[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2671 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2671
To build safer, thriving communities, and save lives by investing in
effective violence reduction initiatives.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 23, 2019
Mr. Booker (for himself, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Harris, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms.
Klobuchar, and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill; which was
read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To build safer, thriving communities, and save lives by investing in
effective violence reduction initiatives.
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 ``Break the Cycle of Violence Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Gun violence is a significant public health and safety
concern nationwide and is a leading cause of death for people
in the United States of nearly all ages.
(2) From 2012 to 2017, over 105,000 people in the United
States were murdered. Nearly \3/4\ of these victims were
murdered with a gun. Hundreds of thousands more were
hospitalized or treated in emergency departments after
surviving life-changing gunshot injuries.
(3) Gun violence has sharply increased in the United States
in recent years. Gun homicide rates spiked by 30 percent
between 2014 and 2017, driven by large spikes in violence in
some cities in the United States.
(4) Shootings, homicides, and group-related violence are
disproportionately concentrated in the poorest and most
segregated urban areas of the Nation, and have an enormously
disproportionate impact on young people of color in particular.
From 2012 to 2017, African-American children and teens were 14
times as likely to be shot to death as their White peers.
Hispanic children and teens and Native American children and
teens were both nearly 3 times as likely to be shot to death as
their White peers.
(5) African-American men make up just 6 percent of the
population in the United States, but account for more than 50
percent of all gun homicide victims each year.
(6) Violence is responsible for half of all deaths among
young African-American men, ages 15 through 24, as many as
every other cause of death combined.
(7) This violence imposes enormous human, social, and
economic costs. Nationwide, the annual societal cost of firearm
violence was estimated at $229,000,000,000 per year in 2012.
Economists estimate that each firearm homicide generates
hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct public costs,
including medical care and criminal justice expenses.
(8) Several evidence-based violence intervention strategies
have demonstrated remarkable success at interrupting entrenched
cycles of violence, victimization, and retaliation. These
strategies reflect the important fact that in most cities, the
vast majority of violence is perpetrated by a relatively small
number of identifiable groups or individuals that comprise less
than 0.5 percent of the city's total population.
(9) When properly implemented and consistently funded,
coordinated, evidence-based strategies focused on interrupting
cycles of violence among individuals at highest risk can
produce life-saving and cost-saving results in a short period
of time without contributing to mass incarceration. Multiple
cities have substantially reduced community violence in recent
years by implementing such strategies, including the following:
(A) Hospital-based violence intervention programs
(referred to in this section as ``HVIP''), which work
to break cycles of violence by providing intensive
counseling, peer support, case management, mediation,
and social services to patients recovering from gunshot
wounds and other violent injuries. Research has shown
that violently injured patients are at high risk of
retaliating with violence themselves and being
revictimized by violence in the near future.
Evaluations of HVIPs have found that patients who
received HVIP services were 4 times less likely to be
convicted of a violent crime and roughly 4 times less
likely to be subsequently reinjured by violence than
patients who did not receive HVIP services.
(B) Evidence-based street outreach programs, which
treat gun violence as a communicable disease and work
to interrupt its transmission among community members.
These public health-centered initiatives use street
outreach workers to build relationships with high-risk
individuals in their communities and connect them with
intensive counseling, mediation, peer support, and
social services in order to reduce their risk of
violence. Evaluations have found that these programs
are associated with significant reductions in gun
violence, with some sites reporting up to 70-percent
reductions in homicides or assaults.
(C) Strategies, including group violence
interventions (referred to in this section as ``GVI''),
which are a form of problem-oriented policing that
provides targeted social services and support to
individuals at highest risk for involvement in
community violence, and a process for community members
to voice a clear demand for the violence to stop. This
approach coordinates law enforcement, service
providers, and community engagement efforts to reduce
violence among a small, identifiable segment of the
population that is responsible for the vast majority of
gun violence in most cities. In one evaluation of the
GVI program in Boston, researchers found a 63-percent
reduction in youth homicides and a 25-percent decline
in monthly gun assaults across the city. Other studies
have found that GVI programs were associated with
homicide reductions of up to 60 percent.
(10) These strategies are often most effective when local
officials and dedicated staff work to coordinate stakeholders,
relevant public agencies, and service providers. Mayors in
cities like Los Angeles and New York have established city
departments that are primarily dedicated to violence
prevention, and their offices have played a critical role in
ensuring cross-agency collaboration and information sharing.
(11) These strategies are also most effective when they
receive consistent funding. For example, large cuts in funding
for violence prevention programs in Chicago in 2008, 2012, and
2015 through 2016 corresponded with large spikes in homicides
in those years. Similarly, the city of Stockton, California,
saw an increase in homicides after discontinuing funding for
its highly successful GVI program. When Stockton's funding was
restored, homicides decreased.
(12) A national strategy for reducing gun violence must
include substantial and targeted Federal funding to expand and
replicate the most effective strategies in communities most
impacted by violence.
(13) At present, however, these strategies are implemented
in only a handful of cities and are funded through an
unreliable patchwork of discretionary grant programs. The
current level of Federal funding to support the scaling of
these strategies is woefully inadequate.
(14) Intentional and sustained investments in evidence-
based violence reduction strategies can reverse recent crime
trends, help to heal impacted communities, and reduce the
enormous human and financial costs of violence, without
contributing to mass incarceration.
SEC. 3. COMMUNITY-BASED VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM GRANTS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
(2) Eligible unit of local government.--The term ``eligible
unit of local government'' means a unit of local government
that--
(A) for not less frequently than 2 out of the 3
years preceding the grant application, experienced 20
or more homicides per year and had a homicide rate that
was not less than double the national average; or
(B) demonstrates a unique and compelling need for
additional resources to address gun and group-related
violence within the community of the unit of local
government.
(b) Grants.--The Director shall award Community-Based Violence
Intervention Program grants to support, enhance, and replicate
coordinated violence reduction initiatives in units of local government
that are disproportionately impacted by gun and group-related violence.
(c) Eligibility.--The Director shall award grants under this
section on a competitive basis to--
(1) eligible units of local government; and
(2) community-based organizations that serve the residents
of an eligible unit of local government.
(d) Use of Funds.--
(1) In general.--A grant awarded under this section shall
be used to implement coordinated violence reduction
initiatives, through strategies such as hospital-based violence
intervention, evidence-based street outreach, and group
violence intervention.
(2) Requirements.--A coordinated violence reduction
initiative implemented using grant funds awarded under this
section shall--
(A) be primarily focused on providing community-
based violence intervention services to the small
portion of a grantee's community who are, regardless of
age, identified as having the highest risk of
perpetrating or being victimized by gun or group-
related violence in the near future; and
(B) use strategies that are evidence-based and have
demonstrated effectiveness at reducing violence.
(e) Application Requirements.--Each applicant for a grant under
this section shall submit a grant proposal, which shall, at a minimum--
(1) describe how the applicant proposes to use the grant to
implement a coordinated violence reduction initiative in
accordance with this section;
(2) describe how the applicant proposes to use the grant to
promote or improve coordination between relevant agencies and
community organizations in order to minimize duplication of
services and achieve maximum impact;
(3) provide evidence indicating that the proposed violence
reduction initiative would likely reduce gun and group-related
violence; and
(4) in the case of a unit of local government applicant,
demonstrate strong support within the unit of local government
for the proposed violence reduction initiative, such as letters
of support from--
(A) the mayor or chief executive officer;
(B) the chief of police;
(C) the local health department director; and
(D) the director of one or more community-based
organizations that provide services to individuals at
high risk of violence in the area.
(f) Prioritization.--In awarding grants under this section, the
Director shall give preference to applicants whose grant proposals
demonstrate the greatest likelihood of reducing gun and group-related
violence in the community of the applicant without contributing to mass
incarceration.
(g) Grant Duration.--A grant awarded under this section shall be
for a 5-year period.
(h) Grant Award.--The amount of funds awarded to an applicant under
this section shall be commensurate with the scope of the proposal of
the applicant and the demonstrated need for additional resources to
effectively reduce gun and group-related violence in the community of
the applicant.
(i) Matching Funds Required.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and
(3), the Federal share of each grant awarded under this section
shall be 75 percent of the eligible costs incurred by the grant
recipient.
(2) Exemption from requirement.--Paragraph (1) shall not
apply to a grant awarded to community-based organization under
subsection (c)(2).
(3) Waiver.--The Federal share of a grant awarded to a unit
of local government under subsection (c)(1) may be up to 100
percent if the Director determines there is good cause to waive
the Federal share requirement in paragraph (1) of this
subsection.
(j) Community Partnerships.--Each unit of local government awarded
a grant under this section shall distribute not less than 50 percent of
the grant funds received under this section to--
(1) one or more community-based organizations that provide
services to individuals at high risk of perpetrating or being
victimized by violence; or
(2) a public agency or department that is not a law
enforcement agency, but that is an agency or department
primarily dedicated to the prevention of violence or community
safety.
(k) Reports.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which the
first 5-year grant period under this section ends, the Director shall
publish a report identifying best practices for cities implementing
evidence-based violence intervention initiatives.
(l) Rewarding Success.--
(1) In general.--The Director may reserve not more than 10
percent of the funds appropriated for a fiscal year under
subsection (o) for supplemental incentive funds to be
distributed to grantees outside the competitive grant process
in accordance with paragraph (2).
(2) Distribution of additional funds.--The Director may
distribute amounts reserved under paragraph (1), in the
discretion of the Director, to a grantee under subsection (b)
that has--
(A) implemented the grant for not less than 2
years;
(B) demonstrated exceptional commitment and
progress toward implementing the violence reduction
initiatives of the grantee; and
(C) shown that the grantee would likely achieve
more substantial reductions in violence with additional
Federal funding.
(3) Federal share.--Subsection (i) shall not apply to any
amounts distributed to a grantee under this subsection.
(4) Explanation of distribution.--Upon distributing
supplemental incentive funds to a grantee, the Director shall
publish a statement on the website of the Bureau of Justice
Assistance that clearly explains the basis for the decision to
award these funds to a particular grantee.
(m) Evaluation and Technical Assistance.--The Director may reserve
not more than 8 percent of the funds appropriated for a fiscal year
under subsection (o) for the purpose of--
(1) contracting with or hiring technical assistance
providers with experience implementing community-based violence
reduction initiatives; and
(2) contracting with independent researchers to evaluate
the performance and impact of selected initiatives supported by
the Community-Based Violence Intervention Program grant, and
such evaluations shall be made publicly available on the
website of the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
(n) Nonsupplanting Clause.--A grantee receiving a grant under this
section shall use the grant to supplement, and not supplant, the amount
of funds the grantee would otherwise dedicate to reducing gun and
group-related violence in the community of the grantee.
(o) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in addition to any
amounts otherwise authorized to be appropriated or made available to
the Bureau of Justice Assistance, $65,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2020 through 2029.
SEC. 4. HOSPITAL-BASED VIOLENCE INTERVENTION GRANTS.
(a) Grants.--The Director of the National Institutes of Health
(referred to in this section as the ``Director'') shall award grants on
a competitive basis to support hospital-based or hospital-linked
violence intervention programs that work to interrupt cycles of
violence and reduce risk of violent injury and retaliation among
patients identified as being at highest risk for involvement in
community violence.
(b) Eligibility.--Grants shall be made available under this section
to private and public hospitals that treat at least 250 patients
annually for firearm assault or stabbing injuries, and to community-
based organizations that operate violence intervention programs in such
hospitals.
(c) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the Director
shall give priority to nonprofit hospitals that serve communities with
the highest incidence of violent injury and injury recidivism, and
community-based organizations that operate violence intervention
programs in such hospitals.
(d) Grant Requirements.--
(1) In general.--Each grant awarded under this section
shall be used to implement or enhance a hospital-based or
hospital-linked violence intervention program, to reduce risk
of violent injury and retaliatory violence among patients
identified as being at highest risk for involvement in
community violence.
(2) Other requirements.--Any program supported by this
grant shall be evidence-informed and implemented in accordance
with standards prescribed by the Director, in consultation with
the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention.
(e) Application Requirements.--Each application for a grant under
this section shall describe--
(1) how the applicant proposes to use the grant to
implement or enhance a hospital-based or hospital-linked
violence intervention program in accordance with this section;
and
(2) how the applicant plans to coordinate its violence
intervention program with other relevant stakeholders or
violence intervention programs in the community, if any, to
maximize impact and minimize duplication of services.
(f) Grant Duration.--A grant awarded under this section shall be
for a 5-year period.
(g) Evaluation and Technical Assistance.--The Director may reserve
not more than 10 percent of the funds appropriated under subsection (i)
for the purpose of contracting with or hiring technical assistance
providers with experience implementing hospital-based or hospital-
linked violence intervention initiatives, and for the purpose of
contracting with independent researchers to evaluate the performance
and impact of selected programs supported by grants awarded under this
section. Such evaluations shall be made publicly available on the
internet website of the National Institutes of Health.
(h) Nonsupplanting Clause.--An entity receiving a grant under this
section shall use such grant to supplement, and not supplant, funds
otherwise available to support violence intervention programs of the
entity.
(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there is authorized to be appropriated, in addition to any amounts
otherwise made available to the National Institutes of Health,
$25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2029.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING SERVICES FOR VICTIMS OF VIOLENT
CRIME.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) hospital-based and hospital-linked violence
intervention programs have shown effective results as a
strategy in reducing violently injured crime victims' risk of
injury recidivism and retaliation; and
(2) young men of color are disproportionately victimized by
violent crime and gun and group-related violence in particular,
but are frequently underserved by the victim services field.
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