I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1898

To provide for school safety, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 20, 1999

Ms. STABENOW introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide for school safety, 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 ‘‘School Safety En5 hancement Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) While our Nation’s schools are still rel9 atively safe, it is imperative that schools be provided
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1 with adequate resources to prevent incidents of vio2 lence.

3 (2) Approximately 10 percent of all public

4 schools reported at least 1 serious violent crime to

5 a law enforcement agency over the course of the

6 1996–1997 school year.

7 (3) In 1996, approximately 225,000 students

8 between the ages of 12 and 18 were victims of

9 nonfatal violent crime in schools in the United

10 States.

11 (4) From 1992 through 1994, 76 students and

12 29 non-students were victims of murders or suicides

13 that were committed in schools in the United States.

14 (5) The school violence incidents in several

15 States across the Nation in 1998 and 1999 caused

16 enormous damage to schools, families, and whole

17 communities.

18 (6) Because of escalating school violence, the

19 children of the United States are increasingly afraid

20 that they will be attacked or harmed at school.

21 (7) A report issued by the Department of Edu22 cation in August, 1998, entitled ‘‘Early Warning,

23 Early Response’’ concluded that the reduction and

24 prevention of school violence is best achieved

25 through safety plans which involve the entire com-
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1 munity, policies which emphasize both prevention

2 and intervention, training school personnel, parents,

3 students, and community members to recognize the

4 early warning signs of potential violent behavior and

5 to share their concerns or observations with trained

6 personnel, establishing procedures which allow rapid

7 response and intervention when early warning signs

8 of violent behavior are identified, and providing ade9 quate support and access to services for troubled

10 students.

11 SEC. 3. NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOOL AND YOUTH SAFE12 TY.

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Education

14 and the Attorney General shall jointly establish a National

15 Center for School and Youth Safety (in this section re16 ferred to as the ‘‘Center’’). The Secretary of Education

17 and the Attorney General may establish the Center at an

18 existing facility, if the facility has a history of performing

19 two or more of the duties described in subsection (b). The

20 Secretary of Education and the Attorney General shall

21 jointly appoint a Director of the Center to oversee the op22 eration of the Center.

23 (b) DUTIES.—The Center shall carry out emergency

24 response, anonymous student hotline, consultation, and in-
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1 formation and outreach activities with respect to elemen2 tary and secondary school safety, including the following:

3 (1) EMERGENCY RESPONSE.—The staff of the

4 Center, and such temporary contract employees as

5 the Director of the Center shall determine necessary,

6 shall offer emergency assistance to local commu7 nities to respond to school safety crises. Such assist8 ance shall include counseling for victims and the

9 community, assistance to law enforcement to address

10 short-term security concerns, and advice on how to

11 enhance school safety, prevent future incidents, and

12 respond to future incidents.

13 (2) ANONYMOUS STUDENT HOTLINE.—The

14 Center shall establish a toll-free telephone number

15 for students to report criminal activity, threats of

16 criminal activity, and other high-risk behaviors such

17 as substance abuse, gang or cult affiliation, depres18 sion, or other warning signs of potentially violent be19 havior. The Center shall relay the reports, without

20 attribution, to local law enforcement or appropriate

21 school hotlines. The Director of the Center shall

22 work with the Attorney General to establish guide23 lines for Center staff to work with law enforcement

24 around the Nation to relay information reported

25 through the hotline.
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1 (3) CONSULTATION.—The Center shall estab2 lish a toll-free number for the public to contact staff

3 of the Center for consultation regarding school safe4 ty. The Director of the Center shall hire administra5 tive staff and individuals with expertise in enhancing

6 school safety, including individuals with backgrounds

7 in counseling and psychology, education, law en8 forcement and criminal justice, and community de9 velopment to assist in the consultation.

10 (4) INFORMATION AND OUTREACH.—The Cen11 ter shall compile information about the best prac12 tices in school violence prevention, intervention, and

13 crisis management, and shall serve as a clearing14 house for model school safety program information.

15 The staff of the Center shall work to ensure local

16 governments, school officials, parents, students, and

17 law enforcement officials and agencies are aware of

18 the resources, grants, and expertise available to en19 hance school safety and prevent school crime. The

20 staff of the Center shall give special attention to

21 providing outreach to rural and impoverished com22 munities.

23 SEC. 4. SAFE COMMUNITIES, SAFE SCHOOLS.

24 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu25 cation, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and
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1 the Attorney General may award grants, on a competitive

2 basis, to help communities develop community-wide safety

3 programs involving students, parents, educators, guidance

4 counselors, psychologists, law enforcement officials or

5 agencies, civic leaders, and other organizations serving the

6 community.

7 (b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Funds provided to

8 carry out this Act may be used for activities that may in9 clude efforts to—

10 (1) increase early intervention strategies;

11 (2) expand parental involvement;

12 (3) increase students’ awareness of warning

13 signs of violent behavior;

14 (4) promote students’ responsibility to report

15 the warning signs to appropriate persons;

16 (5) promote conflict resolution and peer medi17 ation programs;

18 (6) increase the number of after-school pro19 grams;

20 (7) expand the use of safety-related equipment

21 and technology; and

22 (8) expand students’ access to mental health

23 services.
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1 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO THE NATIONAL CHILD PROTEC2 TION ACT OF 1993.

3 Section 5(10) of the National Child Protection Act

4 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 5119c(10)) is amended to read as fol5 lows:

6 ‘‘(10) the term ‘qualified entity’ means—

7 ‘‘(A) a business or organization, whether

8 public, private, for-profit, not-for-profit, or vol9 untary, that provides care or care placement

10 services, including a business or organization

11 that licenses or certifies others to provide care

12 or care placement services; or

13 ‘‘(B) an elementary or secondary school.’’.

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