Florida Senate - 2023                                     SB 428
       
       
        
       By Senator Rouson
       
       
       
       
       
       16-01040A-23                                           2023428__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Community Violence Intervention
    3         and Prevention Grant Program; creating s. 402.88,
    4         F.S.; creating the Community Violence Intervention and
    5         Prevention Grant Program within the Department of
    6         Children and Families; authorizing the department to
    7         award grants, subject to legislative appropriation, to
    8         certain organizations and entities; requiring grants
    9         to be used for specified purposes; authorizing
   10         applicants to apply independently or jointly;
   11         specifying application requirements; requiring the
   12         department to prioritize certain applicants;
   13         prohibiting the department from requiring grant
   14         recipients to participate in certain activities as a
   15         condition of receiving a grant; requiring that funds
   16         awarded be commensurate with the scope of the
   17         applicant’s proposal and demonstrated need; requiring
   18         grant funds to be used only for the applicant’s
   19         specified purpose; prohibiting grant funds from
   20         reverting to the general budget of specified entities;
   21         requiring grants to be awarded for a specified
   22         duration; requiring grant recipients to submit
   23         specified reports to the department at prescribed
   24         intervals; authorizing the department to use up to a
   25         specified percentage of the appropriated funds for
   26         implementing and administering the grant program;
   27         requiring program costs to include a specified
   28         evaluation and analysis; requiring that such
   29         evaluation and analysis be made available to the
   30         public; requiring the department to hold an annual
   31         public hearing for specified purposes; requiring the
   32         department to annually submit a report to the Governor
   33         and Legislature by a specified date; authorizing the
   34         department to adopt rules; providing an effective
   35         date.
   36          
   37  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   38  
   39         Section 1. Section 402.88, Florida Statutes, is created to
   40  read:
   41         402.88Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant
   42  Program.—
   43         (1)There is created the Community Violence Intervention
   44  and Prevention Grant Program within the Department of Children
   45  and Families.
   46         (2)Subject to legislative appropriation, the department
   47  may provide grants on a competitive basis to nonprofit
   48  organizations and community-based partnerships which serve
   49  communities that are disproportionately impacted by violence to
   50  support, expand, and replicate effective violence reduction
   51  initiatives. The grants must be used to:
   52         (a)Implement, expand, or enhance coordination between
   53  evidence-informed violence reduction initiatives, including, but
   54  not limited to, hospital-based violence intervention, street
   55  outreach, and group violence intervention strategies that have
   56  demonstrated effectiveness at reducing homicides, group
   57  violence, and other interpersonal violence without contributing
   58  to mass incarceration.
   59         (b)Support the development and delivery of intervention
   60  based strategies by entities that provide targeted services to
   61  persons at risk of being victimized by or of engaging in
   62  violence to interrupt cycles of violence, reinjury, and
   63  retaliation.
   64         (c)Support initiatives that primarily target a reduction
   65  of violence among persons who have been identified as having the
   66  highest risk of perpetrating or being victimized by violence in
   67  the near future based on the best available medical and public
   68  health research.
   69         (3)Applicants may apply either independently or jointly.
   70         (4)An applicant for a grant shall submit a proposal in a
   71  form prescribed by the department which must include all of the
   72  following:
   73         (a)A statement describing how the applicant proposes to
   74  use the grant to implement an evidence-informed violence
   75  reduction initiative in accordance with this section.
   76         (b)A statement describing how the applicant proposes to
   77  use the grant to enhance coordination of existing violence
   78  prevention and intervention programs and minimize duplication of
   79  services.
   80         (c)Evidence indicating that the proposed violence
   81  reduction initiative would likely reduce homicides, group
   82  violence, and other interpersonal violence.
   83         (d)Clearly defined and measurable objectives for the
   84  violence reduction initiative.
   85         (5)In awarding grants, the department shall prioritize
   86  applicants operating in areas disproportionately affected by
   87  violence and whose proposals demonstrate the greatest likelihood
   88  of reducing homicides, group violence, and other interpersonal
   89  violence without contributing to mass incarceration. The
   90  department may not require grant recipients to participate in
   91  the policing, enforcement, or prosecution of any crime as a
   92  condition of receiving a grant.
   93         (6)The amount of funds awarded to an applicant shall be
   94  commensurate with the scope of the applicant’s proposal and the
   95  applicant’s demonstrated need for additional resources to reduce
   96  homicides, group violence, and other interpersonal violence in
   97  the community served by the applicant.
   98         (7)A grant may be used only for the purposes specified in
   99  the grant application. Grant funds may not revert to the general
  100  budget of a law enforcement agency, municipality, or other
  101  public entity participating in a community-based partnership.
  102         (8)A grant must be awarded for a minimum of 3 years’
  103  duration, subject to the availability of state funding.
  104         (9)Each grant recipient shall report to the department, in
  105  a form and at intervals prescribed by the department, the
  106  recipient’s progress toward achieving the grant objectives.
  107         (10)(a)The department may use up to 8 percent of the funds
  108  appropriated or made available, or such percentage as may be
  109  authorized under program guidelines for funding made available
  110  to the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant
  111  Program through federal funding sources, for the costs of
  112  implementation and administration of technical assistance and
  113  for the costs of implementing and administering the program,
  114  including, but not limited to, employment of dedicated grants
  115  management and programmatic personnel.
  116         (b)The program costs under paragraph (a) must include an
  117  annual program evaluation and an analysis of the effectiveness
  118  of violence reduction initiatives. The evaluation and analysis
  119  must be made available to the public.
  120         (11)The department shall annually hold at least one public
  121  hearing that provides a forum to receive information on how the
  122  public funds are spent, testimony from grant recipients on the
  123  effectiveness of their programs and best practices, and input
  124  from the public on whether the initiatives and the grant-funded
  125  programs are accomplishing their respective missions. Public
  126  input must be used to assess and revise grant-making metrics and
  127  processes for awarding grants.
  128         (12)Beginning January 1, 2024, and on or before January 1
  129  of each year thereafter, the department shall prepare and
  130  transmit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
  131  Speaker of the House of Representatives a report that must
  132  include a listing of the grants awarded under the program,
  133  descriptions of the initiatives and impact on the communities
  134  served through the grants, and such other information as the
  135  department deems appropriate.
  136         (13)The department may adopt rules to implement this
  137  section.
  138         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.