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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 422

To provide grants to reduce the number of homicides and the incidents

of violence by students, ages 13 to 21, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. TOWNS introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Education and Labor and the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide grants to reduce the number of homicides and

the incidents of violence by students, ages 13 to 21,

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Youth Homicide Vio5 lence Reduction and Mediation Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

7 The purposes of this Act are to establish education,

8 behavior modification, conflict negotiation programs with

9 community and parental participation—
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1 (1) to reduce the incidence of homicide and vio2 lence of students ages 13 to 21;

3 (2) to reduce the use of guns by such age

4 group; and

5 (3) promote anti-gun education.

6 SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau of

8 Justice Assistance may make grants to local educational

9 agencies to provide assistance to such agencies most di10 rectly affected by crime and violence.

11 (b) PRIORITY.—The Director shall give priority con12 sideration to local educational agencies in urban areas in

13 which the homicide rate for youth has increased by more

14 than five percent in comparison to the preceding year or

15 exceeds the State or national homicide rate for youth by

16 more than seven percent.

17 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY.

18 To be eligible to receive a grant under this Act, a

19 local educational agency shall give assurances that it has

20 developed, or is in the process of developing, violence re21 duction and peer counseling programs as part of the edu22 cational curriculum at each school.

23 SEC. 5. USES OF FUNDS.

24 Grants made by the Director under this Act may be

25 used—
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1 (1) to fund training programs for teachers and

2 counseling staff to assist students in the effective

3 use of interpersonal and negotiation skills, with pri4 ority given to minority teachers and counselors and

5 to teachers and counselors who work with a diverse

6 ethnic student population or in a school with re7 peated violence problems;

8 (2) for counseling programs for victims and wit9 nesses of crime in schools;

10 (3) to develop programs for conflict resolution

11 and peer mediation counseling for students, teach12 ers, and other personnel in regular contact with stu13 dents at school; and

14 (4) to train parents and community members in

15 effective techniques that reduce violence and pro16 mote mediation.

17 SEC. 6. APPLICATIONS.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible to receive

19 a grant under this Act in any fiscal year, a local edu20 cational agency shall submit an application to the Director

21 in such form and containing such information as the Di22 rector may reasonably require.

23 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Each application under sub24 section (a) shall include—
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1 (1) a request for funds for the purposes de2 scribed in section 5;

3 (2) a description of the schools and commu4 nities to be served by the grant, including the nature

5 of the crime and violence problems within such

6 schools;

7 (3) a plan that describes how to reduce violence

8 and minimize the number of repeat offenders;

9 (4) assurances that Federal funds received

10 under this Act shall be used to supplement, not sup11 plant, non-Federal funds that would otherwise be

12 available for activities funded under this Act; and

13 (5) statistical information in such form and

14 containing such information that the Director may

15 require regarding violence, violent threats, and homi16 cides within the schools served by such local edu17 cational agency.

18 SEC. 7. REPORTS.

19 (a) REPORT.—Local educational agencies that receive

20 funds under this Act shall submit to the Director a report

21 not later than July 31 of each year in which grants are

22 made available under this Act that describes progress

23 achieved in carrying out the purposes of this Act.

24 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Director shall sub25 mit to the Congress a report by August 31 of each year
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1 in which grants are made available under this Act which

2 shall contain a detailed statement regarding grant awards,

3 activities of grant recipients, a compilation of statistical

4 information submitted by applicants, and an evaluation of

5 programs established under this Act.

6 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

7 For the purpose of this Act—

8 (1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of

9 the Bureau of Justice Assistance;

10 (2) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the

11 same meaning given such term under section

12 1471(12) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu13 cation Act of 1965; and

14 (3) the term ‘‘youth’’ means individuals age 13

15 through 21.

16 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

17 There are authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000

18 for 1994 and 1995 and such sums as may be necessary

19 for fiscal year 1996 to carry out this Act.

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