I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2387
To foster local collaborations which will ensure that resources are effectively 
and efficiently used within the criminal and juvenile justice systems. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 5, 2003
Mr. STRICKLAND introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To foster local collaborations which will ensure that resources 
are effectively and efficiently used within the criminal 
and juvenile justice systems.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mentally Ill Offender 
Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) According to the Bureau of Justice Statis-
tics, over 16 percent of adults incarcerated in United 
States jails and prisons have a mental illness.
(2) According to the Office of Juvenile Justice 
and Delinquency Prevention, approximately 20 per-
cent of youth in the juvenile justice system have se-
rious mental health problems, and a significant 
number have co-occurring mental health and sub-
stance abuse disorders. 
(3) According to the National Alliance for the 
Mentally Ill, up to 40 percent of adults who suffer 
from a serious mental illness will come into contact 
with the American criminal justice system at some 
point in their lives. 
(4) According to the Office of Juvenile Justice 
and Delinquency Prevention, over 150,000 juveniles 
who come into contact with the juvenile justice sys-
tem each year meet the diagnostic criteria for at 
least 1 mental or emotional disorder. 
(5) A significant proportion of adults with a se-
rious mental illness who are involved with the crimi-
nal justice system are homeless or at imminent risk 
of homelessness; and many of these individuals are 
arrested and jailed for minor, nonviolent offenses. 
(6) The majority of individuals with a mental 
illness or emotional disorder who are involved in the 
criminal or juvenile justice systems are responsive to
medical and psychological interventions that inte-
grate treatment, rehabilitation, and support services. 
(7) Collaborative programs between mental 
health, substance abuse, and criminal or juvenile 
justice systems that ensure the provision of services 
for those with mental illness or co-occurring mental 
illness and substance abuse disorders can reduce the 
number of such individuals in adult and juvenile cor-
rections facilities, while providing improved public 
safety. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to increase public safety 
by facilitating collaboration among the criminal justice, ju-
venile justice, mental health treatment, and substance 
abuse systems. Such collaboration is needed to— 
(1) reduce rearrests among adult and juvenile 
offenders with mental illness, or co-occurring mental 
illness and substance abuse disorders; 
(2) provide courts, including existing and new 
mental health courts, with appropriate mental health 
and substance abuse treatment options; 
(3) maximize the use of alternatives to prosecu-
tion through diversion in appropriate cases involving 
non-violent offenders with mental illness;
(4) promote adequate training for criminal jus-
tice system personnel about mental illness and sub-
stance abuse disorders and the appropriate re-
sponses to people with such illnesses; 
(5) promote adequate training for mental health 
treatment personnel about criminal offenders with 
mental illness and the appropriate response to such 
offenders in the criminal justice system; 
(6) promote communication between criminal 
justice or juvenile justice personnel, mental health 
treatment personnel, nonviolent offenders with men-
tal illness, and other support services such as hous-
ing, job placement, community, and faith-based or-
ganizations; and 
(7) promote communication, collaboration, and 
intergovernmental partnerships among municipal, 
county, and State elected officials with respect to 
mentally ill offenders.
SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE MENTAL HEALTH AND 
CRIMINAL JUSTICE COLLABORATION PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘PART HH—ADULT AND JUVENILE 
COLLABORATION PROGRAM GRANTS 
‘‘SEC. 2991. ADULT AND JUVENILE COLLABORATION PRO-
GRAMS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following 
definitions shall apply: 
‘‘(1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘applicant’ means 
States, units of local government, Indian tribes, and 
tribal organizations that apply for a grant under this 
section. 
‘‘(2) COLLABORATION
PROGRAM.—The term 
‘collaboration program’ means a program to promote 
public safety by ensuring access to adequate mental 
health and other treatment services for mentally ill 
adults or juveniles that is overseen cooperatively 
by—
‘‘(A) a criminal justice agency, a juvenile 
justice agency, or a mental health court; and 
‘‘(B) a mental health agency.
‘‘(3) CRIMINAL OR JUVENILE JUSTICE AGEN-
CY.—The term ‘criminal or juvenile justice agency’ 
means an agency of a State or local government that 
is responsible for detection, arrest, enforcement, 
prosecution, defense, adjudication, incarceration, 
probation, or parole relating to the violation of the 
criminal laws of that State or local government.
‘‘(4) DIVERSION AND ALTERNATIVE PROSECU-
TION AND SENTENCING.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘diversion’ 
and ‘alternative prosecution and sentencing’ 
mean the appropriate use of effective mental 
health treatment alternatives to juvenile justice 
or criminal justice system institutional place-
ments for preliminarily qualified offenders. 
‘‘(B) APPROPRIATE
USE.—In this para-
graph, the term ‘appropriate use’ includes the 
discretion of the judge or supervising authority 
and the leveraging of justice sanctions to en-
courage compliance with treatment. 
‘‘(5) MENTAL
HEALTH
AGENCY.—The term 
‘mental health agency’ means an agency of a State 
or local government that is responsible for mental 
health services. 
‘‘(6) MENTAL
HEALTH
COURT.—The term 
‘mental health court’ means a judicial program that 
meets the requirements of part V of this title. 
‘‘(7) MENTAL ILLNESS.—The term ‘mental ill-
ness’ means a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or 
emotional disorder—
‘‘(A) of sufficient duration to meet diag-
nostic criteria within the most recent edition of
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Men-
tal Disorders published by the American Psy-
chiatric Association; and 
‘‘(B) that has resulted in functional im-
pairment that substantially interferes with or 
limits 1 or more major life activities. 
‘‘(8) PRELIMINARILY QUALIFIED OFFENDER.—
The term ‘preliminarily qualified offender’ means an 
adult or juvenile who—
‘‘(A)(i) previously or currently has been di-
agnosed by a qualified mental health profes-
sional as having a mental illness or co-occurring 
mental illness and substance abuse disorders; or 
‘‘(ii) manifests obvious signs of mental ill-
ness or co-occurring mental illness and sub-
stance abuse disorders during arrest or confine-
ment or before any court; and 
‘‘(B) has faced or is facing criminal 
charges and is deemed eligible by a designated 
pretrial screening and diversion process, or by 
a magistrate or judge, on the ground that the 
commission of the offense is the product of the 
person’s mental illness.
‘‘(9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the Secretary of the Department of Health and 
Human Services. 
‘‘(10) UNIT
OF
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT.—The 
term ‘unit of local government’ means any city, 
county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or 
other general purpose political subdivision of a 
State, including a State court, local court, or a gov-
ernmental agency located within a city, county, 
township, town, borough, parish, or village. 
‘‘(b) PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in 
consultation with the Secretary, may award non-
renewable grants to eligible applicants to prepare a 
comprehensive plan for and implement an adult or 
juvenile collaboration program, which targets adults 
or juveniles with mental illness or co-occurring men-
tal illness and substance abuse disorders in order to 
promote public safety and public health. 
‘‘(2) PURPOSES.—Grants awarded under this 
section shall be used to create or expand—
‘‘(A) mental health courts or other court-
based programs for preliminarily qualified of-
fenders;
‘‘(B) programs that offer specialized train-
ing to the officers and employees of a criminal 
or juvenile justice agency and mental health 
personnel in procedures for identifying the 
symptoms of mental illness and co-occurring 
mental illness and substance abuse disorders in 
order to respond appropriately to individuals 
with such illnesses; 
‘‘(C) programs that support cooperative ef-
forts by criminal and juvenile justice agencies 
and mental health agencies to promote public 
safety by offering mental health treatment serv-
ices and, where appropriate, substance abuse 
treatment services for— 
‘‘(i) preliminarily qualified offenders 
with mental illness or co-occurring mental 
illness and substance abuse disorders; or 
‘‘(ii) adult offenders with mental ill-
ness during periods of incarceration, while 
under the supervision of a criminal justice
agency, or following release from correc-
tional facilities; and 
‘‘(D) programs that support intergovern-
mental cooperation between State and local gov-
ernments with respect to the mentally ill of-
fender. 
‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To receive a planning 
grant or an implementation grant, the joint ap-
plicants shall prepare and submit a single appli-
cation to the Attorney General at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such information 
as the Attorney General and the Secretary shall 
reasonably require. An application under part V 
of this title may be made in conjunction with an 
application under this section. 
‘‘(B) COMBINED
PLANNING
AND
IMPLE-
MENTATION GRANT APPLICATION.—The Attor-
ney General and the Secretary shall develop a 
procedure under which applicants may apply at 
the same time and in a single application for a 
planning grant and an implementation grant, 
with receipt of the implementation grant condi-
tioned on successful completion of the activities 
funded by the planning grant. 
‘‘(4) PLANNING GRANTS.—
‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—The joint applicants 
may apply to the Attorney General for a non-
renewable planning grant to develop a collabo-
ration program. 
‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The Attorney General 
and the Secretary may not approve a planning 
grant unless the application for the grant in-
cludes or provides, at a minimum, for a budget 
and a budget justification, a description of the 
outcome measures that will be used to measure 
the effectiveness of the program in promoting 
public safety and public health, the activities 
proposed (including the provision of substance 
abuse treatment services, where appropriate) 
and a schedule for completion of such activities, 
and the personnel necessary to complete such 
activities. 
‘‘(C) PERIOD
OF
GRANT.—A planning 
grant shall be effective for a period of 1 year, 
beginning on the first day of the month in 
which the planning grant is made. Applicants 
may not receive more than 1 such planning 
grant. 
‘‘(D) AMOUNT.—The amount of a plan-
ning grant may not exceed $75,000, except that 
the Attorney General may, for good cause, ap-
prove a grant in a higher amount.
‘‘(E) COLLABORATION SET ASIDE.—Up to 
5 percent of all planning funds shall be used to 
foster collaboration between State and local 
governments in furtherance of the purposes set 
forth in the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment 
and Crime Reduction Act of 2003. 
‘‘(5) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—
‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—Joint applicants that 
have prepared a planning grant application may 
apply to the Attorney General for approval of a 
nonrenewable implementation grant to develop 
a collaboration program.
‘‘(B) COLLABORATION.—To receive an im-
plementation grant, the joint applicants shall—
‘‘(i) document that at least 1 criminal 
or juvenile justice agency (which can in-
clude a mental health court) and 1 mental 
health agency will participate in the ad-
ministration of the collaboration program; 
‘‘(ii) describe the responsibilities of 
each participating agency, including how 
each agency will use grant resources to 
jointly ensure that the provision of mental 
health treatment services is integrated with
the provision of substance abuse treatment 
services, where appropriate; 
‘‘(iii) in the case of an application 
from a unit of local government, document 
that a State mental health authority has 
provided comment and review; and 
‘‘(iv) involve, to the extent practicable, 
in developing the grant application—
‘‘(I) individuals with mental ill-
ness or co-occurring mental illness 
and substance abuse disorders; or 
‘‘(II) the families and advocates 
of such individuals under subclause 
(I). 
‘‘(C) CONTENT.—To be eligible for an im-
plementation grant, joint applicants shall com-
ply with the following: 
‘‘(i) DEFINITION
OF
TARGET
POPU-
LATION.—Applicants for an implementa-
tion grant shall—
‘‘(I) describe the population with 
mental illness or co-occurring mental 
illness and substance abuse disorders 
that is targeted for the collaboration 
program; and
‘‘(II) develop guidelines that can 
be used by personnel of a criminal or 
juvenile justice agency to identify indi-
viduals with mental illness or co-oc-
curring mental illness and substance 
abuse disorders. 
‘‘(ii) SERVICES.—Applicants for an 
implementation grant shall—
‘‘(I) ensure that preliminarily 
qualified offenders who are to receive 
treatment services under the collabo-
ration program will first receive indi-
vidualized, needs-based assessments to 
determine, plan, and coordinate the 
most appropriate services for such in-
dividuals; 
‘‘(II) specify plans for making 
mental 
health 
treatment 
services 
available and accessible to mentally ill 
offenders at the time of their release 
from the criminal justice system, in-
cluding outside of normal business 
hours; 
‘‘(III) ensure that preliminarily 
qualified offenders served by the col-
laboration program will have access to 
community-based mental health serv-
ices deemed appropriate by the Sec-
retary, or, where appropriate, inte-
grated substance abuse and mental 
health treatment services; 
‘‘(IV) make available, to the ex-
tent practicable, other support serv-
ices that will ensure the preliminarily 
qualified 
offender’s 
successful 
re-
integration into the community (such 
as housing, education, job placement, 
mentoring, health care and benefits, 
as well as the services of faith-based 
and 
community 
organizations 
for 
mentally ill individuals served by the 
collaboration program); and 
‘‘(V) include strategies to address 
developmental and learning disabilities 
and problems arising from a docu-
mented history of physical or sexual 
abuse. 
‘‘(D) HOUSING
AND
JOB
PLACEMENT.—
Recipients of an implementation grant may use 
grant funds to assist mentally ill offenders com-
pliant with the program in seeking housing or 
employment assistance. 
‘‘(E) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—Appli-
cants for an implementation grant shall strive 
to ensure prompt access to defense counsel by 
criminal defendants with mental illness who are 
facing charges that would trigger a constitu-
tional right to counsel. 
‘‘(F) FINANCIAL.—Applicants for an im-
plementation grant shall—
‘‘(i) explain the applicant’s inability to 
fund the collaboration program adequately 
without Federal assistance; 
‘‘(ii) specify how the Federal support 
provided will be used to supplement, and 
not supplant, State, local, Indian tribe, or 
tribal organization sources of funding that 
would otherwise be available, including bill-
ing third-party resources for services al-
ready covered under programs (such as 
Medicaid, Medicare, and the State Chil-
dren’s Insurance Program); and 
‘‘(iii) outline plans for obtaining nec-
essary support and continuing the pro-
posed collaboration program following the 
conclusion of Federal support. 
‘‘(G) OUTCOMES.—Applicants for an im-
plementation grant shall—
‘‘(i) identify methodology and outcome 
measures, as required by the Attorney 
General and the Secretary, to be used in 
evaluating the effectiveness of the collabo-
ration program; 
‘‘(ii) ensure mechanisms are in place 
to capture data, consistent with the meth-
odology and outcome measures under 
clause (i); and 
‘‘(iii) submit specific agreements from 
affected agencies to provide the data need-
ed by the Attorney General and the Sec-
retary to accomplish the evaluation under 
clause (i). 
‘‘(H) STATE
PLANS.—Applicants for an 
implementation grant shall describe how the 
adult or juvenile collaboration program relates 
to existing State criminal or juvenile justice and 
mental health plans and programs.
‘‘(I) USE OF FUNDS.—Applicants that re-
ceive an implementation grant may use funds 
for 1 or more of the following purposes: 
‘‘(i) MENTAL
HEALTH
COURTS
AND 
DIVERSION/ALTERNATIVE
PROSECUTION 
AND SENTENCING PROGRAMS.—Funds may 
be used to create or expand existing men-
tal health courts that meet program re-
quirements established by the Attorney 
General under part V of this title or diver-
sion and alternative prosecution and sen-
tencing programs (including crisis inter-
vention teams and treatment accountability 
services for communities) that meet re-
quirements established by the Attorney 
General and the Secretary. 
‘‘(ii) TRAINING.—Funds may be used 
to create or expand programs, such as cri-
sis intervention training, which offer spe-
cialized training to—
‘‘(I) criminal justice system per-
sonnel to identify and respond appro-
priately to the unique needs of an
adult or juvenile with mental illness or
co-occurring mental illness and sub-
stance abuse disorders; or 
‘‘(II) mental health system per-
sonnel to respond appropriately to the 
treatment needs of preliminarily quali-
fied offenders. 
‘‘(iii) 
SERVICE
DELIVERY.—Funds 
may be used to create or expand programs 
that promote public safety by providing the 
services described in subparagraph (C)(ii) 
to preliminarily qualified offenders. 
‘‘(iv) 
IN-JAIL
AND
TRANSITIONAL 
SERVICES.—Funds may be used to pro-
mote and provide mental health treatment 
for those incarcerated or for transitional 
re-entry programs for those released from 
any penal or correctional institution. 
‘‘(J) 
GEOGRAPHIC
DISTRIBUTION
OF 
GRANTS.—The Attorney General, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary, shall ensure that plan-
ning and implementation grants are equitably 
distributed among the geographical regions of 
the United States and between urban and rural 
populations.
‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—The Attorney General, in awarding 
funds under this section, shall give priority to applications 
that—
‘‘(1) demonstrate the strongest commitment to 
ensuring that such funds are used to promote both 
public health and public safety; 
‘‘(2) demonstrate the active participation of 
each co-applicant in the administration of the col-
laboration program; and 
‘‘(3) have the support of both the Attorney 
General and the Secretary. 
‘‘(d) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 
the cost of a collaboration program carried out by a 
State, unit of local government, Indian tribe, or trib-
al organization under this section shall not exceed—
‘‘(A) 80 percent of the total cost of the 
program during the first 2 years of the grant; 
‘‘(B) 60 percent of the total cost of the 
program in year 3; and 
‘‘(C) 25 percent of the total cost of the 
program in years 4 and 5. 
‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 
share of payments made under this section may be
made in cash or in-kind fairly evaluated, including 
planned equipment or services. 
‘‘(e) FEDERAL USE OF FUNDS.—The Attorney Gen-
eral, in consultation with the Secretary, in administering 
grants under this section, may use up to 3 percent of 
funds appropriated to—
‘‘(1) research the use of alternatives to prosecu-
tion through pretrial diversion in appropriate cases 
involving individuals with mental illness; 
‘‘(2) offer specialized training to personnel of 
criminal and juvenile justice agencies in appropriate 
diversion techniques; 
‘‘(3) provide technical assistance to local gov-
ernments, mental health courts, and diversion pro-
grams, including technical assistance relating to pro-
gram evaluation; 
‘‘(4) help localities build public understanding 
and support for community reintegration of individ-
uals with mental illness; 
‘‘(5) develop a uniform program evaluation 
process; and 
‘‘(6) conduct a national evaluation of the col-
laboration program that will include an assessment 
of its cost-effectiveness. 
‘‘(f) INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General and 
the Secretary shall establish an interagency task 
force with the Secretaries of Housing and Urban 
Development, Labor, Education, and Veterans Af-
fairs and the Commissioner of Social Security, or 
their designees. 
‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The task force estab-
lished under paragraph (1) shall—
‘‘(A) identify policies within their depart-
ments which hinder or facilitate local collabo-
rative initiatives for adults or juveniles with 
mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and 
substance abuse disorders; and 
‘‘(B) submit, not later than 2 years after 
the date of enactment of this section, a report 
to Congress containing recommendations for 
improved interdepartmental collaboration re-
garding the provision of services to adults and 
juveniles with mental illness or co-occurring 
mental illness and substance abuse disorders. 
‘‘(g) MINIMUM ALLOCATION.—Unless all eligible ap-
plications submitted by any State or unit of local govern-
ment within such State for a planning or implementation 
grant under this section have been funded, such State, to-
gether with grantees within the State (other than Indian
tribes), shall be allocated in each fiscal year under this 
section not less than 0.75 percent of the total amount ap-
propriated in the fiscal year for planning or implementa-
tion grants pursuant to this section. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of 
Justice to carry out this section—
‘‘(1) $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 
and 2005; and 
‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for fiscal 
years 2006 through 2008.’’. 
(b) LIST
OF ‘‘BEST PRACTICES’’.—The Attorney 
General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, shall develop a list of ‘‘best practices’’ 
for appropriate diversion from incarceration of adult and 
juvenile offenders. 
(c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following:
‘‘PART HH—ADULT AND JUVENILE COLLABORATION PROGRAM GRANTS 
‘‘Sec. 2991. Adult and juvenile collaboration programs.’’.
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