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Union Calendar No. 525 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2147 

[Report No. 115–682] 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2017 

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

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

MAY 18, 2018 

Additional sponsors: Miss GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N of Puerto Rico, Ms. PINGREE, 

Mr. TAKANO, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. PETERS, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. 

BANKS of Indiana, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, 

Mr. POLIQUIN, Mrs. WALORSKI, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mrs. MURPHY of 

Florida, Mr. TIPTON, Ms. MOORE, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. 

MEEHAN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. JONES, 

Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. 

PETERSON, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. TURNER, Mrs. 

DAVIS of California, Mr. POCAN, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. CORREA, 

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. STIVERS, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. THOMPSON

of Pennsylvania, Mr. POLIS, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Mr. MACARTHUR, Mr. CRIST, Mr. NORCROSS, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. DENHAM, Mr. HIGGINS of New 

York, Mr. KILMER, Mr. BISHOP of Michigan, Mr. LAMB, Mr. KILDEE, 

and Ms. SINEMA

MAY 18, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 26, 2017] 


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A BILL 

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. 


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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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HIRING BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OF 

7 ADDITIONAL VETERANS JUSTICE OUTREACH 

8 SPECIALISTS. 

9 (a) HIRING OF ADDITIONAL VETERANS JUSTICE OUT10 REACH SPECIALISTS.— 

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

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

13 Veterans Affairs shall hire not fewer than 50 Veterans 

14 Justice Outreach Specialists and place each such Vet15 erans Justice Outreach Specialist at an eligible De16 partment of Veterans Affairs medical center in ac17 cordance with this section. 

18 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall ensure 

19 that each Veterans Justice Outreach Specialist em20 ployed under paragraph (1)— 

21 (A) serves, either exclusively or in addition 

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

23 veterans treatment court or other veteran-focused 

24 court; and 


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1 (B) otherwise meets Department hiring 

2 guidelines for Veterans Justice Outreach Special3 ists. 

4 (b) ELIGIBLE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

5 MEDICAL CENTERS.—For purposes of this section, an eligi6 ble Department of Veterans Affairs medical center is any 

7 Department of Veterans Affairs medical center that— 

8 (1) complies with all Department guidelines and 

9 regulations for placement of a Veterans Justice Out10 reach Specialist; 

11 (2) works within a local criminal justice system 

12 with justice-involved veterans; 

13 (3) maintains an affiliation with one or more 

14 veterans treatment courts or other veteran-focused 

15 courts; and 

16 (4) either— 

17 (A) routinely provides Veterans Justice 

18 Outreach Specialists to serve as part of a justice 

19 team in a veterans treatment court or other vet20 eran-focused court; or 

21 (B) establishes a plan that is approved by 

22 the Secretary to provide Veterans Justice Out23 reach Specialists employed under subsection 

24 (a)(1) to serve as part of a justice team in a vetVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 May 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2147.RH H2147

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1 erans treatment court or other veteran-focused 

2 court. 

3 (c) PLACEMENT PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall 

4 prioritize the placement of Veterans Justice Outreach Spe5 cialists employed under subsection (a)(1) at eligible Depart6 ment of Veterans Affairs medical centers that have or intend 

7 to establish an affiliation, for the purpose of carrying out 

8 the Veterans Justice Outreach Program, with a veterans 

9 treatment court, or other veteran-focused court, that— 

10 (1) was established on or after the date of the en11 actment of this Act; or 

12 (2)(A) was established before the date of the en13 actment of this Act; and 

14 (B) is not fully staffed with Veterans Justice 

15 Outreach Specialists. 

16 (d) REPORTS.— 

17 (1) REPORT BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF18 FAIRS.— 

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

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

21 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to 

22 Congress a report on the implementation of this 

23 section and its effect on the Veterans Justice 

24 Outreach Program. 


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1 (B) CONTENTS.—The report submitted 

2 under paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

3 (i) The status of the efforts of the Sec4 retary to hire Veterans Justice Outreach 

5 Specialists pursuant to subsection (a)(1), 

6 including the total number of Veterans Jus7 tice Outreach Specialists hired by the Sec8 retary pursuant to such subsection and the 

9 number that the Secretary expects to hire 

10 pursuant to such subsection. 

11 (ii) The total number of Veterans Jus12 tice Outreach Specialists assigned to each 

13 Department of Veterans Affairs medical 

14 center that participates in the Veterans Jus15 tice Outreach Program, including the num16 ber of Veterans Justice Outreach Specialists 

17 hired under subsection (a)(1) disaggregated 

18 by Department of Veterans Affairs medical 

19 center. 

20 (iii) The total number of eligible De21 partment of Veterans Affairs medical cen22 ters that sought placement of a Veterans 

23 Justice Outreach Specialist under sub24 section (a)(1), how many Veterans Justice 

25 Outreach Specialists each such center 


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1 sought, and how many of such medical cen2 ters received no placement of a Veterans 

3 Justice Outreach Specialist under sub4 section (a)(1). 

5 (iv) For each eligible Department of 

6 Veterans Affairs medical center— 

7 (I) the number of justice-involved 

8 veterans who were served or are ex9 pected to be served by a Veterans Jus10 tice Outreach Specialist hired under 

11 subsection (a)(1); and 

12 (II) the number of justice-involved 

13 veterans who do not have access to a 

14 Veterans Justice Outreach Specialist. 

15 (2) REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE

16 UNITED STATES.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than three 

18 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

19 the Comptroller General of the United States 

20 shall submit to Congress a report on the imple21 mentation of this section and the effectiveness of 

22 the Veterans Justice Outreach Program. 

23 (B) CONTENTS.—The report required by 

24 subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 


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1 (i) An assessment of whether the Sec2 retary has fulfilled the Secretary’s obliga3 tions under this section. 

4 (ii) The number of veterans who are 

5 served by Veterans Justice Outreach Spe6 cialists hired under subsection (a)(1), 

7 disaggregated by demographics (including 

8 discharge status). 

9 (iii) An identification of any sub10 groups of veterans who underutilize services 

11 provided under laws administered by the 

12 Secretary, including an assessment of 

13 whether these veterans have access to Vet14 erans Justice Outreach Specialists under 

15 the Veterans Justice Outreach Program. 

16 (iv) Such recommendations as the 

17 Comptroller General may have for the Sec18 retary to improve the effectiveness of the 

19 Veterans Justice Outreach Program. 

20 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

22 means the group of individuals, which may include a 

23 judge, court coordinator, prosecutor, public defender, 

24 treatment provider, probation or other law enforce25 ment officer, program mentor, and Veterans Justice 


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1 Outreach Specialist, who assist justice-involved vet2 erans in a veterans treatment court or other veteran3 focused court. 

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

5 ‘‘justice-involved veteran’’ means a veteran with ac6 tive, ongoing, or recent contact with some component 

7 of a local criminal justice system. 

8 (3) LOCAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.—The 

9 term ‘‘local criminal justice system’’ means law en10 forcement, jails, prisons, and Federal, State, and local 

11 courts. 

12 (4) VETERANS JUSTICE OUTREACH PROGRAM.— 

13 The term ‘‘Veterans Justice Outreach Program’’ 

14 means the program through which the Department of 

15 Veterans Affairs identifies justice-involved veterans 

16 and provides such veterans with access to Department 

17 services. 

18 (5) VETERANS JUSTICE OUTREACH SPE19 CIALIST.—The term ‘‘Veterans Justice Outreach Spe20 cialist’’ means an employee of the Department of Vet21 erans Affairs who serves as a liaison between the De22 partment and the local criminal justice system on be23 half of a justice-involved veteran. 

24 (6) VETERANS TREATMENT COURT.—The term 

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


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1 court that is participating in the veterans treatment 

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

3 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

4 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa(i)(1))). 


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Union Calendar No. 525 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2147 

[Report No. 115–682] 

A BILL 

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 

MAY 18, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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