Subdivision 1. Programs. The commissioner shall, in consultation with the chemical abuse and violence prevention council, administer a grant program to fund community-based programs that are designed to enhance the community's sense of personal security and to assist the community in its crime control and prevention efforts. Examples of qualifying programs include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) community-based programs designed to provide services for children under 14 years of age who are juvenile offenders or who are at risk of becoming juvenile offenders. The programs must give priority to:

(i) juvenile restitution;

(ii) prearrest or pretrial diversion, including through mediation;

(iii) probation innovation;

(iv) teen courts, community service; or

(v) post-incarceration alternatives to assist youth in returning to their communities;

(2) community-based programs designed to provide at-risk children and youth under 14 years of age with after-school and summer enrichment activities;

(3) community-based programs designed to discourage young people from involvement in unlawful drug or street gang activities, such as neighborhood youth centers;

(4) neighborhood block clubs and innovative community-based crime prevention programs;

(5) community- and school-based programs designed to enrich the educational, cultural, or recreational opportunities of at-risk children and youth, including programs designed to keep at-risk youth from dropping out of school and encourage school dropouts to return to school;

(6) community-based programs designed to intervene with juvenile offenders who are identified as likely to engage in repeated criminal activity in the future unless intervention is undertaken;

(7) community-based collaboratives that coordinate multiple programs and funding sources to address the needs of at-risk children and youth, including, but not limited to, collaboratives that address the continuum of services for juvenile offenders and those who are at risk of becoming juvenile offenders;

(8) programs that are proven successful at increasing the rate of school success or the rate of postsecondary education attendance for high-risk students;

(9) community-based programs that provide services to homeless youth;

(10) programs designed to reduce truancy;

(11) other community- and school-based crime prevention programs that are innovative and encourage substantial involvement by members of the community served by the program;

(12) community-based programs that attempt to prevent and ameliorate the effects of teenage prostitution;

(13) programs for mentoring at-risk youth, including youth at risk of gang involvement; and

(14) programs operated by community violence prevention councils.

Subd. 2. Grant procedure. (a) A local unit of government or a nonprofit community-based entity may apply for a grant by submitting an application with the commissioner. The applicant shall specify the following in its application:

(1) a description of each program for which funding is sought;

(2) outcomes and performance indicators for the program;

(3) a description of the planning process that identifies local community needs, surveys existing programs, provides for coordination with existing programs, and involves all affected sectors of the community;

(4) the geographical area to be served by the program;

(5) statistical information as to the number of arrests in the geographical area for violent crimes and for crimes involving Schedule I and II controlled substances. "Violent crime" includes a violation of or an attempt or conspiracy to violate any of the following laws: sections 609.185; 609.19; 609.195; 609.20; 609.205; 609.2112; 609.2113; 609.2114; 609.221; 609.222; 609.223; 609.228; 609.235; 609.24; 609.245; 609.25; 609.255; 609.2661; 609.2662; 609.2663; 609.2664; 609.2665; 609.267; 609.2671; 609.268; 609.342; 609.343; 609.344; 609.345; 609.498, subdivision 1; 609.561; 609.562; 609.582, subdivision 1; 609.687; or any provision of chapter 152 that is punishable by a maximum sentence greater than ten years; or Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 609.21; and

(6) the number of economically disadvantaged youth in the geographical areas to be served by the program.

(b) The commissioner shall give priority to funding community-based collaboratives, programs that demonstrate substantial involvement by members of the community served by the program and programs that either serve the geographical areas that have the highest crime rates, as measured by the data supplied under paragraph (a), clause (5), or serve geographical areas that have the largest concentrations of economically disadvantaged youth. Up to 2.5 percent of the appropriation may be used by the commissioner to administer the program.

History: 1989 c 290 art 9 s 7; 1990 c 499 s 4; 1991 c 279 s 18; 1993 c 326 art 12 s 4,5; art 13 s 18; 1994 c 576 s 38,39; 1994 c 636 art 6 s 22; art 9 s 5; 1995 c 226 art 4 s 4; 1996 c 408 art 2 s 5; 1997 c 2 s 5; 1997 c 162 art 2 s 10; 1999 c 216 art 2 s 28; 1999 c 241 art 10 s 8; 2014 c 180 s 9