It’s Time to Pass the People’s Response Act! TAKE ACTION

Moms, caregivers, and community champions!

The Trump administration has doubled down on fear, misrepresenting crime and violence to justify a terrifying military presence, which is wasting millions of taxpayer dollars every day and diverting the National Guard away from their home states, where they may be needed to respond to disaster emergencies at home¹. 

From ramping up military presence to scapegoating immigrant and Black communities, these tactics are designed to divide and distract. But on the ground, families and local leaders are expanding the conversation on safety, and proving that care-centered solutions work. Across the country, communities are reducing crime and violence by investing in mental health, youth opportunity, housing, and healing. These solutions aren’t theories; they’re saving lives right now².

Tell Congress to stop wasting our taxpayer dollars on military deployments that only harm our communities and instead, support the People’s Response Act, a bill that funds these life-saving community safety solutions nationwide that actually work to prevent violence. *When you click, you’ll automatically sign onto our petition if we already have your information.

In addition to the incredible efforts to expand the tools available in communities to address crime and violence, in the last weeks, something powerful happened on Capitol Hill! MomsRising joined advocates, frontline workers, and members of Congress for the launch of the first-ever Congressional Community Safety Caucus, a significant step toward reimagining what real safety looks like for our families³.

The launch of the Congressional Community Safety Caucus was a historic step; now Congress must act!*When you click you’ll automatically sign onto our petition if we already have your information.

This incredible effort, supported by parents, advocates, frontline practitioners, and led by U.S. Representatives Summer Lee, Delia Ramirez, Gabe Amo, Hank Johnson, Morgan McGarvey, and LaMonica McIver, created the first-ever Congressional Community Safety Caucus to uplift evidence-based, community-rooted solutions that are working across the country. These programs are effective and are working in communities to address trauma, prevent violence, and invest in mental health, youth, housing, education, and care.

It's time for Congress to keep the momentum going by passing the People’s Response Act and funding real, community-driven safety solutions.*When you click you’ll automatically sign onto our petition if we already have your information.

At the launch event for the Community Safety Caucus, we witnessed it firsthand: Powerful voices leading real change, including practitioners working on the front lines. Leaders like…

Benny Ivey, a credible messenger in Mississippi, whose work helps youth break the cycle of incarceration and violence. Freedom Jones, a trauma-informed strategist, is saving lives with community violence intervention. Kyleesha Wingfield-Hill, who helped drive a 60% drop in crime in Newark by investing in people. 

Now it's time for Congress to step up. Tell Congress to support the People’s Response Act. *When you click you’ll automatically sign onto our petition if we already have your information.

For too long, the U.S. has neglected the root causes of harm, poverty, mental health, housing insecurity, and systemic racism. The data is clear, more police does not equal more safety. But care and community investment do⁴.

The truth is, safety shouldn’t start with sirens. Tell Congress to Pass the People NOW!*When you click, you’ll automatically sign onto our petition if we already have your information.

From Denver’s STAR program to Newark’s Office of Violence Prevention, communities across the country are proving that we don’t need more punishment, we need more prevention. Our kids deserve counselors, not more cops in schools. Our communities deserve healing, not handcuffs. And we all deserve to feel safe, no matter our zip code.

The launch of the Congressional Community Safety Caucus is a milestone, but the movement doesn’t stop there. Congress must pass the People’s Response Act and fund the programs that truly keep us safe.

Let’s build REAL safety together, and tell Congress to act now. SIGN THE PETITION. *When you click, you’ll automatically sign onto our petition if we already have your information:

Dear Members of Congress:

The current approach to public safety is not working for children, families, and particularly for communities that have been devastated by mental health crises, substance use health crises, and criminalization. We must reimagine our public safety system’s instinct to criminalize and replace it with an instinct to be thoughtful, strategic, and rooted in providing appropriate care and response.

We have an important opportunity to do that with the introduction of The People’s Response Act. This important piece of legislation emphasizes an inclusive, holistic, and health-centered approach to public safety by creating a public safety division within the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Communities and experts agree that public safety is a matter of public health. When we adopt new evidence-based approaches to public safety that are equitable, health-centered, and preventative in efforts to stop violence and harm before it occurs, we subsequently ensure that responses to crises in the community are appropriate and that every community has what it needs to flourish.

The People’s Response Act takes work to achieve this by:

• Creating a new public safety division within the Department of Health and Human Services to fund and coordinate research, technical assistance, and grant programs related to non-carceral, health-centered investments in public safety;

• Launching a federal first responders unit that will support states and local governments with emergency health crises;

• Research alternative approaches to public safety, including coordination of research and policies that are being implemented across HHS and other agencies to center health-based and non-carceral responses throughout the federal government;

• Providing $11 billion in grant funding to state and local governments, as well as community-based organizations, to fully fund public safety and improve crisis response;

• Establishing a $2.5 billion First Responder Hiring Grant to create thousands of jobs and provide funding to state, local, and tribal government, as well as community organizations, to hire emergency first responders such as licensed social workers, mental health counselors, substance use counselors, and peer support specialists, in an effort to improve crisis response and increase non-carceral, health-based approaches to public safety.

Now, more than ever, it is crucial for Congress to step up and support new inclusive, holistic, and health-centered approaches to dealing with crises that will reduce harm and truly keep our communities safe. State, local, and tribal governments across the country are already implementing innovative strategies to prevent violence, reduce harm, and improve the well-being of every community, especially Black and brown communities.

The People’s Response Act provides the resources and assistance to scale up these efforts and truly transform public safety in the United States. It would reframe how we think about and respond to crisis situations in this country with an approach that meets the demands and needs of our communities at this moment.

Thank you,

Beatriz, Kelsey, Monifa, Donna, Kristin, and the entire MomsRising.org & MamásConPoder Team

References:
[1] Trump announces he’s sending federal law enforcement to Memphis and that Chicago is next | CNN
[2] A new community safety blueprint: How the federal government can address violence and harm through a public health approach | Brookings
[3] https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=1513392459565864&rdid=l6SRVFLzMTwkDRUi
[4] What Actually Works to Fight Crime | Brennan Center for Justice

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