Senate Passes Leahy Bill
For Transitional Housing
For Domestic Violence, Stalking
And Sexual Assault Victims

WASHINGTON (Fri., April 11) – Congress has cleared and sent to the President legislation authored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that authorizes grants for transitional housing and related services for people fleeing domestic violence, sexual assault or stalkers.  Leahy’s bill was included in the conference report of the PROTECT Act, S.151, a bill aimed at protecting children from abduction and pornographic exploitation, among other safeguards.  The overall bill passed the House on Thursday and then the Senate, in a vote of 98 to 0, on Thursday evening. 

Transitional housing allows women to bridge the gap between leaving violence in their homes and becoming self-sufficient.  Leahy said that at a time when affordable housing is at an all time low, transitional housing for victims is especially needed. 

The grants that would be awarded under Leahy’s Transitional Housing Assistance for Victims of Domestic Violence Act could be used for short-term housing assistance, including rental or utilities payments assistance; support services to locate and secure permanent housing; and services such as transportation, child care and employment counseling.

The grant program would be administered through the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), in consultation with the Departments of Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development.  The bill authorizes $30 million in DOJ transitional housing grants for each of the fiscal years 2004 through 2008.  Vermont would receive a minimum of $225,000 if the program is fully funded, under the Leahy small-state minimum of .75 percent for each state.

“I saw the devastating effects of domestic violence early in my work as a prosecutor,” said Leahy, who earlier was State’s Attorney for Chittenden County.  Leahy is the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Justice Department, and he was a conferee on the PROTECT Act.  “Today more than 50 percent of homeless individuals are women and children fleeing domestic violence.  We have a clear problem that is in dire need of a solution.  I want this program to be part of the solution.”  

More than half the cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2000 cited domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness.  Shelters offer short-term assistance but are overcrowded and do not provide other needed services. 

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VERMONT CONTACT: Rose Pulliam (w/Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault) 223-1302