White House Task Force Report
Recommendations/Resources/Responses
Prepared by Karl F. Brevitz
Karl F. Brevitz Consulting
Washington DC
September 2014
This outline describes, and contains clickable links to, the major topics
addressed in Not Alone: The First Report of the White House Task Force to
Protect Students from Sexual Assault. The outline covers recommendations,
resources, and future actions. Future actions are here termed responses.
Acronyms appearing in the outline are:
CDC
Centers for Disease Control
DOJ
U.S. Department of Justice
ED
U.S. Department of Education
FSA
Federal Student Aid Office, part of ED
MOU
Memorandum of Understanding
NIJ
National Institute of Justice, part of DOJ
OCR
Office for Civil Rights, part of ED
OVW
Office on Violence Against Women, part of DOJ
TF
Task Force Report
I.
Campus Climate Surveys
Recommendation Institutions encouraged to conduct campus
climate surveys in 2015.
Resources
Provided: Toolkit for developing and conducting a climate survey.
Response TF will explore legislative or administrative options to
require campus surveys in 2016
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II.
Preventing Sexual Assault on Campus
Resources
a) Provided: CDC Advance Summary of primary prevention
strategies
Task Force Fact Sheet on prevention programming
Task Force Fact Sheet on bystander Intervention
Response
a)
CDC/DOJ/ED will convene panel to identify promising
prevention practices (Fall 2014)
III.
b)
DOJ evaluation of existing prevention programs used
by campus OVW grantees (to begin October 2014)
c)
CDC solicitation of proposals to identify and fill gaps
in research on sexual violence prevention
Responding to Sexual Assault on Campus
A.
Confidentiality
Recommendation Schools should identify trained, confidential
victim advocates who can provide emergency and ongoing support
Recommendation Schools should make it clear who on campus
will (or will not) share information, and with whom they will share it.
Resources
Task Force sample reporting and confidentiality protocol
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B.
Sexual Misconduct Policies
Resources
a) Provided: Task Force checklist for a sexual misconduct policy
b) Provided: Samples of promising policy language (September
2014)
Title IX Coordinator’s Role in Sexual Misconduct Policy
Sample Language re Interim & Supportive Measures
Sample Language/Definitions of Prohibited Conduct
B.
Training for School Officials
Resources
a) Provided: None yet.
b) To Come:
June 2014: DOJ online technical assistance project
for campus officials
September 2014: DOJ training program for campus officials
Involved in investigating and adjudicating sexual assault cases
December 2014: ED training materials for campus health
Center staff
C.
New Investigative and Adjudicative Protocols
Response
October 2014: DOJ/OVW/NIJ will begin assessing investigation
and adjudicative models, and identify promising practices.
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October 2014: DOJ/OVW will test models in use by its campus
grantees.
D.
Partnering with the Community
Recommendation Crisis intervention services should be available
24 hours a day.
Resources
a) Provided
Task Force sample Memorandum of Understanding with local
crisis centers
Task Force summary of promising practices in on-campus
victim services
b) To Come
Task Force sample Memorandum of Understanding with
local law enforcement
E.
Research
Response
Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing study of sexual assault
among student intimate partners
University of Texas/Austin School of Social Work development and
evaluation of training for campus law enforcement; and also
evaluation of campus Sexual Assault Response Teams
University of New Hampshire Prevention Innovations Center design
and evaluation of training program for incoming students on sexual
assault policies and expectations for student conduct.
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IV.
Improvement and Transparency of Government Enforcement
A.
Transparency and Information Sharing
Response/Resource NotAlone.gov
-explanation of Title IX rights
-how to file complaints with OCR or DOJ
-all OCR resolution letters and agreements
-all DOJ court filings
-sample policies and model agreements
-index to local resources
Resource
a)
Provided:
Dataset of resources related to sexual assault and higher
education
OCR search engine for recent resolution agreements
ED list of schools under investigation by OCR (updated list
available by contacting OCR).
b)
To Come:
2015: ED list of all campus Title IX Coordinators
B.
Enforcement
Response
90 day limit on OCR Voluntary Resolution Agreement
Negotiations
Involvement of more students and campus officials
in OCR campus investigations
April 29, 2014 DOJ/ED formal MOU regarding agencies’
roles in Title IX enforcement
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ED internal formal agreement between FSA and
OCR regarding Title IX and Clery Act enforcement
Response/Resource
OCR April 27, 2014 Q & A Guidance
Resource
ED chart on Title IX and Clery Reporting Obligations
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