capacity to work effectively, on preventing teen dating violence or forming healthy relationships.

(2) The term covered entity means—

(A) a community-based organization or health agency with experience in providing or developing educational programs on preventing teen dating violence and forming healthy relationships for children, adolescents, or young adults, as determined by the Secretary;

(B) a local educational agency seeking to provide, develop, expand, or support educational programs on preventing teen dating violence and forming healthy relationships for children, adolescents, or young adults, as determined by the Secretary;

(C) a youth-serving organization seeking to provide, develop, expand, or support educational programs on preventing teen dating violence and forming healthy relationships for children, adolescents, or young adults, as determined by the Secretary;

(D) a faith-based organization seeking to provide, develop, expand, or support educational programs on preventing teen dating violence and forming healthy relationships for children, adolescents, or young adults, as determined by the Secretary; or

(E) a provider of an after-school program, including an elementary school, secondary school, local educational agency, youth-serving organization, or community-based organization, seeking to provide, develop, expand, or support educational programs on preventing teen dating violence and forming healthy relationships for children, adolescents, or young adults, as determined by the Secretary.

(3) The term domestic and sexual violence professional means a person, whether paid or serving as a volunteer, who provides or develops educational resources or training on preventing teen dating violence and forming healthy relationships as part of, or under the supervision of, a victim services program.

(4) The terms elementary school, evidence-based, local educational agency, parent, professional development, school leader, secondary school, and specialized instructional support personnel have the meanings given those terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).

(5) The term teen dating violence means intimate relationship violence committed by or against people over the age of 11 and under the age of 19, including—

(A) intimate partner violence;

(B) physical, sexual, financial, emotional, technological, or psychological abuse;

(C) harassment; and

(D) stalking.

(6) The term youth-serving organization means an organization that runs a supervised program designed for children, adolescents, or young adults that fosters learning and development for attendees outside of school, including—

(A) before school hours;

(B) after school hours;

(C) during school holidays; or

(D) on days when school is out of session.

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.