102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB5336

 

Introduced 1/31/2022, by Rep. Kambium Buckner

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act
30 ILCS 105/5.970 new

    Creates the Public Empowerment and Community Act and provides that the Act may be referred to as the PEACE Act. Requires the Department of Human Services to establish and administer the PEACE Grant Pilot Program, subject to appropriation. Requires the Department to award annual grants to eligible grantees to create and strengthen community-based alternatives to law enforcement to lessen the reliance on law enforcement agencies as first responders to crisis situations unrelated to fire department or emergency medical service response. Provides that each grantee shall receive a minimum award of $250,000 per year and that the community-based alternatives may include, but are not limited to, mobile crisis response teams or community paramedicine programs. Requires the Department to prioritize grantees that propose interventions that serve historically marginalized populations and that serve communities with a demonstrated need for community-based alternatives to law enforcement. Contains provisions on grantee requirements and reports; a stakeholder workgroup; a public report by the Department; the Public Empowerment and Community Engagement Program Fund; and other matters. Provides that the Act is repealed on December 31, 2027. Amends the State Finance Act to include the Public Empowerment and Community Engagement Program Fund as a special fund. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

HB5336LRB102 22545 KTG 31686 b

1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Public
5Empowerment and Community Act and may be referred to as the
6PEACE Act.
 
7    Section 2. Findings. The General Assembly finds the
8following:
9        (1) The complexities of emergency issues surrounding
10    crises in mental health, intimate partner violence,
11    community violence, substance abuse, and natural disasters
12    can, at times, be addressed more safely, with greater
13    impact, and more cost effectively and efficiently by
14    community-based organizations, which often have deeper
15    knowledge and understanding of the issues, trusted
16    relationships with the people and communities involved,
17    and specific knowledge and relationships surrounding the
18    emergency.
19        (2) Furthermore, young people of color, people with
20    disabilities, people who are gender nonconforming, people
21    who are formerly incarcerated, people who are unemployed,
22    people with immigration status issues, and people who are
23    unhoused or homeless, face significant barriers to

 

 

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1    engaging with law enforcement and other first responder
2    personnel. Data demonstrates that these populations often
3    do not reach out for needed help when dealing with crises
4    in their communities because of their fear and challenges
5    with engaging law enforcement, which puts lives and
6    families at risk for continued harm and trauma.
7    Community-based organizations that specialize in working
8    with these populations understand those issues, and by
9    maintaining deep relationships in their communities, have
10    a more successful track record of engaging and supporting
11    them.
12        (3) Elected officials and philanthropic and
13    community-based organizations have recognized the need to
14    create alternatives to law enforcement and expand
15    innovative approaches to emergencies and have established
16    programs to do so in school districts, cities, and
17    counties throughout the State.
18        (4) These alternative approaches have strengthened the
19    response to emergencies in places throughout the State by
20    reducing harm, saving lives, deepening impact, preventing
21    violence, de-escalating volatile situations, protecting
22    property and the environment, reducing law enforcement use
23    of force, and ensuring the health and safety of
24    communities while, at the same time, saving money by
25    decreasing calls for service and the sole reliance upon
26    first responders for emergency situations.

 

 

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1        (5) Despite the innovative approaches led by
2    community-based organizations, the State does not have a
3    policy, a set of protocols, or dedicated funding to
4    support community-based organizations' involvement in
5    addressing emergencies.
6        (6) This Act seeks to remedy those issues by
7    articulating a policy framework to support innovative
8    approaches to build capacity in, and to make grants for,
9    community-based organizations to support emergency
10    response.
11        (7) This Act also aims to inform, leverage, and align
12    the PEACE Grant Pilot Program with other State investments
13    for mobile crisis support, with the goal of continuing to
14    support community involvement in emergency response.
 
15    Section 3. Purpose. The Public Empowerment and Community
16Engagement Act or the PEACE Act is hereby established for the
17purposes of creating, implementing, and evaluating the PEACE
18Grant Pilot Program in accordance with this Act.
 
19    Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
20    "Community-based organization" means a public or nonprofit
21organization, or an organization fiscally sponsored by a
22nonprofit, that can demonstrate its ability to effectively
23provide community-based alternatives to law enforcement, and
24has a demonstrated involvement with the identified communities

 

 

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1to be served.
2    "Department" means the Department of Human Services.
3    "Fund" means the Public Empowerment and Community
4Engagement Program Fund.
5    "Grantee" means a municipality or county, or a department
6of a municipality or county, that receives a grant in
7accordance with this Act.
8    "Law enforcement agency" means any police department,
9sheriff's department, State's Attorney, county probation
10department, transit agency police department, school district
11police department, police department of any campus of the
12University of Illinois, a community college, or any other
13public college or university, the Illinois State Police, the
14Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Corrections,
15and federal law enforcement agencies, such as the Department
16of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
17Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the
18Drug Enforcement Administration.
19    "Law enforcement officer" means an officer, deputy,
20employee, or agent of a law enforcement agency.
21    "Program" means the PEACE Grant Pilot Program.
22    "Stakeholder workgroup" means a group of interested
23parties convened by the Department to make recommendations on
24the implementation of the PEACE Grant Pilot Program.
 
25    Section 10. PEACE Grant Pilot Program.

 

 

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1    (a) Pilot Program.
2        (1) Subject to appropriation, the Department shall
3    establish and administer the PEACE Grant Pilot Program.
4        (2)(A) The Department shall award grants to eligible
5    grantees, as determined by the Department, based on grant
6    eligibility criteria developed in partnership with the
7    stakeholder workgroup.
8        (B) For purposes of this paragraph, an eligible
9    grantee is a municipality or county, or a department of a
10    municipality or county, including, but not limited to,
11    departments of social services, disability services,
12    health services, public health, or behavioral health. Law
13    enforcement agencies and organizations are not eligible
14    grantees.
15        (3) Each grantee shall receive a minimum award of
16    $250,000 per year.
17        (4)(A) Funds awarded in accordance with this Act shall
18    be utilized to create and strengthen community-based
19    alternatives to law enforcement to lessen the reliance on
20    law enforcement agencies as first responders to crisis
21    situations unrelated to a fire department or emergency
22    medical service response.
23        (B) Community-based alternatives may include, but are
24    not limited to, providing mobile crisis response teams or
25    community paramedicine programs. Community-based
26    alternatives shall not include law enforcement officers or

 

 

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1    agencies as first responders or co-responders.
2        (5) The Department shall prioritize grantees that
3    propose interventions that serve historically marginalized
4    populations and that serve communities with a demonstrated
5    need for community-based alternatives to law enforcement,
6    as evidenced by metrics, including a high record of police
7    use of force, a high volume of civilian complaints, high
8    rates of imprisonment, and racial profiling.
9    (b) Grantees.
10        (1) Grantees shall award 90% or more of the grant
11    funds to one or more qualifying community-based
12    organizations, to create and strengthen community-based
13    alternatives to law enforcement as described in paragraph
14    (4) of subsection (a). No more than 10% of the grant funds
15    shall be used to support program administration of the
16    grantee.
17        (2) Grantees shall publicly solicit partnerships with
18    community-based organizations. This public solicitation
19    shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
20    following:
21            (A) Issuing a public notice and invitation to
22        create a partnership to establish a program in
23        accordance with this Act.
24            (B) Inviting letters of intent from
25        community-based organizations.
26            (C) Convening public meetings to hear questions,

 

 

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1        concerns, and suggestions from the community that
2        would inform the development of the program.
3        (3) Grantees shall prioritize the awarding of program
4    funds to qualified community-based organizations that
5    demonstrate the capacity to lead the proposed program and
6    demonstrate experience providing community-based
7    alternatives to law enforcement or civilian crisis
8    response in the communities listed in paragraph (5) of
9    subsection (a). This includes, but is not limited to, the
10    ability to do any of the following:
11            (A) Respond to emergency calls.
12            (B) Provide treatment, screening, and assessment.
13            (C) Provide stabilization and de-escalation
14        services.
15            (D) Coordinate with health, social services, and
16        other support services, as needed.
17            (E) Maintain relationships with relevant community
18        partners, including a range of community organizers,
19        and medical, behavioral health, and crisis providers.
20        (4) A grantee and the community-based organization
21    that receives funds may collaborate on program planning
22    and implementation of community-based alternatives to law
23    enforcement, including, but not limited to, any of the
24    following:
25            (A) Local stakeholder engagement.
26            (B) Mechanisms for response requests.

 

 

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1            (C) Crisis response activities.
2            (D) Crisis response follow up, including
3        coordination with local services and supports,
4        tracking service delivery data, and submitting grant
5        reports.
6    (c) Grantee reports. A grantee shall report at least
7annually to the Department on the use of program funding,
8which shall include data reporting on clients served and
9program outcomes, as determined by the Department in
10consultation with stakeholder workgroup.
11    (d) Stakeholder workgroup.
12        (1) The Department shall convene a stakeholder
13    workgroup to make recommendations to the Department
14    regarding implementation of the program. The Department
15    shall convene regular meetings with the stakeholder
16    workgroup in which the workgroup shall do all of the
17    following:
18            (A) Provide input regarding criteria for qualified
19        grantees.
20            (B) Provide best practices and program
21        recommendations.
22            (C) Provide consultation on implementation and
23        priorities for technical assistance.
24            (D) Identify barriers to implementation and
25        suggest solutions to address those barriers.
26            (E) Recommend anonymous data to be collected.

 

 

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1            (F) Collaboratively review data and program
2        outcomes.
3            (G) Advise on the design of the evaluation.
4        (2)(A) The members of the stakeholder workgroup shall
5    include, but not be limited to, a minimum of one of each of
6    the following individuals:
7            (i) Emergency medical system practitioners with
8        experience providing community-based,
9        trauma-informed, culturally competent care,
10        de-escalation strategies, and harm reduction support.
11            (ii) Public health or behavioral health
12        practitioners with specific experience in community
13        health and an understanding of health care, mental
14        health services, trauma-informed, culturally competent
15        care, de-escalation strategies, and harm reduction
16        support.
17            (iii) Members of the public, who have survived an
18        emergency or crisis, and have used community-based
19        services in response to the emergency or crisis.
20            (iv) Survivors of police brutality.
21            (v) Surviving family members of someone who has
22        been subject to use of force resulting in death or
23        serious bodily injury by a law enforcement officer.
24        (B) The stakeholder workgroup shall not include
25    current or former law enforcement officers or immediate
26    family members of law enforcement officers.

 

 

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1    (e) The Department shall issue a public report, to be
2posted on its website 6 months following the end of the
3program, on the programmatic and fiscal savings associated
4with the program, key conclusions, populations served and the
5benefits conferred or realized, using quantitative and
6qualitative data, and resulting policy recommendations to
7provide guidance to the General Assembly and the Governor in
8fully implementing and scaling a permanent program.
 
9    Section 15. Public Empowerment and Community Engagement
10Program Fund.
11    (a) The Public Empowerment and Community Engagement
12Program Fund is created as a special fund in the State
13treasury. The Fund shall consist of any moneys appropriated to
14the Department for the purposes of this Act. Subject to
15appropriation, moneys in the Fund shall be used for carrying
16out the purposes of this Act and for no other purpose. All
17interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall be deposited into
18the Fund.
19    (b) The Department may enter into agreements with one or
20more entities to facilitate implementation of the program,
21which may not exceed 5% of funds appropriated for purposes of
22this Act, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
23        (1) Convening and facilitating the stakeholder
24    workgroup.
25        (2) Providing technical assistance to grantees and

 

 

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1    community-based organizations receiving funding in
2    accordance with this Act.
3        (3) Evaluating program data and information and
4    preparing the public report described in subsection (e) of
5    Section 10.
6    (c) Notwithstanding subsection (b), the Department may not
7expend more than 5% of funds appropriated for purposes of this
8Act on its administrative costs.
9    (d) The Department shall award all grants under this Act
10on or before January 1, 2023.
 
11    Section 20. Implementation.
12    (a) This Act shall be implemented only if appropriate
13funding is made available to the Department.
14    (b) Notwithstanding any other law, funding awarded in
15accordance with this Act shall be exempt from the Illinois
16Procurement Code in accordance with Section 1-10 of that Code.
17    (c) The Department shall be immune from any liability
18resulting from the activities of a grantee or community-based
19organization under the program.
 
20    Section 25. Repealer. This Act is repealed on December 31,
212027.
 
22    Section 30. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
23Section 5.970 as follows:
 

 

 

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1    (30 ILCS 105/5.970 new)
2    Sec. 5.970. The Public Empowerment and Community
3Engagement Program Fund.
 
4    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
5becoming law.