I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6613 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish Regional School 

Safety Development Centers to provide consultation for schools to develop 

or improve a school safety plan based on evidence-based best practices, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2023 

Mr. RUTHERFORD (for himself, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas, 

Mr. KILMER, Mr. JAMES, Mr. CORREA, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mrs. 

HAYES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

Regional School Safety Development Centers to provide 

consultation for schools to develop or improve a school 

safety plan based on evidence-based best practices, 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 ‘‘Preparing Leaders to 

5 Assess Needs for School Safety Act of 2023’’ or the 

6 ‘‘PLAN for School Safety Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SCHOOL SAFETY DEVELOPMENT CENTER PRO2 GRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title XXII of the 

4 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 2220F. SCHOOL SAFETY DEVELOPMENT CENTER PRO7 GRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall make awards, 

9 including grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements, to 

10 eligible entities to establish, improve, or maintain State11 wide or intrastate regional School Safety Development 

12 Centers for the purposes of providing customized con13 sulting services to schools to develop, improve, or imple14 ment the school’s individualized school safety plan. 

15 ‘‘(b) AWARDS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—To seek an award under 

17 this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli18 cation to the Director at such time, in such manner, 

19 and containing such information as the Director 

20 may require. At minimum, any such application 

21 shall include evidence of the applicant’s expertise in 

22 comprehensive school safety and school climate, in23 cluding evidence-based violence prevention for stu24 dents and educators, suicide prevention, student 

25 mental health, and school security. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PREFERENCE.—In making awards under 

2 this section, the Director shall, as appropriate, give 

3 preference to eligible entities that have existing rela4 tionships with local schools, particularly those in 

5 rural, Tribal, or low-resourced communities, as ap6 plicable by the proposed geographical area, or minor7 ity-serving institutions described in sections 371(a) 

8 and 326(e)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

9 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a) and 1063b(e)(1)). 

10 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Activities eligible for 

11 funding through an award under this section include 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) Developing communications materials 

14 for and disseminating to schools, educators, 

15 parents, legal guardians, and youth, and in16 creasing State-wide or intrastate regional public 

17 awareness of evidence-based research and best 

18 practices for school safety and student mental 

19 health. 

20 ‘‘(B) Conducting individualized consulta21 tions with schools to research and analyze a 

22 school’s existing school safety and student men23 tal health policies, or developing or improving, 

24 in coordination with a school, a customized 

25 school safety and student mental health plan to 


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1 fit the individualized, age- and developmentally2 appropriate needs of such school community 

3 based on evidence-based best practices. 

4 ‘‘(C) Assisting schools in the implementa5 tion of their customized school safety and men6 tal health plan, including the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) Identification of Federal or State 

8 government funding for enactment of the 

9 plan, in whole or in part. 

10 ‘‘(ii) Provide training, resources, or 

11 technical assistance to assist schools in ap12 plying for such Federal or State govern13 ment funding. 

14 ‘‘(iii) Providing training, resources, 

15 and technical assistance to educate school 

16 staff and families regarding the policies 

17 and procedures of the plan. 

18 ‘‘(4) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Federal 

19 share of the cost of activities for which a grant is 

20 made to an eligible entity under this section may not 

21 exceed 95 percent of the total cost of such activities. 

22 ‘‘(c) AWARD ADMINISTRATION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

24 The Director, in consultation with the Secretary of 

25 Education and the Youth Advisory Council (estabVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Dec 16, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6613.IH H6613

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1 lished pursuant to paragraph (2)(C)), shall provide 

2 training and technical assistance to State-wide or 

3 intrastate regional School Safety Development Cen4 ters on the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) Best practices for individualized con6 sulting with schools based on their unique needs 

7 for implementation in accordance with sub8 section (b)(3). 

9 ‘‘(B) Evidence-based practices and rec10 ommendations established under section 2220D 

11 that are presented in a clear and concise man12 ner for schools and the public. 

13 ‘‘(2) SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) PERSONNEL.—The Director shall 

15 hire additional personnel and contractors with 

16 expertise in school mental health and school ad17 ministration to provide additional subject mat18 ter expertise in implementing evidence-based 

19 programming within schools to carry out para20 graph (1). 

21 ‘‘(B) DETAILEE.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

23 Education shall detail to the Agency an 

24 employee of the Department of Education 

25 to assist in the provision of the training 


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1 and technical assistance described in para2 graph (1). 

3 ‘‘(ii) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Sec4 retary of Education shall reimburse the 

5 Director for any costs associated with the 

6 detailee under clause (i). 

7 ‘‘(C) YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL.— 

8 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later 

9 than one year after the date of the enact10 ment of this section, the Director shall es11 tablish and convene a Youth Advisory 

12 Council for the purpose of providing advice 

13 on the implementation of this section. 

14 ‘‘(ii) PARTICIPATION.—The Youth Ad15 visory Council shall include participation 

16 from the following: 

17 ‘‘(I) Parents, academic experts, 

18 mental health professionals, and mem19 bers of civil society with respect to the 

20 prevention of violence in schools. 

21 ‘‘(II) Youth representation, in22 cluding youth who have experienced 

23 school violence. 

24 ‘‘(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than two 

25 years after the date of the enactment of this section and 


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1 annually thereafter, the Director shall submit to the Com2 mittee on Homeland Security, the Committee on the Judi3 ciary, the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 

4 and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

5 Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

6 and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on Health, 

7 Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the Committee on 

8 Appropriations of the Senate a report on actions taken 

9 by the Director to implement this section, including infor10 mation relating to the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) The name, location, and number of eligible 

12 entities in each State receiving awards under this 

13 section. 

14 ‘‘(2) A comparative analysis of actions rec15 ommended in school safety plans by School Safety 

16 Development Centers. 

17 ‘‘(3) A formal evaluation of whether the activi18 ties described in subsection (b)(3) were implemented 

19 by eligible entities receiving awards under this sec20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(4) An assessment of the effectiveness of the 

22 School Safety Development Centers in assisting eli23 gible entities that received awards under this sec24 tion, including instances of averted violence, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Dec 16, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6613.IH H6613

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1 ing self-harm, if applicable, and policy recommenda2 tions for improved effectiveness. 

3 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENTS.—Nothing in 

5 this section may be construed to establish, satisfy, or 

6 waive any requirement under any of the following: 

7 ‘‘(A) Title II of the Americans With Dis8 abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.). 

9 ‘‘(B) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

10 U.S.C. 701 et seq.). 

11 ‘‘(C) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

12 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.). 

13 ‘‘(D) Title IX of the Education Amend14 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.). 

15 ‘‘(E) The Age Discrimination Act of 1975 

16 (42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.). 

17 ‘‘(F) The Family Educational Rights and 

18 Privacy Act of 1973 (20 U.S.C. 1232g). 

19 ‘‘(2) NO EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 

20 this section may be construed to preclude or con21 tradict any other provision of law authorizing train22 ing in the use of firearms. 

23 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, 

2 there are authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 

3 for fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 

4 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS.— 

5 Amounts made available to carry out this section 

6 may not be used to— 

7 ‘‘(A) consult or train any school or person 

8 in the use of firearms; or 

9 ‘‘(B) hire school personnel or school-based 

10 contractors. 

11 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The term ‘eligible 

13 entities’ means any of the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) A State. 

15 ‘‘(B) A State educational agency (as such 

16 term is defined in section 8101 of the Elemen17 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

18 U.S.C. 7801). 

19 ‘‘(C) A Tribal educational agency (as such 

20 term is defined in section 6132 of the Elemen21 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

22 U.S.C. 7452)). 

23 ‘‘(D) An institute of higher education eligi24 ble for assistance under title III of the Higher 


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1 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1051 et 

2 seq.). 

3 ‘‘(E) A Tribal College or University (as 

4 such term is defined in section 313 of the High5 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c)). 

6 ‘‘(2) EVIDENCE-BASED.—The term ‘evidence7 based’ has the meaning given such term in section 

8 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

9 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

10 ‘‘(3) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ has the 

11 meaning given such term in section 2704 of the Om12 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

13 (34 U.S.C. 10554). 

14 ‘‘(4) SCHOOL SAFETY PLAN.—The term ‘school 

15 safety plan’ means a set of common actions schools 

16 can take to address the foundational elements of 

17 school safety, including designated staff, school cli18 mate and mental health, reporting systems, threat 

19 assessment, emergency planning, educator training, 

20 student prevention training, exercises and drills, site 

21 assessments, and recovery plans.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

23 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 


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1 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

2 2220E the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 2220F. School Safety Development Center program.’’. 

Æ 


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