Supporting Survivors from Faith-based Communities Act
HB 8813, the “Supporting Survivors from Faith-based Communities Act,” would create a federal grant program within the Office on Violence Against Women to support a national faith-based resource center focused on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. The center would provide education, training, and technical assistance to faith communities, victim service providers, legal and housing providers, law enforcement, courts, and other stakeholders on how to better support survivors whose lives are shaped by religious or spiritual beliefs.
The bill defines key terms such as “victim with faith,” “spiritual abuse,” and “religious divorce denial,” and requires grant applicants to be a consortium of eligible entities, including faith-based and culturally specific organizations with demonstrated experience in trauma-informed, victim-centered work. It also directs the Attorney General to develop model state legislative language addressing religious divorce denial, and requires reporting to the Department of Justice and Congress on program activities and effectiveness. The bill authorizes $2 million annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2031, with funds remaining available until expended.
If enacted, the bill would add a new federally funded program under the Violence Against Women Act framework and expand DOJ/OVW responsibilities to include faith-specific technical assistance and coordination. It would not directly change criminal law nationwide, but it would influence state and local practice by funding training, shaping service-provider responses, and directing the Attorney General to publish model state legislation on religious divorce denial. The bill also sets conditions on eligible grantees and use of funds, including a prohibition on proselytizing or promoting religion, and it would affect faith-based nonprofits, culturally specific organizations, victim service systems, and related justice and social service agencies.
The bill appears generally supportive and bipartisan in tone, with multiple House members from different backgrounds listed as sponsors, suggesting broad interest in improving services for survivors in faith communities. The text frames the measure as a survivor-centered response to a documented gap in services for people whose faith or spiritual context affects their safety planning and healing. No committee transcript or vote data were provided, so there is no recorded floor or committee sentiment beyond the bill’s sponsor coalition and its referral to the Judiciary Committee.
The main points of potential contention are the bill’s use of faith-based organizations in a federal violence-prevention program and the balance between religious accommodation and survivor safety. The bill tries to address this by requiring trauma-informed, victim-centered practices and explicitly barring grantees that prioritize family cohesion, marriage preservation, or religious divorce barriers over victim safety. Another likely issue is the model state legislation on religious divorce denial, which could raise concerns about entanglement with religious law, family law, and constitutional limits, even though the bill states that implementation must remain consistent with the Constitution and not be used to promote religion.