I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2300 

To establish a grant to provide mental health services and behavioral health 

services to at-risk youth, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2019 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. TRONE, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. MENG, Ms. ADAMS, and Ms. BASS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a grant to provide mental health services and 

behavioral health services to at-risk youth, 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 ‘‘Eliminating Debtor’s 

5 Prison for Kids Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH GRANT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 180 

3 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attor4 ney General shall carry out a program under which the 

5 Attorney General makes grants to eligible States for the 

6 purpose of providing evidence-based and trauma-informed 

7 mental and behavioral health services to at-risk youth in 

8 any school, secure detention facility, or secure correctional 

9 facility in the State. 

10 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

11 under this section, a State shall— 

12 (1) certify to the Attorney General that the 

13 laws of the State prohibit a juvenile offender or a 

14 parent or guardian of such an offender from being 

15 ordered to pay probation supervision fees or court 

16 administrative fees, including the cost of court-ap17 pointed attorneys or public defenders, the cost of 

18 prosecution, and other administrative costs of the 

19 court; 

20 (2) certify to the Attorney General that the 

21 laws of the State prohibit a parent or guardian of 

22 a juvenile offender from paying child support or 

23 other costs for detention or post-adjudication place24 ment to the State; and 

25 (3) submit to the Attorney General an applica26 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing 


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1 such information as the Attorney General may re2 quire. 

3 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives a grant 

4 under this section shall use the grant to provide evidence5 based and trauma-informed mental and behavioral health 

6 services to at-risk youth in any school, secure detention 

7 facility, or secure correctional facility in the State. 

8 (d) CONTRACTS AND SUBAWARDS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State may, in using a 

10 grant under this section for purposes authorized by 

11 subsection (c), use all or a portion of that grant to 

12 contract with or make one or more subawards to one 

13 or more units of local government. 

14 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity that receives a 

15 contract or a subaward under this subsection may 

16 use such funds to provide services or benefits de17 scribed under subsection (c). 

18 (e) INFORMATION FOR REPORT.—A State that re19 ceives a grant under this section shall provide to an inde20 pendent criminal justice organization, selected by the At21 torney General, such information as is necessary to com22 plete the report described in section 3. 

23 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

24 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

25 $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 


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1 SEC. 3. NATIONAL REPORT. 

2 (a) INDEPENDENT REPORT.—Not later than 18 

3 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, an 

4 independent criminal justice organization, selected by the 

5 Attorney General, shall submit to the Committee on the 

6 Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Com7 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate a national report 

8 on fines and fees imposed on adults and juveniles in the 

9 criminal justice system, including— 

10 (1) information with respect to the monetary 

11 amount of fines and fees imposed, including the 

12 race, ethnicity, tribal affiliation, and other demo13 graphic data of the individuals upon whom such 

14 fines and fees are imposed and the rate at which in15 dividuals are reincarcerated within 1 year of release 

16 from a secure detention facility or a secure correc17 tional facility; 

18 (2) a description of each type of service for 

19 which a fee is imposed; 

20 (3) a description of each type of charge for 

21 which a fine is imposed; 

22 (4) a comparison of the average length of im23 prisonment or detention for individuals who are un24 able to pay a fine and the average length of impris25 onment or detention for individuals who are able to 

26 pay a fine; and 


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1 (5) a disclosure of the sum total of fines and 

2 fees collected minus the cost for efforts to collect 

3 such sum. 

4 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

5 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

6 $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, which shall remain avail7 able until expended. 

8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) AT-RISK YOUTH.—The term ‘‘at-risk youth’’ 

11 means an individual who— 

12 (A) has not attained the age of 21; and 

13 (B)(i) is likely to fail academically without 

14 intervention, including an individual who— 

15 (I) has a high truancy rate; 

16 (II) has withdrawn from school pre17 viously; 

18 (III) is not less than 1 year behind 

19 the appropriate grade level for such indi20 vidual; or 

21 (IV) has limited English language 

22 proficiency; 

23 (ii) uses drugs or alcohol; 

24 (iii) is pregnant or a parent; 

25 (iv) is a gang member; 


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1 (v) is in contact with the juvenile justice 

2 system; or 

3 (vi) is homeless, has run away from home, 

4 or is in foster care. 

5 (2) EVIDENCE-BASED.—The term ‘‘evidence6 based’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

7 103 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preven8 tion Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11103). 

9 (3) JUVENILE OFFENDER.—The term ‘‘juvenile 

10 offender’’ means an individual— 

11 (A) who has not attained the age of 21; 

12 and 

13 (B)(i) against whom a petition is filed for 

14 the adjudication of a delinquency offense under 

15 the laws of a State or the United States; or 

16 (ii) who has been adjudicated delinquent 

17 for a delinquency offense under the laws of a 

18 State or the United States. 

19 (4) SECURE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.—The 

20 term ‘‘secure correctional facility’’ has the meaning 

21 given such term in section 103 of the Juvenile Jus22 tice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 

23 U.S.C. 11103). 

24 (5) SECURE DETENTION FACILITY.—The term 

25 ‘‘secure detention facility’’ has the meaning given 


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1 such term in section 103 of the Juvenile Justice and 

2 Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 

3 11103). 

4 (6) SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘school’’ means— 

5 (A) an early childhood education program 

6 (as such term is defined in section 8101 of the 

7 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); 

9 (B) an elementary school (as such term is 

10 defined in section 8101 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

11 7801)); or 

12 (C) a secondary school (as such term is de13 fined in section 8101 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

14 7801)). 

15 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

16 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

17 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 

18 States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the 

19 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 

20 and any possession of the United States. 

21 (8) TRAUMA-INFORMED.—The term ‘‘trauma22 informed’’ has the meaning given such term in sec23 tion 103 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

24 Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11103). 

Æ 


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