Establishment of community safety grant for community-led organizations

(a) Grant program established The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this Act referred to as the Secretary), shall award grants, on a rolling basis, to community-based organizations that are designing, implementing, monitoring, or otherwise supporting qualified approaches to community safety, including as intermediaries making subgrants to other local organizations and community leaders who are leading qualified community safety programming. (b) Application A community-based organization seeking a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. (c) Priority In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to community-based organizations that— (1) serve, are located in, and directly employ people who live in communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the immigration or criminal legal system, as evidenced by high rates of individuals who have been cited, arrested, or incarcerated in the year preceding the year for which the application for such grant is submitted, compared to the surrounding region; (2) are led by, or employ, individuals who have been harmed by the criminal legal system, including via arrests, incarceration, witnessing or being victims of police violence, or having a family member who was arrested, incarcerated, or a victim of police violence; (3) are led by individuals who have proven ties to the community in which the organization operates; or (4) primarily serve federally recognized Native American Tribes and their members. (d) Use of funds A community-based organization receiving funds under this section shall use such grant funds for any purpose that has demonstrable connection to improving community safety through the use of qualified approaches to community safety, including grant writing or funding that furthers one or more of the following purposes: (1) Crisis intervention, including unarmed first responder agencies and 9–1–1 dispatchers for diverting calls to first responders. (2) Programs that interrupt or prevent violence, including violence and abuse interruption and prevention programs, neighborhood mediation programs, community violence intervention programs, school-based violence prevention programs, and safe passage to school programs. (3) Participatory investments into the built environment, including park redevelopment, streetlights, home repairs, remediating vacant lots, trash collection, and public transportation. (4) Public health activities and voluntary health services, including harm reduction-based treatment for mental health and substance use, hiring of community health workers, long-term supportive housing, lead abatement, pollution reduction, and nutrition access, such as through establishing farmers markets, nonprofit and employee-owned grocery stores, and school-based nutrition programs. (5) Housing security programs and initiatives, including outreach programs, permanent supportive housing, community land trusts, and housing for individuals experiencing temporary or chronic homelessness. (6) Support for youth and families, including school-based counselors, trauma-informed practices, youth and mentorship programs, after-school and enrichment programs, credible messenger in schools programs, social-emotional learning programs, wraparound services, summer jobs, targeted workforce development, and two-intergenerational programming. (7) Support for victims, including survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and rape, and targeted services to help victims, witnesses, and survivors process trauma, achieve financial and housing independence, make individualized, needs-based safety plans, and otherwise access the help that they need. (8) Reentry support for people who are exiting incarceration or criminal supervision, including educational and workforce programs, stipends, housing programs, and support for worker coops. (9) Capacity building support to local advocates and community-based organizations, including legal assistance, and startup assistance for coops, community land trusts, and nonprofit organizations. (e) Additional use of funds The Secretary may authorize additional uses of funds that— (1) have a demonstrable connection to improving community safety through the use of qualified approaches to community safety; and (2) support the objectives of the Division on Community Safety. (f) Additional grants The Secretary may authorize additional funds under this section to community-based organizations that previously received funds under this section if the Secretary determines the previously received funds were successfully deployed and additional funding would assist in expanding qualified approaches to community safety and ensuring a sustainable, coordinated approach in the jurisdiction the organization serves. (g) Grant amounts In determining the amount of a grant awarded to a single community-based organization under this section, the Secretary shall base such determination on— (1) the number of people who will be served by the program or intervention; (2) the depth of need demonstrated, including attention to specific activities planned, the socioeconomic characteristics of the community served by the organization, and current patterns of criminal legal involvement; and (3) such other factors as the Secretary determines are relevant. (h) Limitations (1) Qualified approaches to community safety Funds made available under this section may be used only to carry out programs, services, or activities that use qualified approaches to community safety. (2) Rural areas Not less than 30 percent of the total amount of funding made available for grants under this section shall be awarded to organizations located in rural areas. (i) Reporting (1) In general Beginning not later than one year after the date on which a community-based organization receives a grant under this section, and biannually thereafter, the organization shall prepare and submit a report to the Secretary and Assistant Secretary containing such information as the Secretary may require, including— (A) the use of grant funds; (B) an estimation of the number of people served through activities carried out using grant funds, including demographic information disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, gender, disability status sexuality, ZIP Code, and socioeconomic status (where such information is reasonably available and voluntarily provided); and (C) any relevant feedback received by such organization from the populations served by such organization regarding— (i) the efficacy of support from sources other than programs and services provided by such organization using grant funds; and (ii) additional resources and services needed by such populations with respect to improving community safety. (2) Privacy The report submitted to the Secretary and Division on Community Safety pursuant to this section must protect the privacy of the individuals served. All of the information gathered as part of the reporting process shall be aggregated, anonymized, and, except as required to be disclosed by State or Federal law, used only for the purposes listed in this section and shall not be used to initiate or contribute to any criminal, legal, immigration, or Child Protective Services actions of proceedings. (j) Evaluation (1) In general The Division on Community Safety shall review and evaluate information provided in the reports submitted by organizations receiving funds under this section, and other information available to the Division, including by conducting data matching and other forms of data analysis, and periodically submit such analyses to the Secretary. (2) Incorporation of analyses The Secretary shall incorporate analyses provided by the Division on Community Safety into decision-making regarding awarding additional grants under this section. (k) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $4,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.