[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1865 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1865

   To provide grants to establish demonstration mental health courts.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 4, 1999

  Mr. DeWine (for himself and Mr. Domenici) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide grants to establish demonstration mental health courts.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``America's Law Enforcement and Mental 
Health Project''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) fully 16 percent of all inmates in State prisons and 
        local jails suffer from mental illness, according to a July, 
        1999 report, conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics;
            (2) between 600,000 and 700,000 mentally ill persons are 
        annually booked in jail alone, according to the American Jail 
        Association;
            (3) estimates say 25 to 40 percent of America's mentally 
        ill will come into contact with the criminal justice system, 
        according to National Alliance for the Mentally Ill;
            (4) 75 percent of mentally ill inmates have been sentenced 
        to time in prison or jail or probation at least once prior to 
        their current sentence, according to the Bureau of Justice 
        Statistics in July, 1999; and
            (5) Broward County, Florida and King County, Washington, 
        have created separate Mental Health Courts to place nonviolent 
        mentally ill offenders into judicially monitored in-patient and 
        out-patient mental health treatment programs, where 
        appropriate, with positive results.

SEC. 3. MENTAL HEALTH COURTS.

    (a) Amendment.--Part V of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended to read as follows:

                     ``PART V--MENTAL HEALTH COURTS

``SEC. 2201. GRANT AUTHORITY.

    ``The Attorney General shall make grants to States, State courts, 
local courts, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments, 
acting directly or through agreements with other public or nonprofit 
entities, for up to 125 programs that involve--
            ``(1) continuing judicial supervision, including periodic 
        review, over preliminarily qualified offenders with mental 
        illness, mental retardation, or co-occurring mental illness and 
        substance abuse disorders, who are charged with nonviolent 
        offenses; and
            ``(2) the coordinated delivery of services, which 
        includes--
                    ``(A) specialized training of law enforcement and 
                judicial personnel to identify and address the unique 
                needs of a mentally ill or mentally retarded offender;
                    ``(B) voluntary outpatient or inpatient mental 
                health treatment that carries with it the possibility 
                of dismissal of charges or reduced sentencing upon 
                successful completion of treatment; and
                    ``(C) centralized case management involving the 
                consolidation of all of a mentally ill or mentally 
                retarded defendant's cases, including violations of 
                probation, and the coordination of all mental health 
                treatment plans and social services, including life 
                skills training, such as housing placement, vocational 
                training, education, job placement, health care, and 
                relapse prevention for each participant who requires 
                such services.

``SEC. 2202. DEFINITION.

    ``In this part the term `preliminarily qualified offender with 
mental illness, mental retardation, or co-occurring mental and 
substance abuse disorders' means a person who--
            ``(1)(A) previously or currently has been diagnosed by a 
        qualified mental health professional as having a mental 
        illness, mental retardation, or co-occurring mental illness and 
        substance abuse disorders; or
            ``(B) manifests obvious signs of mental illness, mental 
        retardation, or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse 
        disorders during arrest or confinement or before any court; and
            ``(2) is deemed eligible by designated judges.

``SEC. 2203. ADMINISTRATION.

    ``(a) Consultation.--The Attorney General shall consult with the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services and any other appropriate 
officials in carrying out this part.
    ``(b) Use of Components.--The Attorney General may utilize any 
component or components of the Department of Justice in carrying out 
this part.
    ``(c) Regulatory Authority.--The Attorney General shall issue 
regulations and guidelines necessary to carry out this part which 
include, but are not limited to, the methodologies and outcome measures 
proposed for evaluating each applicant program.
    ``(d) Applications.--In addition to any other requirements that may 
be specified by the Attorney General, an application for a grant under 
this part shall--
            ``(1) include a long-term strategy and detailed 
        implementation plan;
            ``(2) explain the applicant's inability to fund the program 
        adequately without Federal assistance;
            ``(3) certify that the Federal support provided will be 
        used to supplement, and not supplant, State, Indian tribal, and 
        local sources of funding that would otherwise be available;
            ``(4) identify related governmental or community 
        initiatives which complement or will be coordinated with the 
        proposal;
            ``(5) certify that there has been appropriate consultation 
        with all affected agencies and that there will be appropriate 
        coordination with all affected agencies in the implementation 
        of the program;
            ``(6) certify that participating offenders will be 
        supervised by one or more designated judges with responsibility 
        for the mental health court program;
            ``(7) specify plans for obtaining necessary support and 
        continuing the proposed program following the conclusion of 
        Federal support;
            ``(8) describe the methodology and outcome measures that 
        will be used in evaluating the program; and
            ``(9) certify that participating first time offenders 
        without a history of a mental illness will receive a mental 
        health evaluation.

``SEC. 2204. APPLICATIONS.

    ``To request funds under this part, the chief executive or the 
chief justice of a State or the chief executive or chief judge of a 
unit of local government or Indian tribal government shall submit an 
application to the Attorney General in such form and containing such 
information as the Attorney General may reasonably require.

``SEC. 2205. FEDERAL SHARE.

    ``The Federal share of a grant made under this part may not exceed 
75 percent of the total costs of the program described in the 
application submitted under section 2205 for the fiscal year for which 
the program receives assistance under this part, unless the Attorney 
General waives, wholly or in part, the requirement of a matching 
contribution under this section. The use of the Federal share of a 
grant made under this part shall be limited to new expenses 
necessitated by the proposed program, including the development of 
treatment services and the hiring and training of personnel. In-kind 
contributions may constitute a portion of the non-Federal share of a 
grant.

``SEC. 2206. GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.

    ``The Attorney General shall ensure that, to the extent 
practicable, an equitable geographic distribution of grant awards is 
made that considers the special needs of rural communities, Indian 
tribes, and Alaska Natives.

``SEC. 2207. REPORT.

    ``A State, Indian tribal government, or unit of local government 
that receives funds under this part during a fiscal year shall submit 
to the Attorney General a report in March of the following year 
regarding the effectiveness of this part.

``SEC. 2208. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TRAINING, AND EVALUATION.

    ``(a) Technical Assistance and Training.--The Attorney General may 
provide technical assistance and training in furtherance of the 
purposes of this part.
    ``(b) Evaluations.--In addition to any evaluation requirements that 
may be prescribed for grantees, the Attorney General may carry out or 
make arrangements for evaluations of programs that receive support 
under this part.
    ``(c) Administration.--The technical assistance, training, and 
evaluations authorized by this section may be carried out directly by 
the Attorney General, in collaboration with the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, or through grants, contracts, or other cooperative 
arrangements with other entities.''.
    (b) 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 inserting after part U the following:

                     ``Part V--Mental Health Courts

``Sec. 2201. Grant authority.
``Sec. 2202. Definition.
``Sec. 2203. Administration.
``Sec. 2204. Applications.
``Sec. 2205. Federal share.
``Sec. 2206. Geographic distribution.
``Sec. 2207. Report.
``Sec. 2208. Technical assistance, training, and evaluation.''.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 1001(a) of title I of 
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
3793(a)), is amended by inserting after paragraph (19) the following:
    ``(20) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out part V, 
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 through 2004.''.
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