II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2120 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to carry out a program to support veterans in contact with 

the criminal justice system by discouraging unnecessary criminalization 

of mental illness and other nonviolent crimes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 1, 2015 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. FRANKEN, 

Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. 

BENNET, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a program to 

support veterans in contact with the criminal justice 

system by discouraging unnecessary criminalization of 

mental illness and other nonviolent crimes, 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 Justice Out5 reach Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PROGRAM OF 

2 COORDINATED OUTREACH FOR JUSTICE-IN3 VOLVED VETERANS AT RISK OF HOMELESS4 NESS. 

5 (a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 

7 20 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

8 (A) by redesignating sections 2022 and 

9 2023 as sections 2023 and 2024, respectively; 

10 and 

11 (B) by inserting after section 2021A the 

12 following new section 2022: 

13 ‘‘§ 2022. Coordination of outreach for justice-involved 

14 veterans at risk of homelessness 

15 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall 

16 carry out a program to support veterans in contact with 

17 the criminal justice system by discouraging unnecessary 

18 criminalization of mental illness and other nonviolent 

19 crimes. 

20 ‘‘(b) PARTNERSHIP.—The Secretary shall carry out 

21 the program required by subsection (a) in partnership 

22 with local law enforcement, judicial, and community-based 

23 treatment and legal assistance organizations. 

24 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the 

25 program required by subsection (a), the Secretary may 

26 conduct the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Training for police, prosecutors, courts, 

2 public defenders, and other community-based sup3 port organizations on matters relating to psycho4 logical trauma associated with military service and 

5 mental health and substance abuse services available 

6 from the Department. 

7 ‘‘(2) Support for courts and their officers, in8 cluding physical presence in the courtroom setting, 

9 by facilitating mental health assessments, treatment 

10 planning, referrals to Department services, or such 

11 other services as may be requested by the courts. 

12 ‘‘(3) Such other outreach and assistance as the 

13 Secretary considers appropriate for the provision of 

14 support described in subsection (a). 

15 ‘‘(d) JUSTICE OUTREACH COORDINATORS.—(1) In 

16 order to effectively assist veterans in contact with the 

17 criminal justice system, the Secretary shall establish coor18 dinators to provide outreach under the program required 

19 by subsection (a). 

20 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall ensure that each coordinator 

21 established under paragraph (1) is knowledgeable about 

22 psychological and psychiatric evaluation in relation to jus23 tice-based forensic matters, such as— 

24 ‘‘(A) psychiatric diagnosis; 

25 ‘‘(B) developmental disabilities; 


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1 ‘‘(C) medical issues, such as traumatic brain in2 jury; 

3 ‘‘(D) competency and sanity; 

4 ‘‘(E) neglect and abuse; 

5 ‘‘(F) parental rights; and 

6 ‘‘(G) life threatening issues, such as suicidality 

7 and homicidally. 

8 ‘‘(e) VETERAN IN CONTACT WITH THE CRIMINAL

9 JUSTICE SYSTEM DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

10 ‘veteran in contact with the criminal justice system’ in11 cludes the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) A veteran in contact with local law en13 forcement who can be appropriately diverted from 

14 arrest to mental health treatment. 

15 ‘‘(2) A veteran in local jail either pretrial or 

16 serving a sentence. 

17 ‘‘(3) A veteran in adjudication or monitoring by 

18 a court.’’. 

19 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

20 2023(f) of such title, as redesignated by paragraph 

21 (1)(A), is amended in paragraphs (2)(C) and (3)(C) 

22 by striking ‘‘section 2023’’ both places it appears 

23 and inserting ‘‘section 2024’’. 

24 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec25 tions at the beginning of chapter 20 of such title is 


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1 amended by striking the items relating to sections 

2 2022 and 2023 and inserting the following new 

3 items: 

‘‘2022. Coordination of outreach for justice-involved veterans at risk of homelessness. 

‘‘2023. Coordination of outreach services for veterans at risk of homelessness. 

‘‘2024. Referral and counseling services: veterans at risk of homelessness who 

are transitioning from certain institutions.’’. 

4 (b) REPORT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to Congress 

8 a report on the program carried out under section 

9 2022(a) of such title, as added by subsection (a)(1). 

10 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

11 paragraph (1) shall include an assessment of the fol12 lowing: 

13 (A) The number of coordinators estab14 lished under section 2022(d)(1) of such title, as 

15 added by subsection (a)(1). 

16 (B) The training of such coordinators. 

17 (C) The capabilities of such coordinators. 

18 (D) The capacity of the program carried 

19 out under section 2022(a) of such title, as so 

20 added, to meet the demand of veterans and 

21 courts for services under the program. 

Æ 


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