I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3579
To increase community capacity and commitment to promote and support
local comprehensive strategies and traceable actions to prevent and re-
duce crime, violence, and substance abuse through prevention, education,
treatment, law enforcement, and continuing care activities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
DECEMBER 20, 2001
Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To increase community capacity and commitment to promote
and support local comprehensive strategies and traceable
actions to prevent and reduce crime, violence, and sub-
stance abuse through prevention, education, treatment,
law enforcement, and continuing care activities.
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 ‘‘National Comprehen-
sive Crime-Free Communities Act’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are—
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(1) to encourage strategic data-driven planning
that is collaborative, involving multiple local organi-
zations, and to develop comprehensive, involving
crosscutting crime, violence and substance abuse
prevention strategies;
(2) to encourage the establishment of perform-
ance standards and goals for crime prevention and
crime reduction;
(3) to establish program elements that are an-
chored in the fundamental belief that crime preven-
tion is everybody’s business;
(4) to promote strategies that involve—
(A) grassroots communities in problem
identification and problem-solving;
(B) policymakers in order to provide lead-
ership in creating systemic or environmental
change that will promote community well being;
(C) State agencies in providing coordi-
nated, 
comprehensive, 
and 
innovative 
ap-
proaches to preventing crime, violence, and
drug abuse; and
(D) local leaders, experts, and representa-
tives of organizations in providing consultation
on planning and program outcomes;
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(5) to improve on previous initiatives that have
focused efforts on geographically defined areas in
communities or States (e.g., Weed and Seed and
High Intensity Drug-Trafficking Areas) and have
been limited to a small number of enforcement or
intervention strategies by encouraging communities
to focus on prevention strategies that are jurisdic-
tion-wide;
(6) to promote efforts and programs that utilize
nontraditional and innovative crime prevention strat-
egies that address the causes of crimes as well as re-
ducing the opportunities for crime; and
(7) to encourage the use of the best in com-
prehensive prevention practice, policy, and strate-
gies.
SEC. 3. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.
(a) ATTORNEY
GENERAL
RESPONSIBILITIES.—In
carrying out this Act, the Attorney General shall—
(1) make and monitor grants to grant recipi-
ents;
(2) provide through the offices of the National
Crime Prevention Council technical assistance and
training, data collection, and dissemination of infor-
mation on state-of-the-art research-grounded prac-
tices that the Attorney General determines to be ef-
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fective in preventing and reducing crime, violence,
and drug abuse;
(3) provide for the general administration of
programs authorized by this Act;
(4) provide for the evaluation of this Act and
assess the effectiveness of comprehensive planning in
the prevention of crime, violence, and drug abuse;
(5) provide for a comprehensive communica-
tions strategy to inform the public as well as State
and local governments of programs authorized by
this Act and their purpose and intent;
(6) coordinate with other Federal agencies in-
volved in crime and drug prevention programming
and utilize research or effective programs, principles,
and prevention practices;
(7) establish a National Crime-Free Commu-
nities Commission to advise, consult with, and make
recommendations to the Attorney General con-
cerning activities carried out under this Act;
(8) establish the National Center for Justice
Planning in a national organization representing
state criminal justice executives that will:
(A) provide technical assistance and train-
ing to state criminal justice agencies in imple-
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menting policies and programs to facilitate com-
munity-based strategic planning processes;
(B) establish a resource collection of best
practices for state-wide community-based crimi-
nal justice planning; and
(C) consult with the National Crime Pre-
vention Council in providing states training in
comprehensive strategic planning.
(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 to the At-
torney General for the fiscal years 2002 through 2006 as
follows:
(1) $4,500,000 will be for the National Crime
Prevention Council to assist states and communities
in providing training, technical assistance, and set-
ting benchmarks; and
(2) $500,000 will be for the establishment and
operation of the National Center for Justice Plan-
ning.
(c) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.—Up to three per-
cent of program funds appropriated for Community
Grants in section (6) and State Capacity Building grants
in section (7) may be used by the Attorney General to
administer this program.
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SEC. 4. FOCUS.
Programs carried out by States and local commu-
nities under this Act shall include a specialized focus on
neighborhoods and schools disproportionately affected by
crime, violence, and drug abuse.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) COLLABORATION.—The term ‘‘collabora-
tion’’ is the joint planning of policies by organiza-
tions inclusive of multiple sectors, in the develop-
ment and implementation of comprehensive solutions
to crime, violence, and substance abuse.
(2) 
COMMUNITY.—The 
term 
‘‘community’’
means any urban or rural area that possesses 1 or
more governmental jurisdictions that can develop
collaborations for the purposes of preventing and re-
ducing crime, violence, and substance abuse.
(3) COMPREHENSIVE.—The term ‘‘comprehen-
sive’’ means a continuum of policies and strategies
that are crosscutting and shall include the activities
of prevention, education, treatment, law enforce-
ment, and after-care.
(4) CRIME
PREVENTION
PLAN.—The term
‘‘crime prevention plan’’ means a strategy that has
measurable long-term goals and short-term objec-
tives that—
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(A) addresses the problems of crime, vio-
lence, and substance abuse for a jurisdiction,
which may include the problems of terrorism,
developed through an interactive and collabo-
rative process that includes senior representa-
tives of law enforcement and the local chief ex-
ecutive’s office as well as representatives of
such groups as other agencies of local govern-
ment (including physical and social service pro-
viders), nonprofit organizations, business lead-
ers, religious leaders, citizens leaders, and rep-
resentatives of community and neighborhood
groups,
(B) establishes interim and final bench-
mark measures for each prevention objective
and strategy, and
(C) includes a monitoring and assessment
mechanism for implementation of the plan.
(5) 
PREVENTION.—The 
term 
‘‘prevention’’
means programs, practices, and strategies affecting
attitudes and behaviors and directed at reducing
crime and enhancing the sense of safety and secu-
rity, to positively influence the quality of life in our
society, and to help develop environments where
crime cannot flourish.
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(6) TERRORISM.—The term ‘‘terrorism’’ in the
context of a Crime Prevention Plan refers to plan-
ning for the prevention of, protection from, and re-
sponse to a terrorist attack.
(7) SPECIAL POPULATIONS.—The term ‘‘special
populations’’ refers to representatives of any group
or groups of minority or Native American popu-
lations.
(8) STATE.—For purposes of this Act, state is
defined to include each of the fifty states and the
District of Columbia.
SEC. 6. COMMUNITY GRANTS.
(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall
award grants to at least 100 communities or the
designee of a community [a 501(c)(3) organization]
in an amount not to exceed $250,000 per year for
the planning, evaluation, and implementation of a
program designed to prevent and reduce crime, vio-
lence, and substance abuse.
(2) LIMITATION.—Of the amount of a grant
awarded under this section in any given year—
(A) not more than $125,000 may be used
for the planning or evaluation component of the
program; and
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(B) the balance of the funds shall be
awarded as the program implementation compo-
nent required under subsection (b) upon dem-
onstration by the applicant that the planning
has been accomplished by the applicant prior to
the submission by that applicant of an applica-
tion for a grant under this section.
(b) USE OF FUNDS.—
(1) PLANNING COMPONENT.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—A community grant
awarded under this section may be used by a
community to develop comprehensive planning
processes.
(B) AVAILABILITY.—A grant may be
awarded under this paragraph to a community
during the first 2 years of the funding of that
community.
(C) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Fed-
eral share of a grant under this paragraph shall
not exceed—
(i) 0 percent in the first year; and
(ii) 80 percent in the second year.
(2) EVALUATION COMPONENT.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—A community grant
awarded under this section may be used by a
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community to support on-going evaluation of
program planning and implementation.
(B) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Fed-
eral share of a grant under this paragraph shall
not exceed 80 percent during each funding
year.
(3) 
PROGRAM
IMPLEMENTATION
COMPO-
NENT.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—A community grant
under this section may be used by a community
to support specific programs or projects that
are consistent with the local Crime Prevention
Plan.
(B) AVAILABILITY.—A grant shall be
awarded under this paragraph to a community
that has developed a specific Crime Prevention
Plan and program outline.
(C) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The fed-
eral share of a grant under this paragraph shall
not exceed—
(i) 80 percent in the first year;
(ii) 60 percent in the second year;
(iii) 40 percent in the third year;
(iv) 20 percent in the fourth year; and
(v) 20 percent in the fifth year.
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(D) DATA SET-ASIDE.—A community may
use up to 5 percent of the grant to assist it in
collecting local data related to the costs of
crime, violence, and substance abuse for pur-
poses of supporting its Crime Prevention Plan.
(c) APPLICATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—An applicant for a commu-
nity grant under this section shall—
(A) submit to the Attorney General, a list
of collaborating agencies and organizations that
demonstrate the comprehensive and inclusive
nature of the application of the applicant;
(B) demonstrate how the planning and
funding collaboration systems of the applicant
will prevent crime, violence, and substance
abuse;
(C) submit a program sustainability plan
at the end of the first year of the program of
the applicant that describes how the applicant
will achieve program sustainability following the
fifth year of the program;
(D) certify for the program implementa-
tion component required under subsection (b),
that the programs of the applicant are based on
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nationally recognized research standards that
have been tested in local communities; and
(E) collaborate and obtain the approval
and support of the State agency designated by
the Governor of that State in the development
of the comprehensive prevention plan of the ap-
plicant.
(2) CONSIDERATION.—The Attorney General
may give additional consideration in the grant review
process to an applicant with an officially designated
Weed and Seed site seeking to expand from a neigh-
borhood to community-wide strategies.
(3) RURAL COMMUNITIES.—The Attorney Gen-
eral shall give additional consideration in the grant
review process to an applicant from a rural or fron-
tier area.
(d) RECIPIENT REQUIREMENTS.—A recipient of a
grant under this section shall demonstrate the ability of
that recipient to—
(1) develop a local Crime-Free Communities
Commission, a broad-based, comprehensive collabo-
ration of stakeholders, such as local, State, and Fed-
eral criminal justice personnel, law enforcement,
schools, youth organizations, religious and other
community organizations, business and health care