The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Education and the Attorney General, shall carry out directly or through grants, contracts or cooperative agreements with public entities a program to assist local communities in developing ways to assist children in dealing with violence.

Under the program under subsection (a), the Secretary may—

(1) provide financial support to enable local communities to implement programs to foster the health and development of children;

(2) provide technical assistance to local communities with respect to the development of programs described in paragraph (1);

(3) provide assistance to local communities in the development of policies to address violence when and if it occurs;

(4) assist in the creation of community partnerships among law enforcement, education systems and mental health and substance abuse service systems; and

(5) establish mechanisms for children and adolescents to report incidents of violence or plans by other children or adolescents to commit violence.

An application for a grant, contract or cooperative agreement under subsection (a) shall demonstrate that—

(1) the applicant will use amounts received to create a partnership described in subsection (b)(4) to address issues of violence in schools;

the activities carried out by the applicant will provide a comprehensive method for addressing violence, that will include—

(A) security;

(B) educational reform;

(C) the review and updating of school policies;

(D) alcohol and drug abuse prevention and early intervention services;

(E) mental health prevention and treatment services; and

(F) early childhood development and psychosocial services; and

(3) the applicant will use amounts received only for the services described in subparagraphs (D), (E), and (F) of paragraph (2).

The Secretary shall ensure that grants, contracts or cooperative agreements under subsection (a) will be distributed equitably among the regions of the country and among urban and rural areas.

With respect to a grant, contract or cooperative agreement under subsection (a), the period during which payments under such an award will be made to the recipient may not exceed 5 years.

The Secretary shall conduct an evaluation of each project carried out under this section and shall disseminate the results of such evaluations to appropriate public and private entities.

The Secretary shall establish comprehensive information and education programs to disseminate the findings of the knowledge development and application under this section to the general public and to health care professionals.

There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2002 and 2003.

(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title V, § 581, as added Pub. L. 106–310, div. B, title XXXI, § 3101, Oct. 17, 2000, 114 Stat. 1168.)