Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets Act

Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to protect public safety by restoring civil commitment procedures, fighting vagrancy, and redirecting Federal resources toward effective methods of addressing homelessness, including the use of institutional treatment in hospitals or asylums for individuals adjudged insane or otherwise unable to care for themselves.

Restoring civil commitment

The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall take appropriate action to— (1) seek, in appropriate cases, the reversal of Federal or State judicial precedents and the termination of consent decrees that impede the policy of the United States of encouraging the civil commitment of unhoused individuals; and (2)provide assistance to State and local governments, through technical guidance, grants, or other legally available means, for the identification, adoption, 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.

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 respective Secretary and determine whether priority for such grants may be given to grantees in States and municipalities that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, actively 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 loitering. (3)Establish, implement, or enforce Federal and State prohibitions on urban squatting. (4)Enforce, and where necessary, adopt standards that address unhoused individuals, through assisted outpatient treatment or by moving such individuals 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 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 mapping and checking the location of unhoused individuals who are sex offenders. (b)

Additional actions by the attorney general

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 determine whether they are sexually dangerous persons and if appropriate, certified accordingly for civil commitment; (2) take all necessary steps to ensure the availability 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 serious mental illness are not released into the public because of a lack of forensic bed capacity at appropriate local, State, and Federal jails or hospitals; and (4) enhance requirements that prisons and residential 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, require individuals to comply.

Redirecting Federal resources toward effective methods of addressing homelessness

(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 prevention, 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 outpatient treatment programs for unhoused individuals 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 assisting 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, comprehensive 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 eligible persons to mental hospitals or asylums, including those returned from foreign countries who have been legally adjudged insane.

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 increase accountability with respect to the administration by the respective Secretary of programs providing for assistance, including through the award of grants, relating to homelessness and transitional living. Such actions shall include, 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 effectiveness 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 require recipients of Federal housing and homelessness assistance to increase requirements that persons participating in the recipients’ programs who suffer from substance use disorder or serious mental illness use substance abuse treatment or mental health services as a condition of participation. (c)

Safe consumption sites

With respect to recipients 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, including 21 U.S.C. 856, and bring civil or criminal actions in appropriate cases; and (2)the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 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 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall take appropriate 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 assistance through such programs from being housed with unrelated children. (e)

Collection of certain health-Related information

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall, as appropriate, 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 circumstances permitted by law and to use the collected health data to provide appropriate medical care to individuals with mental health diagnoses or to connect individuals to public health resources.

Definitions

In this Act: (1)

Step-down treatment

The term step-down treatment means a structured, phased approach designed to transition unhoused individuals or requiring medical intervention from intensive care to less intensive, community-based or outpatient services to promote recovery, stability, and self-sufficiency. (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 sheltered in an appropriate facility for a period of 3 consecutive months or longer. (3)

Urban camping

The term urban camping 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.