II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2046 To provide for a Community-Based Emergency and Non-Emergency Response Grant Program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 14, 2021 Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide for a Community-Based Emergency and Non- Emergency Response Grant Program. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community-Based Re- 4 sponse Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 6 The purposes of this Act are— 7 (1) to provide an additional option beyond law 8 enforcement for community-based emergency and 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2046.IS S2046 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2046 IS non-emergency response for covered populations in 1 need of help or support, in order to— 2 (A) target the best professional interven- 3 tion to an individual in need of help or support; 4 and 5 (B) avoid escalation of a crisis situation— 6 (i) that may not require a response 7 from law enforcement; and 8 (ii) to which a law enforcement re- 9 sponse can create increased risk of harm; 10 and 11 (2) establishing a grant program to provide 12 that additional response option by awarding funding 13 to partnerships described in section 5(a). 14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 15 In this Act: 16 (1) COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTER.— 17 The term ‘‘community mental health center’’ has the 18 meaning given the term in section 1861 of the Social 19 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x). 20 (2) COVERED COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZA- 21 TION.—The term ‘‘covered community-based organi- 22 zation’’ means an organization that meets the re- 23 quirements of section 5(b). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2046.IS S2046 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2046 IS (3) COVERED POPULATION.—The term ‘‘cov- 1 ered population’’ means— 2 (A) individuals who are racial or ethnic mi- 3 norities or members of an Indian tribe; 4 (B) immigrants, including undocumented 5 immigrants, immigrants who have recently en- 6 tered the United States, and refugees; 7 (C) individuals with limited English pro- 8 ficiency, meaning their primary language for 9 communication is not English and communica- 10 tion with emergency responders may be dif- 11 ficult; 12 (D) individuals who are age 60 or older 13 and determined to be likely to be— 14 (i) vulnerable to abuse; or 15 (ii) experiencing health challenges; 16 (E) people with disabilities, as defined in 17 section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act 18 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102); 19 (F) people in the LGBTQIA+ community; 20 (G) people who are likely to face dispropor- 21 tionate or discriminatory law enforcement con- 22 tact; 23 (H) people who are or were involved in the 24 criminal justice system; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2046.IS S2046 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2046 IS (I) homeless persons, as defined in section 1 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist- 2 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302); 3 (J) people facing or with a history of men- 4 tal or behavioral health crises or who need 5 check-ins for health, safety, or substance use 6 disorder reasons; 7 (K) people experiencing family violence or 8 domestic violence under the laws of the jurisdic- 9 tion involved, or dating violence; 10 (L) victims of child abuse and children ex- 11 posed to violence; 12 (M) people who are likely to be engaged in 13 or to experience violence in the community; 14 (N) people with, or recovering from, a sub- 15 stance use disorder; 16 (O) current and former foster youth; 17 (P) youth who are or were involved in the 18 juvenile justice system; 19 (Q) victims of conduct described in section 20 1591 or 2251 of title 18, United States Code; 21 (R) people who engage in acts defined in 22 paragraph (4) of section 103 of the Trafficking 23 Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 24 7102); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2046.IS S2046 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2046 IS (S) adult survivors of sexual assault, as de- 1 fined under the laws of the jurisdiction in- 2 volved; 3 (T) victims of trafficking, as defined in 4 section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protec- 5 tion Act of 2000; 6 (U) out-of-school youth; and 7 (V) people in an acute crisis not covered 8 under subparagraphs (A) through (U). 9 (4) DATING VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘dating vio- 10 lence’’ has the meaning given the term in section 11 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 12 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a)). 13 (5) IMMIGRATION TERMS.— 14 (A) IMMIGRANT.—The term ‘‘immigrant’’ 15 means an alien who has entered the United 16 States. 17 (B) UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT.—The 18 term ‘‘undocumented immigrant’’ means an 19 alien who is unlawfully present in the United 20 States. 21 (6) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 22 The terms ‘‘Indian tribe’’ and ‘‘tribal organization’’ 23 have the meanings given the terms in section 4 of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2046.IS S2046 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2046 IS the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist- 1 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 2 (7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 3 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ means— 4 (A) such an institution as defined in sec- 5 tion 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 6 (20 U.S.C. 1001); and 7 (B) a tribally controlled college or univer- 8 sity as defined in section 2 of the Tribally Con- 9 trolled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act 10 of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801). 11 (8) OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTH.—The term ‘‘out- 12 of-school youth’’ means an individual who is— 13 (A) not attending any school (as defined 14 under State law); 15 (B) not younger than age 16 or older than 16 age 24; and 17 (C) one or more of the following: 18 (i) A young person who has dropped 19 out of school. 20 (ii) A youth who is within the age of 21 compulsory school attendance, but has not 22 attended school for at least the most recent 23 complete school year calendar quarter. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2046.IS S2046 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2046 IS (iii) A recipient of a secondary school 1 diploma or its recognized equivalent who is 2 a low-income individual and is either basic 3 skills deficient or an English language 4 learner (as such 3 terms are defined in 5 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and 6 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102)). 7 (iv) An individual who is subject to 8 the criminal justice system. 9 (v) An individual who experiences 10 homelessness, a homeless child or youth, or 11 a runaway. 12 (vi) An individual— 13 (I) who is in foster care, who has 14 aged out of the foster care system, or 15 who has attained 16 years of age and 16 left foster care for kinship guardian- 17 ship or adoption; 18 (II) who is a child eligible for as- 19 sistance under section 477 of the So- 20 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677); or 21 (III) who is a child in an out-of- 22 home placement. 23 (vii) An individual who is pregnant or 24 parenting. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2046.IS S2046 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2046 IS (viii) An individual with a disability 1 (as defined in section 3 of the Workforce 2 Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 3 U.S.C. 3102)). 4 (ix) A low-income individual (as de- 5 fined in that section 3) who requires addi- 6 tional assistance to enter or complete an 7 educational program or to secure or hold 8 employment. 9 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 10 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 11 through the Administrator of the Administration for 12 Community Living and in consultation with the As- 13 sistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance 14 Use, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- 15 ment, and the Attorney General. 16 (10) SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER.—The term 17 ‘‘substance use disorder’’ means such a disorder 18 within the meaning of title V of the Public Health 19 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290aa et seq.). 20 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM. 21 The Secretary shall establish a Community-Based 22 Emergency and Non-Emergency Response Grant Program 23 to improve community-based emergency and non-emer- 24 gency response for public safety and problem solving, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2046.IS S2046 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2046 IS to promote the safety and well-being of the populations 1 and communities served under the program by— 2 (1) identifying eligible organizations with dem- 3 onstrated capacity for emergency and non-emergency 4 response work, including violence interruption, com- 5 munity mediation, and crisis behavioral health re- 6 sponse, who are capable of providing, and increasing 7 the capacity of the localities to provide, emergency 8 and non-emergency response for specified covered 9 populations; 10 (2) developing a local infrastructure of systems 11 and resources needed to develop, implement, and 12 sustain effective interventions to protect the mental 13 and physical well-being of members of the commu- 14 nity, prevent violence, de-escalate volatile situations, 15 ensure access to human services, protect property 16 and the environment, reduce law enforcement use of 17 force, and ensure the health and safety of commu- 18 nities, while decreasing the sole reliance on law en- 19 forcement for emergency and non-emergency situa- 20 tions; 21 (3) creating and strengthening formal and in- 22 formal partnerships, for such purposes as providing 23 solutions and committing resources to sustain and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2046.IS S2046 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2046 IS scale up successful models of community-based 1 emergency and non-emergency response; and 2 (4) providing timely evaluation to clarify the 3 outcomes and costs of the program, and the new 4 interventions and service models provided through 5 the program, for service recipients and law enforce- 6 ment. 7 SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIPS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant 9 under this title Act, an entity shall be a partnership of— 10 (1)(A) a unit of local government (or its con- 11 tractor), or Indian tribe or tribal organization, act- 12 ing through an entity that is independent of any law 13 enforcement agency; and 14 (B) a covered community-based organization; 15 and 16 (2) if applicable, a nonprofit or public institu- 17 tion of higher education, community mental health 18 center, or behavioral health organization. 19 (b) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION.—A commu- 20 nity-based organization referred to in subsection (a)(1) 21 shall be a nonprofit community-based organization, a con- 22 sortium of nonprofit community-based organizations, a 23 national nonprofit organization acting as an intermediary 24 for a community-based organization, or a community- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2046.IS S2046 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2046 IS based organization that has a fiscal sponsor that allows 1 the organization to function as an organization that is de- 2 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code 3 of 1986 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) 4 of that Code. 5 SEC. 6. PLANNING GRANTS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Program, the 7 Secretary shall use not more than 10 percent of the 8 amount appropriated under section 13(1) to make plan- 9 ning grants to eligible partnerships to engage, with mean- 10 ingful participation from the covered populations and cov- 11 ered community-based organizations involved, in com- 12 prehensive design of a community response plan, in order 13 to prepare a high-quality application for an initiation 14 grant. 15 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a plan- 16 ning grant under this section, an eligible partnership shall 17 submit to the Secretary a planning application at such 18 time, in such manner, and containing such information as 19 the Secretary may require, including information on— 20 (1) the covered populations that will be con- 21 sulted through the planning process; 22 (2) how the partnership will engage entities 23 that are led by the covered populations; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2046.IS S2046 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2046 IS (3) how the partnership will solicit and confirm 1 support from covered populations and community 2 stakeholders in the plan. 3 SEC. 7. INITIATION AND CONTINUATION GRANTS. 4 (a) INITIATION GRANTS.—In carrying out the Pro- 5 gram, the Secretary shall make initiation grants to not 6 fewer than 40 eligible partnerships, including not fewer 7 than 4 eligible partnerships that include Indian tribes or 8 tribal organizations, of which not fewer than 2 shall be 9 eligible partnerships led by an Indian tribe or tribal orga- 10 nization, to carry out projects to meet the objectives de- 11 scribed in subsection (a). The Secretary shall make the 12 grants for periods of 5 years. The Secretary shall make 13 the grants to partnerships in geographically diverse areas, 14 including urban and rural communities, and in commu- 15 nities with varying population sizes. 16 (b) CONTINUATION GRANTS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Pro- 18 gram, the Secretary shall make continuation grants 19 to eligible partnerships who are recipients of the ini- 20 tiation grants and who are determined by the Sec- 21 retary to be in good standing on completion of the 22 grant period for those grants, to pay for the Federal 23 share of the cost of carrying out projects to meet the 24 objectives described in subsection (a). The Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:08 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2046.IS S2046 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2046 IS shall make the continuation grants for periods of 2 1 years. 2 (2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 3 share of the costs described in this [Text truncated for display. 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