HF 2371

as introduced - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to human services; providing for a pilot 
  1.3             project to coordinate community violence prevention 
  1.4             programs for African American children; appropriating 
  1.5             money. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [FINDINGS.] 
  1.8      The legislature finds that: 
  1.9      (1) homicides have the most adverse affect on African 
  1.10  American children; 
  1.11     (2) loss of a loved one due to homicide leaves children 
  1.12  uprooted, displaced, abandoned, and isolated; 
  1.13     (3) children who witness a homicide often experience 
  1.14  posttraumatic stress, grief, loss, insecurity, conflicting 
  1.15  loyalties, and fear of being identified as a witness or fear of 
  1.16  retaliation; 
  1.17     (4) community institutions lack the skills necessary to 
  1.18  recognize the traumas of these children and provide 
  1.19  psychological first aid treatment; 
  1.20     (5) children exposed to community violence can be better 
  1.21  served through a program providing psychological first aid and 
  1.22  treatment; and 
  1.23     (6) children adversely affected by homicides and other 
  1.24  violent crimes cause important and widespread social problems 
  1.25  for the state because these children lack the opportunity to 
  2.1   learn appropriate problem-solving skills and use violence as a 
  2.2   primary problem-solving method to resolve stress in personal 
  2.3   conflicts. 
  2.4      Sec. 2.  [AUTHORIZATION FOR THE MARTIN LUTHER KING 
  2.5   NONVIOLENT INSTITUTIONAL CHILD DEVELOPMENT PILOT PROGRAM.] 
  2.6      (a) The council on Black Minnesotans shall proceed with the 
  2.7   planning, designing, and implementation of the Martin Luther 
  2.8   King nonviolent institutional child development pilot program 
  2.9   which provides: 
  2.10     (1) multi-institutional interdisciplinary community 
  2.11  violence prevention programs; and 
  2.12     (2) multi-institutional interdisciplinary intervention 
  2.13  programs. 
  2.14     (b) The pilot program may provide service to the following 
  2.15  institutions: 
  2.16     (1) elementary and secondary schools; 
  2.17     (2) social service programs and agencies; 
  2.18     (3) youth programs and services; 
  2.19     (4) juvenile delinquency programs; 
  2.20     (5) residential treatment facilities; 
  2.21     (6) foster homes; 
  2.22     (7) law enforcement agencies; 
  2.23     (8) medical centers; 
  2.24     (9) mental health programs; and 
  2.25     (10) religious outreach programs. 
  2.26     (c) The program shall include: 
  2.27     (1) development and implementation of each participating 
  2.28  institution's long-range community violence prevention plan for 
  2.29  school-age children; 
  2.30     (2) development and implementation of each participating 
  2.31  institution's community violence intervention plan for children 
  2.32  affected by violence in the community; 
  2.33     (3) identification and implementation of each participating 
  2.34  institution's training and staffing needs; 
  2.35     (4) development and implementation of a network among 
  2.36  participating institutions to coordinate services, share 
  3.1   information, and develop common strategies for violence 
  3.2   prevention and intervention; and 
  3.3      (5) funding for participating institution's violence 
  3.4   prevention and intervention programs. 
  3.5      (d) The pilot program must be evaluated based on outcome 
  3.6   evaluation criteria determined by the executive director of the 
  3.7   council on Black Minnesotans in consultation with a 
  3.8   community-based advisory council before implementation of the 
  3.9   program. 
  3.10     (e) The pilot program must start by January 2, 1997. 
  3.11     (f) The pilot program must be completed by the council on 
  3.12  Black Minnesotans by July 1, 1998, and presented to the 
  3.13  commissioners of human services, public safety, corrections, and 
  3.14  children, families, and learning. 
  3.15     (h) Any information received by an institution described in 
  3.16  this section is privileged and not required to be disclosed to a 
  3.17  law enforcement agency or testified to in a court.  Persons in 
  3.18  the pilot program are authorized to receive information from law 
  3.19  enforcement agencies, schools, mortuaries, medical examiners, 
  3.20  physicians, and social service agencies necessary to provide 
  3.21  services to children impacted by homicides. 
  3.22     Sec. 3.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.23     $360,000 is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 
  3.24  30, 1997, and $350,000 is appropriated for the fiscal year 
  3.25  ending June 30, 1998, from the general fund to the council on 
  3.26  Black Minnesotans for the Martin Luther King nonviolent 
  3.27  institutional child development pilot program in section 2 and 
  3.28  to pay related costs and expenses. 
  3.29     Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.30     Sections 1 to 3 are effective the day following final 
  3.31  enactment.