II 

Calendar No. 466 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2147 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2018 

Received 

JUNE 18, 2018 

Read twice and placed on the calendar 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Court Improvement Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HIRING BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

2 OF ADDITIONAL VETERANS JUSTICE OUT3 REACH SPECIALISTS. 

4 (a) HIRING OF ADDITIONAL VETERANS JUSTICE

5 OUTREACH SPECIALISTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

8 of Veterans Affairs shall hire not fewer than 50 Vet9 erans Justice Outreach Specialists and place each 

10 such Veterans Justice Outreach Specialist at an eli11 gible Department of Veterans Affairs medical center 

12 in accordance with this section. 

13 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall en14 sure that each Veterans Justice Outreach Specialist 

15 employed under paragraph (1)— 

16 (A) serves, either exclusively or in addition 

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

18 veterans treatment court or other veteran-fo19 cused court; and 

20 (B) otherwise meets Department hiring 

21 guidelines for Veterans Justice Outreach Spe22 cialists. 

23 (b) ELIGIBLE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

24 MEDICAL CENTERS.—For purposes of this section, an eli25 gible Department of Veterans Affairs medical center is 

26 any Department of Veterans Affairs medical center that— 


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1 (1) complies with all Department guidelines and 

2 regulations for placement of a Veterans Justice Out3 reach Specialist; 

4 (2) works within a local criminal justice system 

5 with justice-involved veterans; 

6 (3) maintains an affiliation with one or more 

7 veterans treatment courts or other veteran-focused 

8 courts; and 

9 (4) either— 

10 (A) routinely provides Veterans Justice 

11 Outreach Specialists to serve as part of a jus12 tice team in a veterans treatment court or other 

13 veteran-focused court; or 

14 (B) establishes a plan that is approved by 

15 the Secretary to provide Veterans Justice Out16 reach Specialists employed under subsection 

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

18 veterans treatment court or other veteran-fo19 cused court. 

20 (c) PLACEMENT PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall 

21 prioritize the placement of Veterans Justice Outreach Spe22 cialists employed under subsection (a)(1) at eligible De23 partment of Veterans Affairs medical centers that have 

24 or intend to establish an affiliation, for the purpose of car25 rying out the Veterans Justice Outreach Program, with 


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

2 that— 

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

4 enactment of this Act; or 

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

6 enactment of this Act; and 

7 (B) is not fully staffed with Veterans Justice 

8 Outreach Specialists. 

9 (d) REPORTS.— 

10 (1) REPORT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF11 FAIRS.— 

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

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

14 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to 

15 Congress a report on the implementation of this 

16 section and its effect on the Veterans Justice 

17 Outreach Program. 

18 (B) CONTENTS.—The report submitted 

19 under paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

20 (i) The status of the efforts of the 

21 Secretary to hire Veterans Justice Out22 reach Specialists pursuant to subsection 

23 (a)(1), including the total number of Vet24 erans Justice Outreach Specialists hired by 

25 the Secretary pursuant to such subsection 


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1 and the number that the Secretary expects 

2 to hire pursuant to such subsection. 

3 (ii) The total number of Veterans 

4 Justice Outreach Specialists assigned to 

5 each Department of Veterans Affairs med6 ical center that participates in the Vet7 erans Justice Outreach Program, including 

8 the number of Veterans Justice Outreach 

9 Specialists hired under subsection (a)(1) 

10 disaggregated by Department of Veterans 

11 Affairs medical center. 

12 (iii) The total number of eligible De13 partment of Veterans Affairs medical cen14 ters that sought placement of a Veterans 

15 Justice Outreach Specialist under sub16 section (a)(1), how many Veterans Justice 

17 Outreach Specialists each such center 

18 sought, and how many of such medical 

19 centers received no placement of a Vet20 erans Justice Outreach Specialist under 

21 subsection (a)(1). 

22 (iv) For each eligible Department of 

23 Veterans Affairs medical center— 

24 (I) the number of justice-involved 

25 veterans who were served or are exVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Jun 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2147.PCS H2147

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1 pected to be served by a Veterans 

2 Justice Outreach Specialist hired 

3 under subsection (a)(1); and 

4 (II) the number of justice-in5 volved veterans who do not have ac6 cess to a Veterans Justice Outreach 

7 Specialist. 

8 (2) REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF

9 THE UNITED STATES.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

12 Comptroller General of the United States shall 

13 submit to Congress a report on the implementa14 tion of this section and the effectiveness of the 

15 Veterans Justice Outreach Program. 

16 (B) CONTENTS.—The report required by 

17 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 

18 (i) An assessment of whether the Sec19 retary has fulfilled the Secretary’s obliga20 tions under this section. 

21 (ii) The number of veterans who are 

22 served by Veterans Justice Outreach Spe23 cialists hired under subsection (a)(1), 

24 disaggregated by demographics (including 

25 discharge status). 


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1 (iii) An identification of any sub2 groups of veterans who underutilize serv3 ices provided under laws administered by 

4 the Secretary, including an assessment of 

5 whether these veterans have access to Vet6 erans Justice Outreach Specialists under 

7 the Veterans Justice Outreach Program. 

8 (iv) Such recommendations as the 

9 Comptroller General may have for the Sec10 retary to improve the effectiveness of the 

11 Veterans Justice Outreach Program. 

12 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

14 means the group of individuals, which may include 

15 a judge, court coordinator, prosecutor, public de16 fender, treatment provider, probation or other law 

17 enforcement officer, program mentor, and Veterans 

18 Justice Outreach Specialist, who assist justice-in19 volved veterans in a veterans treatment court or 

20 other veteran-focused court. 

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

22 ‘‘justice-involved veteran’’ means a veteran with ac23 tive, ongoing, or recent contact with some compo24 nent of a local criminal justice system. 


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1 (3) LOCAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.—The 

2 term ‘‘local criminal justice system’’ means law en3 forcement, jails, prisons, and Federal, State, and 

4 local courts. 

5 (4) VETERANS JUSTICE OUTREACH PRO6 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Veterans Justice Outreach Pro7 gram’’ means the program through which the De8 partment of Veterans Affairs identifies justice-in9 volved veterans and provides such veterans with ac10 cess to Department services. 

11 (5) VETERANS JUSTICE OUTREACH SPE12 CIALIST.—The term ‘‘Veterans Justice Outreach 

13 Specialist’’ means an employee of the Department of 

14 Veterans Affairs who serves as a liaison between the 

15 Department and the local criminal justice system on 

16 behalf of a justice-involved veteran. 

17 (6) VETERANS TREATMENT COURT.—The term 

18 ‘‘veterans treatment court’’ means a State or local 

19 court that is participating in the veterans treatment 

20 court program (as defined in section 2991(i)(1) of 


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1 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

2 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa(i)(1))). 

Passed the House of Representatives June 13, 2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 466 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2147 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to hire 

volved veterans, and for other purposes. to provide treatment court services to justice-inadditional Veterans Justice Outreach Specialists 

JUNE 18, 2018 

Read twice and placed on the calendar 


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