I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 854 
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants 
to eligible entities to prevent or alleviate the effects of youth violence 
in eligible urban communities by providing violence-prevention education, 
mentoring, counseling, and mental health services to children and adoles-
cents in such communities. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 6, 2007 
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut (for himself, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. 
DELAURO, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 
KENNEDY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. NADLER, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. ROTHMAN, 
Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. WOOLSEY, 
Ms. LEE, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. CASTOR, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN 
of California, Ms. WATSON, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. SPRATT, 
Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. 
JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. 
STARK, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. BACA, and Mr. ELLISON) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and 
Labor, 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 authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to award grants to eligible entities to prevent or alleviate 
the effects of youth violence in eligible urban commu-
nities by providing violence-prevention education, men-
toring, counseling, and mental health services to children 
and adolescents in such communities. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘City Youth Violence 
Recovery Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The mental health of young people is essen-
tial to their overall well-being. Mental health affects 
how young people think, feel, and act; their ability 
to learn and engage in relationships; their self-es-
teem; their ability to evaluate situations and make 
choices; and their ability to handle stress, relate to 
other people, and acquire the skills and training 
needed for adulthood. 
(2) Each year many children and adolescents 
sustain injuries from violence, lose friends or family 
members because of violence, or are adversely af-
fected by witnessing violence. 
(3) Youth violence, perpetrated both by and 
against young people, results in enormous physical, 
emotional, social, and economic consequences. 
(4) The National Institutes of Health has found 
that inner-city children experience the greatest expo-
sure to violence, and youngsters who have been ex-
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posed to community violence are more likely to ex-
hibit aggressive behavior or depression within the 
following year. 
(5) Any event that can cause a person to feel 
fear, helplessness, horror, and a sense that life or 
safety is in danger puts a person, especially children, 
at risk for posttraumatic stress. 
(6) Many cities lack the resources to provide 
the appropriate youth counseling and therapy serv-
ices to minimize the long-term emotional harm of 
community violence. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PREVENT OR ALLEVIATE THE EFFECTS 
OF YOUTH VIOLENCE. 
(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, in consultation with the Attorney General of the 
United States, may award grants to eligible entities to pre-
vent or alleviate the effects of youth violence in eligible 
urban communities by providing violence-prevention edu-
cation, mentoring, counseling, and mental health services 
to children and adolescents in such communities. 
(b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants that 
agree to use the grant in one or more eligible urban com-
munities that lack the monetary or other resources to ad-
dress youth violence. 
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