IC 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 946 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 20, 2018 

Referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to hire additional Veterans Justice Outreach Specialists to provide 

treatment court services to justice-involved veterans, and 

for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Treatment 

3 Court Improvement Act of 2018’’. 

4 SEC. 2. HIRING BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

5 OF ADDITIONAL VETERANS JUSTICE OUT6 REACH SPECIALISTS. 

7 (a) HIRING OF ADDITIONAL VETERANS JUSTICE

8 OUTREACH SPECIALISTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary of Veterans Affairs shall hire not fewer than 

12 50 Veterans Justice Outreach Specialists and place 

13 each such Veterans Justice Outreach Specialist at 

14 an eligible Department of Veterans Affairs medical 

15 center in accordance with this section. 

16 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall en17 sure that each Veterans Justice Outreach Specialist 

18 employed under paragraph (1)— 

19 (A) serves, either exclusively or in addition 

20 to other duties, as part of a justice team in a 

21 veterans treatment court or other veteran-fo22 cused court; and 

23 (B) otherwise meets Department hiring 

24 guidelines for Veterans Justice Outreach Spe25 cialists. 


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1 (3) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—The Sec2 retary shall ensure that the total number of Vet3 erans Justice Outreach Specialists employed by the 

4 Department is not less than the sum of— 

5 (A) the total number of Veterans Justice 

6 Outreach Specialists that were employed by the 

7 Department on the day before the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act; and 

9 (B) the number of Veterans Justice Out10 reach Specialists set forth in paragraph (1). 

11 (b) ELIGIBLE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

12 MEDICAL CENTERS.—For purposes of this section, an eli13 gible Department of Veterans Affairs medical center is 

14 any Department of Veterans Affairs medical center that— 

15 (1) complies with all Department guidelines and 

16 regulations for placement of a Veterans Justice Out17 reach Specialist; 

18 (2) works within a local criminal justice system 

19 with justice-involved veterans; 

20 (3) maintains an affiliation with one or more 

21 veterans treatment courts or other veteran-focused 

22 courts; and 

23 (4) either— 

24 (A) routinely provides Veterans Justice 

25 Outreach Specialists to serve as part of a jusVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:46 Feb 20, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S946.RFH S946

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1 tice team in a veterans treatment court or other 

2 veteran-focused court; or 

3 (B) establishes a plan that is approved by 

4 the Secretary to provide Veterans Justice Out5 reach Specialists employed under subsection 

6 (a)(1) to serve as part of a justice team in a 

7 veterans treatment court or other veteran-fo8 cused court. 

9 (c) PLACEMENT PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall 

10 prioritize the placement of Veterans Justice Outreach Spe11 cialists employed under subsection (a)(1) at eligible De12 partment of Veterans Affairs medical centers that have 

13 or intend to establish an affiliation, for the purpose of car14 rying out the Veterans Justice Outreach Program, with 

15 a veterans treatment court, or other veteran-focused court, 

16 that— 

17 (1) was established on or after the date of the 

18 enactment of this Act; or 

19 (2)(A) was established before the date of the 

20 enactment of this Act; and 

21 (B) is not fully staffed with Veterans Justice 

22 Outreach Specialists. 

23 (d) REPORTS.— 

24 (1) PERIODIC REPORTS BY SECRETARY OF VET25 ERANS AFFAIRS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

3 not less frequently than once every year there4 after, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

5 submit to Congress a report on the implementa6 tion of this section and its effect on the Vet7 erans Justice Outreach Program. 

8 (B) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted 

9 under paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

10 (i) The status of the efforts of the 

11 Secretary to hire Veterans Justice Out12 reach Specialists pursuant to subsection 

13 (a)(1), including the total number of Vet14 erans Justice Outreach Specialists hired by 

15 the Secretary pursuant to such subsection 

16 and the number that the Secretary expects 

17 to hire pursuant to such subsection. 

18 (ii) The total number of Veterans 

19 Justice Outreach Specialists assigned to 

20 each Department of Veterans Affairs med21 ical center that participates in the Vet22 erans Justice Outreach Program, including 

23 the number of Veterans Justice Outreach 

24 Specialists hired under subsection (a)(1) 


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1 disaggregated by Department of Veterans 

2 Affairs medical center. 

3 (iii) The total number of eligible De4 partment of Veterans Affairs medical cen5 ters that sought placement of a Veterans 

6 Justice Outreach Specialist under sub7 section (a)(1), how many Veterans Justice 

8 Outreach Specialists each such center 

9 sought, and how many of such medical 

10 centers received no placement of a Vet11 erans Justice Outreach Specialist under 

12 subsection (a)(1). 

13 (iv) The total number of justice-in14 volved veterans who were served or are ex15 pected to be served by a Veterans Justice 

16 Outreach Specialist hired under subsection 

17 (a)(1). 

18 (2) REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF

19 THE UNITED STATES.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two 

21 years after the date of the enactment of this 

22 Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

23 States shall submit to Congress a report on the 

24 implementation of this section and the effective25 ness of the Veterans Justice Outreach Program. 


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1 (B) CONTENTS.—The report required by 

2 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 

3 (i) An assessment of whether the Sec4 retary has fulfilled the Secretary’s obliga5 tions under this section. 

6 (ii) The number of veterans who are 

7 served by Veterans Justice Outreach Spe8 cialists hired under subsection (a)(1), 

9 disaggregated by demographics (including 

10 discharge status). 

11 (iii) An identification of any sub12 groups of veterans who underutilize serv13 ices provided under laws administered by 

14 the Secretary and to which they are re15 ferred by a Veterans Justice Outreach 

16 Specialist. 

17 (iv) Such recommendations as the 

18 Comptroller General may have for the Sec19 retary to improve the effectiveness of the 

20 Veterans Justice Outreach Program. 

21 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

23 appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 

24 carry out subsection (a) $5,500,000 for each of fis25 cal years 2018 through 2028. 


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1 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF OFFSETS.—The Sec2 retary shall submit to Congress a report that identi3 fies such legislative or administrative actions as the 

4 Secretary determines will result in a reduction in ex5 penditures by the Department of Veterans Affairs 

6 that is equal to or greater than the amounts author7 ized to be appropriated by paragraph (1). 

8 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) JUSTICE TEAM.—The term ‘‘justice team’’ 

10 means the group of individuals, which may include 

11 a judge, court coordinator, prosecutor, public de12 fender, treatment provider, probation or other law 

13 enforcement officer, program mentor, and Veterans 

14 Justice Outreach Specialist, who assist justice-in15 volved veterans in a veterans treatment court or 

16 other veteran-focused court. 

17 (2) JUSTICE-INVOLVED VETERAN.—The term 

18 ‘‘justice-involved veteran’’ means a veteran with ac19 tive, ongoing, or recent contact with some compo20 nent of a local criminal justice system. 

21 (3) LOCAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.—The 

22 term ‘‘local criminal justice system’’ means law en23 forcement, jails, prisons, and Federal, State, and 

24 local courts. 


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1 (4) VETERANS JUSTICE OUTREACH PRO2 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Veterans Justice Outreach Pro3 gram’’ means the program through which the De4 partment of Veterans Affairs identifies justice-in5 volved veterans and provides such veterans with ac6 cess to Department services. 

7 (5) VETERANS JUSTICE OUTREACH SPE8 CIALIST.—The term ‘‘Veterans Justice Outreach 

9 Specialist’’ means an employee of the Department of 

10 Veterans Affairs who serves as a liaison between the 

11 Department and the local criminal justice system on 

12 behalf of a justice-involved veteran. 

13 (6) VETERANS TREATMENT COURT.—The term 

14 ‘‘veterans treatment court’’ means a Federal, State, 

15 or local court that is participating in the veterans 

16 treatment court program (as defined in section 

17 2991(i)(1) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

18 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa(i)(1))). 

Passed the Senate February 15, 2018. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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