I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1853 

To authorize the Attorney General, in consultation with the Director of 

the National Institute of Mental Health, to carry out a pilot program 

in correctional facilities in order to provide mental health services and 

other social services to eligible individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2017 

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

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize the Attorney General, in consultation with the 

Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, to 

carry out a pilot program in correctional facilities in 

order to provide mental health services and other social 

services to eligible individuals, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Kalief Browder Re5 entry Success Act of 2017’’ or ‘‘Kalief’s Law’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MENTAL HEALTHCARE PILOT PROGRAM FOR PRIS2 ONERS UPON RELEASE. 

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General, in con4 sultation with the Director of the National Institute of 

5 Mental Health, shall carry out a pilot program in not more 

6 than 5 correctional facilities owned and operated by the 

7 Bureau of Prisons and not more than 5 correctional facili8 ties owned or operated by a State or local department of 

9 corrections in order to provide mental health services and 

10 other social services to eligible individuals in accordance 

11 with subsection (b). 

12 (b) AVAILABILITY OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.— 

13 The head of a correctional facility that is participating in 

14 the pilot program under this section shall enter into a con15 tract with a provider of mental health services and pro16 viders of other social services in order to provide, for eligi17 ble individuals, the following: 

18 (1) A comprehensive screening of the individ19 ual’s mental health prior to the individual’s release 

20 from custody. 

21 (2) Upon release from a correctional facility, 

22 access to mental health services and other social 

23 services, including measures to facilitate the individ24 ual’s access to— 

25 (A) evidence-based psychosocial interven26 tions; 


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1 (B) necessary psychiatric medications, in2 cluding re-evaluation by a psychiatrist who may 

3 prescribe medications that are different than 

4 those eligible individuals received in a correc5 tional setting; 

6 (C) the individual’s medical records from 

7 the correctional facility; and 

8 (D) services to assist the individual in ob9 taining housing, employment, and personal 

10 records, including records which may be re11 quired to obtain a personal identification card. 

12 (c) APPLICATION FOR STATE AND LOCAL CORREC13 TIONAL FACILITIES.—The head of a State or local depart14 ment of corrections seeking to participate in the pilot pro15 gram under this section shall submit to the Attorney Gen16 eral an application at such time, in such manner, and con17 taining such information as the Attorney General may rea18 sonably require, including a plan to provide the services 

19 described in subsection (b). 

20 (d) FEDERAL PRISONS.—The Attorney General, in 

21 consultation with the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, 

22 shall select the 5 Federal correctional facilities to partici23 pate in the pilot program under this section. 

24 (e) PRIORITY.—In determining which correctional fa25 cilities to select for the pilot program under this section, 


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1 the Attorney General shall give priority to correctional fa2 cilities at which— 

3 (1) a high percentage of prisoners spend time 

4 in restrictive housing; or 

5 (2) there is a high percentage of recidivism and 

6 reincarceration among individuals recently released 

7 from that correctional facility. 

8 (f) INCLUSION OF MALE AND FEMALE CORREC9 TIONAL FACILITIES.—At least one correctional facility 

10 participating in the pilot program shall be a correctional 

11 facility at which only females are incarcerated, and at least 

12 one correctional facility participating in the pilot program 

13 shall be a correctional facility at which only males are in14 carcerated. 

15 (g) CERTAIN CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES INELI16 GIBLE.—A correctional facility which is owned or operated 

17 by a private company with which a State, unit of local 

18 government, or the Bureau of Prisons has a contract is 

19 ineligible to participate in the pilot program under this 

20 section. 

21 (h) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall termi22 nate on the date which is 2 years after the funds to carry 

23 out the pilot program are distributed to the correctional 

24 facilities participating in the pilot program. 


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1 (i) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the conclu2 sion of the pilot program under this section, the Attorney 

3 General, in consultation with the Director of the National 

4 Institute of Mental Health, shall submit to Congress a re5 port that contains the following information: 

6 (1) Demographics of the eligible individuals who 

7 used the mental health services and other social 

8 services made available under the pilot program, in9 cluding information relating to race, ethnicity, age, 

10 types of disability, and gender. 

11 (2) A description of the conditions at the cor12 rectional facilities participating in the pilot program, 

13 including information relating to the use and dura14 tion of restrictive housing. 

15 (3) Relating to the group of individuals de16 scribed in paragraph (1)— 

17 (A) employment and earning statistics; 

18 (B) information relating to housing and 

19 homelessness rates; 

20 (C) statistics relating to education levels; 

21 (D) mental health treatment utilization 

22 and adherence, and mental health outcomes; 

23 (E) statistics relating to recidivism; and 

24 (F) statistics relating to reincarceration. 

25 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) The term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means an in2 dividual who is serving a term of imprisonment or 

3 who is detained pending trial, and who has been or4 dered to be released from incarceration on a date 

5 that is not more than 180 days after the date on 

6 which the correctional facility at which the individual 

7 is incarcerated receives funds to carry out the pilot 

8 program under this section. 

9 (2) The term ‘‘restrictive housing’’ means any 

10 type of detention that involves— 

11 (A) removal from the general inmate popu12 lation, whether voluntary or involuntary; 

13 (B) placement in a locked room or cell, 

14 whether alone or with another inmate; and 

15 (C) inability to leave the room or cell for 

16 the vast majority of the day. 

17 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 to carry out 

19 the program under this section for each of fiscal years 

20 2018 through 2020. 

Æ 


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