Colleges must hire helpers for assault survivors.
S. 5657 — SOS Campus Act · Filed by Tim Kaine (D-VA) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires every college that gets federal money to hire a helper for assault survivors. The helper works outside the college's discipline system. The helper gives survivors 24/7 help with counseling, medical care, and legal information. The helper guides survivors through reports and hearings. The helper keeps survivor names private. Colleges must tell all staff about the helper.
Who it affects
Assault survivors gain a helper who works for them, not the college. The helper provides 24/7 counseling, medical care, legal information, and support through the discipline process. Colleges must hire and pay for this helper.
One thing to notice
Colleges may need to spend money to hire helpers and provide 24/7 services. The rule to keep names private may conflict with state laws that require reports of abuse.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Democrats.
- Sep 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 30, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- helper — A person hired to help survivors but who does not work for the college.
- discipline system — The college's investigation and hearing about whether someone broke school rules.
- federal money — Money the federal government gives to colleges to help students pay for school.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (5,820 characters) on Oct 16, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Colleges must hire helpers for assault survivors.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s5657/simple Report an error
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