I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5258 

To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to protection and advocacy 

systems to address the needs of individuals with disabilities involved 

in the local, State, and Federal criminal justice system, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 22, 2023 

Ms. ROSS (for herself and Ms. SCANLON) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to protection and advocacy systems to address the needs of individuals with disabilities involved in the local, State, and 

Federal criminal justice system, 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 ‘‘Protection and Advo5 cacy for Criminal Legal Services Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROTECTION AND 

2 ADVOCACY GRANT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General, acting 

4 through the Assistant Attorney General of the Office of 

5 Justice Programs, is authorized to make grants to protec6 tion and advocacy systems for the purpose of addressing 

7 the needs of individuals with disabilities involved with the 

8 local, State, and Federal criminal justice system, includ9 ing— 

10 (1) making sure individuals with disabilities are 

11 not inappropriately placed in the local, State, and 

12 Federal criminal justice system; 

13 (2) representing and advocating for the rights 

14 of individuals with disabilities who are under arrest, 

15 incarcerated, or under pre-trial or post-sentencing 

16 supervision; and 

17 (3) ensuring that adequate re-entry planning is 

18 available for successful reintegration of individuals 

19 with disabilities back into the community after in20 carceration in order to decrease recidivism rates 

21 among individuals with disabilities. 

22 (b) USES OF FUNDS.—A protection and advocacy 

23 system may use a grant under this section to— 

24 (1) monitor whether local, State, and Federal 

25 law enforcement officers have violated the constitu26 tional or statutory rights of individuals with disabilVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Aug 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258

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1 ities who are under arrest, incarcerated, or under 

2 pre-trial or post-sentencing supervision, and identify 

3 any conditions of incarceration or practices of any 

4 such law enforcement officers that unlawfully dis5 criminate against such individuals with disabilities; 

6 (2) provide information and training on the 

7 constitutional and statutory rights of individuals 

8 with disabilities, including under the Americans with 

9 Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and 

10 hate crime statutes, and on services and diversion 

11 programs for such individuals made available by ap12 plicable criminal justice systems to— 

13 (A) incarcerated individuals with disabil14 ities; 

15 (B) the families of such individuals; 

16 (C) correctional facility staff (including 

17 correctional officers, administrators, and med18 ical personnel); 

19 (D) individuals with disabilities who are 

20 victims of or witnesses to crimes; and 

21 (E) judges, court personnel, and lawyers; 

22 (3) provide training to law enforcement per23 sonnel and correctional facility staff (including cor24 rectional officers, administrators, and medical per25 sonnel) regarding the referral of individuals with disVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Aug 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258

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1 abilities for services, the signs and symptoms of 

2 mental illness, communicating with individuals with 

3 disabilities, and alternatives to secure confinement, 

4 solitary confinement, and other forms of restrictive 

5 housing; 

6 (4) provide training to law enforcement per7 sonnel and correctional facility staff (including cor8 rectional officers, administrators, and medical per9 sonnel) regarding evidence-based rehabilitation and 

10 diversion strategies and programs to reduce recidi11 vism among individuals with disabilities; and 

12 (5) advocate for safe and humane conditions of 

13 confinement and the elimination of dangerous prac14 tices in the incarceration of individuals with disabil15 ities. 

16 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be eligible for a grant 

17 under this section, a protection and advocacy system shall 

18 meet all of the requirements described in section 143(a)(2) 

19 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of 

20 Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15043(a)(2)). 

21 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

23 appropriated to carry out this section— 

24 (A) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

25 (B) $9,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; 


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1 (C) $11,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; 

2 (D) $13,000,000 for fiscal year 2027; and 

3 (E) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2028. 

4 (2) APPROPRIATIONS LESS THAN $6,200,000.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to any fis6 cal year in which the amount appropriated to 

7 carry out this section is less than $6,200,000, 

8 the Attorney General shall make grants from 

9 such amount to protection and advocacy sys10 tems that apply for a grant under this section. 

11 (B) GRANT AMOUNT.—Subject to the 

12 availability of appropriations, the amount of a 

13 grant shall not be less than— 

14 (i) $110,000 for a protection and ad15 vocacy system located in one of the several 

16 States, the District of Columbia, or the 

17 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and 

18 (ii) $55,000 for a protection and ad19 vocacy system located in American Samoa, 

20 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar21 iana Islands, Guam, the United States Vir22 gin Islands, or the American Indian Con23 sortium. 

24 (3) APPROPRIATIONS OF $6,200,000 OR MORE.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to any fis2 cal year in which the amount appropriated to 

3 carry out this section is not less than 

4 $6,200,000, the Administrator shall make 

5 grants from such amount not later than Octo6 ber 1 of the fiscal year to protection and advo7 cacy systems. 

8 (B) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of 

9 a grant to a protection and advocacy system 

10 shall be equal to an amount bearing the same 

11 ratio to the total amount appropriated for the 

12 fiscal year involved as the population of the 

13 State in which the grantee is located bears to 

14 the population of all States. 

15 (C) MINIMUMS.—The amount of a grant 

16 shall not be less than— 

17 (i) $110,000 for a protection and ad18 vocacy system located in one of the several 

19 States, the District of Columbia, or the 

20 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and 

21 (ii) $55,000 for a protection and ad22 vocacy system located in American Samoa, 

23 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar24 iana Islands, Guam, the United States VirVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Aug 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258

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1 gin Islands, or the American Indian Con2 sortium. 

3 (D) ADJUSTMENT.—For each fiscal year 

4 in which the total amount appropriated to carry 

5 out this section is $9,000,000 or more, and 

6 such appropriated amount exceeds the total 

7 amount appropriated to carry out this section 

8 in the preceding fiscal year, the Attorney Gen9 eral shall increase each of the minimum grant 

10 amounts described by a percentage equal to the 

11 percentage increase in the total amount appro12 priated under this subsection during the pre13 ceding fiscal year and the fiscal year involved. 

14 (e) CARRYOVER.—Any amounts made available to a 

15 protection and advocacy system for a fiscal year under this 

16 section shall remain available for one additional year. 

17 (f) PROGRAM INCOME.—Program income generated 

18 from the amount paid to an eligible protection and advo19 cacy system for a fiscal year shall remain available to such 

20 system until expended and be considered an addition to 

21 the grant. 

22 (g) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each protection and advo23 cacy system that receives a grant under this section shall 

24 submit an annual report to the Attorney General con25 cerning the services provided protecting and advocating 


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1 for the needs of people with disabilities involved with the 

2 local, State, and Federal criminal justice system. 

3 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE, REPORTING, AND OVERSIGHT

4 REQUIREMENTS.—To the greatest extent practicable, re5 porting, monitoring, program financing, and other admin6 istrative and oversight requirements established by the At7 torney General under this section shall be consistent with 

8 the other administrative, reporting, and oversight require9 ments for a protection and advocacy system. 

10 (i) ANNUAL COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT.—Begin11 ning on October 1, 2024, the amounts specified under sub12 section (d) shall at least be increased by the amount of 

13 increase in the Consumer Price Index for the preceding 

14 12-month period. 

15 (j) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator 

16 shall make an annual grant, in an amount of $50,000 or 

17 4 percent of the total amount appropriated under sub18 section (d), whichever is greater, to an eligible national 

19 association for the provision of training and technical as20 sistance in connection with grants awarded to protection 

21 and advocacy systems under this section. 

22 (k) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

23 (1) The term ‘‘protection and advocacy system’’ 

24 means a protection and advocacy system established 

25 pursuant to section 143 of the Developmental DisVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:54 Aug 25, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5258.IH H5258

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1 abilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 

2 (42 U.S.C. 15043). 

3 (2) The term ‘‘American Indian consortium’’ 

4 has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the 

5 Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of 

6 Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15002). 

7 (3) The term ‘‘diversion’’ means a process of 

8 screening individuals, particularly individuals with 

9 disabilities and individuals with substance use dis10 orders, who are arrested or prosecuted for conduct 

11 in which the individual engaged as a result of their 

12 disabilities or substance use disorder, which may in13 clude developing agreements with law enforcement, 

14 prosecutors, judges, or other criminal justice system 

15 personnel, to support the provision of community16 based services in lieu of prosecution, and to prevent 

17 inappropriate incarceration of individuals with dis18 abilities. 

19 (4) The term ‘‘eligible national association’’ 

20 means a national disability association with exten21 sive and demonstrated experience providing training 

22 and technical assistance to protection and advocacy 

23 systems that monitor the rights of people with dis24 abilities. 

Æ 


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