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Bill
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The People’s Response Act

H.R. 4194 · 117th Congress · Jun 28, 2021 · Lineage

A BILL

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 “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 justice contact while expanding opportunity, including a particular focus on groups that have been disproportionately harmed by the criminal justice 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 communities of color, particularly Black communities, to implement qualified approaches to community safety.

Sec. 2 Definitions

In this Act:
(1)
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.
(2)
First responder— The term first responder includes a licensed therapist, psychiatrist, doctor, nurse, psychologist, peer support worker, peer, teacher, mentor, counselor, peer support specialist, violence intervention worker, and other community-members with relevant experience who respond to crises in a way that meets the definition of qualified approaches to public safety.
(3)
Qualified approach to community safety—
(A)
In general— The term qualified approach to community safety means, with respect to a program or service, that the program or service is established or provided in a manner that is disconnected from carceral institutions, including law enforcement, criminal courts, prosecution, probation, child welfare services, or immigration enforcement.
(B)
Disconnected— For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term disconnected from carceral institutions means having no relationship with respect to administration, staffing, or funding, or otherwise cooperating with, collaborating with, or reporting to, any carceral institution in any situation, except where the program or service involved is bound to engage in such cooperation or reporting by existing Federal, State, or local law.”
(4)
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.
(5)
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 directly impacted by arrest, incarceration, criminal supervision, immigration detention, or other criminal justice 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 justice 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.
(6)
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, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
(7)
Unit of local government— The term unit of local government means a any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State.