II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 640

To establish a pilot program to promote the replication of recent successful

juvenile crime reduction strategies.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 17, 1999

Mr. BINGAMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To establish a pilot program to promote the replication of

recent successful juvenile crime reduction strategies.

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 ‘‘Safer Communities

5 Partnership Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO PROMOTE REPLICATION OF

7 RECENT SUCCESSFUL JUVENILE CRIME RE8 DUCTION STRATEGIES.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—
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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Attorney General

2 (or a designee of the Attorney General), in conjunc3 tion with the Secretary of the Treasury (or the des4 ignee of the Secretary), shall establish a pilot pro5 gram (referred to in this section as the ‘‘program’’)

6 to encourage and support communities that adopt a

7 comprehensive approach to suppressing and pre8 venting violent juvenile crime and reducing drug and

9 alcohol abuse among juveniles, patterned after suc10 cessful State juvenile crime reduction strategies.

11 (2) PROGRAM.—In carrying out the program,

12 the Attorney General shall—

13 (A) make and track grants to grant recipi14 ents (referred to in this section as ‘‘coalitions’’);

15 (B) in conjunction with the Secretary of

16 the Treasury and the Secretary of Health and

17 Human Services, provide for technical assist18 ance and training, in addition to data collection,

19 and dissemination of relevant information; and

20 (C) provide for the general administration

21 of the program.

22 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—Not later than 30 days

23 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney

24 General shall appoint or designate an Administrator
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1 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’)

2 to carry out the program.

3 (4) PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.—To be eligible

4 to receive an initial grant or a renewal grant under

5 this section, a coalition shall meet each of the fol6 lowing criteria:

7 (A) COMPOSITION.—The coalition shall

8 consist of 1 or more representatives of—

9 (i) the local or tribal police depart10 ment or sheriff’s department;

11 (ii) the local prosecutors’ office;

12 (iii) State or local probation officers;

13 (iv) religious affiliated or fraternal or14 ganizations involved in crime prevention;

15 (v) schools;

16 (vi) parents or local grass roots orga17 nizations such as neighborhood watch

18 groups;

19 (vii) social service agencies involved in

20 crime prevention;

21 (viii) a juvenile or youth court judge;

22 and

23 (ix) substance and alcohol abuse coun24 selors and treatment providers.
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1 (B) OTHER PARTICIPANTS.—If possible, in

2 addition to the representatives from the cat3 egories listed in subparagraph (A), the coalition

4 shall include 1 or more representatives of—

5 (i) the United States Attorney’s office;

6 (ii) the Federal Bureau of Investiga7 tion;

8 (iii) the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco

9 and Firearms;

10 (iv) the Drug Enforcement Adminis11 tration;

12 (v) the business community; and

13 (vi) researchers who have studied

14 criminal justice and can offer technical or

15 other assistance.

16 (C) COORDINATED STRATEGY.—A coalition

17 shall submit to the Attorney General, or the At18 torney General’s designee, a comprehensive plan

19 for reducing violent juvenile crime. To be eligi20 ble for consideration, a plan shall—

21 (i) ensure close collaboration among

22 all members of the coalition in suppressing

23 and preventing juvenile crime;

24 (ii) place heavy emphasis on coordi25 nated enforcement initiatives, such as Fed-
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1 eral and State programs that coordinate

2 local police departments, prosecutors, and

3 local community leaders to focus on the

4 suppression of violent juvenile crime involv5 ing gangs;

6 (iii) ensure that there is close collabo7 ration between police and probation offi8 cers in the supervision of juvenile offend9 ers, such as initiatives that coordinate the

10 efforts of parents, school officials, and po11 lice and probation officers to patrol the

12 streets and make home visits to ensure

13 that offenders comply with the terms of

14 their probation;

15 (iv) ensure that a program is in place

16 to trace all firearms seized from crime

17 scenes or offenders in an effort to identify

18 illegal gun traffickers;

19 (v) ensure that effective crime preven20 tion programs are in place, such as pro21 grams that provide after-school safe havens

22 and other opportunities for at-risk youth to

23 escape or avoid gang or other criminal ac24 tivity, and to reduce recidivism; and
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1 (vi) ensure that a program is in place

2 to divert nonviolent juvenile offenders into

3 substance or alcohol abuse treatment, the

4 successful completion of which may result

5 in a suspended sentence for the offense,

6 and the unsuccessful completion of which

7 may result in an enhanced sentence for the

8 offense.

9 (D) ACCOUNTABILITY.—A coalition shall—

10 (i) establish a system to measure and

11 report outcomes consistent with common

12 indicators and evaluation protocols estab13 lished by the Administrator and that re14 ceives the approval of the Administrator;

15 and

16 (ii) devise a detailed model for meas17 uring and evaluating the success of the

18 plan of the coalition in reducing violent ju19 venile crime, and provide assurances that

20 the plan will be evaluated on a regular

21 basis to assess progress in reducing violent

22 juvenile crime.

23 (5) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this

24 section, the Attorney General shall give priority to
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1 coalitions representing communities with dem2 onstrated juvenile crime and drug abuse problems.

3 (6) GRANT AMOUNTS.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may

5 award a grant to an eligible coalition under this

6 section, in an amount not to exceed the lesser

7 of—

8 (i) the amount of non-Federal funds

9 raised by the coalition, including in-kind

10 contributions, for that fiscal year; and

11 (ii) $400,000.

12 (B) NONSUPPLANTING REQUIREMENT.—A

13 coalition seeking funds shall provide reasonable

14 assurances that funds made available under this

15 program to States or units of local government

16 shall be so used as to supplement and increase

17 (but not supplant) the level of the State, local,

18 and other non-Federal funds that would in the

19 absence of such Federal funds be made avail20 able for programs described in this section, and

21 shall in no event replace such State, local, or

22 other non-Federal funds.

23 (C) SUSPENSION OF GRANTS.—If a coali24 tion fails to continue to meet the criteria set

25 forth in this section, the Administrator may
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1 suspend the grant, after providing written no2 tice to the grant recipient and an opportunity

3 to appeal.

4 (D) RENEWAL GRANTS.—Subject to sub5 paragraph (D), the Administrator may award a

6 renewal grant to grant recipient under this sub7 paragraph for each fiscal year following the fis8 cal year for which an initial grant is awarded,

9 in an amount not to exceed the amount of non10 Federal funds raised by the coalition, including

11 in-kind contributions, for that fiscal year, dur12 ing the 4-year period following the period of the

13 initial grant.

14 (7) PERMITTED USE OF FUNDS.—A coalition

15 receiving funds under this section may expend such

16 Federal funds on any use or program that is con17 tained in the plan submitted to the Administrator.

18 (8) CONGRESSIONAL CONSULTATION.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Two years after the

20 date of implementation of the program estab21 lished in this section, the Comptroller General

22 of the United States shall submit to Congress

23 a report reviewing the effectiveness of the pro24 gram in suppressing and reducing violent juve25 nile crime in the participating communities.
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1 (B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report

2 submitted under subparagraph (A) shall

3 include—

4 (i) an analysis of each community

5 participating in the program, along with

6 information regarding the plan undertaken

7 in the community, and the effectiveness of

8 the plan in reducing violent juvenile crime;

9 and

10 (ii) recommendations regarding the ef11 ficacy of continuing the program.

12 (b) INFORMATION COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION

13 WITH RESPECT TO COALITIONS.—

14 (1) COALITION INFORMATION.—For the pur15 pose of audit and examination, the Attorney

16 General—

17 (A) shall have access to any books, docu18 ments, papers, and records that are pertinent to

19 any grant or grant renewal request under this

20 section; and

21 (B) may periodically request information

22 from a coalition to ensure that the coalition

23 meets the applicable criteria.

24 (2) REPORTING.—The Attorney General shall,

25 to the maximum extent practicable and in a manner
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1 consistent with applicable law, minimize reporting

2 requirements by a coalition and expedite any appli3 cation for a renewal grant made under this section.

4 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be

6 appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for

7 each of fiscal years 2000 through 2003, of which—

8 (A) not less than $1,000,000 in each fiscal

9 year shall be used for coalitions representing

10 communities with a population of not more

11 than 50,000; and

12 (B) not less than 2 percent in each fiscal

13 year shall be used for technical assistance and

14 training under subsection (a)(2)(B).

15 (2) SOURCE OF SUMS.—Amounts authorized to

16 be appropriated pursuant to this subsection may be

17 derived from the Violent Crime Reduction Trust

18 Fund.

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