115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2147 

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 1 year after 

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

11 of Veterans Affairs shall hire not fewer than 50 Vet12 erans Justice Outreach Specialists and place each 

13 such Veterans Justice Outreach Specialist at an eli14 gible Department of Veterans Affairs medical center 

15 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 (b) ELIGIBLE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

2 MEDICAL CENTERS.—For purposes of this section, an eli3 gible Department of Veterans Affairs medical center is 

4 any Department of Veterans Affairs medical center that— 

5 (1) complies with all Department guidelines and 

6 regulations for placement of a Veterans Justice Out7 reach Specialist; 

8 (2) works within a local criminal justice system 

9 with justice-involved veterans; 

10 (3) maintains an affiliation with one or more 

11 veterans treatment courts or other veteran-focused 

12 courts; and 

13 (4) either— 

14 (A) routinely provides Veterans Justice 

15 Outreach Specialists to serve as part of a jus16 tice team in a veterans treatment court or other 

17 veteran-focused court; or 

18 (B) establishes a plan that is approved by 

19 the Secretary to provide Veterans Justice Out20 reach Specialists employed under subsection 

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

22 veterans treatment court or other veteran-fo23 cused court. 

24 (c) PLACEMENT PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall 

25 prioritize the placement of Veterans Justice Outreach Spe-
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1 cialists employed under subsection (a)(1) at eligible De2 partment of Veterans Affairs medical centers that have 

3 or intend to establish an affiliation, for the purpose of car4 rying out the Veterans Justice Outreach Program, with 

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

6 that— 

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

8 enactment of this Act; or 

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

10 enactment of this Act; and 

11 (B) is not fully staffed with Veterans Justice 

12 Outreach Specialists. 

13 (d) REPORTS.— 

14 (1) REPORT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF15 FAIRS.— 

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

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

18 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to 

19 Congress a report on the implementation of this 

20 section and its effect on the Veterans Justice 

21 Outreach Program. 

22 (B) CONTENTS.—The report submitted 

23 under paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

24 (i) The status of the efforts of the 

25 Secretary to hire Veterans Justice Out-
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1 reach Specialists pursuant to subsection 

2 (a)(1), including the total number of Vet3 erans Justice Outreach Specialists hired by 

4 the Secretary pursuant to such subsection 

5 and the number that the Secretary expects 

6 to hire pursuant to such subsection. 

7 (ii) The total number of Veterans 

8 Justice Outreach Specialists assigned to 

9 each Department of Veterans Affairs med10 ical center that participates in the Vet11 erans Justice Outreach Program, including 

12 the number of Veterans Justice Outreach 

13 Specialists hired under subsection (a)(1) 

14 disaggregated by Department of Veterans 

15 Affairs medical center. 

16 (iii) The total number of eligible De17 partment of Veterans Affairs medical cen18 ters that sought placement of a Veterans 

19 Justice Outreach Specialist under sub20 section (a)(1), how many Veterans Justice 

21 Outreach Specialists each such center 

22 sought, and how many of such medical 

23 centers received no placement of a Vet24 erans Justice Outreach Specialist under 

25 subsection (a)(1). 
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1 (iv) For each eligible Department of 

2 Veterans Affairs medical center— 

3 (I) the number of justice-involved 

4 veterans who were served or are ex5 pected to be served by a Veterans 

6 Justice Outreach Specialist hired 

7 under subsection (a)(1); and 

8 (II) the number of justice-in9 volved veterans who do not have ac10 cess to a Veterans Justice Outreach 

11 Specialist. 

12 (2) REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF

13 THE UNITED STATES.— 

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

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

16 Comptroller General of the United States shall 

17 submit to Congress a report on the implementa18 tion of this section and the effectiveness of the 

19 Veterans Justice Outreach Program. 

20 (B) CONTENTS.—The report required by 

21 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 

22 (i) An assessment of whether the Sec23 retary has fulfilled the Secretary’s obliga24 tions under this section. 
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1 (ii) The number of veterans who are 

2 served by Veterans Justice Outreach Spe3 cialists hired under subsection (a)(1), 

4 disaggregated by demographics (including 

5 discharge status). 

6 (iii) An identification of any sub7 groups of veterans who underutilize serv8 ices provided under laws administered by 

9 the Secretary, including an assessment of 

10 whether these veterans have access to Vet11 erans Justice Outreach Specialists under 

12 the Veterans Justice Outreach Program. 

13 (iv) Such recommendations as the 

14 Comptroller General may have for the Sec15 retary to improve the effectiveness of the 

16 Veterans Justice Outreach Program. 

17 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

19 means the group of individuals, which may include 

20 a judge, court coordinator, prosecutor, public de21 fender, treatment provider, probation or other law 

22 enforcement officer, program mentor, and Veterans 

23 Justice Outreach Specialist, who assist justice-in24 volved veterans in a veterans treatment court or 

25 other veteran-focused court. 
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1 (2) JUSTICE-INVOLVED VETERAN.—The term 

2 ‘‘justice-involved veteran’’ means a veteran with ac3 tive, ongoing, or recent contact with some compo4 nent of a local criminal justice system. 

5 (3) LOCAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.—The 

6 term ‘‘local criminal justice system’’ means law en7 forcement, jails, prisons, and Federal, State, and 

8 local courts. 

9 (4) VETERANS JUSTICE OUTREACH PRO10 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Veterans Justice Outreach Pro11 gram’’ means the program through which the De12 partment of Veterans Affairs identifies justice-in13 volved veterans and provides such veterans with ac14 cess to Department services. 

15 (5) VETERANS JUSTICE OUTREACH SPE16 CIALIST.—The term ‘‘Veterans Justice Outreach 

17 Specialist’’ means an employee of the Department of 

18 Veterans Affairs who serves as a liaison between the 

19 Department and the local criminal justice system on 

20 behalf of a justice-involved veteran. 

21 (6) VETERANS TREATMENT COURT.—The term 

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

23 court that is participating in the veterans treatment 

24 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: 

Clerk. 
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