The Futures Institute

Public Safety Is

The current approach to public safety isn’t working — for children, for families, and particularly for Black and brown communities that have been devastated by mental health crises, substance use health crises, and criminalization. We must dismantle our public safety system’s instinct to criminalize and punish, replacing it with a system that provides care, support, and healing.
The People’s Response Act — led by U.S. Representatives Cori Bush, Ayanna Pressley, Jan Schakowsky, Ayanna Pressley, Pramila Jayapal, Summer Lee, and Morgan McGarvey — emphasizes an inclusive, holistic, and health-centered approach to public safety. By creating a new Division on Community Safety within the Department of Human Health and Services, then using this agency to fund community safety programs nationwide, the bill will save lives, save money, and ensure that every community has what it needs to flourish.

What the Bill Does

The bill creates a new “Division on Community Safety” at the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate research, provide technical assistance, and administer grant programs to advance community safety nationwide, forming a public health-centered institutional home for a rapidly growing and exciting field — a field that can actually deliver long-lasting safety for communities.
By creating a new agency within our largest institution focused on public health, the Department of Health and Human Services, the bill is literally embodying the paradigm shift that our communities desperately need — a shift toward truly centering safety as a matter of public health.
Through both coordinating research, administering new grants, and coordinating work across the federal government, the new Division would ensure that our money is going toward high-impact programs and investments. We’re not throwing good money after bad. For a change, we’re investing in what really works.

The bill funds a new grant to hire and train non-police first responders across the country, providing a much-needed boost to civilian response programs that have been saving lives, saving money, and yielding extraordinary dividends to advance community safety nationwide.

Civilian crisis response has been growing rapidly across the country, in no small part because these models are common sense solutions that a broad range of stakeholders crave — local mayors, victims of violence and harm, and advocates for disability rights and mental health, even police.

This grant provides a direct boost to these programs, unlocking federal dollars that can help these programs take even deeper root nationwide.

The bill creates flexible, well-funded grant programs that fund community-based organizations, state governments, and local governments to implement evidence-informed approaches that prevent violence and harm before they happen.

These grants are all highly flexible, allowing CBOs and local governments to spend their dollars however they see fit — provided that their approaches reflect qualified ways to advance community safety and understand community safety needs.

This flexibility cuts through red tape, letting communities — not the federal government — decide what will best advance safety goals.

Congressional Champions

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Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7]
Rep. Lee, Summer L. [D-PA-12]
Rep. McGarvey, Morgan [D-KY-3]
Rep. Pressley, Ayanna [D-MA-7]
Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]
Rep. Bowman, Jamaal [D-NY-16]
Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9]
Rep. Grijalva, Raúl M. [D-AZ-7]
Rep. Johnson, Henry C. “Hank,” Jr. [D-GA-4]
Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-12]
Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9]
Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12]
Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-52]
Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12]
Rep. Williams, Nikema [D-GA-5]
Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1]
Rep. Kamlager-Dove, Sydney [D-CA-37]
Rep. Omar, Ilhan [D-MN-5]
Rep. Mfume, Kweisi [D-MD-7]
Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR-3]
Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2]
Rep. Garcia, Jesus G. “Chuy” [D-IL-4]
Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12]
Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1]
Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-10]
Rep. Ramirez, Delia C. [D-IL-3]
Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
Rep. Doggett, Lloyd [D-TX-37]
Rep. Foushee, Valerie P. [D-NC-4]
Rep. Jackson, Jonathan L. [D-IL-1]
Rep. Connolly, Gerald E. [D-VA-11]
Rep. Garcia, Robert [D-CA-42]
Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13]
Rep. Meng, Grace [D-NY-6]

Programs Funded

The People’s Response Act provides grant money for programs like:

Civilian First Responders

Civilian first response programs send trained social workers, health clinicians, and other experts — not police — when people are experiencing mental health and other crises. During its six-month pilot program, the Denver Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program resolved each call in 24.65 minutes, rather than 34.08 mins for the Denver Police Department. The program also reduced reports of less serious crime (e.g., trespassing, public distress, and resisting arrest) by 34%.

Community Violence Intervention

Community violence intervention (CVI) programs deploy evidence-based strategies aimed at reducing violence through outreach, conflict mediation, and support services for at-risk individuals. Advance Peace, a community violence intervention program, contributed to a 20% drop in gun homicides in Stockton, California between 2018 and 2020, and a 22% drop in Sacramento, California between 2018 and 2019.

Offices of Neighborhood Safety

Richmond, CA was the first city to establish an Office of Neighborhood Safety—and it has produced dramatic results. The city had the highest homicide rate in California in 2007, when the ONS was established. Ten years later the homicide rate had fallen by 80%. An evaluation published in the American Journal of Public Health reported that ONS programming was associated with a 55% reduction in gun homicides and hospitalizations, as well as a 43% reduction in firearm-related crimes. 

Infrastructural Investment

In one study, the presence of street lighting, painted sidewalks, public transportation, and parks was associated with at least 76% decreased odds of a homicide. These investments are cost-effective, too. In another study, adding street lights yielded $121 for every dollar invested.  

Infrastructure Investments in Parks and Green Spaces

In Macon, Georgia, The Village Green Playground and Park Redevelopment added picnic tables, new grills, playgrounds, and other park beautification efforts that not only increased park usage by 25%, but also reduced crime by 50%.

Trauma Informed Healing

A Victim Offender Dialogue (VOD) is a confidential, voluntary face-to-face meeting between a person who was harmed and the person responsible, facilitated by trained Restorative Justice practitioners. The process allows for the expression of experiences and questions, fostering accountability and the opportunity to make amends without focusing on forgiveness or reconciliation. Research has shown that offenders who engage in these kinds of conversations take more responsibility, show greater victim empathy, and feel more guilt and shame. 

Restorative Justice

The Make-It-Right (MIR) restorative justice program in California serves youth 13 to 17 who have faced serious felony charges, with the goal to reduce recidivism and support rehabilitation. A study of the MIR showed 44% reduction in the probability of rearrest for participating youth, with effects persisting even after four years. 

Reentry Programs

In Oregon, the Washington County Community Corrections Department (WCCC) provided offenders with substance-free transitional housing. For individuals who participated in the program, there was a 27% drop for all charges collectively and, divided by charge, a 41% drop in misdemeanor charges and 33% drop in felony charges. The program was also cost-effective, with each dollar invested in these offender reentry programs generating $6.73 in benefits like avoided criminal justice costs to taxpayers and reduced victimization costs.

Community-Based Employment Programs

Increasing youth employment, such as through summer jobs programs, has been found to reduce violent crime by up to 43 percent—with long-lasting, positive effects. 

After School Enrichment Programs

High-quality afterschool programs can decrease substance use and arrests among kids. For example, programs that support student social and emotional well-being have been found to reduce total arrests by as much as 35%, violent crime arrests as much as 50%, and, for program youth in juvenile detention facilities, recidivism by 21%.

Mentorship

Youth Guidance’s Becoming a Man program (BAM) is a school based counseling program targeted at young men between the 7th-12th grade. An analysis of the Chicago implementation found that amongst mentees there was a 50% reduction in violent crime, 35% decrease in overall arrests, and 19% increase of on-time graduation. Data also supports that for every $1 invested in BAM there is a societal ROI of $30. 

Harm Reduction Based Treatment of Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Youth-focused sports and therapy programming can reduce the likelihood of future arrests for violent crime by 50%. In general, expanded access to mental health treatment has been found to reduce violent crime.

Community Public Health Services

A 2022 study found that counties that expanded Medicaid eligibility reduced drug arrests by 25% to 41% and violence related arrests by 19% to 29% in the three years after the expansion. 

Vouchers for Supportive Housing

One study analyzing the Housing First approach to homelessness in Los Angeles County — a program that provided homeless individuals with housing, as well as wraparound services to fully meet their needs — showed that housing assistance reduced the number of jail days of homeless individuals within an 18-month period by 130% and decreased the probability of committing a crime by 80%. 

Community Land Trusts

Community Land Trusts (CLTS) are another promising avenue for promoting affordable housing, with the added benefit of increasing collective power and promoting sustainable economic development. CLTs are nonprofit, community-led organizations designed to ensure community control and stewardship of land. CLTs can be used for a variety of developments, including commercial and retail projects, but their main function is to ensure long-term affordable housing for residents of a given community—and ensure that wealth accumulation both stays within the community and is shared by all community members.

Cooperatives

The Evergreen Cooperatives are an effort on the part of several Cleveland-based institutions to create and foster worker cooperatives that are owned and operated by residents of the city’s lowest-income areas. Not only do these cooperatives provide well-paid jobs to workers who may otherwise have difficulty finding employment, they create intra-community wealth and sustainable economic development. 

 

Guaranteed Basic Income

The Stockton Economic Development Demonstration (SEED) was the nation’s inaugural Guaranteed Income pilot program. Findings from the pilot revealed that recipients of cash assistance experienced 1.5 times greater income security compared to non-participants, along with a 12% increase in full-time employment. Participants also reported reduced levels of depression and anxiety, leading to enhanced overall wellbeing. Research also indicates that such cash assistance programs effectively mitigate crime rates by addressing underlying poverty issues.

Supporting
Organizations

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Adalah Justice Project
Advancement Project
Alliance of Families for Justice
American Civil Liberties Union
American Friends Service Committee
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
Appleseed Foundation
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Black Leadership Action Coalition of Kentucky (BLACK)
Black Lives Matter Global Network
Black Political Cultivation Arizona
Black Political Cultivation AZ
BLD PWR
Center for American Progress
Center for Law and Social Policy
Center For Legal And Evidence-based Practices
Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research
Center for Policing Equity
Children’s Defense Fund
Civil Rights Corps
Climate Critical
Coalition on Human Needs
Color Of Change
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Drug Policy Alliance
Elephant Circle
Equal Justice USA
Equal Justice USA Evangelical Network
Equity and Transformation (EAT)

Essie Justice Group
Faith and Works Collective
Flint Rising
Freedom Action Now, Inc.
Freedom, Inc.
Frey Evaluation, LLC
Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
Health Advocacy International
Highlander Research & Education Center
Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition
Human Impact Partners
Human Rights Campaign
Human Rights Watch
Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice
In Defense of Black Lives
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Louisiana Center for Health Equity
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
March For Our Lives
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, INC
Metro East Organizing Coalition
MomsRising
Movement for Black Lives
Movement for Family Power
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Association of Social Workers
National Black Women’s Justice Institute
National Black Worker Center
National Center for Law and Economic Justice
National Council of Churches
National Urban League

NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
One Love Global
OPJL
Organizing Black Inc.
PAD Initiative
Parents Across America
Parents Organized for Public Education
Partners In Health
People’s Advocacy Institute
Power U Center For Social Change
Pretrial Justice Institute
Prevention Institute
Prison Policy Initiative
Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK)
Public Justice Center
Reparations United
Sacred Heart Community Service
Showing Up for Racial Justice
Southern Center for Human Rights
Southern Poverty Law Center
Sustain the Culture
TGIJP / Transgender People In Florida Prisons Projects. (TPIFPP)
The Futures Institute
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
Tribe of Eli Movement
Union for Reform Judaism
United Church of Christ
United Women of Color Vera Institute
Washington Defender Association
WAVE Educational Fund
We Are Revolutionary
Youth Over Guns