[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2304 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2304
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of
1968 to provide grants for the improved mental health treatment and
services provided to offenders with mental illnesses, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Mentally Ill
Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement
Act of 2008''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Reauthorization of the Adult and Juvenile Collaboration Program
Grants.
Sec. 4. Law enforcement response to mentally ill offenders improvement
grants.
Sec. 5. Examination and report on prevalence of mentally ill offenders.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Communities nationwide are struggling to respond to the
high numbers of people with mental illnesses involved at all
points in the criminal justice system.
(2) A 1999 study by the Department of Justice estimated
that 16 percent of people incarcerated in prisons and jails in
the United States, which is more than 300,000 people, suffer
from mental illnesses.
(3) Los Angeles County Jail and New York's Rikers Island
jail complex hold more people with mental illnesses than the
largest psychiatric inpatient facilities in the United States.
(4) State prisoners with a mental health problem are twice
as likely as those without a mental health problem to have been
homeless in the year before their arrest.
SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE ADULT AND JUVENILE COLLABORATION PROGRAM
GRANTS.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations Through 2014.--Section 2991(h)
of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
(42 U.S.C. 3797aa(h)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking at the end ``and'';
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``for fiscal years 2006
through 2009.'' and inserting ``for each of the fiscal years
2006 and 2007; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2009 through
2014.''.
(b) Allocation of Funding for Administrative Purposes.--Section
2991(h) of such title is further amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) (as added
by subsection (a)(3)) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C),
respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly;
(2) by striking ``There are authorized'' and inserting
``(1) In general.--There are authorized''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) Allocation of Funding for Administrative Purposes.--For
fiscal year 2009 and each subsequent fiscal year, of the amounts
authorized under paragraph (1) for such fiscal year, the Attorney
General may obligate not more than 3 percent for the administrative
expenses of the Attorney General in carrying out this section for such
fiscal year.''.
(c) Additional Applications Receiving Priority.--Subsection (c) of
such section is amended to read as follows:
``(c) Priority.--The Attorney General, in awarding funds under this
section, shall give priority to applications that--
``(1) promote effective strategies by law enforcement to
identify and to reduce risk of harm to mentally ill offenders
and public safety;
``(2) promote effective strategies for identification and
treatment of female mentally ill offenders;
``(3) promote effective strategies to expand the use of
mental health courts, including the use of pretrial services
and related treatment programs for offenders; or
``(4)(A) demonstrate the strongest commitment to ensuring
that such funds are used to promote both public health and
public safety;
``(B) demonstrate the active participation of each co-
applicant in the administration of the collaboration program;
``(C) document, in the case of an application for a grant
to be used in whole or in part to fund treatment services for
adults or juveniles during periods of incarceration or
detention, that treatment programs will be available to provide
transition and reentry services for such individuals; and
``(D) have the support of both the Attorney General and the
Secretary.''.
SEC. 4. LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE TO MENTALLY ILL OFFENDERS IMPROVEMENT
GRANTS.
Section 2991 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa) is amended by--
(1) redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (i); and
(2) inserting after subsection (g) the following:
``(h) Law Enforcement Response to Mentally Ill Offenders
Improvement Grants.--
``(1) Authorization.--The Attorney General is authorized to
make grants under this section to States, units of local
government, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations for the
following purposes:
``(A) Training programs.--To provide for programs
that offer law enforcement personnel specialized and
comprehensive training in procedures to identify and
respond appropriately to incidents in which the unique
needs of individuals with mental illnesses are
involved.
``(B) Receiving centers.--To provide for the
development of specialized receiving centers to assess
individuals in the custody of law enforcement personnel
for suicide risk and mental health and substance abuse
treatment needs.
``(C) Improved technology.--To provide for
computerized information systems (or to improve
existing systems) to provide timely information to law
enforcement personnel and criminal justice system
personnel to improve the response of such respective
personnel to mentally ill offenders.
``(D) Cooperative programs.--To provide for the
establishment and expansion of cooperative efforts by
criminal and juvenile justice agencies and mental
health agencies to promote public safety through the
use of effective intervention with respect to mentally
ill offenders.
``(E) Campus security personnel training.--To
provide for programs that offer campus security
personnel training in procedures to identify and
respond appropriately to incidents in which the unique
needs of individuals with mental illnesses are
involved.
``(2) BJA training models.--For purposes of paragraph
(1)(A), the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance shall
develop training models for training law enforcement personnel
in procedures to identify and respond appropriately to
incidents in which the unique needs of individuals with mental
illnesses are involved, including suicide prevention.
``(3) Matching funds.--The Federal share of funds for a
program funded by a grant received under this subsection may
not exceed 50 percent of the costs of the program. The non-
Federal share of payments made for such a program may be made
in cash or in-kind fairly evaluated, including planned
equipment or services.''.
SEC. 5. EXAMINATION AND REPORT ON PREVALENCE OF MENTALLY ILL OFFENDERS.
(a) In General.--
(1) In general.--The Attorney General shall examine and
report on mental illness and the criminal justice system.
(2) Scope.--Congress encourages the Attorney General to
specifically examine the following:
(A) Populations.--The rate of occurrence of serious
mental illnesses in each of the following populations:
(i) Individuals, including juveniles, on
probation.
(ii) Individuals, including juveniles,
incarcerated in a jail.
(iii) Individuals, including juveniles,
incarcerated in a prison.
(iv) Individuals, including juveniles, on
parole.
(B) Benefits.--The percentage of individuals in
each population described in subparagraph (A) who
have--
(i) a serious mental illness; and
(ii) received disability benefits under
title II or title XVI of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq. and 1381 et seq.).
(b) Report.--Not later than 36 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress
the report described in subsection (a).
(c) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``serious mental illness'' means that an
individual has, or at any time during the 1-year period ending
on the date of enactment of this Act had, a covered mental,
behavioral, or emotional disorder; and
(2) the term ``covered mental, behavioral, or emotional
disorder''--
(A) means a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or
emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet
diagnostic criteria specified within the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition,
or the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth
Revision, Clinical Modification equivalent of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
Fourth Edition; and
(B) does not include a disorder that has a V code
within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, Fourth Edition, a substance use disorder, or
a developmental disorder, unless that disorder cooccurs
with another disorder described in subparagraph (A) and
causes functional impairment which substantially
interferes with or limits 1 or more major life
activities.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $2,000,000 for 2009.
Passed the Senate September 26 (legislative day, September
17), 2008.
Attest:
Secretary.
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2304
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of
1968 to provide grants for the improved mental health treatment and
services provided to offenders with mental illnesses, and for other
purposes.