Title 42The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§10404 Authority of Secretary

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 110— - FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND SERVICES › § 10404

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Health and Human Services must run the programs set up by this law. The Secretary can hire staff and pay them, and bring in temporary experts and consultants as allowed by law. The Secretary can give grants and make contracts with for-profit and nonprofit groups and set reporting rules for them. The Secretary must write rules and guidance needed to carry out the law, including rules for changes made by the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010, and must try to make grantees and contractors accountable and transparent. The Secretary must also coordinate related programs inside HHS and, when possible, with other federal agencies that work to prevent family, domestic, and dating violence or help victims. The Secretary must assign one or more HHS employees with experience in family and domestic violence (and dating violence when practical) to run, monitor, and evaluate these programs. The Secretary must provide technical help, support and coordinate research by consulting experts, collect and report data on services (including those paid for under this law and by other sources), and work with other agencies and researchers. Every 2 years the Secretary must review grantees, subgrantees, and contractors, evaluate program effectiveness, and send a report with a summary of the performance-report documentation under section 10406(d) to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and post the evaluation and summary on the HHS website.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §10404

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In order to carry out the provisions of this chapter, the Secretary is authorized to—
(1)appoint and fix the compensation of such personnel as are necessary;
(2)procure, to the extent authorized by section 3109 of title 5, such temporary and intermittent services of experts and consultants as are necessary;
(3)make grants to eligible entities or enter into contracts with for-profit or nonprofit nongovernmental entities and establish reporting requirements for such grantees and contractors;
(4)prescribe such regulations and guidance as are reasonably necessary in order to carry out the objectives and provisions of this chapter, including regulations and guidance on implementing new grant conditions established or provisions modified by amendments made to this chapter by the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010, to ensure accountability and transparency of the actions of grantees and contractors, or as determined by the Secretary to be reasonably necessary to carry out this chapter; and
(5)coordinate programs within the Department of Health and Human Services, and seek to coordinate those programs with programs administered by other Federal agencies, that involve or affect efforts to prevent family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence or the provision of assistance for adult and youth victims of family violence, domestic violence, or dating violence.
(b)The Secretary shall—
(1)assign 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, which employees shall, prior to such appointment, have expertise in the field of family violence and domestic violence prevention and services and, to the extent practicable, have expertise in the field of dating violence;
(2)provide technical assistance in the conduct of programs for the prevention and treatment of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence;
(3)provide for and coordinate research into the most effective approaches to the intervention in and prevention of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence, by—
(A)consulting with experts and program providers within the family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence field to identify gaps in research and knowledge, establish research priorities, and disseminate research findings;
(B)collecting and reporting data on the provision of family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence services, including assistance and programs supported by Federal funds made available under this chapter and by other governmental or nongovernmental sources of funds; and
(C)coordinating family violence, domestic violence, and dating violence research efforts within the Department of Health and Human Services with relevant research administered or carried out by other Federal agencies and other researchers, including research on the provision of assistance for adult and youth victims of family violence, domestic violence, or dating violence; and
(4)support the development and implementation of effective policies, protocols, and programs within the Department and at other Federal agencies that address the safety and support needs of adult and youth victims of family violence, domestic violence, or dating violence.
(c)Every 2 years, the Secretary shall review and evaluate the activities conducted by grantees, subgrantees, and contractors under this chapter and the effectiveness of the programs administered pursuant to this chapter, and submit a report containing the evaluation to the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. Such report shall also include a summary of the documentation provided to the Secretary through performance reports submitted under section 10406(d) of this title. The Secretary shall make publicly available on the Department of Health and Human Services website the evaluation reports submitted to Congress under this subsection, including the summary of the documentation provided to the Secretary under section 10406(d) of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010, referred to in subsec. (a)(4), is Pub. L. 111–320, Dec. 20, 2010, 124 Stat. 3459. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

of 2010 Amendment note set out under section 5101 of this title and Tables.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 10404, Pub. L. 98–457, title III, § 305, Oct. 9, 1984, 98 Stat. 1760; Pub. L. 102–295, title III, § 313,
May 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 204; Pub. L. 108–36, title IV, §§ 402, 415(4),
June 25, 2003, 117 Stat. 825, 830, related to Secretarial responsibilities, prior to the general amendment of this chapter by Pub. L. 111–320. A prior section 304 of Pub. L. 98–457 was classified to section 10403 of this title prior to the general amendment of this chapter by Pub. L. 111–320.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Committee on Education and Labor of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Education and the Workforce of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, Jan. 9, 2023.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 10404

Title 42The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73