Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-1231
Sponsor: Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT]
Introduced: 2011-06-20 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Employment and training programs
Juvenile crime and gang violence
Law enforcement administration and funding
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Vocational and technical education

Summary:
action_date: 2011-06-20
text: 
Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2011 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended by the Second Chance Act of 2007, to revise and reauthorize through FY2016 grant programs for: (1) state and local adult and juvenile offender reentry projects; (2) effective alternatives to incarceration; (3) family-based substance abuse treatment; (4) evaluation and improvement of educational methods at prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities; (5) technology careers training; (6) offender reentry substance abuse and criminal justice collaboration; and (7) nonprofit organization mentoring programs.
 
Requires the Inspector General of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to audit not less than 5% of all grantees awarded grants under reentry and drug treatment programs of the Second Chance Act of 2007. Prohibits grantees who are found by an audit to have made unauthorized expenditures from receiving future funding for a specified period of time. 
 
Repeals provisions of the Second Chance Act of 2007 authorizing: (1) the program for responsible reintegration of offenders, (2) the study of the effectiveness of depot naltrexone for heroin addiction, and (3) the Federal Remote Satellite and Reentry Training (ReStart) program. Extends through FY2016 the program under such Act for the reentry of elderly nonviolent offenders into their communities and reduces the eligibility age for such program from 65 to 60. Awards credits against the sentences of prisoners who participate in reentry programs demonstrated to reduce recidivism.

action_date: 2011-07-21
text: 
Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2011 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended by the Second Chance Act of 2007 (the Act), to revise and reauthorize through FY2016 grant programs for: (1) state and local adult and juvenile offender reentry projects; (2) effective alternatives to incarceration; (3) family-based substance abuse treatment; (4) evaluation and improvement of educational methods at prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities; (5) technology careers training; (6) offender reentry substance abuse and criminal justice collaboration; and (7) nonprofit organization mentoring programs.
 
Sets forth requirements for planning and implementation grants for state and local adult and juvenile offender reentry projects. 
 
Directs the Attorney General to give priority to grant applications that best: (1) focus initiative on geographic areas with a disproportionate population of offenders released from prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities; (2) include input from nonprofit organizations; (3) demonstrate effective case assessment and management abilities in order to provide comprehensive and continuous reentry; (4) review the process by which the applicant adjudicates violations of parole, probation, or supervision following release; (5) provide for an independent evaluation of reentry programs that include random assignment and controlled studies to determine their effectiveness; (6) target high-risk offenders for reentry programs through validated assessment tools; and (7) target offenders with histories of homelessness, substance abuse, or mental illness.
 
Requires, as a condition of receiving financial assistance, the development of a comprehensive reentry strategic plan by grant applicants for adult and juvenile offenders.
 
Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to states, local governments, territories, Indian tribes, nonprofit agencies, or any combination thereof to develop, implement, or expand programs that provide alternatives to incarceration and to provide training and technical assistance for grantees. 
 
Directs the Attorney General to identify and publish best practices relating to academic and vocational education for offenders in prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities. 
 
(Sec. 3) Requires the Inspector General of the Department of Justice (DOJ), beginning in FY2012 and every three years thereafter, to conduct an audit of not less than 10% of all grantees awarded funding for grant programs under provisions of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 relating to: (1) adult offender reentry demonstration projects; (2) qualified drug treatment programs; (3) grants to develop, implement, and expand comprehensive and clinically-appropriate family-based substance abuse treatment programs as alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent parent drug offenders and grants to provide prison-based family treatment programs for incarcerated parents of minor children; (4) grants to evaluate and improve educational methods at prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities; (5) technology careers training demonstration grants; (6) the offender reentry substance abuse and criminal justice collaboration program; and (7) mentoring grants for nonprofit organizations.

Prohibits a grantee found to have an unresolved audit finding (an audit finding or recommendation that a grantee has used grant funds for an unauthorized expenditure or otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed or resolved during a one-year period beginning on the date of initial notification of the finding or recommendation) from receiving grant funds in the two fiscal years following the fiscal year to which the finding relates.
 
Prohibits the Attorney General from awarding a grant to a nonprofit organization for a programs subject to an audit if such organization holds money in offshore accounts for the purpose of tax avoidance. Requires such organizations to disclose to the Attorney General the process for determining the compensation of its officers, directors, trustees, and key employees.
 
(Sec. 4) Repeals provisions of the Act authorizing: (1) the program for responsible reintegration of offenders, (2) the study on the effectiveness of depot naltrexone for heroin addiction, and (3) the Federal Remote Satellite Tracking and Reentry Training (ReStart) Program.

Provides that a prisoner who is serving a term of imprisonment of more than one year, other than a term of life imprisonment, shall receive credit in addition to the time actually served at a rate of 54 days per year of sentence imposed if the Bureau of Prisons determines that the prisoner has displayed exemplary compliance with institutional disciplinary regulations. 
 
Makes any prisoner who, in the judgment of the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, successfully participates in a program that has been demonstrated to reduce recidivism eligible to earn additional credit of up to 60 days per year toward satisfaction of the prisoner's sentence.
 
Requires the Director to: (1) develop policies to require wardens of prisons and community-based facilities to enter into recidivism reduction partnerships with faith-based and community-based nonprofit organizations that are willing to provide, on a volunteer basis, programs that have been demonstrated to reduce recidivism; and (2) report annually on such partnerships.
 
(Sec. 5) Directs the Comptroller General to: (1) conduct a study that identifies all programs and initiatives for prisoners in federal custody focusing on prisoner reentry, criminal recidivism, substance abuse treatment, mentoring, or career training and that evaluates whether any are duplicative or overlapping in nature; and (2) report on the study's findings and make recommendations for achieving cost savings.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-07-21
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 108.
action_date: 2011-07-21
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2011-07-21
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
action_date: 2011-07-21
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.
action_date: 2011-06-20
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S3926-3930)
action_date: 2011-06-20
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3925-3926)
action_date: 2011-06-20
text: Introduced in Senate