“To direct the Attorney General to authorize the youth gun violence prevention program.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to eligible entities—including institutions of higher education (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1001), Indian tribal government agencies, nongovernmental organizations serving Indian tribes, community-based organizations, and local government agencies that are not law enforcement agencies—to implement youth gun violence prevention programs. Such programs must employ evidence-informed, culturally competent, trauma-informed strategies with a demonstrated record of engaging youth at highest risk of gun violence, including (1) healing from past trauma; (2) promoting youth empowerment skills such as empathy and conflict management; (3) connecting youth to mental health professionals, mentors, and violence interrupters; (4) fostering community engagement; (5) providing firearm safety resources; and (6) supporting reintegration of youth exposed to gun violence or the juvenile justice system. Of amounts appropriated for juvenile justice programs for FY2026 through FY2030, this section makes $100 million available annually for grants under title V of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, with $25 million of that amount reserved for these grants. (As background, title V provides competitive grants primarily for mentoring services to assist youth who are at risk of entering or are involved in the juvenile justice system.)