By: Rosenthal H.B. No. 690
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 53 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 53. OFFICE OF COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION AND
PREVENTION
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 53.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Advisory committee" means the grant review
advisory committee established under Section 53.102.
(2) "Office" means the office of community violence
intervention and prevention established under Section 53.051.
Sec. 53.002. RULES. The executive commissioner shall adopt
rules as necessary to implement this chapter.
Sec. 53.003. 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. 53.051. 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. 53.052. 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, that are 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 53.051,
which must include:
(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. 53.053. 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 stop violence from
occurring, 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. 53.101. 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 in communities throughout
this state that are 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. 53.102. 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.
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. 53.103. ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS. (a)
The office, with advice from the advisory committee, shall award
grants through a competitive process to counties and municipalities
that are disproportionately impacted by a high incidence of
violence and to community-based organizations that serve
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 prescribed by the office, a complete
application that includes a statement describing:
(1) the community issues or concerns for which the
grant money is sought;
(2) the applicant's goals and objectives for use of the
grant money, including the applicant's plan for implementing an
evidence-based violence reduction initiative using the grant
money; 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. 53.104. 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 the applicants for grant awards.
(b) In selecting applicants to be awarded a grant, 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 where the grant money will be used;
(4) experience with formerly incarcerated individuals
or individuals who are otherwise involved in the criminal justice
system; and
(5) experience with individuals who are experiencing
or have experienced interpersonal violence.
Sec. 53.105. 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 organizations; or
(3) a public entity whose primary focus is community
safety or gun violence prevention.
Sec. 53.106. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. Each grant recipient
shall report to the office, in a form and at intervals prescribed by
the office, the recipient's progress toward achieving the grant
objectives.
Sec. 53.107. 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
that, in conducting the evaluation, the entity 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, 2023:
(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 53, 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 53, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.