I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4194 
To establish within the Department of Health and Human Services a Division 
on Community Safety, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 28, 2021 
Ms. BUSH (for herself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. 
JONES, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. NORTON, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. 
CONNOLLY, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GARCI´A of Illi-
nois, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. LEE of Cali-
fornia, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. 
BOWMAN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. CA´RDENAS, and Mr. DESAULNIER) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, 
Education and Labor, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Financial 
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish within the Department of Health and Human 
Services a Division on Community Safety, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSES. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘The People’s Response Act’’. 
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(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 justice contact while expanding oppor-
tunity, including a particular focus on groups that 
have been disproportionately harmed by the criminal 
justice 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 
communities of color, particularly Black commu-
nities, to implement qualified approaches to commu-
nity safety. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) 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 
(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. 
(2) FIRST
RESPONDER.—The term ‘‘first re-
sponder’’ includes a licensed therapist, psychiatrist, 
doctor, nurse, psychologist, peer support worker, 
peer, teacher, mentor, counselor, peer support spe-
cialist, violence intervention worker, and other com-
munity-members with relevant experience who re-
spond to crises in a way that meets the definition of 
qualified approaches to public safety. 
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