I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4973 

To provide definitions of terms and services related to community-based 

gang intervention to ensure that funding for such intervention is utilized 

in a cost-effective manner and that community-based agencies are held 

accountable for providing holistic, integrated intervention services, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS (for himself, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. TRONE, Ms. NORTON, 

Ms. ROSS, and Mr. ESPAILLAT) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To provide definitions of terms and services related to community-based gang intervention to ensure that funding 

for such intervention is utilized in a cost-effective manner 

and that community-based agencies are held accountable 

for providing holistic, integrated intervention services, 

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 ‘‘Community-Based 

5 Gang Intervention Act’’. 


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1 TITLE I—COMMUNITY-BASED 

2 GANG INTERVENTION AGENCIES 

3 SEC. 101. COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTERVENTION AGEN4 CIES. 

5 The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act 

6 of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11101 et seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating title VI (34 U.S.C. 11321 

8 et seq.) as title VII; 

9 (2) by redesignating sections 601 and 602 (34 

10 U.S.C. 11321, 11322) as sections 701 and 702, re11 spectively; and 

12 (3) by inserting after title V the following: 

13 ‘‘TITLE VI—COMMUNITY-BASED 

14 GANG INTERVENTION GRANTS 

15 ‘‘SEC. 601. PURPOSE. 

16 ‘‘The purpose of this title is to offer holistic and com17 prehensive support for community-based gang intervention 

18 activities that focus on and engage active and former gang 

19 members, their close associates, and gang members in and 

20 returning from confinement. Gang-involved youth and 

21 their families require specialized intensive and comprehen22 sive services that address the unique issues encountered 

23 by youth when they become involved with gangs. Commu24 nity-based gang intervention involves proactive and reacVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973

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1 tive responses to gang activities on several levels, includ2 ing— 

3 ‘‘(1) the regional level, to promote and coordi4 nate peace truces and cease-fires between groups; 

5 ‘‘(2) the State and local level, including commu6 nity and the juvenile halls, camps, Division of Juve7 nile Justice facilities, county jails, and State prisons; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(3) the neighborhood level, including with ac10 tive gang members individually. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 602. SUPPORT OF COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTER12 VENTION AGENCIES. 

13 ‘‘(a) SUPPORT OF COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTER14 VENTION AGENCIES.—Subject to the availability of appro15 priations, the Administrator shall award grants to eligible 

16 entities to carry out the activities described in subsection 

17 (c). 

18 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—For the purposes of this 

19 section, an ‘eligible entity’ means a community-based gang 

20 intervention agency that is a nonprofit organization with 

21 a history of and expertise in providing community-based 

22 gang intervention activities through a community-based 

23 gang intervention model. 

24 ‘‘(c) GRANT ACTIVITIES.—Each entity awarded a 

25 grant under this section shall carry out activities that proVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973

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1 mote public safety, with the specific objective of reducing 

2 and stopping gang-related and gang-motivated violence 

3 and crime, including the following activities: 

4 ‘‘(1) Conduct street mediation by working with 

5 gang members and persons with influence over such 

6 member to defuse and de-escalate potential and ac7 tual violence between gang members and between 

8 rival gangs. 

9 ‘‘(2) Develop local and regional truces by nego10 tiating cease-fires or nonaggression agreements be11 tween rival gangs and neighborhoods. 

12 ‘‘(3) Serve as conduits who facilitate dialogue 

13 and relationship between gangs and neighborhoods. 

14 ‘‘(4) Provide services that respond to the high 

15 levels of anxiety and stress experienced by gang 

16 members due to traumatic events. 

17 ‘‘(5) Provide 24-hour, 7-day-a-week crisis inter18 vention services by responding to requests for vio19 lence prevention services made by gang members, 

20 the families of gang members, school officials, inter21 vention workers, social service agencies, or law en22 forcement. 

23 ‘‘(6) Provide targeted training and technical as24 sistance to violence-plagued communities after a 

25 major gang-related incident. 


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1 ‘‘(7) Facilitate the development of a community 

2 response plan to gang-related activities, including 

3 training protocols, situational scene scenarios, and 

4 emergency response. 

5 ‘‘(8) Establish relationships with community 

6 stakeholders to inform and engage them in quality7 of-life activities that enhance intervention activities. 

8 ‘‘(9) Serve as intervention representatives in 

9 communities by attending local meetings involving 

10 nonprofit organizations, schools, faith-based organi11 zations, and other entities. 

12 ‘‘(10) Develop conflict resolution skills and 

13 techniques to address and resolve community con14 cerns related to gang activity in order to improve the 

15 quality of life within neighborhoods. 

16 ‘‘(11) Work with schools to respond to gang-re17 lated issues and crises both in and outside of school. 

18 ‘‘(12) Provide support services for youth and 

19 families affected by gang violence and other victims 

20 of gang violence (including any individual who is 

21 physically, emotionally, financially, or otherwise 

22 harmed by criminal activity, and those affected by 

23 harm done to or by a family member), which may 

24 include— 


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1 ‘‘(A) advocating for public sector and pri2 vate sector assistance and services; 

3 ‘‘(B) grief counseling; and 

4 ‘‘(C) referrals to treatment and rehabilita5 tion for cognitive, mental, emotional, physical, 

6 or financial injury, loss, or suffering. 

7 ‘‘(13) Provide comprehensive mental health 

8 services to youth and families affected by gang vio9 lence or involvement, including— 

10 ‘‘(A) integrated services comprised of indi11 vidual, family, and group therapy modalities, 

12 and psychological education provided through 

13 youth and parent training programs; or 

14 ‘‘(B) gang-responsive services including 

15 skills training, assessing and servicing youth 

16 with developmental disabilities, behavioral modi17 fication, and services to address substance use 

18 and abuse, anger management, emotional regu19 lation, traumatic stress, family violence, depres20 sion, suicide, anxiety, and educational problems. 

21 ‘‘(14) Provide public and private sector career 

22 job training, development, and placement, includ23 ing— 

24 ‘‘(A) job-finding and job-maintaining skills, 

25 including skills related to resume writing, interVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4973.IH H4973

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1 viewing, workplace decorum, interpersonal com2 munication, and problem-solving; 

3 ‘‘(B) information about legal rights in the 

4 workplace; or 

5 ‘‘(C) financial literacy. 

6 ‘‘(15) Assist with substance use and abuse 

7 treatment, domestic violence victims, and voluntary 

8 tattoo removal of markings on the body related to 

9 gang involvement. 

10 ‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF VICTIMS ASSISTANCE.—An 

11 entity awarded a grant under this section that provides 

12 victim assistance under paragraph (13) of subsection (c) 

13 shall not discriminate in the provision of such assistance 

14 to an individual based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual 

15 orientation, socioeconomic level, or criminal history. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 603. DEFINITIONS. 

17 ‘‘In this title: 

18 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY.—Notwithstanding the defini19 tion of ‘community based’ in section 103, the term 

20 ‘community’ means a unit of local government or an 

21 Indian Tribe. 

22 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTERVENTION

23 AGENCY.—The term ‘community-based gang inter24 vention agency’ means a community-based organiza25 tion, association, or other entity that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) promotes public safety, with the spe2 cific objective of reducing and stopping gang-re3 lated and gang-motivated violence and crime; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) has a history of, or training in, effec6 tively working with gang-involved youth and 

7 their families. 

8 ‘‘(3) COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTERVENTION

9 MODEL.—The term ‘community-based gang inter10 vention model’ means a holistic and comprehensive 

11 approach to reducing gang violence that uses the 2- 

12 prong approach of community-based intervention as 

13 defined in section 103 and an integrated approach 

14 of providing rehabilitative service delivery to gang15 involved youth through trained specialists in commu16 nity-gang intervention. 

17 ‘‘(4) GANG.—The term ‘gang’ means a group of 

18 individuals— 

19 ‘‘(A) organized by geography, culture, or 

20 activity; 

21 ‘‘(B) that have a group name, and may 

22 have other identifying characteristics of the 

23 group such as colors and nicknames; and 

24 ‘‘(C) who engage in the use of violence to 

25 defend the members or territory of the group. 


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1 ‘‘(5) YOUTH.—The term ‘youth’ means— 

2 ‘‘(A) an individual who is 18 years of age 

3 or younger; or 

4 ‘‘(B) in any State in which the maximum 

5 age at which the juvenile justice system of such 

6 State has jurisdiction over individuals exceeds 

7 18 years of age, an individual who is such max8 imum age or younger.’’. 

9 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE 

10 OFFICE OF JUVENILE JUS11 TICE AND DELINQUENCY 

12 PREVENTION 

13 SEC. 201. DEFINITION OF COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTER14 VENTION. 

15 Section 103 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

16 Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11103) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘except as 

18 provided in title VI,’’ before ‘‘the term’’; 

19 (2) in paragraph (44)(C), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

20 after the semicolon; 

21 (3) in paragraph (45), by striking the period at 

22 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

23 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(46) except when used as part of the term 

25 ‘community-based gang intervention agency’ or 


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1 ‘community-based gang intervention model’, the 

2 term ‘community-based gang intervention’ means a 

3 2-prong approach to reducing gang violence that— 

4 ‘‘(A) provides specialized, gang-specific me5 diation and mitigation to stop or prevent vio6 lence by, within, and between gangs; and 

7 ‘‘(B) provides the redirection of individual 

8 gang members and their families through 

9 proactive efforts that increase peace and safety 

10 for gang members, their families, and their 

11 communities.’’. 

12 SEC. 202. COMMUNITY-BASED GANG INTERVENTION REP13 RESENTATIVE TO STATE ADVISORY BOARDS. 

14 Section 223(a)(3)(A)(ii) of the Juvenile Justice and 

15 Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 

16 11133(a)(3)(A)(ii)) is amended— 

17 (1) in subclause (III), by inserting ‘‘, or com18 munity-based gang intervention’’ after ‘‘delinquency 

19 prevention or treatment’’; and 

20 (2) in subclause (IV), by inserting ‘‘community21 based gang intervention,’’ after ‘‘prevention and 

22 treatment,’’. 


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1 SEC. 203. GRANTS FOR DELINQUENCY PREVENTION PRO2 GRAMS. 

3 Section 504 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

4 Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11313) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a) by inserting after ‘‘pro6 grams’’ the following: ‘‘, including community-based 

7 gang intervention and gang prevention activities,’’; 

8 and 

9 (2) in subsection (e)(1)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘ac10 tivities’’ and inserting ‘‘programs and community11 based gang intervention’’. 

Æ 


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