U.S. CODE

U.S. Code

§ 10404. Secretarial responsibilities

(a) The Secretary shall appoint 1 or more employees of the Department of Health and Human Services to carry out the provisions of this chapter, including carrying out evaluation and monitoring under this chapter. Any individual appointed under this subsection shall, prior to such appointment, have had expertise in the field of family violence prevention and services.

(b) The Secretary shall—

(1) coordinate all programs within the Department of Health and Human Services, and seek to coordinate all other Federal programs, which involve the prevention of incidents of family violence and the provision of assistance for victims and potential victims of family violence and their dependents, and ensure that such activities as they relate to elderly persons are coordinated with the Administration on Aging and the National Institute on Aging within the Department of Health and Human Services;

(2)

(A) provide for research into the most effective prevention, identification, and treatment thereof (such as research into

(i) the effectiveness of reducing repeated incidents of family violence through a variety of sentencing alternatives, such as incarceration, fines, and counseling programs, individually or in combination, and through the use of civil protection orders removing the abuser from the family household,

(ii) the necessity and impact of a mandatory reporting requirement relating to incidents of family violence, particularly abuse of elderly persons) ^[1],

(iii) the effectiveness of providing safety and support to maternal and child victims of family violence as a way to eliminate the abuse experienced by children in such situations,

(iv) identification of intervention approaches to child abuse prevention services which appear to be successful in preventing child abuse where both mother and child are abused,

(v) effective and appropriate treatment services for children where both mother and child are abused, and

(vi) the individual and situational factors leading to the end of violent and abusive behavior by persons who commit acts of family violence, including such factors as history of previous violence and the legal and service interventions received, and

(B) make a complete study and investigation (in consultation with the National Institute on Aging) of the national incidence of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of elderly persons, including a determination of the extent to which incidents of such abuse, neglect, and exploitation are increasing in number or severity; and

(3) provide for the training of personnel and provide technical assistance in the conduct of programs for the prevention and treatment of family violence.

[1] So in original. The closing parenthesis probably should follow “interventions received”.

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