Campus Accountability and Safety Act
This bill, titled the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, would overhaul key provisions of the Jeanne Clery Act and related Higher Education Act requirements to combat campus sexual assault. Its overarching goal is to increase transparency, improve survivor support, standardize how campuses track and report sexual violence, and create on-campus roles dedicated to assisting survivors through a victim-centered, trauma-informed approach. It would align campus reporting with broader federal definitions (including Violence Against Women Act and Title IX frameworks), require new metrics on how cases are handled, and push for more proactive outreach and accommodations for survivors. In short, it seeks to make campus sexual violence more visible to the public and to strengthen the campus response system from reporting to resolution. The bill also creates a centralized, public-facing campus safety website and a formal on-campus support structure—trauma-informed sexual and interpersonal violence specialists—designed to guide survivors, coordinate with campus and local authorities, and ensure appropriate accommodations. It sets up timelines for implementing these changes (with negotiated rulemaking to determine staffing needs) and fosters partnerships among institutions, including for smaller colleges that might partner with others to provide services. Taken together, the measures aim to increase reporting, accountability, and survivor access to services, while boosting privacy protections for individuals involved.
Key Points
- 1Expanded and standardized reporting of sexual violence and related crimes: campuses would include more offenses (rape, fondling, incest, statutory rape, etc.) and provide annual security reports with detailed, disaggregated counts and outcomes, while using uniform definitions aligned with VAWA and federal crime reporting standards.
- 2Creation and requirements for on-campus sexual and interpersonal violence specialists: each institution must designate trained specialists who are not students or typical campus investigators, can assist survivors (including anonymously), provide trauma-informed services, coordinate accommodations, and liaise with campus officials and law enforcement. They can work with outside victim service providers and must protect victim confidentiality.
- 3New, publicly accessible campus safety website and enhanced transparency: a centralized, searchable site would host roles (e.g., Title IX coordinator, violence specialists), reporting options, investigation/disciplinary processes, accommodations, hotlines, and information about pending investigations and outcomes of enforcement actions. It would include data downloads while protecting personally identifiable information.
- 4Victim-centered, trauma-informed interviewing and comprehensive survivor support: the bill mandates victim-centered interview techniques, training for staff involved in grievance processes, amnesty policies for certain reporting scenarios, and clear information provided to survivors about their rights, options, and the processes that may follow a disclosure.
- 5Implementation timelines and access for smaller institutions: establishes a schedule for hiring adequate numbers of specialists (via negotiated rulemaking on what constitutes “adequate” staffing) and permits regional partnerships to ensure smaller colleges can provide the necessary services without compromising access to survivors.