Violence Grant Bill Favors Applicants Whose Leaders Reflect Local Demographics

The text as introduced · 1,523 words

89R473 MCF-F

By: Miles
S.B. No. 1725

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the establishment of the office of community violence

intervention and prevention within the Department of State Health

Services and a grant program for violence intervention and

prevention services.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Community Violence

Intervention and Prevention Act.

SECTION 2. Subtitle B, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is

amended by adding Chapter 56 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 56. OFFICE OF COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION AND

PREVENTION

SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 56.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Advisory committee" means the grant review

advisory committee established under Section 56.102.

(2) "Office" means the office of community violence

intervention and prevention established under Section 56.051.

Sec. 56.002. RULES. The executive commissioner shall adopt

rules as necessary to implement this chapter.

Sec. 56.003. FUNDING. The department shall solicit and

accept gifts, grants, and donations on behalf of the office to carry

out the office's duties under this chapter.

SUBCHAPTER B. OFFICE: ESTABLISHMENT, POWERS, AND DUTIES

Sec. 56.051. ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE. The commissioner

shall establish within the department the office of community

violence intervention and prevention for the purposes of:

(1) coordinating and expanding violence intervention

and prevention activities;

(2) reducing the incidence of interpersonal violence

and homicide;

(3) providing leadership, coordination, and technical

assistance to promote effective state and local efforts on reducing

preventable injuries and deaths resulting from all forms of

physical violence;

(4) collaborating with governmental entities, law

enforcement agencies, community-based organizations, business

leaders, and other appropriate individuals in this state to develop

evidence-based policies, strategies, and interventions to reduce

the impacts of violence in this state; and

(5) awarding grants under Subchapter C.

Sec. 56.052. POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The office shall

develop collaborative relationships with state agencies involved

in reducing interpersonal violence, including:

(1) child abuse;

(2) elder abuse;

(3) violence involving youth;

(4) family violence;

(5) intimate partner violence;

(6) gun violence;

(7) sexual assault; and

(8) violence against an individual based on the

individual's actual or perceived:

(A) sexual orientation;

(B) gender identity; or

(C) gender expression.

(b) To fulfill the purposes of this chapter, the office

shall:

(1) integrate violence intervention and prevention

education into state-funded substance use programs;

(2) support the development and implementation of

comprehensive, community-based violence intervention and

prevention initiatives throughout this state, including

initiatives focused on preventing the types of violence described

by Subsection (a);

(3) develop and recommend comprehensive wraparound

and other support services, including interpersonal violence and

suicide prevention programs, to be funded by local governmental

entities; and

(4) assist local organizations that provide violence

intervention and prevention services in seeking and applying for a

grant under Subchapter C.

(c) The office shall develop and implement a public health

strategy for implementing the purposes described by Section 56.051.

The strategy must require:

(1) the use of culturally competent, community-wide

risk assessment tools;

(2) the use of methods to identify individuals in need

of intervention or prevention services who rely heavily on public

services;

(3) the provision of cognitive and family-based

counseling;

(4) the coordination of available services to prevent

incidents of violence; and

(5) as appropriate, technical assistance from

culturally competent organizations or individuals.

Sec. 56.053. INCREASING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF VIOLENCE;

DIRECTORY OF VIOLENCE INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION SERVICES. (a)

The office shall conduct a statewide public health campaign on the

impact of violence, strategies to help prevent the occurrence of

violence, and the use of alternative dispute resolution methods for

addressing incidents of violence.

(b) The office shall develop and post on the department's

Internet website a directory of violence intervention and

prevention services available in each county in this state.

SUBCHAPTER C. COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION GRANT

PROGRAM

Sec. 56.101. ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT

PROGRAM. The office shall establish and administer a community

violence intervention and prevention grant program and award grants

under the program to improve public health and safety by supporting

effective violence reduction strategies throughout this state in

communities disproportionately impacted by a high incidence of

violence, including:

(1) gun violence;

(2) group violence;

(3) suicides;

(4) family violence;

(5) intimate partner violence; and

(6) violence based on an individual's gender.

Sec. 56.102. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The office shall

establish the grant review advisory committee to assist the office

in reviewing and selecting grant applications for a grant award

under this subchapter. The advisory committee must include:

(1) members who have been personally impacted by

violence;

(2) members who have been incarcerated; and

(3) members with hands-on experience implementing

evidence-based violence reduction initiatives that incorporate a

public health, community-based, or ecological system approach.

(b) The advisory committee shall select a presiding officer

from among the advisory committee members.

(c) An advisory committee member serves at the pleasure of

the office.

(d) Section 2110.008, Government Code, does not apply to the

advisory committee.

Sec. 56.103. ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS. (a)

The office, with advice from the advisory committee, shall award

grants through a competitive process to counties and municipalities

disproportionately impacted by a high incidence of violence and to

community-based organizations serving communities

disproportionately impacted by a high incidence of violence.

(b) To be awarded a grant under this subchapter, a county,

municipality, or community-based organization shall submit to the

office, in the form and manner the office prescribes, a complete

application that includes a statement describing:

(1) the community issues or concerns the grant money

will address;

(2) the applicant's goals and objectives for use of the

grant money, which must include the applicant's plan for

implementing an evidence-based violence reduction initiative; and

(3) the applicant's plan to enhance local coordination

of existing violence intervention and prevention programs and

minimize the duplication of services.

(c) If appropriate to address regional problems or provide a

more comprehensive solution:

(1) a county or municipality may submit a joint

application with one or more other counties or municipalities; and

(2) a community-based organization may submit a joint

application with one or more other community-based organizations.

Sec. 56.104. REVIEW AND SELECTION OF GRANT APPLICANTS. (a)

The office, with assistance and advice from the advisory committee,

shall review grant applications submitted under this subchapter and

select applicants for grant awards.

(b) In selecting applicants for grant awards, the office

shall give preference to applicants whose proposals demonstrate:

(1) the greatest likelihood for reducing violence in

the community served by the applicant without contributing to the

mass incarceration of individuals;

(2) for a joint application that includes at least one

community-based organization, a partnership with one or more

entities, including another community-based organization or a

public entity;

(3) leadership that reflects the demographics of the

community served by the applicant;

(4) experience with formerly incarcerated individuals

or individuals who are otherwise involved in the criminal justice

system; and

(5) familiarity with individuals who are experiencing

or have experienced interpersonal violence.

Sec. 56.105. REQUIRED USE OF GRANT MONEY. (a) A grant

recipient shall use a grant awarded under this subchapter to

support, expand, or replicate evidence-based violence reduction

initiatives focused on interrupting cycles of violence,

victimization, and retaliation to reduce the incidence of firearm

violence, including:

(1) hospital-based violence intervention programs;

(2) community outreach programs; and

(3) initiatives with focused deterrence strategies.

(b) The office may award a grant under this subchapter only

in accordance with a contract between the office and the grant

recipient. The contract must include provisions affording the

office sufficient control to ensure the public purpose of

supporting, expanding, or replicating evidence-based violence

reduction initiatives focused on interrupting cycles of violence,

victimization, and retaliation is accomplished and this state

receives the return benefit.

(c) Subject to Subsection (b), a county or municipal

recipient of a grant awarded under this subchapter must distribute

not less than 50 percent of the grant money in this state to one or

more of the following:

(1) a community-based organization;

(2) an Indian tribe or tribal organization; or

(3) a public entity primarily focused on community

safety or gun violence prevention.

Sec. 56.106. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. Each grant recipient

shall report to the office, in a form and at intervals the office

prescribes, the recipient's progress toward achieving the grant

objectives.

Sec. 56.107. EFFICACY EVALUATION OF GRANT PROGRAM. The

office may contract with an independent entity with expertise in

evaluating community-based, grant-funded programs to evaluate the

effectiveness of the grant program under this subchapter, provided

the entity, in conducting the evaluation, uses:

(1) both qualitative and quantitative methods, as

appropriate; and

(2) participatory action research methods or other

research methods that incorporate subject engagement, to the extent

practicable.

SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2025:

(1) the commissioner of state health services shall

establish the office of community violence intervention and

prevention within the Department of State Health Services as

required by Chapter 56, Health and Safety Code, as added by this

Act; and

(2) the executive commissioner of the Health and Human

Services Commission shall adopt the rules necessary to implement

Chapter 56, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.