1.Short title; table of
contents
(a)This Act may be cited
as the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment
and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act of
2008
.
(b)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.
2.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.
3.Reauthorization
of the Adult and Juvenile Collaboration Program Grants
(a)Authorization
of appropriations through 2014Section 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 purposesSection 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 purposesFor 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 prioritySubsection (c) of such section is
amended to read as follows:
(c)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.
.
4.Law
enforcement response to mentally ill offenders improvement grantsSection 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)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)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)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)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)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 trainingTo 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)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)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.
.
5.Examination
and report on prevalence of mentally ill offenders
(a)
(1)The Attorney General shall examine and report on mental
illness and the criminal justice system.
(2)Congress
encourages the Attorney General to specifically examine the following:
(A)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)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)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)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 appropriationsThere 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.
Secretary.