Title: Public Health Violence Prevention Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Public Health Violence Prevention Act
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the National Center for Violence Prevention in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to take over the duties and authorities relating to violence prevention from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The National Center for Violence Prevention, to address violence and prevention as health issues, must establish: (1) the Public Health Violence Prevention Program to award competitive grants to public health departments, schools of public health, criminal justice agencies, and public school districts, with preference given to projects serving areas with the highest rates of violence or the highest increases in violence; and (2) the Private Health Care Sector Violence Prevention Program to award competitive grants to health care providers, community-based organizations, and academic medical centers.
The bill establishes the National Health Violence Prevention Program with the following offices and programs:
The Department of Health and Human Services must rename the Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, Injury, and Environmental Health as the Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, Violence, Injury, and Environmental Health.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2757 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2757

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a National Center 
            for Violence Prevention, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 26, 2017

 Mr. Quigley introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a National Center 
            for Violence Prevention, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Health Violence Prevention 
Act''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES, VIOLENCE, INJURY, AND 
              ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH.

    Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall rename the Office 
of Noncommunicable Diseases, Injury, and Environmental Health, within 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Office of 
Noncommunicable Diseases, Violence, Injury, and Environmental Health 
and shall take such measures as is necessary to provide that any 
reference in regulation or guidance to the Office of Noncommunicable 
Diseases, Injury, and Environmental Health is a reference to the Office 
of Noncommunicable Diseases, Violence, Injury, and Environmental 
Health.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL CENTER FOR VIOLENCE PREVENTION.

    (a) In General.--Title III of the Public Health Service Act (241 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new part:

           ``PART W--PROGRAMS RELATING TO VIOLENCE PREVENTION

          ``Subpart I--National Center for Violence Prevention

``SEC. 399OO. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CENTER FOR VIOLENCE PREVENTION.

    ``There is established, within the Office of Noncommunicable 
Diseases, Violence, Injury, and Environmental Health of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for Violence 
Prevention, which shall be headed by a director appointed by the 
Secretary (in this part referred to as the `Director').''.
    (b) Transfer of Authorities; Effective Date.--
            (1) Transfer of authorities.--The Secretary of Health and 
        Human Services shall delegate to the Director of the National 
        Center for Violence Prevention all duties and authorities 
        relating to violence prevention that, as of the day before the 
        date of enactment of this Act, were vested in the Director of 
        the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control of the 
        Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, Injury, and Environmental 
        Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
            (2) Effective date.--This section and the amendments made 
        by this section apply beginning on the day that is 6 months 
        after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. PUBLIC HEALTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM.

    Part W of title III of the Public Health Service Act (241 et seq.), 
as added by section 3, is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subpart:

        ``Subpart II--Public Health Violence Prevention Program

``SEC. 399OO-11. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM AND GENERAL PROVISIONS.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Director shall establish a Public Health 
Violence Prevention Program under which the Director shall establish 
and oversee each of the grant programs under this subpart.
    ``(b) Preference.--
            ``(1) In general.--In awarding grants under a grant program 
        under this subpart the Director shall give preference to 
        applications for projects to serve an area that is included in 
        the cities, counties (including rural), and frontier areas with 
        the 50 highest annual rates of violence per capita as well as 
        those with the highest increases in all forms of violence over 
        a period, as specified by the Director.
            ``(2) Determination considerations.--For purposes of this 
        subsection--
                    ``(A) to determine annual rates of violence the 
                Director shall consider data on gun violence, sexual 
                violence, domestic violence, drug-related violence, 
                school violence, child abuse, elder abuse, and suicide; 
                and
                    ``(B) the Director shall rely on violence data from 
                the Department of Justice and the Census Bureau until 
                the Office of Data Collection and Evaluation under 
                section 399OO-35 is operational.
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--Grants awarded under a grant program under 
this subpart shall be used at a minimum for the deployment of 
comprehensive health-focused responses to violence and the prevention 
of violence.
    ``(d) Competitive Grant Programs.--Grants shall be awarded under a 
grant program under this subpart on a competitive basis, based on the 
level of need of the area which would be served by the project proposed 
in the application for the grant, the project design, the capacity of 
the applicant to implement the project, capacity building, as well as 
the plan proposed in the application to evaluate the outcomes of the 
project. Individual projects, policies, or strategies funded pursuant 
to this subpart for a period and found to be effective at reducing 
violence may be given preference for awarding grants under this subpart 
for a subsequent period.
    ``(e) Annual Performance Report.--Each recipient of a grant awarded 
under a grant program under this subpart shall be required as a 
condition of receipt of such grant to submit an annual performance 
report, with respect to each year for which the grant is awarded to 
such recipient, detailing how the funds under such grant were used and 
progress made during the applicable funding period under the grant.
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--For purposes of carrying 
out this subpart, for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2023, there are 
authorized to be appropriated, in addition to any amounts otherwise 
authorized to be appropriated or made available to the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, $500,000,000. Of the amount 
appropriated pursuant to the previous sentence for a fiscal year--
            ``(1) 70 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-12;
            ``(2) 4 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-13;
            ``(3) 10 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-14;
            ``(4) 10 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-15; and
            ``(5) 6 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-16.

``SEC. 399OO-12. PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT VIOLENCE PREVENTION GRANTS.

    ``The Director shall, under the Public Health Violence Prevention 
Program, carry out the Public Health Department Violence Prevention 
Grants Program under which the Director shall award competitive grants 
to local public health departments (operating within high violence 
cities, counties (including rural), and frontier areas, as determined 
in accordance with section 399OO-11(b)) for the following purposes:
            ``(1) To develop and implement evidence-based comprehensive 
        community-based prevention and intervention strategy to address 
        violence in the community services by such department.
            ``(2) To incentivize health sector leadership to address 
        social determinants related to violence.
            ``(3) To coordinate the use of health data with other 
        sectors to build community capacity to address social 
        determinants of health.
            ``(4) To improve coordination within such department and 
        leadership of such department in addressing violence as a 
        health issue as well as develop infrastructure to reduce the 
        racial inequities related to violence including hiring, 
        training, and supporting violence prevention coordinators.
            ``(5) To monitor past and current violence trends to 
        disseminate resources to increase resilience.

``SEC. 399OO-13. UNIVERSITY/SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION 
              GRANTS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director shall, under the Public Health 
Violence Prevention Program, carry out the University/School of Public 
Health Violence Prevention Grants Program under which the Director 
shall award competitive grants to public or private university schools 
of public health to fund faculty, research, trials, and staff to--
            ``(1) support the development of courses on violence as a 
        health issue;
            ``(2) research and evaluate health-related violence 
        interventions;
            ``(3) provide coordination for a network of higher 
        education institutions to support local and regional violence 
        prevention efforts that promote resilience; and
            ``(4) develop and offer certifications for violence 
        prevention coordinators.
    ``(b) Exclusions.--A grant awarded under subsection (a) may not be 
used for construction of classroom space or other permanent 
infrastructure.

``SEC. 399OO-14. CRIMINAL JUSTICE VIOLENCE PREVENTION GRANTS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director shall, under the Public Health 
Violence Prevention Program, carry out the Criminal Justice Violence 
Prevention Grants Program under which the Director shall award 
competitive grants to local criminal justice agencies working to 
improve law enforcement at the local level to support innovative joint 
health-criminal justice efforts to work together on violence as a 
health issue.
    ``(b) Permissive Uses.--A grant awarded under this section may be 
used to support officer training, intervention specialists, case 
workers, and strategies that employ health alternatives to arrest.
    ``(c) Exclusions.--A grant awarded under this section may not be 
used to hire additional officers or supplement existing salaries.
    ``(d) Eligible Applications.--An application submitted for a grant 
under this section shall contain a proposal submitted jointly by at 
least one health agency and one criminal justice or law enforcement 
agency, which will jointly be involved with carrying out the proposal.

``SEC. 399OO-15. SCHOOL VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND TRAUMA MITIGATION 
              GRANTS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director shall, under the Public Health 
Violence Prevention Program, carry out the School Violence Prevention 
and Trauma Mitigation Grants Program under which the Director shall 
award competitive grants to primary and secondary public school 
districts for the following:
            ``(1) The development and implementation of programs to 
        promote pro-social norms, non-violent conflict resolution, and 
        social skills among students for positive school climate while 
        eliminating zero tolerance policies and reducing out of school 
        time.
            ``(2) The integration of comprehensive school-based mental 
        health services.
    ``(b) Prioritization.--A district receiving a grant under this 
section shall prioritize areas with the highest rates of violence.
    ``(c) Permissible Uses.--A grant awarded under this section may be 
used for mental health services, educator training, curriculum 
development, and violence interventionists in schools.

``SEC. 399OO-16. STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT VIOLENCE PREVENTION GRANTS.

    ``The Director shall, under the Public Health Violence Prevention 
Program, carry out the State Health Department Violence Prevention 
Grants Program under which the Director shall award competitive grants 
to up to 30 statewide health departments to invest in coordinating 
multiple communities served by the department involved and local health 
departments implementing health approaches to violence prevention, 
including alternatives to incarceration, community healing practices, 
and resilient communities.''.

SEC. 5. PRIVATE HEALTH CARE SECTOR VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM.

    Part W of title III of the Public Health Service Act (241 et seq.), 
as added by section 3 and amended by section 4, is further amended by 
adding at the end the following new subpart:

 ``Subpart III--Private Health Care Sector Violence Prevention Program

``SEC. 399OO-21. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM AND GENERAL PROVISIONS.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Director shall establish a Private Health 
Care Sector Violence Prevention Program under which the Director shall 
establish each of the grant programs under this subpart.
    ``(b) Use of Funds.--Grants awarded under a grant program under 
this subpart shall be used entirely for the deployment of comprehensive 
health-focused responses to violence and the prevention of violence.
    ``(c) Competitive Grant Programs.--Grants shall be awarded under a 
grant program under this subpart on a competitive basis, based on the 
level of need of the area which would be served by the project proposed 
in the application for the grant, the project design, the capacity of 
the applicant to implement the project, as well as the plan proposed in 
the application to evaluate the outcomes of the project.
    ``(d) Annual Performance Report.--Each recipient of a grant awarded 
under a grant program under this subpart shall be required as a 
condition of receipt of such grant to submit an annual performance 
report, with respect to each year for which the grant is awarded to 
such recipient, detailing how the funds under such grant were used and 
progress made during the applicable funding period under the grant.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--For purposes of carrying 
out this subpart, for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2023, there are 
authorized to be appropriated, in addition to any amounts otherwise 
authorized to be appropriated or made available to the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, $350,000,000. Of the amount 
appropriated pursuant to the previous sentence for a fiscal year--
            ``(1) 15 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-22;
            ``(2) 35 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-23;
            ``(3) 7 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-24;
            ``(4) 28 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-25; and
            ``(5) 15 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-26.

``SEC. 399OO-22. HOSPITAL-BASED VIOLENCE PREVENTION GRANTS.

    ``The Director shall, under the Private Health Care Sector Violence 
Prevention Program, carry out the Hospital-Based Violence Prevention 
Grants Program under which the Director shall award competitive grants 
to private and public hospitals to implement new programs or enhance 
existing programs for the following purposes:
            ``(1) To implement or have in place violence intervention 
        programs in coordination with existing violence prevention 
        initiatives, including patient screenings.
            ``(2) To provide for incentives to include violence and 
        other determinants of health in health assessments and 
        community needs assessments in coordination with local health 
        departments.
            ``(3) To provide for the development of and contribution to 
        city-wide or metropolitan area health data collection systems.

``SEC. 399OO-23. BEHAVIORAL HEALTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION GRANTS.

    ``The Director shall, under the Private Health Care Sector Violence 
Prevention Program, carry out the Behavioral Health Violence Prevention 
Grants Program under which the Director shall award competitive grants 
to behavioral health providers for the following:
            ``(1) Development and implementation of trauma informed 
        protocols and practices.
            ``(2) Training and programming for non-clinical peer 
        counselors.
            ``(3) Behavioral health training for police, schools, and 
        other community sectors.
            ``(4) Support for community level approaches, including 
        trauma interventions such as community healing that promote 
        individual and system resilience.

``SEC. 399OO-24. PRIMARY CARE VIOLENCE PREVENTION GRANTS.

    ``The Director shall, under the Private Health Care Sector Violence 
Prevention Program, carry out the Primary Care Violence Prevention 
Grants Program under which the Director shall award competitive grants 
to public and private primary care providers for innovative efforts to 
address the following:
            ``(1) Development and implementation of efforts to--
                    ``(A) address violence and trauma among the 
                patients of the provider involved and the community in 
                which such provider is located; and
                    ``(B) coordinate with existing violence prevention 
                efforts.
            ``(2) Facilitation of connections between primary care and 
        behavioral health services.

``SEC. 399OO-25. COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS VIOLENCE PREVENTION GRANTS.

    ``The Director shall, under the Private Health Care Sector Violence 
Prevention Program, carry out the Community Connections Violence 
Prevention Grants Program under which the Director shall award 
competitive grants to community-based organizations for training and 
implementation of trauma-informed services, including--
            ``(1) training and mobilizing communities impacted by 
        violence with skills in trauma-informed services at the 
        individual and community level;
            ``(2) developing referral networks to reduce exposure to 
        trauma and increase resources for those exposed; and
            ``(3) developing a means through which individuals may 
        enter into heath care and violence prevention roles.

``SEC. 399OO-26. ACADEMIC MEDICAL CENTERS VIOLENCE PREVENTION GRANTS.

    ``The Director shall, under the Private Health Care Sector Violence 
Prevention Program, carry out the Academic Medical Centers Violence 
Prevention Grants Program under which the Director shall award 
competitive grants to academic medical centers to--
            ``(1) facilitate the development of curriculum on 
        community-based violence prevention and intervention and on 
        violence as a health issue generally; and
            ``(2) prepare students studying to become health care 
        providers with a framework for their role in violence 
        prevention through the use of trauma-informed care trainings 
        and evaluations of health care services, among other 
        appropriate measures.''.

SEC. 6. NATIONAL HEALTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM.

    Part W of title III of the Public Health Service Act (241 et seq.), 
as added by section 3 and amended by sections 4 and 5, is further 
amended by adding at the end the following new subpart:

       ``Subpart IV--National Health Violence Prevention Program

``SEC. 399OO-31. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM AND GENERAL PROVISIONS.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Director shall establish a National 
Health Violence Prevention Program under which the Director shall 
oversee each of the offices and programs under this subpart.
    ``(b) Annual Performance Report.--Each Office or Board established 
under this part shall submit to the head of the agency involved and 
Congress an annual performance report detailing how funds appropriated 
to the Office pursuant to subsection (c) during the applicable funding 
period were used.
    ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--For purposes of carrying 
out this subpart, for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2023, there are 
authorized to be appropriated, in addition to any amounts otherwise 
authorized to be appropriated or made available to the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, $100,000,000. Of the amount 
appropriated pursuant to the previous sentence for a fiscal year--
            ``(1) 15 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-32;
            ``(2) 15 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-33;
            ``(3) 20 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-34;
            ``(4) 20 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-35; and
            ``(5) 30 percent shall be made available to carry out 
        section 399OO-36.

``SEC. 399OO-32. OFFICE OF APPLIED VIOLENCE PREVENTION RESEARCH.

    ``There is established the Office of Applied Violence Prevention 
Research under the National Health Violence Prevention Program within 
the Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, Violence, Injury, and 
Environmental Health to generate knowledge about violence prevention by 
investing in research institutions annually and funding research to 
focus on violence as a health issue.

``SEC. 399OO-33. NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD ON VIOLENCE PREVENTION UNDER 
              THE NATIONAL HEALTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director shall establish a National Advisory 
Board on Violence Prevention under the National Health Violence 
Prevention Program within the Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, 
Violence, Injury, and Environmental Health to identify public policies 
that prevent violence.
    ``(b) Membership.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Board shall consist of 15 members 
        appointed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 
        and Prevention and shall include representatives of the public 
        and private sectors, law enforcement, primary care, public 
        health, behavior health, both political parties, academia, and 
        persons impacted by violence.
            ``(2) Term of service.--Each member shall serve on the 
        board for a term of 3 years, except that--
                    ``(A) a member may not serve more than two full 
                consecutive terms (but may be reappointed to two full 
                consecutive terms after being appointed to fill a 
                vacancy on the Board);
                    ``(B) a member appointed to fill a vacancy 
                occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which 
                that member's predecessor was appointed shall be 
                appointed for the remainder of such term; and
                    ``(C) a member may continue to serve after the 
                expiration of the member's term until a successor has 
                taken office.
            ``(3) Pay for travel.--Each member may receive travel 
        expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in 
        accordance with applicable provisions under subchapter I of 
        chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code.
            ``(4) Staff.--The Director may appoint and fix the pay of 
        additional personnel as the Director considers appropriate.
    ``(c) Recommendations.--The board shall annually (beginning for 
2019) submit to Congress a report containing recommendations for public 
policies described in subsection (a). Such recommendations included in 
such a report shall have the support of at least \3/4\ of the members 
of the Board. National and regional conferences for grantees shall be 
held by advisory board members to disseminate the recommendations 
submitted under this subsection, including new evidence supporting such 
recommendations.

``SEC. 399OO-34. VIOLENCE PREVENTION TRAINING PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--There is established the Office of Violence 
Prevention Training Program under the National Health Violence 
Prevention Program within the Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, 
Violence, Injury, and Environmental Health to provide for the 
cultivation and development of leaders using the health approach to 
violence prevention.
    ``(b) Permissible Uses of Funds.--Funds made available to the 
Office may be used for supporting experts in the field to deliver 
trainings, scholarships, and fellowships and to develop centers for 
ongoing regional trainings.

``SEC. 399OO-35. OFFICE OF DATA COLLECTION AND EVALUATION.

    ``(a) In General.--There is established the Office of Data 
Collection and Evaluation under the National Health Violence Prevention 
Program within the Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, Violence, 
Injury, and Environmental Health to develop a nationwide data 
collection system for violence and violence prevention initiatives.
    ``(b) Duties.--The Office shall--
            ``(1) develop and set data collection standards and 
        requirements for all programs carried out by the National 
        Center for Violence Prevention programs;
            ``(2) annually use the data collection system to analyze 
        both the economic and health impacts of violence at the city, 
        State, and national levels; and
            ``(3) analyze the effectiveness of each program carried out 
        by the National Center for Violence Prevention and determine 
        their impacts on violence prevention and reduction, health, 
        race, and equity.

``SEC. 399OO-36. OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.

    ``There is established the Office of Violence Prevention Education 
and Outreach under the National Health Violence Prevention Program 
within the Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, Violence, Injury, and 
Environmental Health to--
            ``(1) provide outreach and technical assistance services to 
        entities awarded a grant under this part for establishing and 
        carrying out educational programs on violence prevention and 
        effective responses to violence; and
            ``(2) carry out a national campaign, with guidance from 
        local communities impacted by violence, to change community 
        norms so violence is no longer acceptable.''.
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