Sec. 3. Federal Clearinghouse on Safety and Security Best Practices for Faith-Based Organizations and Houses of Worship
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Subtitle A of title XXII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 651 et seq. ), as amended by section 9, is amended by adding at the end the following: In this section— the term Clearinghouse means the Clearinghouse on Safety and Security Best Practices for Faith-Based Organizations and Houses of Worship established under subsection (b)(1); the term faith-based organization means a group, center, or nongovernmental organization with a religious, ideological, or spiritual motivation, character, affiliation, or purpose; the term house of worship means a place or building, including synagogues, mosques, temples, and churches, in which congregants practice their religious or spiritual beliefs; and the term safety and security , for the purpose of the Clearinghouse, means prevention of, protection against, or recovery from threats, including manmade disasters, natural disasters, or violent attacks.
Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of the Pray Safe Act , the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and the head of any other agency that the Secretary determines appropriate, shall establish a Federal Clearinghouse on Safety and Security Best Practices for Faith-Based Organizations and Houses of Worship within the Department. The Clearinghouse shall be the primary resource of the Federal Government— to educate and publish online best practices and recommendations for safety and security for faith-based organizations and houses of worship; and to provide information relating to Federal grant programs available to faith-based organizations and houses of worship.
The Clearinghouse shall be assigned such personnel and resources as the Secretary considers appropriate to carry out this section. The Secretary may coordinate detailees as required for the Clearinghouse. There shall be not less than 1 employee assigned or detailed to the Clearinghouse who shall be the designated point of contact to provide information and assistance to faith-based organizations and houses of worship, including assistance relating to the grant program established under section 5 of the Pray Safe Act .
The contact information of the designated point of contact shall be made available on the website of the Clearinghouse. To the maximum extent possible, any personnel assigned or detailed to the Clearinghouse under this paragraph should be familiar with faith-based organizations and houses of worship and with physical and online security measures to identify and prevent safety and security risks. The Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General, the Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and the head of any other agency that the Secretary determines appropriate, shall develop tiers for determining evidence-based practices that demonstrate a significant effect on improving safety or security, or both, for faith-based organizations and houses of worship.
The tiers required to be developed under subparagraph
(A)shall— prioritize— strong evidence from not less than 1 well-designed and well-implemented experimental study; and moderate evidence from not less than 1 well-designed and well-implemented quasi-experimental study; and consider promising evidence that demonstrates a rationale based on high-quality research findings or positive evaluations that such activity, strategy, or intervention is likely to improve security and promote safety for faith-based organizations and houses of worship. The best practices and recommendations of the Clearinghouse shall, at a minimum— identify areas of concern for faith-based organizations and houses of worship, including event planning recommendations, checklists, facility hardening, tabletop exercise resources, and other resilience measures; involve comprehensive safety measures, including threat prevention, preparedness, protection, mitigation, incident response, and recovery to improve the safety posture of faith-based organizations and houses of worship upon implementation; involve comprehensive safety measures, including preparedness, protection, mitigation, incident response, and recovery to improve the resiliency of faith-based organizations and houses of worship from manmade and natural disasters; include any evidence or research rationale supporting the determination of the Clearinghouse that the best practices or recommendations under subparagraph
(B)have been shown to have a significant effect on improving the safety and security of individuals in faith-based organizations and houses of worship, including— findings and data from previous Federal, State, local, Tribal, territorial, private sector, and nongovernmental organization research centers relating to safety, security, and targeted violence at faith-based organizations and houses of worship; and other supportive evidence or findings relied upon by the Clearinghouse in determining best practices and recommendations to improve the safety and security posture of a faith-based organization or house of worship upon implementation; and include an overview of the available resources the Clearinghouse can provide for faith-based organizations and houses of worship. The Clearinghouse shall maintain and make available a comprehensive index of all Federal grant programs for which faith-based organizations and houses of worship are eligible, which shall include the performance metrics for each grant management that the recipient will be required to provide. To the greatest extent practicable, the Clearinghouse shall identify and present, as appropriate, best practices and recommendations issued by Federal, State, local, Tribal, territorial, private sector, and nongovernmental organizations relevant to the safety and security of faith-based organizations and houses of worship. The Secretary may produce and publish materials on the Clearinghouse to assist and train faith-based organizations, houses of worship, and law enforcement agencies on the implementation of the best practices and recommendations. The Secretary shall— collect for the purpose of continuous improvement of the Clearinghouse— Clearinghouse data analytics; user feedback on the implementation of resources, best practices, and recommendations identified by the Clearinghouse; and any evaluations conducted on implementation of the best practices and recommendations of the Clearinghouse; and in coordination with the Faith-Based Security Advisory Council of the Department, the Department of Justice, the Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and any other agency that the Secretary determines appropriate— assess and identify Clearinghouse best practices and recommendations for which there are no resources available through Federal Government programs for implementation; provide feedback on the implementation of best practices and recommendations of the Clearinghouse; and propose additional recommendations for best practices for inclusion in the Clearinghouse; and not less frequently than annually, examine and update the Clearinghouse in accordance with— the information collected under subparagraph (A); and the recommendations proposed under subparagraph (B)(iii). The Secretary shall submit to Congress, on an annual basis, a report on the updates made to the Clearinghouse during the preceding 1-year period under paragraph (1)(C), which shall include a description of any changes made to the Clearinghouse. . The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( Public Law 107–296 ; 116 Stat. 2135), as amended by section 9 of this Act, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2220 the following: Sec. 2220A. Federal Clearinghouse on Safety Best Practices for Faith-Based Organizations and Houses of Worship. .
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- Pub. L. 107-296
- 116 Stat. 2135
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Sec. 3
Federal Clearinghouse on Safety and Security Best Practices for Faith-Based Organizations and Houses of Worship
Pub. L.Pub. L. 107-296
Stat.116 Stat. 2135
Cites 3Cited by 0 across 0 sources