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2015 SESSION

15101594D
SENATE BILL NO. 1098
Offered January 14, 2015
Prefiled January 13, 2015
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 66 a chapter numbered 4, consisting of sections numbered 66-36 through 66-53, relating to the Youth PROMISE Act.
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Patron-- McEachin
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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Title 66 a chapter numbered 4, consisting of sections numbered 66-36 through 66-53, as follows:

CHAPTER 4.
YOUTH PROMISE ACT.

§ 66-36. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:

"Community" means a locality or any portion thereof for the purpose of applying for a grant under this Act.

"Designated geographic area" means a five-digit postal zip code assigned to a geographic area by the United States Postal Service.

"Director" means the Director of Juvenile Justice.

"Evidence-based," with respect to a practice relating to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention, means a practice (including a service, program, activity, intervention, technology, or strategy) for which the Director has determined (i) causal evidence documents a relationship between the practice and its intended outcome, based on measures of the direction and size of a change, and the extent to which a change may be attributed to the practice and (ii) the use of scientific methods rules out, to the extent possible, alternative explanations for the documented change. Such scientific methods include (a) evaluation by an experimental trial, in which participants are randomly assigned to participate in the practice that is subject to such trial, or (b) evaluation by a quasi-experimental trial, in which the outcomes for participants are compared with outcomes for individuals in a representative control group.

"Intervention" means the provision of programs and services that are supported by research, employ evidence-based or promising practices, and are provided to youth who are involved in, or who are identified by evidence-based risk assessment methods as being at high risk of continued involvement in, juvenile delinquency or criminal street gangs, on the basis of a demonstrated history of truancy, substance abuse, mental health treatment needs, or siblings who have had involvement with the juvenile or criminal justice system.

"Juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention" means the provision of programs and resources to children and families who have not yet had substantial contact with the juvenile or criminal justice system that are (i) designed to reduce potential juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity risks and (ii) evidence-based or promising educational, health, mental health, school-based, community-based, faith-based, parenting, job training, or social opportunities and experiences programs or other programs for youth and their families that have been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the risks of juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity.

"Promising," with respect to a practice relating to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention, means a practice that, per determination by the Director based on statistical analyses or a theory of change, reduces juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity and is the subject of a study to determine whether such practice is evidence-based.

"Theory of change" means a program planning strategy approved by the Director that outlines the types of interventions and outcomes essential to achieving a set of program goals.

"Youth" means an individual who is 18 years of age or younger.

"Youth PROMISE Act" means Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education Act.

§ 66-37. The PROMISE Advisory Council; purpose; membership; meetings; compensation.

A. The PROMISE Advisory Council (the Council) is established as an advisory council in the executive branch of state government for the purpose of evaluating programs and activities carried out with grants awarded under §§ 66-40 through 66-51.

B. The Council shall have a total membership of not less than 15 and not more than 33 nonlegislative citizen members. Members shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly, as follows: at least one locally elected official representing general purpose local government; representatives of law-enforcement and juvenile justice agencies, including juvenile and family court judges, prosecutors, counsel for children and youth, and probation workers; representatives of public agencies concerned with delinquency prevention or treatment, such as social services, mental health, education, special education, recreation, and youth services; representatives of private nonprofit organizations, including persons with a special focus on preserving and strengthening families, parent groups and parent self-help groups, youth development, delinquency prevention and treatment, neglected or dependent children, the quality of juvenile justice, education, and social services for children; volunteers who work with delinquents or potential delinquents; youth workers involved with programs that are alternatives to incarceration, including programs providing organized recreation activities; persons with special experience and competence in addressing problems related to school violence and vandalism and alternatives to suspension and expulsion; persons with special experience and competence in addressing problems related to learning disabilities, emotional difficulties, child abuse and neglect, and youth violence; and at least three members who have been or are currently under the jurisdiction of the juvenile justice system. All members of the Council shall be citizens of the Commonwealth and, to the extent possible, shall have training, experience, or special knowledge concerning the prevention and treatment of juvenile delinquency, the administration of juvenile justice, or the reduction of juvenile delinquency.

Appointments to fill vacancies, other than by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired terms. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments. All members may be reappointed.

No member shall serve more than two consecutive four-year terms. The remainder of any term to which a member is appointed to fill a vacancy shall not constitute a term in determining the member's eligibility for reappointment.

C. The Council shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. The Council shall meet no more than four times each year. The meetings of the Council shall be held at the call of the chairman or whenever the majority of the members so request.

D. Members shall receive such compensation for the performance of their duties as provided in § 2.2-2813. All members shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in §§ 2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825. Funding for the costs of compensation and expenses of the members shall be provided by the Department of Juvenile Justice.

§ 66-38. Powers and duties of the PROMISE Advisory Council.

The PROMISE Advisory Council shall have the power and duty to:

1. Assess successful evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention carried out by PROMISE Coordinating Panels under this chapter.

2. Provide the Director with a list of individuals and organizations with experience in administering or evaluating practices that serve youth involved in, or at risk of involvement in, juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity, from which the Director shall select individuals and organizations who shall (i) provide to the Director peer reviews of applications submitted by units of local government pursuant to §§ 66-40 through 66-51 to ensure that such applications demonstrate a clear plan to serve youth as part of an entire family unit and coordinate the delivery of service to youth among agencies and (ii) advise the Director with respect to the award and allocation of PROMISE Planning grants to local governments that develop PROMISE Coordinating Panels, and of PROMISE Implementation grants to such PROMISE Coordinating Panels, pursuant to §§ 66-40 through 66-51.

3. Develop performance standards to be used to evaluate programs and activities carried out with grants awarded pursuant to §§ 66-40 through 66-51, including the evaluation of changes achieved as a result of such programs and activities related to reductions in juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity, including (i) prevention of involvement by at-risk youth in juvenile delinquency or criminal street gang activity, (ii) diversion of youth with a high risk of continuing involvement in juvenile delinquency or criminal street gang activity, and (iii) financial savings from deferred or eliminated costs or other benefits resulting from such programs and activities, and the reinvestment by the locality of any such savings.

4. Submit an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports. The chairman of the PROMISE Advisory Council shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an annual executive summary of the interim activity and work of the Council no later than the first day of each regular session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall be submitted for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.

§ 66-39. Geographic assessment of resource allocation.

A. The Director shall award a grant, on a competitive basis, to a nonprofit organization to:

1. Collect and analyze data related to the existing juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention needs and resources in each designated geographic area;

2. Use the data collected and analyzed under subdivision 1 to compile a list of designated geographic areas that have the greatest need of resources, based on such data, to carry out juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention;

3. Use the data collected and analyzed under subdivision 1 to rank the areas listed under subdivision 2 in descending order of greatest need for resources to carry out juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention; and

4. Periodically update the list and rankings under subdivision 3 as the Director determines to be appropriate.

B. In compiling such list and determining such rankings, the organization shall collect and analyze data relating to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention:

1. Using the geographic information system and web-based mapping application known as the Socioeconomic Mapping and Resource Topography (SMART) system;

2. From the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, the Department of Labor and Industry, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of Education; and

3. From the annual KIDS COUNT Data Book and other data made available by the KIDS COUNT initiative of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

C. The list and rankings required by this section shall be provided to the Director to be used to award grants under this chapter in the most strategic and effective manner to ensure that resources and services are provided to youth in the communities with the greatest need for such resources and services.

D. The information collected and analyzed under this section shall not be used for any purpose other than to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Such information shall not be used for any purpose related to the investigation or prosecution of any person or for profiling of individuals on the basis of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or any other characteristic.

E. Of the amount appropriated for fiscal year 2015 to carry out the provisions of this section and §§ 66-41 through 66-44, not more than one percent of such amount shall be available to carry out the provisions of this section.

§ 66-40. Grant purposes.

The purposes of the grant programs established under §§ 66-40 through 66-51 are to:

1. Enable local communities to assess the unmet needs of youth who are involved in, or are at risk of involvement in, juvenile delinquency or criminal street gangs;

2. Develop plans appropriate for a community to address those unmet needs with juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention practices; and

3. Implement and evaluate such plans in a manner consistent with this chapter.

§ 66-41. PROMISE Assessment and Planning grants authorized.

The Director is authorized to award grants, which shall be valid for a period not to exceed one year, to units of local government to assist PROMISE Coordinating Panels with planning and assessing evidence-based and promising practices relating to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention, especially for youth who are involved in, or who are at risk of involvement in, juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity. PROMISE Coordinating Panels shall (i) conduct an objective needs and strengths assessment in accordance with § 66-43 and (ii) develop a PROMISE Plan in accordance with § 66-44 based on the assessment conducted in accordance with § 66-43.

§ 66-42. PROMISE Coordinating Panels; membership; terms.

To be eligible to receive a grant under §§ 66-41 through 66-44, a locality shall establish a PROMISE Coordinating Panel for each community of such locality for which it is applying for a grant under §§ 66-41 through 66-44. Each such community shall include one or more designated geographic areas identified on the list required under subsection A of § 66-39. Panel members shall be appointed by the governing body of the participating locality. Members of such PROMISE Coordinating Panels shall be representatives of public and private entities and shall include (i) to the extent possible, at least one representative from the office of the locality's chief executive or mayor, a local educational agency, a local health agency or provider, a local mental health agency or provider, a local public housing agency, a local law-enforcement agency, a local child welfare agency, a local juvenile court, a local juvenile prosecutor's office, a private juvenile residential care entity, a local juvenile public defender's office, a state juvenile correctional entity, the local business community, and the local faith-based community; (ii) two parents of minor children who have an interest in the local juvenile or criminal justice system; (iii) two youth between the ages of 15 and 18 who reside in the jurisdiction of the unit; (iv) two members of nonprofit community-based organizations that provide effective juvenile delinquency prevention and intervention programs to youth in the jurisdiction of the unit; and (v) any other members the locality determines to be appropriate.

PROMISE Coordinating Panel members shall serve staggered terms, such terms to be determined by the PROMISE Advisory Council. The PROMISE Coordinating Panel shall annually elect a chairman from among the local government representatives, who shall be responsible for convening the panel. The PROMISE Coordinating Panel shall develop and adopt bylaws to govern its operations that shall be subject to approval by the PROMISE Advisory Council.

§ 66-43. Needs and strengths assessment.

A. Each PROMISE Coordinating Panel receiving funds from a locality under §§ 66-41 through 66-44 shall conduct an objective strengths and needs assessment of the resources of the community for which such PROMISE Coordinating Panel was established to identify the unmet needs of youth in the community with respect to evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention. The PROMISE Coordinating Panel shall consult with a research partner recipient of a grant under § 66-53 for assistance with such assessment. Such assessment shall include, with respect to the community for which such PROMISE Coordinating Panel was established:

1. The number of youth who are at risk of involvement in juvenile delinquency or criminal street gang activity;

2. The number of youth who are involved in juvenile delinquency or criminal street gang activity, including the number of such youth who are at high risk of continued involvement;

3. Youth unemployment rates during the summer;

4. The number of individuals on public financial assistance, including a breakdown of the numbers of men, women, and children on such assistance;

5. The estimated number of youth who are chronically truant;

6. The number of youth who have dropped out of school in the previous year;

7. For the year before such assessment, the estimated total amount expended by the community and other entities for the incarceration of offenders who were convicted or adjudicated delinquent for an offense that was committed in such community, including amounts expended for the incarceration of offenders in prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities that are located in the Commonwealth but are not located in such community;

8. A comparison of the amount under subdivision 7 with an estimate of the amount that would be expended for the incarceration of offenders described in subdivision 7 if the number of such offenders were equal to the national average incarceration rate per 100,000 population; and

9. A description of evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention available for youth in the community, including school-based programs, after-school programs (particularly programs that have activities available for youth between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.), weekend activities and programs, youth mentoring programs, faith-based and community-based programs, summer activities, and summer jobs, if any.

B. Information gathered pursuant to this section may be used for the sole purpose of developing a PROMISE Plan in accordance with §§ 66-41 through 66-44.

§ 66-44. PROMISE Plan components.

A. Each PROMISE Coordinating Panel receiving funds from a locality under §§ 66-41 through 66-44 shall develop a PROMISE Plan to provide for the coordination of and, as appropriate, to support the delivery of evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention to youth and families who reside in the community for which such PROMISE Coordinating Panel was established. Such PROMISE Plan shall:

1. Include the strategy by which the PROMISE Coordinating Panel plans to prioritize and allocate resources and services toward the unmet needs of youth in the community, consistent with the needs and available resources of communities with the greatest need for assistance, as determined pursuant to § 66-39;

2. Include a combination of evidence-based and promising prevention and intervention practices that are responsive to the needs of the community;

3. Ensure that cultural and linguistic needs of the community are met;

4. Include a plan to connect youth identified in subdivisions A 1 and 2 of § 66-43 with programs employing evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention;

5. Identify the amount or percentage of local funds that is available to the PROMISE Coordinating Panel to carry out the PROMISE Plan;

6. Provide strategies to improve indigent defense delivery systems, with particular attention given to groups of children who are disproportionately represented in the state delinquency system compared with the representation of such groups in the general population of the state;

7. Provide for training of prosecutors, defenders, probation officers, judges, and other court personnel that complies with the American Bar Association Juvenile Justice Standards for the representation and care of youth in the juvenile justice system, related to issues concerning the developmental needs, challenges, and potential of youth in the juvenile justice system, including training related to adolescent development and mental health issues and the expected impact of evidence-based practices and cost-reduction strategies;

8. Ensure that the number of youth involved in the juvenile and criminal justice systems does not increase as a result of activities undertaken with the funds provided under §§ 66-41 through 66-44;

9. Describe the coordinated strategy that will be used by the PROMISE Coordinating Panel to provide at-risk youth with evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention;

10. Propose the performance evaluation process to be used to carry out the provisions of subsection D of § 66-45, including performance measures to assess efforts to address the unmet needs of youth in the community with evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention; and

11. Identify the research partner the PROMISE Coordinating Panel will use to obtain information on evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention and for the evaluation under subsection D of § 66-45 of the results of the activities carried out with funds provided under §§ 66-41 through 66-44.

B. In addition to the requirements of subsection A, a PROMISE Plan may include evidence-based or promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention in the following categories:

1. Early childhood development services such as prenatal and neonatal health services, early childhood prevention, voluntary home visiting programs, nurse-family partnership programs, parenting and healthy relationship skills training, child abuse prevention programs, Early Head Start, and Head Start;

2. Child protection and safety services such as foster care and adoption assistance programs, family stabilization programs, child welfare services, and family violence intervention programs;

3. Youth and adolescent development services, including job training and apprenticeship programs; job placement and retention training; education and after school programs such as school programs with shared governance by students, teachers, and parents and activities for youth between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.; mentoring programs; conflict resolution skills training; sports, arts, life skills, employment and recreation programs; summer jobs and summer recreation programs; and alternative school resources for youth who have dropped out of school or demonstrate chronic truancy;

4. Health and mental health services, including cognitive behavioral therapy, play therapy, and peer mentoring and counseling;

5. Substance abuse counseling and treatment services, including harm-reduction strategies;

6. Emergency, transitional, and permanent housing assistance such as safe shelter and housing for runaway and homeless youth;

7. Targeted gang prevention, intervention, and exit services such as tattoo removal, successful models of anti-gang crime outreach programs such as "street worker" programs, and other criminal street gang truce or peacemaking activities;

8. Training and education programs for pregnant teens and teen parents;

9. Alternatives to detention and confinement programs such as mandated participation in community service, restitution, counseling, and intensive individual and family therapeutic approaches; and

10. Pre-release, post-release, and reentry services to assist detained and incarcerated youth with transitioning from incarceration into the community.

§ 66-45. PROMISE Implementation grants authorized.

A. The Director is authorized to award grants to units of local government to assist PROMISE Coordinating Panels with implementing PROMISE Plans developed pursuant to §§ 66-41 through 66-44.

B. A grant awarded under §§ 66-45 through 66-48 shall be for a three-year period.

C. For each fiscal year during the three-year grant period for a grant awarded pursuant o §§ 66-45 through 66-48, each locality receiving such a grant for a PROMISE Coordinating Panel shall provide, from nonstate funds, in cash or in-kind, 25 percent of the costs of the activities carried out with such grant.

D. Of any funds provided to a locality for a grant under §§ 66-45 through 66-48, not more than ten percent of such funds shall be used to provide a contract to a competitively selected organization to assess the progress of the locality in addressing the unmet needs of youth in the community.

§ 66-46. PROMISE Implementation grant application requirements.

A. To be eligible to receive a PROMISE Implementation grant under §§ 66-45 through 66-48, a locality that received a PROMISE Assessment and Planning grant under §§ 66-41 through 66-44 shall submit an application to the Director not later than one year after the date such locality was awarded such grant, in such manner, and accompanied by such information, as the Director may require.

B. Each application submitted under subsection A shall:

1. Identify potential savings from criminal justice costs, public assistance costs, and other costs avoided by utilizing evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention;

2. Document (i) investment in evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention to be provided by the locality, (ii) the activities to be undertaken with the grant funds, (iii) any expected efficiencies in the juvenile justice or other local systems to be attained as a result of implementation of the programs funded by the grant, and (iv) outcomes from such activities in terms of the expected numbers related to reduced criminal activity;

3. Describe how savings sustained from investment in prevention and intervention practices will be reinvested in the continuing implementation of the PROMISE Plan; and

4. Provide an assurance that the local fiscal contribution with respect to evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention in the community for which the PROMISE Coordinating Panel was established for each year of the grant period will not be less than the local fiscal contribution with respect to such practices in the community for the year preceding the first year of the grant period.

§ 66-47. PROMISE Implementation grant award guidelines.

A. Grants under §§ 66-45 through 66-48 shall be awarded on a competitive basis. The Director shall:

1. Take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that grants are awarded to units of local government in areas with the highest concentrations of youth who are (i) at risk of involvement in juvenile delinquency or criminal street gang activity or (ii) involved in juvenile delinquency or street gang activity and who are at high risk of continued involvement; and

2. Give consideration to the need for grants to be awarded to units of local government in each region of the Commonwealth and including urban, suburban, and rural areas.

B. The Director may extend the grant period under subsection B of § 66-45 for a PROMISE Implementation grant to a locality in accordance with regulations issued by the Director.

C. The Director may renew a PROMISE Implementation grant to a locality to provide such locality with additional funds to continue implementation of a PROMISE Plan, provided such renewal is:

1. Initiated by an application for renewal from a locality;

2. Carried out in accordance with regulations issued by the Director; and

3. Determined by the Director to be appropriate based on the results of the evaluation conducted under subsection A of § 66-51 with respect to the community of such locality for which a PROMISE Coordinating Panel was established, and for which such locality is applying for renewal.

§ 66-48. Reports.

Not later than one year after the end of the grant period for which a locality receives a PROMISE Implementation grant, and annually thereafter for as long as such locality continues to receive state funding for a PROMISE Coordinating Panel, such locality shall report to the Director regarding the use of state funds to implement the PROMISE Plan developed under §§ 66-41 through 66-44.

§ 66-49. Nonsupplanting clause.

A locality receiving a grant awarded pursuant to §§ 66-40 through 66-51 shall use such grant only to supplement, and not supplant, the amount of funds that, in the absence of such grant, would be available to address the needs of youth in the community with respect to evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention.

§ 66-50. Grant application review council.

The Director, in conjunction with the PROMISE Advisory Council, shall establish and utilize a transparent, reliable, and valid system for evaluating applications for PROMISE Assessment and Planning grants and for PROMISE Implementation grants and shall determine which applicants meet the criteria for funding primarily on the basis of a determination of greatest need in accordance with § 66-39, with due consideration to other enumerated factors and the indicated ability of the applicant to successfully implement the program described in the application.

§ 66-51. Evaluation of PROMISE grant programs.

A. The Director shall provide for an evaluation of the programs and activities carried out with grants under §§ 66-40 through 66-51. In conducting such evaluation, the Director shall:

1. Award grants to institutions of higher education to facilitate the evaluation process and measurement of achieved outcomes;

2. Identify evidence-based and promising practices used by PROMISE Coordinating Panels under PROMISE Implementation grants that have proven to be effective in preventing involvement in, or diverting further involvement in, juvenile delinquency or criminal street gang activity; and

3. Ensure that the evaluation is based on (i) the performance standards that are developed by the PROMISE Advisory Council in accordance with § 66-38; (ii) the development of longitudinal and clinical trial evaluation and performance measurements with regard to the evidence-based and promising practices funded under §§ 66-40 through 66-51; and (iii) the dissemination of the practices identified in subdivision 2 to the Research Center for Proven Juvenile Justice Practices and units of local government to promote the use of such practices by such units to prevent involvement in, or to divert further involvement in, juvenile delinquency or criminal street gang activity.

B. The Director shall provide the results of the evaluation under subsection A to the Research Center for Proven Juvenile Justice Practices.

§ 66-52. Establishment of the Research Center for Proven Juvenile Justice Practices.

The Director shall award a grant to a nonprofit organization with a national reputation for expertise in operating or evaluating effective, evidence-based practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention or intervention to develop a Research Center for Proven Juvenile Justice Practices (the Center). The Center shall:

1. Collaborate with institutions of higher education as regional partners to create a best practices juvenile justice information-sharing network to support the programs and activities carried out with grants awarded pursuant to §§ 66-40 through 66-51;

2. Collect and disseminate to PROMISE Coordinating Panels research results and other information about evidence-based and promising practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention to inform the efforts of PROMISE Coordinating Panels and regional research partners and to support the programs and activities carried out with grants awarded pursuant to §§ 66-40 through 66-51;

3. Increase public knowledge and understanding of effective juvenile justice practices to prevent crime and delinquency and reduce recidivism; and

4. Develop, manage, and regularly update a website to disseminate proven practices for successful juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention.

§ 66-53. Grants for regional research proven practices partnerships.

The Director shall establish a grant program to award grants to institutions of higher education to serve as regional research partners with PROMISE Coordinating Panels that are located in the same geographic region as an institution, in collaboration with the Research Center for Proven Juvenile Justice Practices authorized under § 66-52. Regional research partners shall provide research support to such PROMISE Coordinating Panels, including:

1. Assistance with preparing PROMISE grant applications and the collection of baseline data necessary for such applications;

2. Assistance with the needs and strengths assessments conducted under § 66-43; and

3. Provision of support services to PROMISE grant recipients for data collection and analysis to assess progress under the PROMISE grant.

2. That the provisions of this act shall not become effective unless an appropriation effectuating the purposes of this act is included in a general appropriation act passed in 2015 by the General Assembly that becomes law.