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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6754 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6754

To authorize the establishment of a comprehensive school-based violence 
 prevention program to assist youth at highest risk for involvement in 
 gun violence in local communities and schools, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 13, 2023

 Mrs. Hayes (for herself, Ms. Norton, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. 
Crow, Mr. Grijalva, and Ms. Brown) introduced the following bill; which 
          was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To authorize the establishment of a comprehensive school-based violence 
 prevention program to assist youth at highest risk for involvement in 
 gun violence in local communities and schools, 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 ``School Violence Prevention Act''.

SEC. 2. COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL-BASED VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM.

    (a) Technical Amendments.--The second part G (relating to services 
provided through religious organizations) of title V of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290kk et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating such part as part J; and
            (2) by redesignating sections 581 through 584 as sections 
        596 through 596C, respectively.
    (b) Grants Authorized.--Section 581 of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 290hh) (relating to children and violence) is amended to 
read as follows:

``SEC. 581. COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL-BASED VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Education, shall award grants to eligible entities to 
establish or expand a comprehensive school-based violence prevention 
program to assist youth at highest risk for involvement in gun violence 
in local communities and schools (including schools funded by the 
Bureau of Indian Education).
    ``(b) Activities.--Grants awarded under subsection (a), shall, as 
appropriate, be used for--
            ``(1) the implementation of school-based violence 
        prevention programs that--
                    ``(A) are primarily focused on providing services 
                to students enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade 
                or youth younger than 19; and
                    ``(B) use strategies that are evidence-based, 
                culturally competent, trauma-informed, and 
                linguistically and developmentally inclusive, and have 
                demonstrated effectiveness at preventing or reducing 
                violence among youth at highest risk for involvement in 
                gun violence, including strategies that--
                            ``(i) promote community engagement that 
                        supports healthy development, including 
                        emphasizing self-esteem and cultural or ethnic 
                        pride;
                            ``(ii) promote healing from trauma and 
                        other adverse childhood experiences that 
                        increase a young person's risk for involvement 
                        in gun violence;
                            ``(iii) strengthen the interpersonal and 
                        emotional skills of youth, such as 
                        communication, problem-solving, empathy, and 
                        conflict management;
                            ``(iv) connect youth to mental health 
                        professionals, counselors, mentors, community 
                        leaders, crisis intervention professionals, 
                        community violence interrupters, or educators 
                        trained in trauma-informed care and activities;
                            ``(v) foster community engagement and safe 
                        community environments; or
                            ``(vi) lessen harms of escalating violence 
                        and prevent future risk of violence, including 
                        gun violence;
            ``(2) technical assistance to local educational agencies 
        and community-based nonprofit organizations with respect to the 
        development of programs described in paragraph (1);
            ``(3) facilitating community partnerships among youth, 
        families, schools, local businesses, and agencies with respect 
        to such programs;
            ``(4) increasing teacher, school leader, and other school 
        personnel access to evidence-based trauma support services, 
        social and emotional learning, and mental health services 
        through professional development; and
            ``(5) collecting data in accordance with subsection (g).
    ``(c) Eligibility.--To be eligible for a grant under subsection 
(a), an entity shall be a partnership that includes--
            ``(1) a State educational agency, in coordination with 1 or 
        more local educational agencies located in a municipality or 
        other local government--
                    ``(A) that, for not fewer than 2 of the 3 years 
                preceding the grant application--
                            ``(i) experienced 35 or more homicides per 
                        year;
                            ``(ii) experienced 20 or more homicides per 
                        year and had a homicide rate that was not less 
                        than double the national average;
                            ``(iii) had high rates of violent injury or 
                        injury recidivism among youth as determined by 
                        the State; or
                            ``(iv) had a juvenile arrest rate for 
                        violent crime that was not less than double the 
                        national average; or
                    ``(B) that demonstrates a unique and compelling 
                need for additional resources to address youth gun 
                violence; and
            ``(2) at least 1 community-based nonprofit organization 
        that serves the youth or families of the youth of the 1 or more 
        local educational agencies referred to in paragraph (1).
    ``(d) Geographical Distribution.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
grants under subsection (a) are distributed equitably among the regions 
of the United States.
    ``(e) Duration of Awards.--A grant under subsection (a) shall be 
for a period of 5 years, and may be renewed by the Secretary.
    ``(f) Evaluation and Measures of Outcomes.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Development of evaluation process.--The 
                Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of 
                Education, shall develop a process for evaluating 
                activities carried out through a grant under this 
                section. Such process shall include--
                            ``(i) the development of guidelines for the 
                        submission of program data by grantees;
                            ``(ii) the development of measures of 
                        outcomes (in accordance with subparagraph (B)) 
                        to be applied by grantees in evaluating 
                        programs carried out through a grant under this 
                        section; and
                            ``(iii) the submission of regular reports 
                        by grantees concerning the impacts of programs 
                        carried out through a grant under this section.
                    ``(B) Measures of outcomes.--The Secretary shall 
                develop measures of outcomes to be applied by grantees 
                under this section--
                            ``(i) to evaluate the impacts of programs 
                        carried out through a grant under this section, 
                        including outcomes related to the students, 
                        families, and local educational systems 
                        supported under this section; and
                            ``(ii) to disaggregate data on such 
                        outcomes by the subgroups of students listed in 
                        section 1111(c)(2) of the Elementary and 
                        Secondary Education Act of 1965.
                    ``(C) Submission of data.--Not later than the end 
                of each of the second and last academic years covered 
                by the period of a grant under this section, the 
                grantee shall submit to the Secretary and the Director 
                of the Institute of Education Sciences a report that--
                            ``(i) includes data to evaluate the success 
                        of the program carried out by the grantee based 
                        on whether such program is achieving the 
                        purposes of the program; and
                            ``(ii) utilizes the measures of outcomes 
                        developed under subparagraph (B), including 
                        high school graduation rates, employment rates, 
                        and rates of enrollment in postsecondary 
                        education and trade schools, in a reasonable 
                        manner to demonstrate the progress of the 
                        program in achieving such purposes.
                    ``(D) Evaluation by secretary and the director of 
                the institute of education sciences.--Based on the data 
                submitted under subparagraph (C), the Secretary and the 
                Director of the Institute of Education Sciences shall 
                submit to Congress a report at least once every three 
                years concerning the results and impacts of the 
                programs carried out with assistance received under 
                this section, including recommendations on how to 
                conduct gun violence prevention activities with limited 
                resources following a co-occurring emergency (such as a 
                national public health emergency or a natural 
                disaster).
            ``(2) Independent researcher.--The Secretary shall contract 
        with independent researchers, including researchers with 
        expertise in violence prevention programs, to evaluate the 
        performance and impacts of selected programs funded through 
        grants under this section. Such evaluations shall be made 
        publicly available on the internet website of the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention.
    ``(g) Information and Education.--The Secretary shall disseminate 
best practices to the public based on the findings resulting from 
programs funded through grants under this section.
    ``(h) ESEA Terms Defined.--In this section, the terms `local 
educational agency' and `State educational agency' have the meanings 
given such terms, respectively, in section 8101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
    ``(i) Funding.--
            ``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--To carry out this 
        section, there is authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for 
        each of fiscal years 2024 through 2031.
            ``(2) Evaluation activities.--
                    ``(A) By grantees.--To carry out evaluation 
                activities under subsection (f)(1), an eligible entity 
                receiving a grant under this section shall use not more 
                than 20 percent of the total amount received through 
                the grant.
                    ``(B) Independent researcher.--To carry out 
                subsection (f)(2) for a fiscal year, the Secretary may 
                reserve not more than 5 percent of the funds made 
                available to carry out this section for such fiscal 
                year.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Part G of title V of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290hh et seq.), as amended by subsection (b), is 
further amended by striking the part designation and heading and 
inserting the following:

  ``PART G--COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL-BASED VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM''.

                                 <all>
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