[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1924 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1924

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

                             April 5, 2017

   Mr. Cardenas (for himself, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cohen, Mr. 
  Cummings, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New 
 Mexico, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Roybal-
   Allard, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Vargas, and Mr. Grijalva) 
 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>