I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5003 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to build safer, 

thriving communities, and save lives, by investing in effective communitybased violence reduction initiatives, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Mr. HORSFORD (for himself, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, 

Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. FROST, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Ms. STEVENS, 

Ms. STRICKLAND, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. MENG, Mr. DAVIS

of Illinois, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. 

MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. BOYLE of 

Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWN, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. 

KILMER, Mr. MCGARVEY, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COSTA, 

Ms. NORTON, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TRONE, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, and Ms. 

PORTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education 

and the Workforce, 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 authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to build safer, thriving communities, and save lives, by 

investing in effective community-based violence reduction 

initiatives, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Break the Cycle of Violence Act’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 

Sec. 101. Community-based violence intervention program grants. 

Sec. 102. Office of Community Violence Intervention. 

Sec. 103. Community Violence Intervention Advisory Committee. 

Sec. 104. Creation of a National Community Violence Response Center. 

Sec. 105. Sense of Congress regarding services for victims of violent crime. 

Sec. 106. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Sec. 201. Improving approaches for communities to thrive (IMPACT) grants. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Community violence is a significant public 

9 health, public safety, and community infrastructure 

10 concern nationwide, and is a leading cause of death, 

11 injury, and trauma for people in the United States. 

12 Community violence also disrupts employment and 

13 hinders a community’s social and economic develop14 ment. Today, gun violence is the leading cause of 

15 death for America’s youth. 

16 (2) From 2010 to 2021, over 233,000 people 

17 were murdered in the United States. Hundreds of 

18 thousands more were hospitalized or treated in 


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1 emergency departments after surviving life-changing 

2 gunshot injuries and other violent assaults. 

3 (3) In 2020, the Nation suffered the largest 

4 single-year spike in homicides on record, driven 

5 largely by record spikes in fatal shootings. As of 

6 2021, 80 percent of all homicides in the United 

7 States are committed with a gun. 

8 (4) Communities across the Nation experience 

9 enormous disparities in safety that are driven by in10 equitable social and structural determinants of 

11 health. Interpersonal shootings are disproportion12 ately concentrated in neighborhoods harmed by past 

13 and present racial discrimination, segregation, red14 lining, disinvestment, mass incarceration, and con15 centrated poverty, and this violence’s toll falls over16 whelmingly on people of color, especially young 

17 Black and Brown men and boys and their loved 

18 ones. From 2015 to 2020, Black children and teens 

19 were more than 12 times as likely to be shot to 

20 death as their White peers. Hispanic children and 

21 teens and Native American children and teens were 

22 both about 2.6 times as likely to be shot to death 

23 as their White peers. Over this period, 72 percent of 

24 children murdered before their 18th birthday were 


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1 people of color, and more than 50 percent were 

2 Black. 

3 (5) Black boys and men make up less than 7 

4 percent of the population in the United States, but 

5 account for more than 50 percent of all gun homi6 cide victims each year. Violence is responsible for 

7 nearly half of all deaths among Black boys and 

8 young men, ages 15 through 24, meaning the par9 ents of a Black son in this age group are as likely 

10 to lose their child to homicide as nearly every other 

11 cause of death combined. 

12 (6) This violence imposes enormous human, so13 cial, and economic consequences. Studies show that 

14 gun violence has a national economic cost of 

15 $557,000,000,000 annually. The Director of the 

16 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Divi17 sion of Violence Prevention presented research to 

18 Congress demonstrating that ‘‘youth living in inner 

19 cities show a higher prevalence of post-traumatic 

20 stress disorder than soldiers’’ in the Nation’s war21 time military. While the vast majority of these young 

22 people resiliently persevere, people who have been 

23 victims of violence are at substantially higher risk of 

24 being violently reattacked or killed. Additionally, 

25 both direct and indirect violence exposure have been 


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1 associated with a host of poor health outcomes, in2 cluding chronic illness, anxiety, depression, and sub3 stance misuse. 

4 (7) When properly implemented and consist5 ently funded, coordinated, community-based strate6 gies that utilize trauma-responsive care and inter7 rupt cycles of violence can produce lifesaving and 

8 cost-saving results in a short period of time without 

9 contributing to mass incarceration. These strategies 

10 identify those at the highest risk, coordinate individ11 ualized wraparound resources, provide pathways to 

12 healing and stability, and monitor and support long13 term success. Many cities have substantially reduced 

14 community violence in recent years by implementing 

15 various combinations of these strategies, which in16 clude the following: 

17 (A) Community outreach programs, which 

18 hire violence intervention and prevention spe19 cialists who have established relationships, re20 latable lived experiences, and credibility with in21 dividuals in their communities at high risk of 

22 violence and connect them with intensive coun23 seling, mediation, peer support, and social serv24 ices in order to reduce their risk. Evaluations 

25 have found that these programs, particularly 


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1 when integrated into wider networks of sup2 portive services, are frequently associated with 

3 significant reductions in gun violence. A recent 

4 study of the Safe Streets Baltimore looked at 

5 data from 2007 to 2022 and found that this 

6 strategy was associated with a statistically sig7 nificant 23 percent reduction in nonfatal shoot8 ings. 

9 (B) Hospital-based violence intervention 

10 programs (referred to in this section as 

11 ‘‘HVIP’’), which work to break cycles of vio12 lence by leveraging credible violence interven13 tion and prevention specialists to provide inten14 sive counseling, peer support, case management, 

15 mediation, and social services to patients recov16 ering from gunshot wounds and other violent 

17 injuries. Research has shown that violently in18 jured patients are at high risk of retaliating 

19 with violence themselves or being revictimized 

20 by violence in the near future. Evaluations of 

21 HVIPs have found that patients who received 

22 HVIP services were often less likely to be con23 victed of a violent crime and less likely to be 

24 subsequently reinjured by violence than patients 

25 who did not receive HVIP services. 


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1 (C) Group violence interventions provide 

2 tailored social services and support to group-in3 volved individuals at highest risk for involve4 ment in community violence. This intervention, 

5 which must be trauma-informed, culturally re6 sponsive, and community driven to be most suc7 cessful, includes a process for community mem8 bers to voice a clear demand for the violence to 

9 stop and narrowly focused enforcement actions 

10 against those who continue to engage in acts of 

11 serious violence. The approach coordinates law 

12 enforcement, service providers, and community 

13 engagement efforts to reduce violence in ways 

14 that do not contribute to mass incarceration. 

15 (D) Violence interruption and crisis man16 agement, which respond to potentially violent 

17 incidents to mediate conflicts or to scenes where 

18 violence has occurred to offer trauma-informed 

19 services and community supports to survivors 

20 and others exposed to violence. These strategies 

21 help to prevent retaliatory violence and promote 

22 healing and well-being. Programs that include 

23 these components have reported deescalating 

24 dozens of disputes that were highly likely to end 

25 in lethal violence. 


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1 (8) Access to job and entrepreneurship training, 

2 apprenticeship, and technological and digital literacy 

3 programs are effective tools in reducing community 

4 violence. A 2012 University of Pennsylvania study of 

5 13 high-violence schools in the Chicago area found 

6 ‘‘well-targeted, low-cost employment policies can 

7 make a substantial difference’’, and the city’s most 

8 violent neighborhoods saw a 43 percent drop in vio9 lent-crime arrests of participants in a youth job pro10 gram. 

11 (9) Individualized wraparound services and op12 portunities include housing support, financial assist13 ance, reentry services, legal assistance, therapeutic 

14 services, grief counseling or targeted victim services, 

15 and skill building based on the needs of survivors or 

16 individuals at the highest risk of community vio17 lence. Leveraging the relationships of violence inter18 vention and prevention specialists, these services are 

19 used in the context of structured, person-centered 

20 peer mentorship that facilitates personal trans21 formation by meeting people where they are and of22 fering to help participants change the trajectories of 

23 their lives. 

24 (10) The past year has had a disproportionate 

25 impact on youth unemployment, with 2,900,000 


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1 more unemployed youth in mid-2020 compared with 

2 pre-2020 levels. Simultaneously, the 2020 recession 

3 accelerated an already increasingly digital and auto4 mated workforce, and youth must attain the digital, 

5 technological, and other technical skills necessary to 

6 thrive in the future of work. While jobs in the cus7 tomer service and food industry could fall by 

8 4,300,000 between 2018 and 2030, health care and 

9 science, technology, engineering, and math occupa10 tions could grow more now than ever. 

11 (11) Intentional and sustained investments in 

12 community-based violence reduction strategies can 

13 reverse recent increases in homicides, help to heal 

14 impacted communities, and reduce the enormous 

15 human and economic costs of community violence, 

16 without contributing to mass incarceration. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) COMMUNITY VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘com20 munity violence’’— 

21 (A) means nonfatal firearm injuries, ag22 gravated assaults, homicides, and other acts of 

23 life-threatening interpersonal violence com24 mitted outside the context of a familial or ro25 mantic relationship; and 


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1 (B) does not include acts of violence moti2 vated by political beliefs. 

3 (2) ELIGIBLE UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.— 

4 The term ‘‘eligible unit of local government’’ means 

5 a municipality or other local government that— 

6 (A) for not less than 2 out of the 3 cal7 endar years preceding the date on which an ap8 plication for a grant is submitted under section 

9 101— 

10 (i) experienced 35 or more homicides 

11 per year; or 

12 (ii) experienced 20 or more homicides 

13 per year and had a homicide rate that was 

14 not less than double the national average; 

15 or 

16 (B) has a compelling need to address com17 munity violence, as determined by the Sec18 retary, based on high levels of homicide relative 

19 to other localities within the same State. 

20 (3) OPPORTUNITY YOUTH.—The term ‘‘oppor21 tunity youth’’ means individuals who— 

22 (A) have attained 16 years of age but not 

23 yet attained 25 years of age; and 

24 (B) are not— 


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1 (i) enrolled in education or training on 

2 a full-time or part-time basis; or 

3 (ii) employed on a full-time or part4 time basis. 

5 TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF 

6 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 

7 SEC. 101. COMMUNITY-BASED VIOLENCE INTERVENTION 

8 PROGRAM GRANTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

10 Human Services (in this title referred to as the ‘‘Sec11 retary’’) shall award grants to eligible entities to support, 

12 enhance, and replicate coordinated community violence 

13 intervention. 

14 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to seek a grant 

15 under this section, an entity shall be— 

16 (1) a community-based, nonprofit organization 

17 that— 

18 (A) serves the residents served by an eligi19 ble unit of local government; and 

20 (B) has a track record of providing com21 munity-related activities or support program in22 novation in communities of color; or 

23 (2) an eligible unit of local government. 

24 (c) LIMITATION.—Of the amount made available to 

25 carry out this title for a fiscal year, not more than 15 


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1 percent of such amount shall be made available to eligible 

2 units of local government. 

3 (d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant awarded under this 

5 section shall be used to implement coordinated com6 munity violence intervention initiatives, through co7 ordinated, community-based strategies. 

8 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—A community violence 

9 intervention initiative implemented using grant 

10 funds awarded under this section shall— 

11 (A) be primarily focused on providing cul12 turally competent, community-based violence 

13 intervention services to the portion of a grant14 ee’s community who are, regardless of age, 

15 identified as being at high risk of being victim16 ized by, or engaging in, community violence; 

17 and 

18 (B) use strategies that— 

19 (i) are evidence-informed and have 

20 demonstrated promise at reducing commu21 nity violence without contributing to mass 

22 incarceration; 

23 (ii) utilize trauma-responsive care and 

24 interrupt cycles of violence; 


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1 (iii) expand economic opportunity 

2 through new jobs, educational opportuni3 ties, or training programs; and 

4 (iv) are primarily focused on individ5 uals at high risk of being victimized by, or 

6 engaging in, community violence. 

7 (3) COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS.— 

8 (A) ELIGIBLE UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERN9 MENT.—Each eligible unit of local government 

10 awarded a grant under this section shall dis11 tribute not less than 75 percent of such grant 

12 funds to one or more of the following: 

13 (i) A community-based organization 

14 or nonprofit organization. 

15 (ii) A public agency or department 

16 that is primarily dedicated to the preven17 tion of violence or to community safety, 

18 but is not a law enforcement agency. 

19 (B) HOSPITALS.—Each hospital awarded a 

20 grant under this section in the hospital’s capac21 ity as a community-based, nonprofit organiza22 tion described in subsection (b)(1) shall dis23 tribute not less than 90 percent of such grant 

24 funds to one or more of the following: 


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1 (i) A community-based organization 

2 or nonprofit organization that provides di3 rect services to individuals who have been 

4 victimized by community violence. 

5 (ii) Direct program staff. 

6 (iii) Individual subcontractors who 

7 provide direct program-related services. 

8 (e) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Each applicant 

9 for a grant under this section shall submit a grant pro10 posal, which shall, at a minimum— 

11 (1) describe how the applicant proposes to use 

12 the grant to implement a coordinated community vi13 olence intervention initiative in accordance with this 

14 section; 

15 (2) describe how the applicant proposes to use 

16 the grant to promote or improve coordination be17 tween relevant agencies and community organiza18 tions in order to minimize duplication of services, 

19 complement other community violence intervention 

20 efforts, and achieve maximum impact; 

21 (3) provide evidence indicating that the pro22 posed community violence intervention initiative 

23 would likely reduce community violence or address 

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1 uals at high risk of being victimized by, or engaging 

2 in, community violence; 

3 (4) describe how the applicant plans to ensure 

4 the community violence intervention initiative is im5 plemented in a manner that is— 

6 (A) evidence-informed; and 

7 (B) coordinated with the programs and ac8 tivities of other entities for addressing commu9 nity violence; and 

10 (5) in the case of a unit of local government ap11 plicant, demonstrate strong support from community 

12 partners with experience engaging individuals at 

13 high risk of being victimized by, or engaging in, 

14 community violence, as demonstrated by— 

15 (A) the development of a community steer16 ing committee that— 

17 (i) provides advice and assistance to 

18 the locality in administering grants award19 ed under this section; and 

20 (ii) is composed of individuals who 

21 substantially reflect local populations im22 pacted by community violence, including 

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1 petent and trauma-informed approaches to 

2 reducing community violence; and 

3 (B) letters of support from individuals, 

4 such as— 

5 (i) the mayor or chief executive officer 

6 of the unit of local government; and 

7 (ii) the director of one or more com8 munity-based organizations that provide 

9 services to individuals at high risk of being 

10 victimized by, or engaging in, community 

11 violence. 

12 (f) PRIORITIZATION.—In awarding grants under this 

13 section, the Secretary shall give preference to applicants 

14 whose grant proposals demonstrate the greatest likelihood 

15 of reducing community violence in the target area without 

16 contributing to mass incarceration. 

17 (g) GRANT DURATION.—A grant awarded under this 

18 section shall be for a 4-year period. 

19 (h) GRANT AWARD.—The amount awarded to an ap20 plicant under this section shall be commensurate with— 

21 (1) the scope of the proposal; and 

22 (2) the demonstrated need for additional re23 sources to effectively reduce community violence in 

24 the applicant’s community. 

25 (i) MATCHING FUNDS REQUIRED.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graphs (2) and (3), the Federal share of each grant 

3 awarded under this section shall be 90 percent of 

4 the eligible costs incurred by the grant recipient. 

5 (2) EXEMPTION FROM REQUIREMENT.—Para6 graph (1) shall not apply to a grant awarded to a 

7 community-based organization described in sub8 section (b)(1). 

9 (3) WAIVER.—The Federal share of a grant 

10 awarded to a unit of local government (that is an el11 igible entity under subsection (b)(2)) may be up to 

12 100 percent if the Secretary determines there is 

13 good cause to waive the Federal share requirement 

14 under paragraph (1) of this subsection. 

15 (j) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

16 on which the first 4-year grant period under this section 

17 ends, the Secretary shall publish a report identifying best 

18 practices for grantees under this section to implement 

19 community-based violence intervention initiatives. 

20 (k) REWARDING SUCCESS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may reserve 

22 not more than 10 percent of the funds appropriated 

23 for a fiscal year to carry out this title for supple24 mental incentive funds to be distributed to grantees 


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1 outside the competitive grant process in accordance 

2 with paragraph (2). 

3 (2) DISTRIBUTION OF ADDITIONAL FUNDS.— 

4 The Secretary may distribute amounts reserved 

5 under paragraph (1), in the discretion of the Sec6 retary, to grantees under subsection (a) that have— 

7 (A) implemented the grant for not less 

8 than 2 years; 

9 (B) demonstrated exceptional commitment 

10 and progress toward implementing the grantee’s 

11 community violence reduction initiative; and 

12 (C) shown that the grantee would likely 

13 achieve more substantial reductions in commu14 nity violence with additional Federal funding. 

15 (3) FEDERAL SHARE.—Subsection (i) shall not 

16 apply to any amounts distributed to a grantee under 

17 this subsection. 

18 (4) EXPLANATION OF DISTRIBUTION.—Upon 

19 distributing supplemental incentive funds to a grant20 ee, the Secretary shall publish a statement on the 

21 website of the Department of Health and Human 

22 Services that clearly explains the basis for the deci23 sion to award such funds to a particular grantee. 

24 (l) EVALUATION AND INTENSIVE SITE IMPLEMENTA25 TION SUPPORT.—The Secretary may reserve not more 


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1 than 8 percent of the funds appropriated for a fiscal year 

2 to carry out this title for the purpose of— 

3 (1) contracting with or hiring intensive site im4 plementation providers with experience implementing 

5 community violence intervention strategies; 

6 (2) providing grants to applicants under sub7 section (a) that provide training and certification to 

8 community violence intervention and prevention pro9 fessionals in order to expand the field and build ca10 pacity of frontline workers and other providers; and 

11 (3) contracting with independent researchers to 

12 evaluate the implementation, performance, and im13 pact of selected initiatives supported by the grants 

14 made under this section, which evaluations shall be 

15 made publicly available on the website of the De16 partment of Health and Human Services. 

17 (m) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A grantee re18 ceiving a grant under this section shall use the grant to 

19 supplement, and not supplant, the amount of funds the 

20 grantee would otherwise dedicate to a community violence 

21 intervention initiative. 

22 SEC. 102. OFFICE OF COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVEN23 TION. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

25 within the Department of Health and Human Services, 


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1 the Office of Community Violence Intervention (in this 

2 title referred to as the ‘‘Office’’), to be headed by a direc3 tor. 

4 (b) DUTIES.—The Secretary shall delegate to the Di5 rector of the Office responsibility for implementing the 

6 provisions of this title. 

7 (c) RESERVATION.—Of the amount made available to 

8 carry out this title for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall 

9 reserve not more than 5 percent for the administrative ex10 penses of the Office. 

11 SEC. 103. COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION ADVI12 SORY COMMITTEE. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

14 a Community Violence Intervention Advisory Committee 

15 (in this title referred to as the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’) to 

16 provide advice and assistance to the Secretary and Office 

17 in carrying out this title, including— 

18 (1) development of grant solicitations; 

19 (2) raising awareness about grant solicitations 

20 among potentially eligible units of government and 

21 organizations; 

22 (3) selection of grant proposals; 

23 (4) selection of grantees to receive supplemental 

24 funds in accordance with section 101(l); and 


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1 (5) formation of the National Community Vio2 lence Response Center under section 104. 

3 (b) MEMBERS.—In appointing members of the Advi4 sory Committee, the Secretary shall— 

5 (1) appoint the members from among individ6 uals with expertise implementing or evaluating com7 munity violence intervention initiatives; 

8 (2) include a representative with expertise in 

9 workforce development selected by the Secretary of 

10 Labor; 

11 (3) ensure the membership of the Advisory 

12 Committee reflects a commitment to culturally com13 petent and trauma-informed approaches to pre14 venting violence among individuals at high risk of vi15 olence; and 

16 (4) ensure that the members of the Advisory 

17 Committee include substantial representation of 

18 communities of color disproportionately impacted by 

19 community violence. 

20 SEC. 104. CREATION OF A NATIONAL COMMUNITY VIO21 LENCE RESPONSE CENTER. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

23 and operate a National Community Violence Response 

24 Center (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Center’’). 


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1 (b) DUTIES.—The Center shall have the following 

2 roles and responsibilities: 

3 (1) ASSESSMENT; TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

4 The Office and the Center, with the advice of the 

5 Advisory Committee, shall— 

6 (A) develop a four-tier taxonomy to assess 

7 the maturity of community violence infrastruc8 ture among grantees under section 101; and 

9 (B) provide technical assistance to grant10 ees under section 101 in the implementation of 

11 coordinated community violence intervention 

12 funded through the grant. 

13 (2) INTENSIVE SITE IMPLEMENTATION SUP14 PORT.—The Center shall— 

15 (A) develop intensive site implementation 

16 support for each of the four tiers to maximize 

17 the effectiveness of the development of commu18 nity violence initiatives; 

19 (B) develop intensive site implementation 

20 support for each eligible unit of local govern21 ment that is a grant recipient to assess the con22 tours of the community violence within the ju23 risdiction and identify relevant community24 based interventions that may be successful at 

25 preventing future community violence; and 


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1 (C) provide ongoing support to community2 based organizations to facilitate site infrastruc3 ture building, program implementation and op4 eration, and quality improvement assistance. 

5 (3) DATA COLLECTION.— 

6 (A) POLICIES.—The Office and the Center 

7 shall develop data collection policies for grant 

8 recipients that measure safety, community 

9 health, opportunity youth engagement, eco10 nomic development, and recidivism. 

11 (B) ASSISTANCE.—The Center shall assist 

12 grant recipients in establishing data collection 

13 systems and practices, and collect data from the 

14 grant recipients. 

15 (4) RESEARCH COORDINATION.— 

16 (A) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY COUN17 CIL.—The Center, in consultation with non18 profit, nongovernmental organizations and re19 searchers whose primary expertise is in commu20 nity violence, shall establish a Community Vio21 lence Research Advisory Council (in this para22 graph referred to as the ‘‘Research Advisory 

23 Council’’)— 

24 (i) to coordinate research on commu25 nity violence; and 


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1 (ii) to report to the Congress on any 

2 gaps on issues related to community vio3 lence. 

4 (B) MEMBERSHIP.—The Research Advi5 sory Council shall include representatives 

6 from— 

7 (i) all Federal agencies that fund re8 search on community violence; and 

9 (ii) the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

10 (C) DUTIES.—The Research Advisory 

11 Council shall provide advice and assistance to 

12 the Center to— 

13 (i) develop a coordinated strategy to 

14 strengthen research focused on community 

15 violence education, prevention, and inter16 vention strategies; 

17 (ii) track and report all Federal re18 search and expenditures related to commu19 nity violence; and 

20 (iii) identify gaps in community vio21 lence research, governmental expenditures 

22 on community violence issues, and prom23 ising strategies that have not yet been rig24 orously evaluated. 

25 (5) CONFERRAL.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Center shall estab2 lish a biennial conference to include— 

3 (i) grantees and providers of intensive 

4 site implementation support in the commu5 nity violence field that receive funding 

6 under this title or title II; and 

7 (ii) other key stakeholders. 

8 (B) TOPICS.—The topics to be addressed 

9 at the biennial conference shall include— 

10 (i) the administration of grants; 

11 (ii) challenges and gaps in community 

12 violence intervention initiatives; 

13 (iii) strategies for overcoming such 

14 challenges and gaps; 

15 (iv) promising practices in the field; 

16 and 

17 (v) emerging trends. 

18 (C) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 

19 after the conclusion of each biennial conference, 

20 the Center shall publish a comprehensive report 

21 that— 

22 (i) summarizes the issues presented 

23 during the conference and what, if any, 

24 policies the Center intends to implement to 

25 address those issues; and 


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1 (ii) is made available to the public on 

2 the Center’s website and submitted to the 

3 Congress. 

4 (6) CAPACITY BUILDING AND FOSTERING INNO5 VATION.—The Center shall— 

6 (A) promote expansion and development of 

7 the field of community violence intervention and 

8 prevention, including fostering collaboration, in9 formation sharing, and dissemination of best 

10 practices among practitioners, providers of in11 tensive site implementation support, and pro12 grams and individuals working in the same re13 gions or States, including the identification and 

14 dissemination to the public of best practices for 

15 addressing community violence; 

16 (B) develop a plan for expanding providers 

17 of intensive site implementation support in the 

18 field of community violence intervention and 

19 prevention; 

20 (C) develop a plan for identifying innova21 tive community violence intervention and pre22 vention strategies that are in need of further 

23 research and evaluation; and 

24 (D) develop a plan for providing ongoing 

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1 menting community violence intervention and 

2 prevention strategies. 

3 (7) REPORTING.—The Center shall annually 

4 provide a report to the Congress addressing topics to 

5 include— 

6 (A) national trends in community violence 

7 statistics; 

8 (B) a summary of the activities of the Cen9 ter and the Office under this title; and 

10 (C) recommendations for improving the 

11 national response to community violence. 

12 SEC. 105. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING SERVICES FOR 

13 VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CRIME. 

14 It is the sense of Congress that— 

15 (1) community-based violence intervention pro16 grams have shown effective results as a strategy in 

17 reducing the risk of reinjury of, or retaliation by, 

18 victims of community violence, and promoting vic19 tims’ recovery and well-being; 

20 (2) young men, boys, girls, and women of color 

21 are disproportionately victimized by community vio22 lence, but are frequently underserved by victim serv23 ice providers; and 

24 (3) States and territories should consider using 

25 funding provided through the Crime Victims Fund 


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1 to support community-based violence intervention 

2 initiatives that provide services for direct and sec3 ondary victims of community violence at high risk 

4 for reinjury and involvement in community violence. 

5 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Depart7 ment of Health and Human Services to carry out this title, 

8 in addition to any amounts otherwise authorized to be ap9 propriated or made available to the Department of Health 

10 and Human Services for such purpose— 

11 (1) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

12 (2) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 

13 (3) $700,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 

14 through 2031. 

15 TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF 

16 LABOR 

17 SEC. 201. IMPROVING APPROACHES FOR COMMUNITIES TO 

18 THRIVE (IMPACT) GRANTS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor (in this 

20 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall award grants 

21 to eligible entities for year-round job training and work22 force programs authorized under section 129(c)(1) of the 

23 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

24 3164(c)), with the elements described in section 

25 129(c)(2)(C) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 3164(c)(2)(C)), for 


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1 opportunity youth in communities disproportionately af2 fected by gun violence for the purposes of connecting op3 portunity youth to in-demand occupations. 

4 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to seek a grant 

5 under subsection (a), an entity shall be— 

6 (1) a community-based, nonprofit organization 

7 that— 

8 (A) serves the residents served by an eligi9 ble unit of local government; 

10 (B) has a track record of providing com11 munity-related activities or support program in12 novation in communities of color; 

13 (C) focuses on training technical skills to 

14 prepare opportunity youth for in-demand occu15 pations; 

16 (D) provides— 

17 (i) training for opportunity youth who 

18 are basic skills deficient; and 

19 (ii) soft skills training that enables 

20 opportunity youth to engage successfully in 

21 work culture; 

22 (2) an Indian Tribe or an agency primarily 

23 serving Native Americans; 

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1 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) that has a focus 

2 on opportunity youth; 

3 (4) a federally or State recognized apprentice4 ship program; 

5 (5) an accredited community college; or 

6 (6) an eligible unit of local government. 

7 (c) REPORTING.—The Secretary shall require grant8 ees under this section to report to the Secretary on pri9 mary measures funded under this section for— 

10 (1) entry into job training, education, appren11 ticeship, skilled trades training, or other paid and 

12 unpaid work experiences that have as a component 

13 academic and occupational education programs; and 

14 (2) changes in overall school enrollment, unem15 ployment, or weekly earnings for opportunity youth 

16 participating in activities of the respective grantee. 

17 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 (1) BASIC SKILLS DEFICIENT.—The term 

19 ‘‘basic skills deficient’’ means an individual who— 

20 (A) is a youth and has English reading, 

21 writing, or computing skills at or below the 8th 

22 grade level on a generally accepted standardized 

23 test; or 

24 (B) is unable to compute or solve prob25 lems, or read, write, or speak English, at a level 


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1 necessary to function on the job, in the individ2 ual’s family, or in society. 

3 (2) IN-DEMAND OCCUPATION.—The term ‘‘in4 demand occupation’’ means an occupation described 

5 in section 3(23)(A)(ii) of the Workforce Innovation 

6 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102(23)(A)(ii)). 

7 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

8 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

9 $1,500,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2024 

10 through 2031, to remain available until expended through 

11 fiscal year 2031. 

Æ 


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