(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to— 
(1) catalyze, coordinate, and disseminate re-
search on approaches to community safety that re-
duce criminal legal contact while expanding oppor-
tunity, including a particular focus on groups that 
have been disproportionately harmed by the criminal 
legal system; 
(2) support State governments, local govern-
ments, and community-based organizations in imple-
menting qualified approaches to community safety; 
(3) mobilize and coordinate Federal resources 
to advance qualified approaches to community safe-
ty; 
(4) expand resources to holistically support sur-
vivors of mass incarceration, police violence, rape 
and other forms of sexual assault, harm resulting 
from detention or deportation, and other forms of vi-
olence and abuse; and 
(5) expand resources to holistically support 
marginalized communities, particularly Black and 
Indigenous communities, to implement qualified ap-
proaches to community safety. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER.—The term 
‘‘community health worker’’ means a frontline public 
health worker who— 
(A) is a trusted member of, or has a close 
understanding of, the community served, ena-
bling the worker to serve as a link between 
health and social services and the community, 
so as to facilitate access to services and improve 
the quality and cultural competence of service 
delivery; and 
(B) builds individual and community ca-
pacity by increasing health knowledge and self- 
sufficiency through a range of activities such as 
outreach, community education, informal coun-
seling, social support, and advocacy. 
(2) COMMUNITY
LAND
TRUST.—The term 
‘‘community land trust’’ means a community-based 
organization that is designed to ensure community 
stewardship of land and— 
(A) is not sponsored by a for-profit organi-
zation; 
(B) has a membership open to any adult 
who resides in the particular geographic area in 
which the organization operates; and 
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(C) provides low-cost land and housing 
while maintaining community control over 
neighborhood resources, including by acquiring 
land that will be held in perpetuity so as to pro-
vide permanently affordable homeownership to 
those who might not otherwise be able to afford 
a home. 
(3) FIRST
RESPONDER.—The term ‘‘first re-
sponder’’ means an individual with relevant experi-
ence who responds to crises in a way that meets the 
definition of qualified approaches to community safe-
ty. 
(4) QUALIFIED
APPROACH
TO
COMMUNITY 
SAFETY.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified ap-
proach to community safety’’ means, with re-
spect to a program or service, that the program 
or service is established or provided in a man-
ner that is disconnected from carceral institu-
tions, including law enforcement, criminal 
courts, prosecution, probation, child welfare 
services, or immigration enforcement. 
(B) DISCONNECTED FROM CARCERAL IN-
STITUTIONS.— For purposes of subparagraph 
(A), the term ‘‘disconnected from carceral insti-
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tutions’’ means having no relationship with re-
spect to administration, staffing, or funding, or 
otherwise cooperating with, collaborating with, 
or reporting to, any carceral institution in any 
situation, except where the program or service 
involved is bound to engage in such cooperation 
or reporting by existing Federal, State, or local 
law. 
(5) PARTICIPATORY
BUDGETING.—The term 
‘‘participatory budgeting’’ means a democratic en-
gagement process in which community members de-
liberate and decide directly how to allocate a portion 
of a public budget. 
(6) SAFETY
NEEDS
ASSESSMENT.—The term 
‘‘safety needs assessment’’ means a systematic, 
participatory process for identifying the safety needs 
in the local community. Such process shall include— 
(A) soliciting input from persons who rep-
resent the broad interests of the local commu-
nity, including those who have been directly im-
pacted by arrest, incarceration, criminal super-
vision, immigration detention, or other criminal 
legal system involvement; 
(B) identifying the structural, systemic 
factors that may lead community members to 
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feel unsafe or may increase the risk that com-
munity members may become involved with the 
criminal legal system; 
(C) identifying existing resources that are 
potentially available to address those safety 
needs as well as any other gaps in necessary re-
sources; and 
(D) providing opportunities that allow peo-
ple meaningful opportunities to review, com-
ment on, and provide suggested modifications 
to the draft assessment, such as through public 
hearings, online publication, and a comment pe-
riod that allows sufficient time for community 
feedback. 
(7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 
State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is-
lands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern 
Mariana Islands. 
(8) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 
‘‘unit of local government’’ means any city, county, 
township, town, borough, parish, village, or other 
general purpose political subdivision of a State. 
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