Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB1645 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Hochberg H.B. No. 1645
2	2
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4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to funding for multi-disciplinary approaches to combat
7	7	gang violence.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Chapter 772, Government Code, is amended by
10	10	adding Section 772.007 to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 772.007. TEXAS ANTI-GANG GRANT PROGRAM
12	12	(a) The governor's criminal justice division shall
13	13	administer a competitive grant program to support regional,
14	14	multi-disciplinary approaches to combat gang violence through
15	15	coordinated programs for prevention, intervention and suppression.
16	16	The criminal justice division shall award grants to political
17	17	subdivisions or councils of governments that apply for the grant
18	18	and that:
19	19	(1) demonstrate high levels of gang activity and gang
20	20	violence in a region;
21	21	(2) demonstrate a comprehensive approach to reducing
22	22	gang violence that balances prevention, intervention, and
23	23	suppression based activities, including:
24	24	(A) intervention programs which include crisis
25	25	intervention, treatment for youths and their families, social
26	26	service referrals, and community-based or in-school and
27	27	after-school prevention and education programs;
28	28	(B) provision of opportunities which include
29	29	education, training, job related services, and community
30	30	improvement projects, such as graffiti removal, as well as
31	31	developing alternative activities for gang members and youth at
32	32	risk for gang membership;
33	33	(C) suppression programs which target gang
34	34	involved individuals through criminal justice interventions;
35	35	(D) community mobilization, which includes
36	36	involvement of community members, community groups, and
37	37	community-based organizations in the provision of services; and
38	38	(E) organizational change and development which
39	39	means development and implementation of policies and procedures
40	40	that facilitate coordination of programs and staff functions within
41	41	and across agencies that will result in the most effective use of
42	42	available and potential resources;
43	43	(3) demonstrate a commitment to the use of a
44	44	data-driven and evidence-based approach to programming;
45	45	(4) clearly outline a comprehensive plan, with written
46	46	commitments, for the political subdivision to work with school
47	47	districts, law enforcement, community-based organizations, and
48	48	government agencies to address gang activity;
49	49	(5) create a steering committee representing the
50	50	organizations involved in the collaborative and submit standard
51	51	operating procedures to the criminal justice division for approval
52	52	no later than 3 months after commencement of the grant;
53	53	(6) designate a single point of contact for the local
54	54	program partners, the statewide gang violence research partner, and
55	55	the criminal justice division;
56	56	(7) agree to submit programmatic and financial
57	57	progress reports to the criminal justice division on a quarterly
58	58	basis;
59	59	(8) agree to participate in statewide gang surveys or
60	60	other data collection activities to further the understanding of
61	61	the gang problem in the state;
62	62	(9) except as provided by Subsection (e), make a
63	63	written commitment to match grant funds with a 25 percent match; and
64	64	(10) identify a local governmental unit to serve as
65	65	fiscal agent.
66	66	(b) The criminal justice division shall contract with a
67	67	statewide gang violence research partner to provide strategic,
68	68	analytic, and research support to individual grantees and to the
69	69	criminal justice division. The research partner shall:
70	70	(1) develop technical assistance guides that can be
71	71	used by all grantees;
72	72	(2) assist grantees with strategic planning;
73	73	(3) assist grantees in assessing the nature and extent
74	74	of local gang problems;
75	75	(4) identify outcome indicators to be tracked
76	76	throughout the course of a grant;
77	77	(5) assist grantees with regular and frequent
78	78	assessment of the strategies being implemented based on the
79	79	analysis of data; and
80	80	(6) assist the criminal justice division with
81	81	evaluation of the grant program.
82	82	(c) Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
83	83	criminal justice division and statewide gang violence research
84	84	partner shall prepare and deliver a report describing the results
85	85	and performance of the grant program to the governor, lieutenant
86	86	governor, the speaker of the house, and the standing committees of
87	87	each house of the legislature having jurisdiction over
88	88	appropriations and criminal justice issues. This report shall also
89	89	include the distribution of programs and resources among
90	90	prevention, intervention, and suppression programs. The criminal
91	91	justice division may include this report in the biennial report
92	92	required by Section 772.006 (a)(9).
93	93	(d) The criminal justice division may use any revenue
94	94	available for purposes of this section including legislative
95	95	appropriations, the criminal justice planning fund, federal funds,
96	96	gifts, and grants.
97	97	(e) The criminal justice division may waive the match
98	98	requirement for grantees with demonstrated need.
99	99	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
100	100	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
101	101	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
102	102	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
103	103	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.