[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2304 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2304

 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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 5, 2007

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 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 2007''.
    (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. Improving the mental health courts grant program.
Sec. 6. Study 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 2013.--Section 2991(h) 
of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 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) $75,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 
        2013.''.
    (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;
            (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 2008 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; or
            ``(3)(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.

    (a) In General.--Part HH of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new section:

``SEC. 2992. LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE TO MENTALLY ILL OFFENDERS 
              IMPROVEMENT GRANTS.

    ``(a) Authorization.--The Attorney General is authorized to make 
grants to States, units of local government, Indian tribes, and tribal 
organizations for the following purposes:
            ``(1) 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.
            ``(2) Receiving centers.--To provide for the development of 
        specialized receiving centers to assess individuals in the 
        custody of law enforcement personnel for mental health and 
        substance abuse treatment needs.
            ``(3) 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.
            ``(4) 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.
            ``(5) 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.
    ``(b) BJA Training Models.--For purposes of subsection (a)(1), 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.
    ``(c) Matching Funds.--The Federal share of funds for a program 
funded by a grant received under this section may not exceed 75 percent 
of the costs of the program unless the Attorney General waives, wholly 
or in part, such funding limitation. 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.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Department of Justice to carry out this section 
$10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2013.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Such part is further amended by amending 
the part heading to read as follows: ``grants to improve treatment of 
offenders with mental illnesses''.

SEC. 5. IMPROVING THE MENTAL HEALTH COURTS GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Reauthorization of the Mental Health Courts Grant Program.--
Section 1001(a)(20) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3793(a)(20)) is amended by striking 
``fiscal years 2001 through 2004'' and inserting ``fiscal years 2008 
through 2013''.
    (b) Additional Grant Uses Authorized.--Section 2201 of such title 
(42 U.S.C. 3796ii) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1) at the end, by striking ``and'';
            (2) in paragraph (2) at the end, by striking the period and 
        adding ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
            ``(3) pretrial services and related treatment programs for 
        offenders with mental illnesses; and
            ``(4) developing, implementing, or expanding programs that 
        are alternatives to incarceration for offenders with mental 
        illnesses.''.

SEC. 6. STUDY AND REPORT ON PREVALENCE OF MENTALLY ILL OFFENDERS.

    (a) Study.--The Attorney General shall provide for a study of the 
following:
            (1) The rate of occurrence of serious mental illnesses in 
        each of the following populations:
                    (A) Individuals, including juveniles, on probation.
                    (B) Individuals, including juveniles, incarcerated 
                in a jail.
                    (C) Individuals, including juveniles, incarcerated 
                in a prison.
                    (D) Individuals, including juveniles, on parole.
            (2) For each population described in paragraph (1), the 
        percentage of individuals with serious mental illnesses who, at 
        the time of the arrest, are eligible to receive Supplemental 
        Security Income benefits, Social Security Disability Insurance 
        benefits, or medical assistance under a State plan for medical 
        assistance under title XIX of the Social Security Act.
            (3) For each such population, with respect to a year, the 
        percentage of individuals with serious mental illnesses who--
                    (A) were homeless (as defined in section 103 of the 
                McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
                11302)) at the time of arrest; and
                    (B) were homeless (as so defined) during any period 
                in the previous year.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a 
report on the results of the study under subsection (a).
    (c) Definition of Serious Mental Illness.--For purposes of this 
section, the term ``serious mental illness'' has the meaning given such 
term for purposes of title V of the Public Health Service Act.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $2,000,000 for 2008.
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