I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 401 

To reauthorize and improve the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime 

Reduction Act of 2004. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 23, 2013 

Mr. NUGENT (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. GRIMM, 

Mr. GOWDY, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, 

Mr. CONYERS, and Ms. LOFGREN) 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 2013’’. 

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. HIGH UTILIZERS. 

12 Section 2991 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

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

14 inserting after subsection (j), as added by section 3, the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(k) DEMONSTRATION GRANTS RESPONDING TO

17 HIGH UTILIZERS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

19 ‘high utilizer’ means an individual who— 

20 ‘‘(A) manifests obvious signs of mental ill21 ness or has been diagnosed by a qualified men22 tal health professional as having a mental ill23 ness; and 

24 ‘‘(B) consumes a significantly dispropor25 tionate quantity of public resources, such as 


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1 emergency, housing, judicial, corrections, and 

2 law enforcement services. 

3 ‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION GRANTS RESPONDING TO

4 HIGH UTILIZERS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

6 may award not more than 6 grants per year 

7 under this subsection to applicants for the pur8 pose of reducing the use of public services by 

9 high utilizers. 

10 ‘‘(B) USE OF GRANTS.—A recipient of a 

11 grant awarded under this subsection may use 

12 the grant— 

13 ‘‘(i) to develop or support multidisci14 plinary teams that coordinate, implement, 

15 and administer community-based crisis re16 sponses and long-term plans for high uti17 lizers; 

18 ‘‘(ii) to provide training on how to re19 spond appropriately to the unique issues 

20 involving high utilizers for public service 

21 personnel, including criminal justice, men22 tal health, substance abuse, emergency 

23 room, healthcare, law enforcement, correc24 tions, and housing personnel; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) to develop or support alter2 natives to hospital and jail admissions for 

3 high utilizers that provide treatment, sta4 bilization, and other appropriate supports 

5 in the least restrictive, yet appropriate, en6 vironment; or 

7 ‘‘(iv) to develop protocols and systems 

8 among law enforcement, mental health, 

9 substance abuse, housing, corrections, and 

10 emergency medical service operations to 

11 provide coordinated assistance to high uti12 lizers. 

13 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—Not later than the last 

14 day of the first year following the fiscal year in 

15 which a grant is awarded under this subsection, 

16 the recipient of the grant shall submit to the 

17 Attorney General a report that— 

18 ‘‘(i) measures the performance of the 

19 grant recipient in reducing the use of pub20 lic services by high utilizers; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) provides a model set of practices, 

22 systems, or procedures that other jurisdic23 tions can adopt to reduce the use of public 

24 services by high utilizers.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. ACADEMY TRAINING. 

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

3 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa(h)) is amend4 ed— 

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

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(F) ACADEMY TRAINING.—To provide 

8 support for academy curricula, law enforcement 

9 officer orientation programs, continuing edu10 cation training, and other programs that teach 

11 law enforcement personnel how to identify and 

12 respond to incidents involving persons with 

13 mental health disorders or co-occurring mental 

14 health and substance abuse disorders.’’; and 

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

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

17 General, in awarding grants under this subsection, 

18 shall give priority to programs that law enforcement 

19 personnel and members of the mental health and 

20 substance abuse professions develop and administer 

21 cooperatively.’’. 

22 SEC. 6. EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICES. 

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

24 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa(c)) is amend25 ed— 


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

2 end; 

3 (2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para4 graph (6); and 

5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3), the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(4) propose interventions that have been 

8 shown by empirical evidence to reduce recidivism; 

9 ‘‘(5) when appropriate, use validated assess10 ment tools to target preliminarily qualified offenders 

11 with a moderate or high risk of recidivism and a 

12 need for treatment and services; or’’. 

13 SEC. 7. SAFE COMMUNITIES. 

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

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

16 3797aa(a)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (7)— 

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

19 ILLNESS’’ and inserting ‘‘MENTAL ILLNESS; 

20 MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER’’; and 

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

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

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

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

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(9) PRELIMINARILY QUALIFIED OFFENDER.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘prelimi3 narily qualified offender’ means an adult or ju4 venile accused of an offense who— 

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

6 been diagnosed by a qualified mental 

7 health professional as having a mental ill8 ness or co-occurring mental illness and 

9 substance abuse disorders; 

10 ‘‘(II) manifests obvious signs of men11 tal illness or co-occurring mental illness 

12 and substance abuse disorders during ar13 rest or confinement or before any court; or 

14 ‘‘(III) in the case of a veterans treat15 ment court provided under subsection (i), 

16 has been diagnosed with, or manifests ob17 vious signs of, mental illness or a sub18 stance abuse disorder or co-occurring men19 tal illness and substance abuse disorder; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(ii) has been unanimously approved 

22 for participation in a program funded 

23 under this section by, when appropriate, 

24 the relevant— 

25 ‘‘(I) prosecuting attorney; 


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1 ‘‘(II) defense attorney; 

2 ‘‘(III) probation or corrections 

3 official; 

4 ‘‘(IV) judge; and 

5 ‘‘(V) a representative from the 

6 relevant mental health agency de7 scribed in subsection (b)(5)(B)(i). 

8 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION.—In determining 

9 whether to designate a defendant as a prelimi10 narily qualified offender, the relevant pros11 ecuting attorney, defense attorney, probation or 

12 corrections official, judge, and mental health or 

13 substance abuse agency representative shall 

14 take into account— 

15 ‘‘(i) whether the participation of the 

16 defendant in the program would pose a 

17 substantial risk of violence to the commu18 nity; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the criminal history of the de20 fendant and the nature and severity of the 

21 offense for which the defendant is charged; 

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

23 to the offense; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the extent to which the defend2 ant would benefit from participation in the 

3 program; 

4 ‘‘(v) the extent to which the commu5 nity would realize cost savings because of 

6 the defendant’s participation in the pro7 gram; and 

8 ‘‘(vi) whether the defendant satisfies 

9 the eligibility criteria for program partici10 pation unanimously established by the rel11 evant prosecuting attorney, defense attor12 ney, probation or corrections official, judge 

13 and mental health or substance abuse 

14 agency representative.’’. 

15 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

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

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

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

19 2991(a).’’ and inserting ‘‘means an offense that— 

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

21 attempted use, or threatened use of physical 

22 force against the person or property of another; 

23 or 

24 ‘‘(B) is not a felony that by its nature in25 volves a substantial risk that physical force 


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1 against the person or property of another may 

2 be used in the course of committing the of3 fense.’’. 

4 SEC. 8. REAUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

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

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

8 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

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

10 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

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

12 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

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

15 2015 through 2019.’’; and 

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

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

18 of the funds authorized to be appropriated under 

19 this section may be used for purposes described in 

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

Æ 


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