Establishes comprehensive school-based violence prevention grant program to help youth at highest risk of involvement in gun violence; appropriates $1 million.

A4918

ASSEMBLY, No. 4918

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MAY 7, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman� KENYATTA STEWART

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

Assemblywoman� SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Assemblyman� VINCENT M. "VINNIE" KEARNEY

District 21 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes comprehensive school-based violence
prevention grant program to help students at highest risk of involvement in gun
violence; appropriates $1 million.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
establishing a comprehensive school-based violence
prevention grant program, supplementing chapter 6 of Title 18A of the New
Jersey Statutes, and making an appropriation.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� As used in this act:

���� �Eligible school district�
means a school district located in a municipality that, for not fewer than two
years preceding the grant application, experienced any of the following:

���� a.���� 35 or more homicides
per year;

���� b.��� 20 or more homicides per
year and a homicide rate that was not less than double the national average;

���� c.���� a juvenile arrest rate
for violent crime that was double the national average; or

���� d.��� demonstrates a unique
and compelling need for additional resources to address youth gun violence in
accordance with criteria other than those enumerated in subsections a. through
c. of this definition, as deemed appropriate by the commissioner.

���� �Grant program� means the
Comprehensive School-Based Violence Prevention Grant Program established
pursuant to section 2 of this act.

���� �Partnering organizations�
means individuals or entities that collaborate with the eligible school
district in the development and implementation of a comprehensive school-based
violence prevention program, including, but not limited to, schools, teachers,
mental health professionals, counselors, mentors, community-based non-profit
organizations, local businesses, community leaders, and crisis intervention
professionals.

���� 2.��� a.� There is established
in the Department of Education the Comprehensive School-Based Violence
Prevention Grant Program.� The purpose of the grant program shall be to award
grants to eligible school districts to establish or expand a comprehensive
school-based violence prevention program in conjunction with partnering
organizations to help youth at highest risk of involvement in gun violence.

���� b.��� The Commissioner of
Education shall award grants, within the limit of funds appropriated or
otherwise made available for the program, to eligible school districts to be
used by the districts to develop and implement comprehensive school-based
violence prevention programs in conjunction with partnering organizations that
are focused on providing services to students enrolled in kindergarten through grade
12 or individuals under 19 years of age, using strategies that are
evidence-based, culturally competent, and linguistically and developmentally
inclusive.� The strategies used in a comprehensive school-based violence
program shall have a demonstrated effectiveness at preventing or reducing violence
among youth at highest risk of involvement in gun violence.

���� c.� The department shall
determine allowable uses for grant funds prior to accepting applications to
participate in the grant program and shall describe the allowable uses in a
notice of grant opportunity.

���� 3.��� A school district that
wishes to apply for a grant shall submit an application to the commissioner in
a manner and form to be determined by the commissioner.� The application shall
identify and detail:

���� a.���� the at-risk youth
population that the comprehensive school-based violence prevention program will
serve;

���� b.��� the partnering
organizations with which the school district will collaborate in the
development and implementation of the program;

���� c.���� the strategies to be employed
in the program to:

���� (1)�� promote community
engagement by at-risk youth that supports healthy personal development;

���� (2)�� promote healing from
trauma and other adverse childhood experiences that increase a young person�s
risk for involvement in gun violence;

���� (3)�� strengthen the
interpersonal and emotional skills of youth, such as communication,
problem-solving, empathy, and conflict management;

���� (4)�� connect youth to trusted
adults, including mental health professionals, counselors, mentors, community
leaders, crisis intervention professionals, or educators trained in
trauma-informed care and activities;

���� (5)�� foster safer school and community
environments; or

���� (6)�� lessen the harms of
escalating violence and prevent future risk of violence, including gun violence;

���� d.��� the activities that will
be undertaken under the program to:

���� (1) provide resources and technical
assistance to the eligible school district and its partnering organizations;

���� (2) facilitate improved relationships
among youth, families, school districts and other partnering organizations; and

���� (3) increase professional
development opportunities for teachers, school leaders, and other school
personnel to access evidence-based trauma support services, social and
emotional learning, and mental health services; and

���� e.���� any other information
the commissioner deems appropriate.

���� 4.��� a.� A school district
which received a grant under the Comprehensive School-Based Violence Prevention
Grant Program in the prior school year shall submit a report to the
commissioner containing information on the district�s use of grant funds.� The
report shall include, at a minimum, information on:

���� (1)� the number of students and
schools served by the program;

���� (2)� the strategies put in
place to address student development, engagement, and access to trusted adults;

���� (3)� the extent to which the
district increased professional development opportunities for teachers, school
leaders, and other school personnel; and

���� (4)� if the grant funds helped
to improve community partnerships and engagement and led to safer schools and
communities.

���� b.��� No later than two years
after the establishment of the Comprehensive School-Based Violence Prevention
Grant Program, and every two years thereafter, the commissioner shall submit a
report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of
P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52: 14-19.1) on the implementation of the grant program.�
The report shall include, but need not be limited to, information on:

���� (1)� the number of grant
applicants;

���� (2)� the number and amounts of
the grant awards;

���� (3)� information provided by
school districts under subsection a. of this section;

���� (4)� statistical data
available from the State regarding youth involvement in gun violence prior to,
and following implementation of the comprehensive school-based violence
prevention programs; and

���� (5)� any recommendations
concerning the continuation or expansion of the grant program.

���� 5.��� There is appropriated
from the General Fund to the Department of Education the sum of $1 million for the
Comprehensive School-Based Violence Prevention Grant Program established
pursuant to section 2 of this act.

���� 6.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill establishes the
Comprehensive School-Based Violence Prevention Grant Program (grant program) in
the Department of Education.� The purpose of the program is to award grants to
eligible school districts, located in a municipality experiencing certain crime
rates, to develop and implement comprehensive school-based violence prevention
programs in conjunction with partnering organizations to help youth at highest
risk of involvement in gun violence.� The bill defines partnering organizations
as individuals or entities that collaborate with the eligible school district,
including, but not limited to, schools, teachers, mental health professionals,
counselors, mentors, community-based non-profit organizations, local
businesses, community leaders, and crisis intervention professionals.

���� Under the bill, an eligible
school district that wishes to apply for a grant would be required to submit an
application to the commissioner in a manner and form to be determined by the
commissioner.� The application would be required to identify and detail: (1)
the at-risk youth population that the program will serve; (2) the partnering
organizations with which the school district will collaborate in the
development and implementation of the program; and (3) the strategies to be
employed in the program to promote community and healing from trauma and other
adverse childhood experiences; strengthen the interpersonal and emotional
skills of youth; connect youth to trusted adults; and foster safer school and
community environments.

���� The bill also requires an
application for grant funds to include descriptions of the activities that will
be undertaken by a school district under the program.

���� Under the bill, a school
district awarded grant funding in the previous school year would be required to
submit a report to the commissioner containing information on the district�s
use of grant funds.� No later than two years after the establishment of the
grant program, and every two years thereafter, the commissioner would be
required to report to the Governor and to the Legislature on the implementation
of the grant program.

���� Finally, the bill appropriates
$1 million to the Department of Education for the purposes of the grant program.