PUBLIC LAW 108–414—OCT. 30, 2004 118 STAT. 2327

Public Law 108–414

108th Congress

An Act

To foster local collaborations which will ensure that resources are effectively and

efficiently used within the criminal and juvenile justice systems.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

and Crime Reduction Act of 2004’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, over 16

percent of adults incarcerated in United States jails and prisons

have a mental illness.

(2) According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, approximately 20 percent of youth in the

juvenile justice system have serious mental health problems,

and a significant number have co-occurring mental health and

substance abuse disorders.

(3) According to the National Alliance for the Mentally

Ill, up to 40 percent of adults who suffer from a serious mental

illness will come into contact with the American criminal justice

system at some point in their lives.

(4) According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, over 150,000 juveniles who come into

contact with the juvenile justice system each year meet the

diagnostic criteria for at least 1 mental or emotional disorder.

(5) A significant proportion of adults with a serious mental

illness who are involved with the criminal justice system are

homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness, and many of

these individuals are arrested and jailed for minor, nonviolent

offenses.

(6) The majority of individuals with a mental illness or

emotional disorder who are involved in the criminal or juvenile

justice systems are responsive to medical and psychological

interventions that integrate treatment, rehabilitation, and support services.

(7) Collaborative programs between mental health, substance abuse, and criminal or juvenile justice systems that

ensure the provision of services for those with mental illness

or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorders

can reduce the number of such individuals in adult and juvenile

corrections facilities, while providing improved public safety.

42 USC 3797aa

note.

42 USC 3711

note.

Mentally Ill

Offender

Treatment and

Crime Reduction

Act of 2004.

Oct. 30, 2004

[S. 1194]

118 STAT. 2328 PUBLIC LAW 108–414—OCT. 30, 2004

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

The purpose of this Act is to increase public safety by facilitating collaboration among the criminal justice, juvenile justice,

mental health treatment, and substance abuse systems. Such

collaboration is needed to—

(1) protect public safety by intervening with adult and

juvenile offenders with mental illness or co-occurring mental

illness and substance abuse disorders;

(2) provide courts, including existing and new mental

health courts, with appropriate mental health and substance

abuse treatment options;

(3) maximize the use of alternatives to prosecution through

graduated sanctions in appropriate cases involving nonviolent

offenders with mental illness;

(4) promote adequate training for criminal justice system

personnel about mental illness and substance abuse disorders

and the appropriate responses to people with such illnesses;

(5) promote adequate training for mental health and substance abuse treatment personnel about criminal offenders with

mental illness or co-occurring substance abuse disorders and

the appropriate response to such offenders in the criminal

justice system;

(6) promote communication among adult or juvenile justice

personnel, mental health and co-occurring mental illness and

substance abuse disorders treatment personnel, nonviolent

offenders with mental illness or co-occurring mental illness

and substance abuse disorders, and support services such as

housing, job placement, community, faith-based, and crime victims organizations; and

(7) promote communication, collaboration, and intergovernmental partnerships among municipal, county, and State

elected officials with respect to mentally ill offenders.

SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE MENTAL HEALTH AND CRIMINAL

JUSTICE COLLABORATION PROGRAM.

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

Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended

by adding at the end the following:

‘‘PART HH—ADULT AND JUVENILE

COLLABORATION PROGRAM GRANTS

‘‘SEC. 2991. ADULT AND JUVENILE COLLABORATION PROGRAMS.

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

shall apply:

‘‘(1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘applicant’ means States, units

of local government, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations

that apply for a grant under this section.

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

program’ means a program to promote public safety by ensuring

access to adequate mental health and other treatment services

for mentally ill adults or juveniles that is overseen cooperatively

by—

‘‘(A) a criminal or juvenile justice agency or a mental

health court; and

‘‘(B) a mental health agency.

42 USC 3797aa.

42 USC 3797aa

note.

PUBLIC LAW 108–414—OCT. 30, 2004 118 STAT. 2329

‘‘(3) CRIMINAL OR JUVENILE JUSTICE AGENCY.—The term

‘criminal or juvenile justice agency’ means an agency of a

State or local government or its contracted agency that is

responsible for detection, arrest, enforcement, prosecution,

defense, adjudication, incarceration, probation, or parole

relating to the violation of the criminal laws of that State

or local government.

‘‘(4) DIVERSION AND ALTERNATIVE PROSECUTION AND SENTENCING.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘diversion’ and ‘alternative prosecution and sentencing’ mean the appropriate

use of effective mental health treatment alternatives to

juvenile justice or criminal justice system institutional

placements for preliminarily qualified offenders.

‘‘(B) APPROPRIATE USE.—In this paragraph, the term

‘appropriate use’ includes the discretion of the judge or

supervising authority, the leveraging of graduated sanctions to encourage compliance with treatment, and law

enforcement diversion, including crisis intervention teams.

‘‘(C) GRADUATED SANCTIONS.—In this paragraph, the

term ‘graduated sanctions’ means an accountability-based

graduated series of sanctions (including incentives, treatments, and services) applicable to mentally ill offenders

within both the juvenile and adult justice system to hold

individuals accountable for their actions and to protect

communities by providing appropriate sanctions for

inducing law-abiding behavior and preventing subsequent

involvement in the criminal justice system.

‘‘(5) MENTAL HEALTH AGENCY.—The term ‘mental health

agency’ means an agency of a State or local government or

its contracted agency that is responsible for mental health

services or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse

services.

‘‘(6) MENTAL HEALTH COURT.—The term ‘mental health

court’ means a judicial program that meets the requirements

of part V of this title.

‘‘(7) MENTAL ILLNESS.—The term ‘mental illness’ means

a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder—

‘‘(A) of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria

within the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association; and

‘‘(B)(i) that, in the case of an adult, has resulted in

functional impairment that substantially interferes with

or limits 1 or more major life activities; or

‘‘(ii) that, in the case of a juvenile, has resulted in

functional impairment that substantially interferes with

or limits the juvenile’s role or functioning in family, school,

or community activities.

‘‘(8) NONVIOLENT OFFENSE.—The term ‘nonviolent offense’

means an offense that does not have as an element the use,

attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the

person or property of another or is not a felony that by its

nature involves a substantial risk that physical force against

the person or property of another may be used in the course

of committing the offense.

118 STAT. 2330 PUBLIC LAW 108–414—OCT. 30, 2004

‘‘(9) PRELIMINARILY QUALIFIED OFFENDER.—The term

‘preliminarily qualified offender’ means an adult or juvenile

accused of a nonviolent offense who—

‘‘(A)(i) previously or currently has been diagnosed by

a qualified mental health professional as having a mental

illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse

disorders; or

‘‘(ii) manifests obvious signs of mental illness or cooccurring mental illness and substance abuse disorders

during arrest or confinement or before any court; and

‘‘(B) has faced, is facing, or could face criminal charges

for a misdemeanor or nonviolent offense and is deemed

eligible by a diversion process, designated pretrial

screening process, or by a magistrate or judge, on the

ground that the commission of the offense is the product

of the person’s mental illness.

‘‘(10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

‘‘(11) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘unit of local

government’ means any city, county, township, town, borough,

parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision

of a State, including a State court, local court, or a governmental agency located within a city, county, township, town,

borough, parish, or village.

‘‘(b) PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—

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

with the Secretary, may award nonrenewable grants to eligible

applicants to prepare a comprehensive plan for and implement

an adult or juvenile collaboration program, which targets

preliminarily qualified offenders in order to promote public

safety and public health.

‘‘(2) PURPOSES.—Grants awarded under this section shall

be used to create or expand—

‘‘(A) mental health courts or other court-based programs for preliminarily qualified offenders;

‘‘(B) programs that offer specialized training to the

officers and employees of a criminal or juvenile justice

agency and mental health personnel serving those with

co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse problems

in procedures for identifying the symptoms of preliminarily

qualified offenders in order to respond appropriately to

individuals with such illnesses;

‘‘(C) programs that support cooperative efforts by

criminal and juvenile justice agencies and mental health

agencies to promote public safety by offering mental health

treatment services and, where appropriate, substance

abuse treatment services for—

‘‘(i) preliminarily qualified offenders with mental

illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance

abuse disorders; or

‘‘(ii) adult offenders with mental illness during

periods of incarceration, while under the supervision

of a criminal justice agency, or following release from

correctional facilities; and

‘‘(D) programs that support intergovernmental cooperation between State and local governments with respect

to the mentally ill offender.

PUBLIC LAW 108–414—OCT. 30, 2004 118 STAT. 2331

‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To receive a planning grant or an

implementation grant, the joint applicants shall prepare

and submit a single application to the Attorney General

at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Attorney General and the Secretary shall

reasonably require. An application under part V of this

title may be made in conjunction with an application under

this section.

‘‘(B) COMBINED PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION GRANT

APPLICATION.—The Attorney General and the Secretary

shall develop a procedure under which applicants may

apply at the same time and in a single application for

a planning grant and an implementation grant, with receipt

of the implementation grant conditioned on successful

completion of the activities funded by the planning grant.

‘‘(4) PLANNING GRANTS.—

‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—The joint applicants may apply to

the Attorney General for a nonrenewable planning grant

to develop a collaboration program.

‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The Attorney General and the Secretary may not approve a planning grant unless the

application for the grant includes or provides, at a minimum, for a budget and a budget justification, a description

of the outcome measures that will be used to measure

the effectiveness of the program in promoting public safety

and public health, the activities proposed (including the

provision of substance abuse treatment services, where

appropriate) and a schedule for completion of such activities, and the personnel necessary to complete such activities.

‘‘(C) PERIOD OF GRANT.—A planning grant shall be

effective for a period of 1 year, beginning on the first

day of the month in which the planning grant is made.

Applicants may not receive more than 1 such planning

grant.

‘‘(D) AMOUNT.—The amount of a planning grant may

not exceed $75,000, except that the Attorney General may,

for good cause, approve a grant in a higher amount.

‘‘(E) COLLABORATION SET ASIDE.—Up to 5 percent of

all planning funds shall be used to foster collaboration

between State and local governments in furtherance of

the purposes set forth in the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004.

‘‘(5) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—

‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—Joint applicants that have prepared a planning grant application may apply to the

Attorney General for approval of a nonrenewable

implementation grant to develop a collaboration program.

‘‘(B) COLLABORATION.—To receive an implementation

grant, the joint applicants shall—

‘‘(i) document that at least 1 criminal or juvenile

justice agency (which can include a mental health

court) and 1 mental health agency will participate

in the administration of the collaboration program;

‘‘(ii) describe the responsibilities of each participating agency, including how each agency will use

Procedures.

118 STAT. 2332 PUBLIC LAW 108–414—OCT. 30, 2004

grant resources to provide supervision of offenders and

jointly ensure that the provision of mental health treatment services and substance abuse services for individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance

abuse disorders are coordinated, which may range from

consultation or collaboration to integration in a single

setting or treatment model;

‘‘(iii) in the case of an application from a unit

of local government, document that a State mental

health authority has provided comment and review;

and

‘‘(iv) involve, to the extent practicable, in developing the grant application—

‘‘(I) preliminarily qualified offenders;

‘‘(II) the families and advocates of such individuals under subclause (I); and

‘‘(III) advocates for victims of crime.

‘‘(C) CONTENT.—To be eligible for an implementation

grant, joint applicants shall comply with the following:

‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF TARGET POPULATION.—

Applicants for an implementation grant shall—

‘‘(I) describe the population with mental illness

or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse

disorders that is targeted for the collaboration program; and

‘‘(II) develop guidelines that can be used by

personnel of an adult or juvenile justice agency

to identify preliminarily qualified offenders.

‘‘(ii) SERVICES.—Applicants for an implementation

grant shall—

‘‘(I) ensure that preliminarily qualified

offenders who are to receive treatment services

under the collaboration program will first receive

individualized, validated, needs-based assessments

to determine, plan, and coordinate the most appropriate services for such individuals;

‘‘(II) specify plans for making mental health,

or mental health and substance abuse, treatment

services available and accessible to preliminarily

qualified offenders at the time of their release

from the criminal justice system, including outside

of normal business hours;

‘‘(III) ensure that there are substance abuse

personnel available to respond appropriately to the

treatment needs of preliminarily qualified

offenders;

‘‘(IV) determine eligibility for Federal benefits;

‘‘(V) ensure that preliminarily qualified

offenders served by the collaboration program will

have adequate supervision and access to effective

and appropriate community-based mental health

services, including, in the case of individuals with

co-occurring mental health and substance abuse

disorders, coordinated services, which may range

from consultation or collaboration to integration

in a single setting treatment model;

PUBLIC LAW 108–414—OCT. 30, 2004 118 STAT. 2333

‘‘(VI) make available, to the extent practicable,

other support services that will ensure the preliminarily qualified offender’s successful reintegration

into the community (such as housing, education,

job placement, mentoring, and health care and

benefits, as well as the services of faith-based and

community organizations for mentally ill individuals served by the collaboration program); and

‘‘(VII) include strategies, to the extent practicable, to address developmental and learning

disabilities and problems arising from a documented history of physical or sexual abuse.

‘‘(D) HOUSING AND JOB PLACEMENT.—Recipients of an

implementation grant may use grant funds to assist mentally ill offenders compliant with the program in seeking

housing or employment assistance.

‘‘(E) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—Applicants for an

implementation grant shall strive to ensure prompt access

to defense counsel by criminal defendants with mental

illness who are facing charges that would trigger a constitutional right to counsel.

‘‘(F) FINANCIAL.—Applicants for an implementation

grant shall—

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

collaboration program adequately without Federal

assistance;

‘‘(ii) specify how the Federal support provided will

be used to supplement, and not supplant, State, local,

Indian tribe, or tribal organization sources of funding

that would otherwise be available, including billing

third-party resources for services already covered

under programs (such as Medicaid, Medicare, and the

State Children’s Insurance Program); and

‘‘(iii) outline plans for obtaining necessary support

and continuing the proposed collaboration program following the conclusion of Federal support.

‘‘(G) OUTCOMES.—Applicants for an implementation

grant shall—

‘‘(i) identify methodology and outcome measures,

as required by the Attorney General and the Secretary,

to be used in evaluating the effectiveness of the

collaboration program;

‘‘(ii) ensure mechanisms are in place to capture

data, consistent with the methodology and outcome

measures under clause (i); and

‘‘(iii) submit specific agreements from affected

agencies to provide the data needed by the Attorney

General and the Secretary to accomplish the evaluation

under clause (i).

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

grant shall describe how the adult or juvenile collaboration

program relates to existing State criminal or juvenile justice and mental health plans and programs.

‘‘(I) USE OF FUNDS.—Applicants that receive an

implementation grant may use funds for 1 or more of

the following purposes:

118 STAT. 2334 PUBLIC LAW 108–414—OCT. 30, 2004

‘‘(i) MENTAL HEALTH COURTS AND DIVERSION/ALTER- NATIVE PROSECUTION AND SENTENCING PROGRAMS.— Funds may be used to create or expand existing mental

health courts that meet program requirements established by the Attorney General under part V of this

title, other court-based programs, or diversion and

alternative prosecution and sentencing programs

(including crisis intervention teams and treatment

accountability services for communities) that meet

requirements established by the Attorney General and

the Secretary.

‘‘(ii) TRAINING.—Funds may be used to create or

expand programs, such as crisis intervention training,

which offer specialized training to—

‘‘(I) criminal justice system personnel to identify and respond appropriately to the unique needs

of preliminarily qualified offenders; or

‘‘(II) mental health system personnel to

respond appropriately to the treatment needs of

preliminarily qualified offenders.

‘‘(iii) SERVICE DELIVERY.—Funds may be used to

create or expand programs that promote public safety

by providing the services described in subparagraph

(C)(ii) to preliminarily qualified offenders.

‘‘(iv) IN-JAIL AND TRANSITIONAL SERVICES.—Funds

may be used to promote and provide mental health

treatment and transitional services for those incarcerated or for transitional re-entry programs for those

released from any penal or correctional institution.

‘‘(J) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS.—The

Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary, shall

ensure that planning and implementation grants are equitably distributed among the geographical regions of the

United States and between urban and rural populations.

‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—The Attorney General, in awarding funds under

this section, shall give priority to applications that—

‘‘(1) demonstrate the strongest commitment to ensuring

that such funds are used to promote both public health and

public safety;

‘‘(2) demonstrate the active participation of each coapplicant in the administration of the collaboration program;

‘‘(3) document, in the case of an application for a grant

to be used in whole or in part to fund treatment services

for adults or juveniles during periods of incarceration or detention, that treatment programs will be available to provide

transition and re-entry services for such individuals; and

‘‘(4) have the support of both the Attorney General and

the Secretary.

‘‘(d) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—

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

a collaboration program carried out by a State, unit of local

government, Indian tribe, or tribal organization under this

section shall not exceed—

‘‘(A) 80 percent of the total cost of the program during

the first 2 years of the grant;

‘‘(B) 60 percent of the total cost of the program in

year 3; and

PUBLIC LAW 108–414—OCT. 30, 2004 118 STAT. 2335

‘‘(C) 25 percent of the total cost of the program in

years 4 and 5.

‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal share of payments made under this section may be made in cash or inkind fairly evaluated, including planned equipment or services.

‘‘(e) FEDERAL USE OF FUNDS.—The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary, in administering grants under this

section, may use up to 3 percent of funds appropriated to—

‘‘(1) research the use of alternatives to prosecution through

pretrial diversion in appropriate cases involving individuals

with mental illness;

‘‘(2) offer specialized training to personnel of criminal and

juvenile justice agencies in appropriate diversion techniques;

‘‘(3) provide technical assistance to local governments,

mental health courts, and diversion programs, including technical assistance relating to program evaluation;

‘‘(4) help localities build public understanding and support

for community reintegration of individuals with mental illness;

‘‘(5) develop a uniform program evaluation process; and

‘‘(6) conduct a national evaluation of the collaboration program that will include an assessment of its cost-effectiveness.

‘‘(f) INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General and the Secretary

shall establish an interagency task force with the Secretaries

of Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Education, and

Veterans Affairs and the Commissioner of Social Security, or

their designees.

‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The task force established under

paragraph (1) shall—

‘‘(A) identify policies within their departments that

hinder or facilitate local collaborative initiatives for preliminarily qualified offenders; and

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

of enactment of this section, a report to Congress containing

recommendations for improved interdepartmental

collaboration regarding the provision of services to preliminarily qualified offenders.

‘‘(g) MINIMUM ALLOCATION.—Unless all eligible applications

submitted by any State or unit of local government within such

State for a planning or implementation grant under this section

have been funded, such State, together with grantees within the

State (other than Indian tribes), shall be allocated in each fiscal

year under this section not less than 0.75 percent of the total

amount appropriated in the fiscal year for planning or implementation grants pursuant to this section.

‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized

to be appropriated to the Department of Justice to carry out this

section—

‘‘(1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; and

‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2006

through 2009.’’.

(b) LIST OF ‘‘BEST PRACTICES’’.—The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall

Reports.

Deadline.

Establishment.

118 STAT. 2336 PUBLIC LAW 108–414—OCT. 30, 2004

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 1194:

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 108–732 (Comm. on the Judiciary).

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:

Vol. 149 (2003): Oct. 27, considered and passed Senate.

Vol. 150 (2004): Oct. 6, considered and passed House, amended.

Oct. 11, Senate concurred in House amendment.

Æ

develop a list of ‘‘best practices’’ for appropriate diversion from

incarceration of adult and juvenile offenders.

Approved October 30, 2004.