I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 731 

To reauthorize and improve the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime 

Reduction Act of 2004. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2015 

Mr. NUGENT (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. 

RYAN of Ohio, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, 

Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. JOYCE, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. LANCE, and Mr. JOLLY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reauthorize and improve the Mentally Ill Offender 

Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004. 

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 ‘‘Justice and Mental 

5 Health Collaboration Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ASSISTING VETERANS. 

7 (a) REDESIGNATION.—Section 2991 of the Omnibus 

8 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 


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1 3797aa) is amended by redesignating subsection (i) as 

2 subsection (l). 

3 (b) ASSISTING VETERANS.—Section 2991 of the Om4 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

5 U.S.C. 3797aa) is amended by inserting after subsection 

6 (h) the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) ASSISTING VETERANS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

9 ‘‘(A) PEER TO PEER SERVICES OR PRO10 GRAMS.—The term ‘peer to peer services or 

11 programs’ means services or programs that con12 nect qualified veterans with other veterans for 

13 the purpose of providing support and 

14 mentorship to assist qualified veterans in ob15 taining treatment, recovery, stabilization, or re16 habilitation. 

17 ‘‘(B) QUALIFIED VETERAN.—The term 

18 ‘qualified veteran’ means a preliminarily quali19 fied offender who— 

20 ‘‘(i) has served on active duty in any 

21 branch of the Armed Forces, including the 

22 National Guard and reserve components; 

23 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) was discharged or released from 

2 such service under conditions other than 

3 dishonorable. 

4 ‘‘(C) VETERANS TREATMENT COURT PRO5 GRAM.—The term ‘veterans treatment court 

6 program’ means a court program involving col7 laboration among criminal justice, veterans, and 

8 mental health and substance abuse agencies 

9 that provides qualified veterans with— 

10 ‘‘(i) intensive judicial supervision and 

11 case management, which may include ran12 dom and frequent drug testing where ap13 propriate; 

14 ‘‘(ii) a full continuum of treatment 

15 services, including mental health services, 

16 substance abuse services, medical services, 

17 and services to address trauma; 

18 ‘‘(iii) alternatives to incarceration; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(iv) other appropriate services, in21 cluding housing, transportation, mentoring, 

22 employment, job training, education, and 

23 assistance in applying for and obtaining 

24 available benefits. 

25 ‘‘(2) VETERANS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, 

2 in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans 

3 Affairs, may award grants under this sub4 section to applicants to establish or expand— 

5 ‘‘(i) veterans treatment court pro6 grams; 

7 ‘‘(ii) peer to peer services or programs 

8 for qualified veterans; 

9 ‘‘(iii) practices that identify and pro10 vide treatment, rehabilitation, legal, transi11 tional, and other appropriate services to 

12 qualified veterans who have been incarcer13 ated; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) training programs to teach 

15 criminal justice, law enforcement, correc16 tions, mental health, and substance abuse 

17 personnel how to identify and appro18 priately respond to incidents involving 

19 qualified veterans. 

20 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants 

21 under this subsection, the Attorney General 

22 shall give priority to applications that— 

23 ‘‘(i) demonstrate collaboration be24 tween and joint investments by criminal 


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1 justice, mental health, substance abuse, 

2 and veterans service agencies; 

3 ‘‘(ii) promote effective strategies to 

4 identify and reduce the risk of harm to 

5 qualified veterans and public safety; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) propose interventions with em7 pirical support to improve outcomes for 

8 qualified veterans.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES. 

10 Section 2991 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

11 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa) is amended by 

12 inserting after subsection (i), as so added by section 2, 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘(j) CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.—The term 

17 ‘correctional facility’ means a jail, prison, or 

18 other detention facility used to house people 

19 who have been arrested, detained, held, or con20 victed by a criminal justice agency or a court. 

21 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INMATE.—The term ‘eligi22 ble inmate’ means an individual who— 

23 ‘‘(i) is being held, detained, or incar24 cerated in a correctional facility; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) manifests obvious signs of a 

2 mental illness or has been diagnosed by a 

3 qualified mental health professional as hav4 ing a mental illness. 

5 ‘‘(2) CORRECTIONAL FACILITY GRANTS.—The 

6 Attorney General may award grants to applicants to 

7 enhance the capabilities of a correctional facility— 

8 ‘‘(A) to identify and screen for eligible in9 mates; 

10 ‘‘(B) to plan and provide— 

11 ‘‘(i) initial and periodic assessments of 

12 the clinical, medical, and social needs of in13 mates; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) appropriate treatment and serv15 ices that address the mental health and 

16 substance abuse needs of inmates; 

17 ‘‘(C) to develop, implement, and enhance— 

18 ‘‘(i) post-release transition plans for 

19 eligible inmates that, in a comprehensive 

20 manner, coordinate health, housing, med21 ical, employment, and other appropriate 

22 services and public benefits; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the availability of mental health 

24 care services and substance abuse treat25 ment services; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) alternatives to solitary confine2 ment and segregated housing and mental 

3 health screening and treatment for inmates 

4 placed in solitary confinement or seg5 regated housing; and 

6 ‘‘(D) to train each employee of the correc7 tional facility to identify and appropriately re8 spond to incidents involving inmates with men9 tal health or co-occurring mental health and 

10 substance abuse disorders.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. ACADEMY TRAINING. 

12 Section 2991(h) of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

13 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa(h)) is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(F) ACADEMY TRAINING.—To provide 

18 support for academy curricula, law enforcement 

19 officer orientation programs, continuing edu20 cation training, and other programs that teach 

21 law enforcement personnel how to identify and 

22 respond to incidents involving persons with 

23 mental health disorders or co-occurring mental 

24 health and substance abuse disorders.’’; and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY CONSIDERATION.—The Attorney 

2 General, in awarding grants under this subsection, 

3 shall give priority to programs that law enforcement 

4 personnel and members of the mental health and 

5 substance abuse professions develop and administer 

6 cooperatively.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICES. 

8 Section 2991(c) of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

9 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa(c)) is amend10 ed— 

11 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

12 end; 

13 (2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para14 graph (6); and 

15 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3), the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(4) propose interventions that have been 

18 shown by empirical evidence to reduce recidivism; 

19 ‘‘(5) when appropriate, use validated assess20 ment tools to target preliminarily qualified offenders 

21 with a moderate or high risk of recidivism and a 

22 need for treatment and services; or’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. SAFE COMMUNITIES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2991(a) of the Omnibus 

3 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

4 3797aa(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (7)— 

6 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘MENTAL

7 ILLNESS’’ and inserting ‘‘MENTAL ILLNESS; 

8 MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER’’; and 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘term ‘mental illness’ 

10 means’’ and inserting ‘‘terms ‘mental illness’ 

11 and ‘mental health disorder’ mean’’; and 

12 (2) by striking paragraph (9) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(9) PRELIMINARILY QUALIFIED OFFENDER.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘prelimi16 narily qualified offender’ means an adult or ju17 venile accused of an offense who— 

18 ‘‘(i)(I) previously or currently has 

19 been diagnosed by a qualified mental 

20 health professional as having a mental ill21 ness or co-occurring mental illness and 

22 substance abuse disorders; 

23 ‘‘(II) manifests obvious signs of men24 tal illness or co-occurring mental illness 

25 and substance abuse disorders during ar26 rest or confinement or before any court; or 


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1 ‘‘(III) in the case of a veterans treat2 ment court provided under subsection (i), 

3 has been diagnosed with, or manifests ob4 vious signs of, mental illness or a sub5 stance abuse disorder or co-occurring men6 tal illness and substance abuse disorder; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) has been unanimously approved 

9 for participation in a program funded 

10 under this section by, when appropriate, 

11 the relevant— 

12 ‘‘(I) prosecuting attorney; 

13 ‘‘(II) defense attorney; 

14 ‘‘(III) probation or corrections 

15 official; 

16 ‘‘(IV) judge; and 

17 ‘‘(V) a representative from the 

18 relevant mental health agency de19 scribed in subsection (b)(5)(B)(i). 

20 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION.—In determining 

21 whether to designate a defendant as a prelimi22 narily qualified offender, the relevant pros23 ecuting attorney, defense attorney, probation or 

24 corrections official, judge, and mental health or 


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1 substance abuse agency representative shall 

2 take into account— 

3 ‘‘(i) whether the participation of the 

4 defendant in the program would pose a 

5 substantial risk of violence to the commu6 nity; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the criminal history of the de8 fendant and the nature and severity of the 

9 offense for which the defendant is charged; 

10 ‘‘(iii) the views of any relevant victims 

11 to the offense; 

12 ‘‘(iv) the extent to which the defend13 ant would benefit from participation in the 

14 program; 

15 ‘‘(v) the extent to which the commu16 nity would realize cost savings because of 

17 the defendant’s participation in the pro18 gram; and 

19 ‘‘(vi) whether the defendant satisfies 

20 the eligibility criteria for program partici21 pation unanimously established by the rel22 evant prosecuting attorney, defense attor23 ney, probation or corrections official, judge 

24 and mental health or substance abuse 

25 agency representative.’’. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

2 Section 2927(2) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

3 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797s–6(2)) is amended 

4 by striking ‘‘has the meaning given that term in section 

5 2991(a).’’ and inserting ‘‘means an offense that— 

6 ‘‘(A) does not have as an element the use, 

7 attempted use, or threatened use of physical 

8 force against the person or property of another; 

9 or 

10 ‘‘(B) is not a felony that by its nature in11 volves a substantial risk that physical force 

12 against the person or property of another may 

13 be used in the course of committing the of14 fense.’’. 

15 SEC. 7. REAUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 Subsection (l) of section 2991 of the Omnibus Crime 

17 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa), 

18 as redesignated in section 2(a), is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

20 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

21 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

22 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

23 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (C) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(D) $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

2 2016 through 2020.’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Not more than 20 percent 

5 of the funds authorized to be appropriated under 

6 this section may be used for purposes described in 

7 subsection (i) (relating to veterans).’’. 

Æ 


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