# Community-Based Gang Intervention Act

This bill funds and supports programs that work to prevent young people from joining gangs and help those already involved in gangs leave that lifestyle. Instead of focusing only on arresting and prosecuting gang members, this approach invests in community-based organizations that use mentorship, job training, counseling, and other support services to steer people away from gang activity.

The bill provides federal money to local organizations and nonprofits that have proven track records of successfully intervening with at-risk youth and current gang members. These groups work directly in neighborhoods, building relationships with young people and offering them alternatives to gang involvement. The funding can support things like after-school programs, mental health services, job placement assistance, and mentorship from people who have successfully left gang life themselves. Communities can apply for grants to expand these programs based on what works best in their specific areas.

This approach recognizes that gang involvement often stems from poverty, lack of opportunity, trauma, and limited access to support systems. By addressing these root causes through community programs rather than relying solely on law enforcement, the bill aims to reduce gang violence, lower incarceration rates, and give young people genuine pathways to safer, more productive lives. The bill essentially shifts some resources from the criminal justice system toward prevention and intervention, betting that helping people avoid or exit gang life is more effective and cost-efficient than dealing with the consequences of gang violence after it happens.

Community-Based Gang Intervention Act

Booker, Cory A.

Community-Based Gang Intervention Act This bill extends federal support for juvenile justice and delinquency prevention efforts to programs and activities involving community-based gang intervention. First, the bill authorizes community-based gang intervention grants for nonprofit community-based organizations to reduce and stop gang-related and gang-motivated violence and crime. Second, the bill modifies the qualifications of representatives of state advisory groups to specify that (1) a representative of a public agency includes an individual from a public agency concerned with community-based gang intervention, and (2) a representative of a nonprofit organization includes a person with a special focus on community-based gang intervention. Third, the bill adds, as a purpose area under the Incentive Youth Promise Grants for Local Delinquency Prevention Programs, providing community-based gang intervention and gang prevention activities to juveniles and their families.