Community-Based Gang Intervention Act
This bill expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should acknowledge and address social conditions such as poverty, homelessness, inadequate educational systems, and limited economic opportunities in developing a comprehensive gang violence reduction strategy.
It amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to: (1) require the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to award grants to nonprofit community-based gang intervention agencies to provide services for reducing and stopping gang-related and gang-motivated violence and crime, (2) include representatives of community-based gang intervention agencies in juvenile justice and delinquency prevention advisory groups established by state plans, and (3) include community-based gang intervention and prevention activities in state and local grant programs for delinquency prevention.
[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3783 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3783
To provide definitions of terms and services related to community-based
gang intervention to ensure that funding for such intervention is
utilized in a cost-effective manner and that community-based agencies
are held accountable for providing holistic, integrated intervention
services, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 21, 2015
Mr. Cardenas (for himself, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Grijalva, Mr.
Gutierrez, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico,
Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Rangel, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Rush, Mr. Scott of
Virginia, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Van Hollen, and Mr. Vargas) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide definitions of terms and services related to community-based
gang intervention to ensure that funding for such intervention is
utilized in a cost-effective manner and that community-based agencies
are held accountable for providing holistic, integrated intervention
services, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Community-Based Gang Intervention
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds as follows:
(1) For the first time in the history of the United States,
more than one in every 100 adults is incarcerated.
(2) The United States incarcerates more people than any
other country in the world, with more than 2,200,000 people
behind bars and another 5,000,000 people on probation or
parole.
(3) The United States has only 5 percent of the world's
population, but 25 percent of the world's prisoners.
(4) In 2007, the Federal Government spent $19,617,000,000
on police protection, corrections, and judicial and legal
services, representing a 286-percent increase since 1982. This
included a 475-percent increase for corrections and a 287-
percent increase for police protection.
(5) The growing prison system is also impacting State
budgets, with total State spending on incarceration topping
$53,000,000,000 in 2012, up from $10,000,000,000 in 1987.
(6) With increased prison costs, vital social programs and
services such as education, job creation, housing, and
healthcare are being cut or eliminated to maintain the prison
industry.
(7) Between 1987 and 2007, the amount States spent on
corrections increased 127 percent, while the increase in higher
education spending was only 21 percent.
(8) Over the past 10 years, the State of California's
general fund expenditures for higher education have fallen 9
percent, while general fund expenditures for corrections and
rehabilitation have increased 26 percent.
(9) The State of California has the second largest prison
population in the Nation with 165,062 prisoners under the
jurisdiction of State or Federal correctional authorities in
2010.
(10) According to one study, there are now 6 times as many
gangs and at least twice the number of gang members in Los
Angeles since the start of the 30-year ``war on gangs''.
(11) The city and county of Los Angeles have been dubbed
the ``gang capital'' of the Nation with an estimated 463 gangs
and 38,974 gang members in the city, and more than 1,300 gangs
and 150,000 gang members in the county.
(12) According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, allowing 1 youth to leave school for a
life of crime and drug abuse costs society between $1,700,000
and $2,300,000.
(13) In the State of California, the average annual cost
per inmate is $47,421 for an adult inmate, and $218,000 for a
youth inmate.
(14) The most recent data on overall State spending on
juvenile justice programs reveals that in 1998, States spent
nearly $4,200,000,000 on juvenile justice related programs,
which was a 65-percent increase from fiscal year 1994. Of those
expenditures, 67 percent went towards residential placements,
while only 8.4 percent went towards delinquency prevention.
(15) Gang and youth violence substantially decreases when
governments address the root causes of gang violence and
adequately fund community-based programs and practices.
(16) Studies continue to prove that community-based gang
intervention provides long-lasting, cost-effective results and
opportunities for the youth and families most susceptible to
gang violence.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, in
developing a comprehensive violence reduction strategy, the United
States should acknowledge and address larger, entrenched social
conditions and issues such as poverty, homelessness, inadequate
educational systems, and limited economic opportunities that give rise
to gangs and gang violence.
TITLE I--COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTERVENTION AGENCIES
SEC. 101. COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTERVENTION AGENCIES.
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42
U.S.C. 5601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new
title:
``TITLE VI--COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTERVENTION GRANTS
``SEC. 601. PURPOSE.
``The purpose of this title is to offer holistic and comprehensive
support for the variety of community-based gang intervention activities
that focus on and engage active and former gang members, their close
associates, and gang members in and returning from confinement. Gang-
involved youth and their families require specialized intensive and
comprehensive services that address the unique issues encountered by
youth when they become involved with gangs. Community-based gang
intervention involves proactive and reactive responses to gang
activities on several levels, including--
``(1) the regional level, to promote and coordinate peace
truces and cease-fires between groups;
``(2) the State and local level, including community and
the juvenile halls, camps, Division of Juvenile Justice
facilities, county jails, and State prisons; and
``(3) the neighborhood and street level, including with
active gang members individually.
``SEC. 602. SUPPORT OF COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTERVENTION AGENCIES.
``(a) Support of Community-Based Gang Intervention Agencies.--
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Administrator shall
award grants to eligible entities to carry out the activities described
in subsection (c).
``(b) Eligible Entity.--For the purposes of this section, an
`eligible entity' means a community-based gang intervention agency that
is a nonprofit organization with a proven track record and expertise in
providing community-based gang intervention activities through a
community-based gang intervention model.
``(c) Grant Activities.--Each entity awarded a grant under this
section shall carry out the following activities:
``(1) Conduct street mediation by working with gang members
and persons with influence over such member to defuse and de-
escalate potential and actual violence internally between gang
members and between rival gangs.
``(2) Develop local and regional truces by creating cease-
fires or nonaggression agreements between rival gangs and
neighborhoods.
``(3) Serve as conduits who facilitate constant dialogue
and maintenance between gangs and neighborhoods.
``(4) Provide services that respond to the high levels of
anxiety experienced by gang members to decompress critical
situations due to traumatic events.
``(5) Provide 24-hour, 7-day-a-week crisis intervention
services by responding to requests for violence prevention
services made by gang members, the families of gang members,
school officials, intervention workers, social service
agencies, or law enforcement.
``(6) Provide targeted training and technical assistance to
violence-plagued communities after a major gang-related
incident.
``(7) Facilitate the development of a community response
plan, including training protocols, situational scene
scenarios, and emergency response.
``(8) Make a reasonable effort to prevent gang-related
rumors from intensifying tension between gangs or igniting
violent responses by gangs.
``(9) Establish relationships with community stakeholders
to inform and engage them in quality-of-life activities that
enhance intervention activities.
``(10) Serve as intervention representatives in communities
by attending local meetings involving nonprofit organizations,
schools, faith-based organizations, and other entities.
``(11) Develop conflict resolution skills and techniques to
address and resolve community concerns related to gang activity
in order to improve the quality of life within neighborhoods.
``(12) Work with schools to respond to gang-related issues
and crises both in and outside of school.
``(13) Provide support services for youth and families
affected by gang violence and other victims of gang violence
(including any individual who is physically, emotionally,
financially, or otherwise harmed by criminal activity, and
those affected by harm done to or by a family member), which
may include--
``(A) advocating for public sector and private
sector assistance and services;
``(B) grief counseling; and
``(C) referrals to treatment and rehabilitation for
cognitive, mental, emotional, physical, or financial
injury, loss, or suffering.
``(14) Provide comprehensive mental health services to
youth and families affected by gang violence or involvement,
including--
``(A) integrated services comprised of individual,
family, and group therapy modalities, and psychological
education provided through youth and parent training
programs; and
``(B) gang-responsive services including skills
training, assessing and servicing youth with
developmental disabilities, behavioral modification,
and services to address substance use and abuse, anger
management, emotional regulation, traumatic stress,
family violence, depression, suicide, anxiety, and
educational problems.
``(15) Provide public and private sector career job
training, development, and placement, including--
``(A) job-finding and job-maintaining skills,
including skills related to resume writing,
interviewing, workplace decorum, interpersonal
communication, and problem-solving;
``(B) information about legal rights in the
workplace; and
``(C) financial literacy.
``(16) Assist with substance use and abuse treatment,
domestic violence victims, and voluntary tattoo removal of
markings on the body related to gang involvement.
``(d) Availability of Victims Assistance.--An entity awarded a
grant under this section that provides victim assistance under
paragraph (13) of subsection (c) shall not discriminate in the
provision of such assistance to an individual based on race, ethnicity,
gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic level, or past record.
``SEC. 603. DEFINITIONS.
``In this title:
``(1) Community.--Notwithstanding the definition of
`community based' in section 103, the term `community' means a
unit of local government or an Indian Tribe.
``(2) Community-based gang intervention agency.--The term
`community-based gang intervention agency' means a community-
based organization, association, or other entity that--
``(A) promotes public safety, with the specific
objective of reducing and stopping gang-related and
gang-motivated violence and crime; and
``(B) has a history of, or experience or specific
training in, effectively working with gang-involved
youth and their families.
``(3) Community-based gang intervention model.--The term
`community-based gang intervention model' means a holistic and
comprehensive approach to reducing gang violence that utilizes
the two-prong approach of community-based intervention and an
integrated approach of providing rehabilitative service
delivery to gang-involved youth that--
``(A) deploys specialists in community-based gang
intervention who are trained to utilize the two-prong
approach of community-based gang intervention and who
intercede, interact, and participate with and in the
community to quell rumors, prevent and mediate
conflicts, and respond to crises related to gang
activity and violence;
``(B) delivers rehabilitative services to gang-
involved individuals and families; and
``(C) addresses the barriers that gang-involved
youth and their families encounter and the societal
factors that promote gang violence.
``(4) Evidence-based.--The term `evidence-based', when used
with respect to a practice relating to gang activity prevention
and intervention (including community-based gang intervention),
means a practice (including a service, program, or strategy)
that has statistically significant outcomes that include a
reduction in gang-related violence and an increased number of
youth in job development, recreation, arts-based activities, or
faith-based activities. Such outcomes may be determined by--
``(A) an experimental trial, in which participants
are randomly assigned to participate in the practice
that is the subject of the trial; or
``(B) a quasi-experimental trial, in which the
outcomes for participants are compared with outcomes
for a control group that is made up of individuals who
are similar to such participants.
``(5) Gang.--The term `gang' means a group of individuals--
``(A) organized by geography, culture, or activity;
``(B) that have a group name, and may have other
identifying characteristics of the group such as colors
and nicknames; and
``(C) who engage in the use of violence to defend
the members or territory of the group.
``(6) Promising.--The term `promising', when used with
respect to a practice relating to community-based gang
intervention, means a practice that is not evidence-based,
but--
``(A) that has outcomes from an evaluation that
demonstrate that such practice reduces gang-related
violence and crime; or
``(B) about which a study is being conducted to
determine if such practice is evidence-based.
``(7) Youth.--The term `youth' means--
``(A) an individual who is 18 years of age or
younger; or
``(B) in any State in which the maximum age at
which the juvenile justice system of such State has
jurisdiction over individuals exceeds 18 years of age,
an individual who is such maximum age or younger.''.
TITLE II--AMENDMENTS TO THE OFFICE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE AND DELINQUENCY
PREVENTION
SEC. 201. DEFINITION OF COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTERVENTION.
Section 103 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5603) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``except when used in
title VI,'' before ``the term'';
(2) in paragraph (28), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(3) in paragraph (29), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; and''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(30) except when used as part of the term `community-
based gang intervention agency' or `community-based gang
intervention model', the term `community-based gang
intervention' means a two-prong approach to reducing gang
violence that--
``(A) provides specialized, gang-specific mediation
and mitigation to stop or prevent violence by, within,
and between gangs; and
``(B) provides the redirection of individual gang
members and their families through proactive efforts
that increase peace and safety for gang members, their
families, and their communities.''.
SEC. 202. COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTERVENTION REPRESENTATIVE TO STATE
ADVISORY BOARDS.
Section 223(a)(3)(ii) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5633(a)(3)(ii)) is amended--
(1) in subclause (III), by inserting ``, or community-based
gang intervention'' after ``delinquency prevention or
treatment''; and
(2) in subclause (IV), by inserting ``community-based gang
intervention,'' after ``prevention and treatment,''.
SEC. 203. GRANTS FOR DELINQUENCY PREVENTION PROGRAMS.
Section 504 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5783) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (7) and (8) as
paragraphs (8) and (9), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following
new paragraph:
``(7) community-based gang intervention and gang prevention
activities;''; and
(2) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting ``and community-
based gang intervention'' before ``activities;''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H7169)
Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line