Sec. 101. Community-based gang intervention agencies
968 words·~4 min read·
/bill/118/s/2445/is/section-101A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 ( 34 U.S.C. 11101 et seq. ) is amended— by redesignating title VI ( 34 U.S.C. 11321 et seq. ) as title VII; by redesignating sections 601 and 602 ( 34 U.S.C. 11321 , 11322) as sections 701 and 702, respectively; and by inserting after title V the following: The purpose of this title is to offer holistic and comprehensive support for community-based gang intervention activities that focus on and engage active and former gang members, their close associates, and gang members in and returning from confinement.
Gang-involved youth and their families require specialized intensive and comprehensive services that address the unique issues encountered by youth when they become involved with gangs. Community-based gang intervention involves proactive and reactive responses to gang activities on several levels, including— the regional level, to promote and coordinate peace truces and cease-fires between groups; the State and local level, including community and the juvenile halls, camps, Division of Juvenile Justice facilities, county jails, and State prisons; and the neighborhood level, including with active gang members individually.
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Administrator shall award grants to eligible entities to carry out the activities described in subsection (c). For the purposes of this section, an eligible entity means a community-based gang intervention agency that is a nonprofit organization with a history of and expertise in providing community-based gang intervention activities through a community-based gang intervention model. Each entity awarded a grant under this section shall carry out activities that promote public safety, with the specific objective of reducing and stopping gang-related and gang-motivated violence and crime, including the following activities:
Conduct street mediation by working with gang members and persons with influence over such members to defuse and de-escalate potential and actual violence between gang members and between rival gangs. Develop local and regional truces by negotiating cease-fires or nonaggression agreements between rival gangs and neighborhoods. Serve as conduits who facilitate dialogue and relationship between gangs and neighborhoods. Provide services that respond to the high levels of anxiety and stress experienced by gang members due to traumatic events.
Provide 24-hour, 7-day-a-week crisis intervention services by responding to requests for violence prevention services made by gang members, the families of gang members, school officials, intervention workers, social service agencies, or law enforcement. Provide targeted training and technical assistance to violence-plagued communities after a major gang-related incident. Facilitate the development of a community response plan to gang-related activities, including training protocols, situational scene scenarios, and emergency response.
Establish relationships with community stakeholders to inform and engage them in quality-of-life activities that enhance intervention activities. Serve as intervention representatives in communities by attending local meetings involving nonprofit organizations, schools, faith-based organizations, and other entities. Develop conflict resolution skills and techniques to address and resolve community concerns related to gang activity in order to improve the quality of life within neighborhoods.
Work with schools to respond to gang-related issues and crises both in and outside of school. Provide support services for youth and families affected by gang violence and other victims of gang violence (including any individual who is physically, emotionally, financially, or otherwise harmed by criminal activity, and those affected by harm done to or by a family member), which may include— advocating for public sector and private sector assistance and services; grief counseling; and referrals to treatment and rehabilitation for cognitive, mental, emotional, physical, or financial injury, loss, or suffering.
Provide comprehensive mental health services to youth and families affected by gang violence or involvement, including— integrated services comprised of individual, family, and group therapy modalities, and psychological education provided through youth and parent training programs; or gang-responsive services including skills training, assessing and servicing youth with developmental disabilities, behavioral modification, and services to address substance use and abuse, anger management, emotional regulation, traumatic stress, family violence, depression, suicide, anxiety, and educational problems.
Provide public and private sector career job training, development, and placement, including— job-finding and job-maintaining skills, including skills related to resume writing, interviewing, workplace decorum, interpersonal communication, and problem-solving; information about legal rights in the workplace; and financial literacy. Assist with substance use and abuse treatment, domestic violence victims, and voluntary tattoo removal of markings on the body related to gang involvement.
An entity awarded a grant under this section that provides victim assistance under paragraph
(13)of subsection
(c)shall not discriminate in the provision of such assistance to an individual based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic level, or criminal history. In this title: Notwithstanding the definition of community based in section 103, the term community means a unit of local government or an Indian Tribe. The term community-based gang intervention agency means a community-based organization, association, or other entity that— promotes public safety, with the specific objective of reducing and stopping gang-related and gang-motivated violence and crime; and has a history of, or training in, effectively working with gang-involved youth and their families. The term community-based gang intervention model means a holistic and comprehensive approach to reducing gang violence that uses the 2-prong approach of community-based gang intervention and an integrated approach of providing rehabilitative service delivery to gang-involved youth through trained specialists in community-gang intervention. The term gang means a group of individuals— organized by geography, culture, or activity; that have a group name, and may have other identifying characteristics of the group such as colors and nicknames; and who engage in the use of violence to defend the members or territory of the group. The term youth means— an individual who is 18 years of age or younger; or in any State in which the maximum age at which the juvenile justice system of such State has jurisdiction over individuals exceeds 18 years of age, an individual who is such maximum age or younger. .
Connectionstraces to 2
Traces to 2 documents
Citation graph
cites case law
Cites 2Cited by 0 across 0 sources