I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2387

To foster local collaborations which will ensure that resources are effectively 

and efficiently used within the criminal and juvenile justice systems. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 5, 2003

Mr. STRICKLAND introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To foster local collaborations which will ensure that resources 

are effectively and efficiently used within the criminal 

and juvenile justice systems.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mentally Ill Offender 

5 Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) According to the Bureau of Justice Statis9 tics, over 16 percent of adults incarcerated in United 

10 States jails and prisons have a mental illness. 
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1 (2) According to the Office of Juvenile Justice 

2 and Delinquency Prevention, approximately 20 per3 cent of youth in the juvenile justice system have se4 rious mental health problems, and a significant 

5 number have co-occurring mental health and sub6 stance abuse disorders. 

7 (3) According to the National Alliance for the 

8 Mentally Ill, up to 40 percent of adults who suffer 

9 from a serious mental illness will come into contact 

10 with the American criminal justice system at some 

11 point in their lives. 

12 (4) According to the Office of Juvenile Justice 

13 and Delinquency Prevention, over 150,000 juveniles 

14 who come into contact with the juvenile justice sys15 tem each year meet the diagnostic criteria for at 

16 least 1 mental or emotional disorder. 

17 (5) A significant proportion of adults with a se18 rious mental illness who are involved with the crimi19 nal justice system are homeless or at imminent risk 

20 of homelessness; and many of these individuals are 

21 arrested and jailed for minor, nonviolent offenses. 

22 (6) The majority of individuals with a mental 

23 illness or emotional disorder who are involved in the 

24 criminal or juvenile justice systems are responsive to 
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1 medical and psychological interventions that inte2 grate treatment, rehabilitation, and support services. 

3 (7) Collaborative programs between mental 

4 health, substance abuse, and criminal or juvenile 

5 justice systems that ensure the provision of services 

6 for those with mental illness or co-occurring mental 

7 illness and substance abuse disorders can reduce the 

8 number of such individuals in adult and juvenile cor9 rections facilities, while providing improved public 

10 safety. 

11 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

12 The purpose of this Act is to increase public safety 

13 by facilitating collaboration among the criminal justice, ju14 venile justice, mental health treatment, and substance 

15 abuse systems. Such collaboration is needed to— 

16 (1) reduce rearrests among adult and juvenile 

17 offenders with mental illness, or co-occurring mental 

18 illness and substance abuse disorders; 

19 (2) provide courts, including existing and new 

20 mental health courts, with appropriate mental health 

21 and substance abuse treatment options; 

22 (3) maximize the use of alternatives to prosecu23 tion through diversion in appropriate cases involving 

24 non-violent offenders with mental illness; 
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1 (4) promote adequate training for criminal jus2 tice system personnel about mental illness and sub3 stance abuse disorders and the appropriate re4 sponses to people with such illnesses; 

5 (5) promote adequate training for mental health 

6 treatment personnel about criminal offenders with 

7 mental illness and the appropriate response to such 

8 offenders in the criminal justice system; 

9 (6) promote communication between criminal 

10 justice or juvenile justice personnel, mental health 

11 treatment personnel, nonviolent offenders with men12 tal illness, and other support services such as hous13 ing, job placement, community, and faith-based or14 ganizations; and 

15 (7) promote communication, collaboration, and 

16 intergovernmental partnerships among municipal, 

17 county, and State elected officials with respect to 

18 mentally ill offenders.

19 SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE MENTAL HEALTH AND 

20 CRIMINAL JUSTICE COLLABORATION PRO21 GRAM. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Omnibus Crime 

23 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 

24 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘PART HH—ADULT AND JUVENILE 

2 COLLABORATION PROGRAM GRANTS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 2991. ADULT AND JUVENILE COLLABORATION PRO4 GRAMS. 

5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 

6 definitions shall apply: 

7 ‘‘(1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘applicant’ means 

8 States, units of local government, Indian tribes, and 

9 tribal organizations that apply for a grant under this 

10 section. 

11 ‘‘(2) COLLABORATION PROGRAM.—The term 

12 ‘collaboration program’ means a program to promote 

13 public safety by ensuring access to adequate mental 

14 health and other treatment services for mentally ill 

15 adults or juveniles that is overseen cooperatively 

16 by—

17 ‘‘(A) a criminal justice agency, a juvenile 

18 justice agency, or a mental health court; and 

19 ‘‘(B) a mental health agency.

20 ‘‘(3) CRIMINAL OR JUVENILE JUSTICE AGEN21 CY.—The term ‘criminal or juvenile justice agency’ 

22 means an agency of a State or local government that 

23 is responsible for detection, arrest, enforcement, 

24 prosecution, defense, adjudication, incarceration, 

25 probation, or parole relating to the violation of the 

26 criminal laws of that State or local government. 
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1 ‘‘(4) DIVERSION AND ALTERNATIVE PROSECU2 TION AND SENTENCING.—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘diversion’ 

4 and ‘alternative prosecution and sentencing’ 

5 mean the appropriate use of effective mental 

6 health treatment alternatives to juvenile justice 

7 or criminal justice system institutional place8 ments for preliminarily qualified offenders. 

9 ‘‘(B) APPROPRIATE USE.—In this para10 graph, the term ‘appropriate use’ includes the 

11 discretion of the judge or supervising authority 

12 and the leveraging of justice sanctions to en13 courage compliance with treatment. 

14 ‘‘(5) MENTAL HEALTH AGENCY.—The term 

15 ‘mental health agency’ means an agency of a State 

16 or local government that is responsible for mental 

17 health services. 

18 ‘‘(6) MENTAL HEALTH COURT.—The term 

19 ‘mental health court’ means a judicial program that 

20 meets the requirements of part V of this title. 

21 ‘‘(7) MENTAL ILLNESS.—The term ‘mental ill22 ness’ means a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or 

23 emotional disorder—

24 ‘‘(A) of sufficient duration to meet diag25 nostic criteria within the most recent edition of 
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1 the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Men2 tal Disorders published by the American Psy3 chiatric Association; and 

4 ‘‘(B) that has resulted in functional im5 pairment that substantially interferes with or 

6 limits 1 or more major life activities. 

7 ‘‘(8) PRELIMINARILY QUALIFIED OFFENDER.—

8 The term ‘preliminarily qualified offender’ means an 

9 adult or juvenile who—

10 ‘‘(A)(i) previously or currently has been di11 agnosed by a qualified mental health profes12 sional as having a mental illness or co-occurring 

13 mental illness and substance abuse disorders; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) manifests obvious signs of mental ill15 ness or co-occurring mental illness and sub16 stance abuse disorders during arrest or confine17 ment or before any court; and 

18 ‘‘(B) has faced or is facing criminal 

19 charges and is deemed eligible by a designated 

20 pretrial screening and diversion process, or by 

21 a magistrate or judge, on the ground that the 

22 commission of the offense is the product of the 

23 person’s mental illness. 
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1 ‘‘(9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Department of Health and 

3 Human Services. 

4 ‘‘(10) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The 

5 term ‘unit of local government’ means any city, 

6 county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or 

7 other general purpose political subdivision of a 

8 State, including a State court, local court, or a gov9 ernmental agency located within a city, county, 

10 township, town, borough, parish, or village. 

11 ‘‘(b) PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in 

13 consultation with the Secretary, may award non14 renewable grants to eligible applicants to prepare a 

15 comprehensive plan for and implement an adult or 

16 juvenile collaboration program, which targets adults 

17 or juveniles with mental illness or co-occurring men18 tal illness and substance abuse disorders in order to 

19 promote public safety and public health. 

20 ‘‘(2) PURPOSES.—Grants awarded under this 

21 section shall be used to create or expand—

22 ‘‘(A) mental health courts or other court23 based programs for preliminarily qualified of24 fenders; 
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1 ‘‘(B) programs that offer specialized train2 ing to the officers and employees of a criminal 

3 or juvenile justice agency and mental health 

4 personnel in procedures for identifying the 

5 symptoms of mental illness and co-occurring 

6 mental illness and substance abuse disorders in 

7 order to respond appropriately to individuals 

8 with such illnesses; 

9 ‘‘(C) programs that support cooperative ef10 forts by criminal and juvenile justice agencies 

11 and mental health agencies to promote public 

12 safety by offering mental health treatment serv13 ices and, where appropriate, substance abuse 

14 treatment services for— 

15 ‘‘(i) preliminarily qualified offenders 

16 with mental illness or co-occurring mental 

17 illness and substance abuse disorders; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) adult offenders with mental ill19 ness during periods of incarceration, while 

20 under the supervision of a criminal justice

21 agency, or following release from correc22 tional facilities; and 

23 ‘‘(D) programs that support intergovern24 mental cooperation between State and local gov-
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1 ernments with respect to the mentally ill of2 fender. 

3 ‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To receive a planning 

5 grant or an implementation grant, the joint ap6 plicants shall prepare and submit a single appli7 cation to the Attorney General at such time, in 

8 such manner, and containing such information 

9 as the Attorney General and the Secretary shall 

10 reasonably require. An application under part V 

11 of this title may be made in conjunction with an 

12 application under this section. 

13 ‘‘(B) COMBINED PLANNING AND IMPLE14 MENTATION GRANT APPLICATION.—The Attor15 ney General and the Secretary shall develop a 

16 procedure under which applicants may apply at 

17 the same time and in a single application for a 

18 planning grant and an implementation grant, 

19 with receipt of the implementation grant condi20 tioned on successful completion of the activities 

21 funded by the planning grant. 

22 ‘‘(4) PLANNING GRANTS.—

23 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—The joint applicants 

24 may apply to the Attorney General for a non-
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1 renewable planning grant to develop a collabo2 ration program. 

3 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The Attorney General 

4 and the Secretary may not approve a planning 

5 grant unless the application for the grant in6 cludes or provides, at a minimum, for a budget 

7 and a budget justification, a description of the 

8 outcome measures that will be used to measure 

9 the effectiveness of the program in promoting 

10 public safety and public health, the activities 

11 proposed (including the provision of substance 

12 abuse treatment services, where appropriate) 

13 and a schedule for completion of such activities, 

14 and the personnel necessary to complete such 

15 activities. 

16 ‘‘(C) PERIOD OF GRANT.—A planning 

17 grant shall be effective for a period of 1 year, 

18 beginning on the first day of the month in 

19 which the planning grant is made. Applicants 

20 may not receive more than 1 such planning 

21 grant. 

22 ‘‘(D) AMOUNT.—The amount of a plan23 ning grant may not exceed $75,000, except that 

24 the Attorney General may, for good cause, ap25 prove a grant in a higher amount. 
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1 ‘‘(E) COLLABORATION SET ASIDE.—Up to 

2 5 percent of all planning funds shall be used to 

3 foster collaboration between State and local 

4 governments in furtherance of the purposes set 

5 forth in the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment 

6 and Crime Reduction Act of 2003. 

7 ‘‘(5) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—

8 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—Joint applicants that 

9 have prepared a planning grant application may 

10 apply to the Attorney General for approval of a 

11 nonrenewable implementation grant to develop 

12 a collaboration program.

13 ‘‘(B) COLLABORATION.—To receive an im14 plementation grant, the joint applicants shall—

15 ‘‘(i) document that at least 1 criminal 

16 or juvenile justice agency (which can in17 clude a mental health court) and 1 mental 

18 health agency will participate in the ad19 ministration of the collaboration program; 

20 ‘‘(ii) describe the responsibilities of 

21 each participating agency, including how 

22 each agency will use grant resources to 

23 jointly ensure that the provision of mental 

24 health treatment services is integrated with 
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1 the provision of substance abuse treatment 

2 services, where appropriate; 

3 ‘‘(iii) in the case of an application 

4 from a unit of local government, document 

5 that a State mental health authority has 

6 provided comment and review; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) involve, to the extent practicable, 

8 in developing the grant application—

9 ‘‘(I) individuals with mental ill10 ness or co-occurring mental illness 

11 and substance abuse disorders; or 

12 ‘‘(II) the families and advocates 

13 of such individuals under subclause 

14 (I). 

15 ‘‘(C) CONTENT.—To be eligible for an im16 plementation grant, joint applicants shall com17 ply with the following: 

18 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF TARGET POPU19 LATION.—Applicants for an implementa20 tion grant shall—

21 ‘‘(I) describe the population with 

22 mental illness or co-occurring mental 

23 illness and substance abuse disorders 

24 that is targeted for the collaboration 

25 program; and 
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1 ‘‘(II) develop guidelines that can 

2 be used by personnel of a criminal or 

3 juvenile justice agency to identify indi4 viduals with mental illness or co-oc5 curring mental illness and substance 

6 abuse disorders. 

7 ‘‘(ii) SERVICES.—Applicants for an 

8 implementation grant shall—

9 ‘‘(I) ensure that preliminarily 

10 qualified offenders who are to receive 

11 treatment services under the collabo12 ration program will first receive indi13 vidualized, needs-based assessments to 

14 determine, plan, and coordinate the 

15 most appropriate services for such in16 dividuals; 

17 ‘‘(II) specify plans for making 

18 mental health treatment services 

19 available and accessible to mentally ill 

20 offenders at the time of their release 

21 from the criminal justice system, in22 cluding outside of normal business 

23 hours; 

24 ‘‘(III) ensure that preliminarily 

25 qualified offenders served by the col-
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1 laboration program will have access to 

2 community-based mental health serv3 ices deemed appropriate by the Sec4 retary, or, where appropriate, inte5 grated substance abuse and mental 

6 health treatment services; 

7 ‘‘(IV) make available, to the ex8 tent practicable, other support serv9 ices that will ensure the preliminarily 

10 qualified offender’s successful re11 integration into the community (such 

12 as housing, education, job placement, 

13 mentoring, health care and benefits, 

14 as well as the services of faith-based 

15 and community organizations for 

16 mentally ill individuals served by the 

17 collaboration program); and 

18 ‘‘(V) include strategies to address 

19 developmental and learning disabilities 

20 and problems arising from a docu21 mented history of physical or sexual 

22 abuse. 

23 ‘‘(D) HOUSING AND JOB PLACEMENT.—

24 Recipients of an implementation grant may use 

25 grant funds to assist mentally ill offenders com-
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1 pliant with the program in seeking housing or 

2 employment assistance. 

3 ‘‘(E) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—Appli4 cants for an implementation grant shall strive 

5 to ensure prompt access to defense counsel by 

6 criminal defendants with mental illness who are 

7 facing charges that would trigger a constitu8 tional right to counsel. 

9 ‘‘(F) FINANCIAL.—Applicants for an im10 plementation grant shall—

11 ‘‘(i) explain the applicant’s inability to 

12 fund the collaboration program adequately 

13 without Federal assistance; 

14 ‘‘(ii) specify how the Federal support 

15 provided will be used to supplement, and 

16 not supplant, State, local, Indian tribe, or 

17 tribal organization sources of funding that 

18 would otherwise be available, including bill19 ing third-party resources for services al20 ready covered under programs (such as 

21 Medicaid, Medicare, and the State Chil22 dren’s Insurance Program); and 

23 ‘‘(iii) outline plans for obtaining nec24 essary support and continuing the pro-
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1 posed collaboration program following the 

2 conclusion of Federal support. 

3 ‘‘(G) OUTCOMES.—Applicants for an im4 plementation grant shall—

5 ‘‘(i) identify methodology and outcome 

6 measures, as required by the Attorney 

7 General and the Secretary, to be used in 

8 evaluating the effectiveness of the collabo9 ration program; 

10 ‘‘(ii) ensure mechanisms are in place 

11 to capture data, consistent with the meth12 odology and outcome measures under 

13 clause (i); and 

14 ‘‘(iii) submit specific agreements from 

15 affected agencies to provide the data need16 ed by the Attorney General and the Sec17 retary to accomplish the evaluation under 

18 clause (i). 

19 ‘‘(H) STATE PLANS.—Applicants for an 

20 implementation grant shall describe how the 

21 adult or juvenile collaboration program relates 

22 to existing State criminal or juvenile justice and 

23 mental health plans and programs. 
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1 ‘‘(I) USE OF FUNDS.—Applicants that re2 ceive an implementation grant may use funds 

3 for 1 or more of the following purposes: 

4 ‘‘(i) MENTAL HEALTH COURTS AND

5 DIVERSION/ALTERNATIVE PROSECUTION

6 AND SENTENCING PROGRAMS.—Funds may 

7 be used to create or expand existing men8 tal health courts that meet program re9 quirements established by the Attorney 

10 General under part V of this title or diver11 sion and alternative prosecution and sen12 tencing programs (including crisis inter13 vention teams and treatment accountability 

14 services for communities) that meet re15 quirements established by the Attorney 

16 General and the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(ii) TRAINING.—Funds may be used 

18 to create or expand programs, such as cri19 sis intervention training, which offer spe20 cialized training to—

21 ‘‘(I) criminal justice system per22 sonnel to identify and respond appro23 priately to the unique needs of an

24 adult or juvenile with mental illness or 
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1 co-occurring mental illness and sub2 stance abuse disorders; or 

3 ‘‘(II) mental health system per4 sonnel to respond appropriately to the 

5 treatment needs of preliminarily quali6 fied offenders. 

7 ‘‘(iii) SERVICE DELIVERY.—Funds 

8 may be used to create or expand programs 

9 that promote public safety by providing the 

10 services described in subparagraph (C)(ii) 

11 to preliminarily qualified offenders. 

12 ‘‘(iv) IN-JAIL AND TRANSITIONAL

13 SERVICES.—Funds may be used to pro14 mote and provide mental health treatment 

15 for those incarcerated or for transitional 

16 re-entry programs for those released from 

17 any penal or correctional institution. 

18 ‘‘(J) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF

19 GRANTS.—The Attorney General, in consulta20 tion with the Secretary, shall ensure that plan21 ning and implementation grants are equitably 

22 distributed among the geographical regions of 

23 the United States and between urban and rural 

24 populations. 
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1 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—The Attorney General, in awarding 

2 funds under this section, shall give priority to applications 

3 that—

4 ‘‘(1) demonstrate the strongest commitment to 

5 ensuring that such funds are used to promote both 

6 public health and public safety; 

7 ‘‘(2) demonstrate the active participation of 

8 each co-applicant in the administration of the col9 laboration program; and 

10 ‘‘(3) have the support of both the Attorney 

11 General and the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(d) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—

13 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

14 the cost of a collaboration program carried out by a 

15 State, unit of local government, Indian tribe, or trib16 al organization under this section shall not exceed—

17 ‘‘(A) 80 percent of the total cost of the 

18 program during the first 2 years of the grant; 

19 ‘‘(B) 60 percent of the total cost of the 

20 program in year 3; and 

21 ‘‘(C) 25 percent of the total cost of the 

22 program in years 4 and 5. 

23 ‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

24 share of payments made under this section may be 
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1 made in cash or in-kind fairly evaluated, including 

2 planned equipment or services. 

3 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL USE OF FUNDS.—The Attorney Gen4 eral, in consultation with the Secretary, in administering 

5 grants under this section, may use up to 3 percent of 

6 funds appropriated to—

7 ‘‘(1) research the use of alternatives to prosecu8 tion through pretrial diversion in appropriate cases 

9 involving individuals with mental illness; 

10 ‘‘(2) offer specialized training to personnel of 

11 criminal and juvenile justice agencies in appropriate 

12 diversion techniques; 

13 ‘‘(3) provide technical assistance to local gov14 ernments, mental health courts, and diversion pro15 grams, including technical assistance relating to pro16 gram evaluation; 

17 ‘‘(4) help localities build public understanding 

18 and support for community reintegration of individ19 uals with mental illness; 

20 ‘‘(5) develop a uniform program evaluation 

21 process; and 

22 ‘‘(6) conduct a national evaluation of the col23 laboration program that will include an assessment 

24 of its cost-effectiveness. 

25 ‘‘(f) INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General and 

2 the Secretary shall establish an interagency task 

3 force with the Secretaries of Housing and Urban 

4 Development, Labor, Education, and Veterans Af5 fairs and the Commissioner of Social Security, or 

6 their designees. 

7 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The task force estab8 lished under paragraph (1) shall—

9 ‘‘(A) identify policies within their depart10 ments which hinder or facilitate local collabo11 rative initiatives for adults or juveniles with 

12 mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and 

13 substance abuse disorders; and 

14 ‘‘(B) submit, not later than 2 years after 

15 the date of enactment of this section, a report 

16 to Congress containing recommendations for 

17 improved interdepartmental collaboration re18 garding the provision of services to adults and 

19 juveniles with mental illness or co-occurring 

20 mental illness and substance abuse disorders. 

21 ‘‘(g) MINIMUM ALLOCATION.—Unless all eligible ap22 plications submitted by any State or unit of local govern23 ment within such State for a planning or implementation 

24 grant under this section have been funded, such State, to25 gether with grantees within the State (other than Indian 
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1 tribes), shall be allocated in each fiscal year under this 

2 section not less than 0.75 percent of the total amount ap3 propriated in the fiscal year for planning or implementa4 tion grants pursuant to this section. 

5 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of 

7 Justice to carry out this section—

8 ‘‘(1) $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 

9 and 2005; and 

10 ‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for fiscal 

11 years 2006 through 2008.’’. 

12 (b) LIST OF ‘‘BEST PRACTICES’’.—The Attorney 

13 General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and 

14 Human Services, shall develop a list of ‘‘best practices’’ 

15 for appropriate diversion from incarceration of adult and 

16 juvenile offenders. 

17 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

18 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

19 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended by add20 ing at the end the following:

‘‘PART HH—ADULT AND JUVENILE COLLABORATION PROGRAM GRANTS

‘‘Sec. 2991. Adult and juvenile collaboration programs.’’.

Æ