July 15, 2025
Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania (for herself, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. McGarvey, and Ms. Jayapal) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Education and Workforce, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
To establish within the Department of Health and Human Services a Division on Community Safety, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title; purposes
(a) Short title
This Act may be cited as the People’s Response Act
.
(b) Purpose
It is the purpose of this Act to—
(1)
catalyze, coordinate, and disseminate research on approaches to community safety that reduce criminal legal contact while expanding opportunity, including a particular focus on groups that have been disproportionately harmed by the criminal legal system;
(2)
support State governments, local governments, and community-based organizations in implementing qualified approaches to community safety;
(3)
mobilize and coordinate Federal resources to advance qualified approaches to community safety;
(4)
expand resources to holistically support survivors of mass incarceration, police violence, rape and other forms of sexual assault, harm resulting from detention or deportation, and other forms of violence and abuse; and
(5)
expand resources to holistically support marginalized communities, including Black communities, Latine/x communities, Indigenous communities, communities of color, poor and working class communities, and LGBTQIA+ communities, to implement qualified approaches to community safety, with an emphasis on culturally and linguistically appropriate approaches.
Sec. 2. Definitions
In this Act:
(1) Community-based organization
The term community-based organization means a public or private nonprofit organization of demonstrated effectiveness that—
(A)
is representative of a community or significant segments of a community; and
(B)
provides educational or related services to individuals in the community.
(2) Community health worker
The term community health worker means a frontline public health worker who—
(A)
is a trusted member of, or has a close understanding of, the community served, enabling the worker to serve as a link between health and social services and the community, so as to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery; and
(B)
builds individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, counseling (as allowed under State licensing requirements), social support, and advocacy.
(3) Community land trust
The term community land trust means a community-based organization that is designed to ensure community stewardship of land and—
(A)
is not sponsored by a for-profit organization;
(B)
has a membership open to any adult who resides in the particular geographic area in which the organization operates; and
(C)
provides low-cost land and housing while maintaining community control over neighborhood resources, including by acquiring land that will be held in perpetuity so as to provide permanently affordable homeownership to those who might not otherwise be able to afford a home.
(4) First responder
The term first responder means an individual with relevant experience who responds to crises in a way that meets the definition of qualified approaches to community safety.
(5) Qualified approach to community safety
The term qualified approach to community safety means evidence-informed, nonpunitive approaches to prevent, address, and respond to violence and otherwise enhance public safety using programs, services, and infrastructure investments that provide alternatives to law enforcement, criminal courts, prosecution, probation, child welfare services, involuntary treatment, and immigration enforcement.
(6) Participatory budgeting
The term participatory budgeting means a democratic engagement process in which community members deliberate and decide directly how to allocate a portion of a public budget.
(7) Rural area
The term rural area means an area that is not classified by the Census Bureau as urban.
(8) Safety needs assessment
The term safety needs assessment means a systematic, participatory process for identifying the safety needs in the local community. Such process shall include—
(A)
soliciting input from persons who represent the broad interests of the local community, including those who have been harmed by arrest, incarceration, criminal supervision, immigration detention, or other criminal legal system involvement;
(B)
identifying the structural, systemic factors that may lead community members to feel unsafe or may increase the risk that community members may become involved with the criminal legal system;
(C)
identifying existing resources that are potentially available to address those safety needs as well as any other gaps in necessary resources; and
(D)
providing opportunities that allow people meaningful opportunities to review, comment on, and provide suggested modifications to the draft assessment, such as through public hearings, online publication, and a comment period that allows sufficient time for community feedback.
(9) State
The term State means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.
(10) Unit of local government
The term unit of local government means any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State.
Title I Division on Community Safety
Sec. 101. Division on community safety
(a) In general
There is established within the Department of Health and Human Services a Division on Community Safety (referred to in this Act as the Division
). The Division shall be headed by an Assistant Secretary for Community Safety (referred to in this Act as the Assistant Secretary
) who shall be designated by and report directly to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(b) Responsibilities
The Division shall have responsibility for overseeing activities that promote qualified approaches to community safety, including—
(1)
coordinating and carrying out other oversight activities with respect to the grant programs established under title II;
(2)
funding, conducting, coordinating, and publicly disseminating the findings of, research into policies, programs, infrastructure, and other investments that serve to increase qualified approaches to community safety, including through interdisciplinary collaborations involving scholars, nonprofits, and other nongovernmental actors;
(3)
providing and funding technical assistance to State and local governments to implement qualified approaches to community safety;
(4)
establishing—
(A)
the National Advisory Committee under section 102;
(B)
the Interagency Task Force under section 103;
(C)
the Community Safety Grant for community-led organizations under section 201;
(D)
the Community Safety Grant for Local Governments under section 202;
(E)
the Community Safety Grant for States under section 203; and
(F)
the First Responder Hiring Grants under section 204;
(5)
coordinating, streamlining, and implementing qualified approaches to community safety in collaboration with the Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, Director of the Indian Health Service, the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substances Use, and other relevant agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services;
(6)
supporting and helping to coordinate interagency initiatives that advance, streamline, and otherwise implement qualified approaches to community safety;
(7)
administering grant programs that support State governments, local governments, and community-based organizations in implementing qualified approaches to increasing community safety;
(8)
developing data systems and processes for evaluating the impact of grants made under title II, including through the use of data matching and other tools to inform target populations and geographic areas;
(9)
providing to the public updates, findings, and recommendations on qualified approaches to community safety collected from the reports made by recipients of grants under title II; and
(10)
establishing and maintaining a complaint system responsible for the resolution of complaints from members of the general public regarding grant funding for programs not compliant with the qualified approaches to community safety standards.
Sec. 102. National advisory committee
(a) In general
The Division shall establish a national advisory committee to advise and make recommendations to the Assistant Secretary about the activities of the Division established under section 101 and grant programs under title II, to be known as the National Advisory Committee (referred to in this Act as the Advisory Committee
).
(b) Composition
(1) In general
The Advisory Committee shall be composed of individuals to be selected by the Secretary.
(2) Representation
The Assistant Secretary shall ensure that individuals selected to serve as members of the Advisory Committee—
(A)
have personal experience with the criminal legal system, including—
(i)
individuals who have been detained or incarcerated;
(ii)
individuals who are currently on community supervision (such as probation or parole) or who have been on community supervision;
(iii)
individuals who have been arrested or cited by law enforcement;
(iv)
individuals who have been harmed by police violence or other forms of violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, and other forms of sexual or intimate partner violence; and
(v)
immediate family members of individuals who have been harmed by police violence; and
(B)
are advocates or grassroots practitioners working to advance educational equity, health equity, housing equity, environmental justice, racial justice, gender justice, disability justice, or Indigenous justice.
(3) Pay
Members of the Advisory Committee shall serve at a rate of pay to be determined by the Secretary.
(4) Responsibilities
The duties of the Advisory Committee are as follows:
(A)
Making recommendations regarding annual priorities and funding for research and technical assistance and evaluating, on an annual basis, research conducted or supported by the Division and technical assistance provided by the Division.
(B)
Based on the evaluations conducted under subparagraph (A), producing, and submitting to the Administrator, annual recommendations on the following:
(i)
Whether activities conducted by the Division adequately reflect the specific needs and interests of all individuals, including Black individuals, Asian-American individuals, Latinx individuals, Indigenous individuals, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, disabled individuals, and other individuals who are members of communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the immigration and criminal legal system.
(ii)
Whether funding made available to the Division is sufficiently flowing to organizations that are led by individuals who represent communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the criminal-legal system, such as those referred to in clause (i).
(iii)
Changes that the Division could make to address any issues uncovered during such evaluations, including ways to ensure that grants awarded under this title are serving to enhance racial equity and benefit community-based organizations that have diverse leadership and composition.
(5) Report
Not later than 90 days after the date on which the Division receives the recommendations under paragraph (4)(B), the Division shall submit a report to Congress, which details—
(A)
steps the Division has taken or will take to implement the Advisory Committee’s recommendations; or
(B)
for any recommendations not implemented or planned to be implemented, an explanation as to why such recommendation was infeasible or conflicted with the Division’s statutory obligations.
(c) Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the duties of the Advisory Committee.
Sec. 103. Interagency task force
(a) Establishment
The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish an interagency task force (referred to in this Act as the Task Force
) to coordinate and promote holistic, qualified approaches to community safety.
(b) Members
The Task Force shall be composed of the following members:
(1)
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, or the designee of the Secretary.
(2)
The Attorney General, or the designee of the Attorney General.
(3)
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, or the designee of the Secretary.
(4)
The Secretary of Education, or the designee of the Secretary.
(5)
The Secretary of Labor, or the designee of the Secretary.
(6)
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, or the designee of the Administrator.
(7)
Other agencies, as determined necessary by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(c) Duties
The Task Force shall carry out the following:
(1)
Conduct a comprehensive audit of all funds allocated and programs supported by the Department of Justice and other Federal agencies that fund law enforcement, jails, prisons, and other detention facilities, and other coercive or carceral approaches to public safety.
(2)
Conduct a comprehensive audit that assesses all Federal funds allocated to, as well as Federal programs supporting, initiatives that are intended to enhance qualified approaches to community safety, disaggregated by jurisdiction.
(3)
Facilitate ongoing efforts to streamline the application, monitoring, and reporting processes to make Federal funds provided pursuant to any grant made under this Act maximally accessible to small, grassroots organizations that work to develop, implement, or evaluate qualified approaches to community safety.
(d) Meetings
For the purpose of carrying out this section, the Task Force may hold such meetings, and sit and act at such times and places, as the Task Force considers appropriate.
(e) Information
The Task Force may secure directly from any Federal agency such information as may be necessary to enable the Task Force to carry out this section. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Task Force, the head of such agency shall furnish such information to the Task Force.
(f) Report to congress
Not later than 90 days after the date on which the Task Force completes the audits described in subsection (c), the Task Force shall submit a report to Congress, which summarizes—
(1)
the contents of such audits; and
(2)
any recommendations, based on such audits, with respect to additional investments or policy changes that would improve the implementation of qualified community safety approaches and maximize community safety outcomes in all jurisdictions served.
Title II Grants in support of community safety
Sec. 201. 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.
Sec. 202. Establishment of community safety grant for local governments
(a) Grant program established
The Secretary shall award grants, on a rolling basis, to units of local government to assess safety needs, conduct research on, fund programming on, and otherwise support the development of qualified approaches to community safety.
(b) Application
A unit of local government 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, including an assurance that the unit of local government shall develop, and submit to the Secretary, during the grant period, a safety needs assessment to guide local investments in qualified approaches to community safety.
(c) Priority
In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to a unit of local government that—
(1)
has taken steps toward, or is submitting proposals within the application for such a grant for purposes of—
(A)
increasing human liberty, including through measures that reduce incarceration, pretrial detention, arrests, criminal supervision, immigration detention, and other forms of criminal justice involvement;
(B)
ending the criminalization of poverty, mental illness, homelessness, substance use, and related issues by addressing root causes of those issues rather than imposing criminal punishment and other punitive responses; or
(C)
ending racial, economic, gender, and other disparities in criminal punishment, and discipline in schools;
(2)
has a high rate of poverty, as well as disproportionately high shares of residents who have been impacted by violence and the criminal legal system (as determined by the Secretary and compared to the surrounding region); or
(3)
has prepared and developed the application submitted under this section in consultation with the community the unit of local government serves, especially individuals in such community who have been harmed by the criminal legal system.
(d) Use of funds
A unit of local government receiving funds under this section shall use such grant funds to carry out the following:
(1)
Establish or designate a community-led entity that—
(A)
employs qualified approaches to community safety; and
(B)
can coordinate and make investments in community safety, including by using participatory budgeting or other community-led processes.
(2)
Develop a safety needs assessment and create an action plan targeted to address such safety needs.
(3)
Invest in programs, interventions, or policy initiatives that have a demonstrable connection to improving community safety, including programs interventions, or policy initiatives that are designed to address needs related to economic stability, survivor safety, physical and behavioral health, environmental safety, housing stability, and educational equity and opportunity such as those listed in section 201(d).
(4)
Train and hire community health workers, including individuals who are trained in first response and violence prevention, who can help to address such identified safety needs.
(5)
Administer programming, including via grants to community-based organizations and the direct deployment of community health workers, to implement the action plan.
(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) Grant amounts
In determining the amount of a grant awarded to a unit of local government under this section, the Secretary shall base such determination on—
(1)
the number of people who live in the jurisdiction of the local government;
(2)
the depth of need demonstrated, including attention to activities planned, the socioeconomic characteristics of the community and residents within that jurisdiction, and current patterns of spending in systems of incarceration; and
(3)
such other factors as the Secretary determines are relevant.
(g) Additional grants
The Secretary may authorize additional funds under this section to units of local government 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 of the local government.
(h) Limitations
(1)
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)
Not less than 30 percent of the total amount made available for grants under this section shall be awarded to units of local government with less than 50 percent of their total land area jurisdiction classified as urban by the Census Bureau.
(3)
Each unit of local government receiving a grant under this section shall certify to the Secretary that any individual hired using funds received through such grant will be paid a wage, which shall be at least the highest of the following:
(A)
$17 an hour.
(B)
The minimum wage under the applicable State or local minimum wage law.
(C)
The prevailing rates of pay for individuals employed in similar occupations by the same employer.
(D)
The Federal minimum wage in effect under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)).
(i) Reporting
Beginning not later than 6 months after the date on which a local government receives a grant under this section, and biannually thereafter, the unit of local government shall prepare and submit to the Secretary, and make publicly available, a report containing information about—
(1)
how the grant funds were used;
(2)
the number of people who were cited, arrested, or jailed by any State or local law enforcement officers in the previous year in the jurisdiction of the local government, as compared to the number cited, arrest, or jailed during the term of the grant;
(3)
the reasons for such citing, arresting, or detained or imprisoned;
(4)
demographic data of individuals cited, arrested, or jailed or referred by local law enforcement officers, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, gender, and disability status; and
(5)
the percentage of grant funds that ultimately benefited community-based organizations.
(j) Evaluation
(1) In general
The Division on Community Safety shall review and evaluate information provided in the reports submitted by units of local government receiving funds under this section, and other information available to the Division, including by conducting data matching and other forms of data analysis, and 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) Supplement, not supplant
An unit of local government receiving a grant under this section may use Federal funds received through the grant only to supplement the funds that would, without such Federal funds, be made available from State and local sources, and not to supplant such funds.
(l) Authorization of appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated to implement this section $3,500,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
Sec. 203. Establishment of community safety grant for States
(a) Grant program established
The Secretary shall award grants, on a rolling basis, to States to conduct research on, fund, and otherwise support the development of qualified approaches to community safety.
(b) Application
A State 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, including an assurance that the State shall—
(1)
establish or designate a State agency, department, or office equivalent to the Division on Community Safety established under section 101, to oversee and support the use of qualified approaches to community safety statewide; and
(2)
provide matching funds equal to the amount of Federal funds received under the grant—
(A)
to fund qualified approaches to community safety; and
(B)
to provide an ongoing framework for continued funding of such qualified approaches.
(c) Priority
In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to a State that meets one or more of the same criteria specified in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 202(c).
(d) Use of funds
A State receiving funds under this section shall use such grant funds to—
(1)
make grants to community-based organizations implementing one or more qualified approaches to community safety, including as intermediaries making subgrants to other local organizations and community leaders who are leading qualified community safety programming on these issues;
(2)
fund local governments to undertake the activities described in section 202(d); or
(3)
fund education training for individuals who are taking jobs that advance qualified approaches to community safety.
(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) Grant amounts
In determining the amount of a grant awarded to a single recipient under this section, the Secretary shall base such determination on—
(1)
the number of people who live in the State;
(2)
the depth of need demonstrated, including attention to activities planned, the socioeconomic characteristics of the community, and current patterns of involvement in the criminal legal system; and
(3)
such other factors as the Secretary determines are relevant.
(g) Additional grants
The Secretary may authorize additional funds under this section to States 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 State.
(h) Limitations
(1)
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)
Not less than 30 percent of the total amount made available for grants under this section shall be awarded to States with less than 50 percent of their total land area classified as urban by the Census Bureau.
(i) Reporting
Beginning not later than 6 months after the date on which a State receives a grant under this section, and biannually thereafter, such State shall prepare and submit a report to the Secretary containing information about—
(1)
how the grant funds were used;
(2)
the number of people who were cited, arrested, or jailed by State or local law enforcement officers in the previous year, as compared to the number cited, arrest, or jailed during the term of the grant;
(3)
the reasons for such citing, arresting, or jailing; and
(4)
demographic data of individuals cited, arrested, or jailed or referred by State or local law enforcement officers, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, gender, and disability status.
(j) Evaluation
(1) In general
The Division on Community Safety shall review and evaluate information provided in the reports submitted by States receiving funds under this section, and other information available to the Division, including by conducting data matching and other forms of data analysis, and 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) Supplement, not supplant
A State shall use Federal funds received under this section only to supplement the funds that would, without such Federal funds, be made available from State and local sources, and not to supplant such funds.
(l) Authorization of appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated to implement this section $3,500,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
Sec. 204. First responder hiring grants
(a) Grant authorization
The Secretary shall carry out a grant program under which the Secretary makes grants to community-based organizations, health departments, States, units of local government, Indian tribal governments, other public and private entities, and multi-jurisdictional or regional consortia for the purposes described under subsection (b).
(b) Use of funds
A grant awarded under subsection (a) may be used to—
(1)
recruit, hire, and train first responders;
(2)
procure equipment, technology, support systems, or pay overtime, to increase the number of first responders available to a community;
(3)
increase the number of first responders involved in activities that are focused on interaction with members of the community on crisis response and community violence and trauma prevention;
(4)
provide education and training to first responders to enhance their conflict resolution, mediation, problem solving, service, and other skills needed to work in partnership with members of the community, including by programs that incentivize individuals to complete such education and training;
(5)
develop and implement innovative programs that support members of the community to work with community-based organizations, emergency first responders, and State, Tribal, and local officials in community violence and trauma prevention efforts; and
(6)
establish school-based partnerships by employing and retaining first responders in pre-Kindergarten, elementary, and secondary schools to support trauma-informed care and behavioral and mental health services, and to operate school-based health centers in local schools.
(c) 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.
(d) Additional grants
The Secretary may authorize additional funds under this section to entities 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 entity serves.
(e) Limitations
(1)
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)
Not less than 30 percent of the total amount made available for grants under this section shall be awarded to entities located in rural areas.
(3)
Each entity that receives a grant under this section shall certify to the Secretary that any individual hired using funds received through such grant will be paid a wage, which shall be at least the highest of the following:
(A)
$17 an hour.
(B)
The minimum wage under the applicable State or local minimum wage law.
(C)
The prevailing rates of pay for individuals employed in similar occupations by the same employer.
(D)
The Federal minimum wage in effect under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)).
(f) Evaluation
(1) In general
The Division on Community Safety shall review and evaluate information provided in the reports submitted by entities receiving funds under this section, and other information available to the Division, including by conducting data matching and other forms of data analysis, and 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.
(g) Authorization of appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $2,500,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.