I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6174 
To end crime and disorder on the streets of the United States by restoring 
civil commitment, addressing vagrancy and homelessness through institu-
tional treatment, and redirecting Federal resources, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 20, 2025 
Mr. BURCHETT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy 
and Commerce, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To end crime and disorder on the streets of the United 
States by restoring civil commitment, addressing va-
grancy and homelessness through institutional treatment, 
and redirecting Federal resources, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Ending Crime and Dis-
order on America’s Streets Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to protect public safety 
by restoring civil commitment procedures, fighting va-
grancy, and redirecting Federal resources toward effective 
methods of addressing homelessness, including the use of 
institutional treatment in hospitals or asylums for individ-
uals adjudged insane or otherwise unable to care for them-
selves. 
SEC. 3. RESTORING CIVIL COMMITMENT. 
The Attorney General, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services, shall take appro-
priate action to— 
(1) seek, in appropriate cases, the reversal of 
Federal or State judicial precedents and the termi-
nation of consent decrees that impede the policy of 
the United States of encouraging the civil commit-
ment of unhoused individuals; and 
(2) provide assistance to State and local govern-
ments, through technical guidance, grants, or other 
legally available means, for the identification, adop-
tion, and implementation of maximally flexible civil 
commitment, institutional treatment, and step-down 
treatment standards that allow for the appropriate 
commitment and treatment of unhoused individuals. 
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SEC. 4. FIGHTING VAGRANCY ON AMERICA’S STREETS. 
(a) GRANT PRIORITIES.—The Attorney General, the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary 
of Housing and Urban Development, and the Secretary 
of Transportation shall each conduct an assessment of the 
discretionary grant programs administered by the respec-
tive Secretary and determine whether priority for such 
grants may be given to grantees in States and municipali-
ties that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, ac-
tively meet the following criteria: 
(1) Establish, implement, or enforce Federal 
and State prohibitions on illicit drug use in public 
places. 
(2) Establish, implement, or enforce Federal 
and State prohibitions on urban camping and loi-
tering. 
(3) Establish, implement, or enforce Federal 
and State prohibitions on urban squatting. 
(4) Enforce, and where necessary, adopt stand-
ards that address unhoused individuals, through as-
sisted outpatient treatment or by moving such indi-
viduals into treatment centers or other appropriate 
facilities through the use of civil commitment or 
other available means. 
(5) Substantially implement and comply with 
the registration and notification requirements of the 
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Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (34 
U.S.C. 20901 et seq.), particularly with respect to 
sex offenders who are required to register and who 
have no fixed address, including by adequately map-
ping and checking the location of unhoused individ-
uals who are sex offenders. 
(b) ADDITIONAL ACTIONS BY THE ATTORNEY GEN-
ERAL.—The Attorney General shall— 
(1) ensure that unhoused individuals arrested 
for Federal crimes are evaluated, consistent with 
section 4248 of title 18, United States Code, to de-
termine whether they are sexually dangerous persons 
and if appropriate, certified accordingly for civil 
commitment; 
(2) take all necessary steps to ensure the avail-
ability of funds under the Emergency Federal Law 
Enforcement Assistance Program under the Justice 
Assistance Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 50101 et seq.) to 
support, consistent with the requirements under 
such Program, encampment removal efforts in areas 
for which public safety is at risk and State and local 
resources are inadequate; 
(3) assess Federal resources to determine 
whether they may be directed toward ensuring, to 
the extent permitted by law, that detainees with seri-
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ous mental illness are not released into the public 
because of a lack of forensic bed capacity at appro-
priate local, State, and Federal jails or hospitals; 
and 
(4) enhance requirements that prisons and resi-
dential reentry centers that are under the authority 
of the Attorney General or receive funding from the 
Attorney General require in-custody housing release 
plans and, to the maximum extent practicable, re-
quire individuals to comply. 
SEC. 5. REDIRECTING FEDERAL RESOURCES TOWARD EF-
FECTIVE METHODS OF ADDRESSING HOME-
LESSNESS. 
(a) ACTIONS BY THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND 
HUMAN SERVICES.—The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall take appropriate action to— 
(1) ensure that discretionary grants issued by 
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration for substance use disorder preven-
tion, treatment, and recovery fund evidence-based 
programs and do not fund programs that fail to 
achieve adequate outcomes, including efforts termed 
as harm reduction or safe consumption efforts; 
(2) provide technical assistance to assisted out-
patient treatment programs for unhoused individuals 
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with serious mental illness or addiction administered 
by the Secretary during and after the initiation of 
any civil commitment process under section 4246 of 
title 18, United States Code, that are focused on as-
sisting such individuals in finding private housing 
and support networks; and 
(3) ensure that Federal funds for Federally 
qualified health centers (as defined in section 
1861(aa) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395x(aa))) and certified community behavioral 
health clinics (as described in section 223 of the 
Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (42 
U.S.C. 1396a note; Public Law 113–93)) reduce, 
rather than promote, homelessness by supporting, to 
the maximum extent permitted by law, comprehen-
sive services for unhoused individuals with serious 
mental illness and substance use disorder, including 
crisis intervention services. 
(b) COORDINATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.—The 
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall coordinate 
with the Attorney General and other relevant agencies to 
ensure that Federal resources support the transfer of eligi-
ble persons to mental hospitals or asylums, including those 
returned from foreign countries who have been legally ad-
judged insane. 
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SEC. 6. INCREASING ACCOUNTABILITY AND SAFETY IN 
AMERICA’S HOMELESSNESS PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services and the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development shall each take appropriate actions to in-
crease accountability with respect to the administration by 
the respective Secretary of programs providing for assist-
ance, including through the award of grants, relating to 
homelessness and transitional living. Such actions shall in-
clude, to the extent permitted by law— 
(1) ending support for ‘‘housing first’’ policies 
that deprioritize accountability and fail to promote 
treatment, recovery, and self-sufficiency; 
(2) increasing competition among grantees 
through broadening the applicant pool; and 
(3) holding grantees to higher standards of ef-
fectiveness in reducing homelessness and increasing 
public safety. 
(b) HOUSING
AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT.—The 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall, as 
the Secretary determines appropriate, take steps to re-
quire recipients of Federal housing and homelessness as-
sistance to increase requirements that persons partici-
pating in the recipients’ programs who suffer from sub-
stance use disorder or serious mental illness use substance 
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abuse treatment or mental health services as a condition 
of participation. 
(c) SAFE CONSUMPTION SITES.—With respect to re-
cipients of Federal housing and homelessness assistance 
that operate drug injection sites or ‘‘safe consumption 
sites,’’ knowingly distribute drug paraphernalia, or permit 
the use or distribution of illicit drugs on property under 
their control— 
(1) the Attorney General shall review whether 
such recipients are in violation of Federal law, in-
cluding 21 U.S.C. 856, and bring civil or criminal 
actions in appropriate cases; and 
(2) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel-
opment, in coordination with the Attorney General, 
shall review whether such recipients are in violation 
of the terms of the programs pursuant to which they 
receive Federal housing and homelessness assistance 
and freeze their assistance as the Secretary deems 
appropriate. 
(d) HOUSING OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN.—The Sec-
retary of Housing and Urban Development shall take ap-
propriate measures and revise regulations as necessary to 
allow, where permissible under applicable law, federally 
funded programs to exclusively house women and children 
and to stop sex offenders who receive homelessness assist-
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ance through such programs from being housed with unre-
lated children. 
(e) COLLECTION OF CERTAIN HEALTH-RELATED IN-
FORMATION.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban De-
velopment, in consultation with the Attorney General and 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall, as ap-
propriate, and to the extent permitted by law— 
(1) allow or require the recipients of Federal 
funding for homelessness assistance to collect health- 
related information that the Secretary of Housing 
and Urban Development identifies as necessary for 
the effective and efficient operation of the funding 
program from all persons to whom such assistance 
is provided; and 
(2) require those funding recipients to share 
such data with law enforcement authorities in cir-
cumstances permitted by law and to use the col-
lected health data to provide appropriate medical 
care to individuals with mental health diagnoses or 
to connect individuals to public health resources. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) STEP-DOWN TREATMENT.—The term ‘‘step- 
down treatment’’ means a structured, phased ap-
proach designed to transition unhoused individuals 
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or requiring medical intervention from intensive care 
to less intensive, community-based or outpatient 
services to promote recovery, stability, and self-suffi-
ciency. 
(2) 
UNHOUSED
INDIVIDUAL.—The 
term 
‘‘unhoused individual’’ means an individual who— 
(A) poses risks to themselves or the public 
or are living on the streets; and 
(B) cannot care for themselves or be shel-
tered in an appropriate facility for a period of 
3 consecutive months or longer. 
(3) URBAN CAMPING.—The term ‘‘urban camp-
ing’’ means any temporary outdoor shelter, including 
tents, tarps, bedding, or vehicles used for sleeping or 
residing for a period exceeding 24 hours in a single 
location on public or private property not designated 
for recreational use, where such shelter serves as a 
primary living accommodation rather than transient 
recreation. 
(4) URBAN
SQUATTING.—The term ‘‘urban 
squatting’’ means the unauthorized occupation or 
use of vacant or abandoned buildings, structures, or 
land by individuals or groups. 
Æ 
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