[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2120 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2120

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs to carry out a program to support veterans in contact 
     with the criminal justice system by discouraging unnecessary 
criminalization of mental illness and other nonviolent crimes, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 1, 2015

Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Franken, Mr. 
 Schumer, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Bennet, Ms. 
Baldwin, and Mr. Markey) introduced the following bill; which was read 
        twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs to carry out a program to support veterans in contact 
     with the criminal justice system by discouraging unnecessary 
criminalization of mental illness and other nonviolent crimes, 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.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Justice Outreach Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PROGRAM OF COORDINATED OUTREACH 
              FOR JUSTICE-INVOLVED VETERANS AT RISK OF HOMELESSNESS.

    (a) Program Required.--
            (1) In general.--Subchapter III of chapter 20 of title 38, 
        United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating sections 2022 and 2023 as 
                sections 2023 and 2024, respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after section 2021A the following 
                new section 2022:
``Sec. 2022. Coordination of outreach for justice-involved veterans at 
              risk of homelessness
    ``(a) Program Required.--The Secretary shall carry out a program to 
support veterans in contact with the criminal justice system by 
discouraging unnecessary criminalization of mental illness and other 
nonviolent crimes.
    ``(b) Partnership.--The Secretary shall carry out the program 
required by subsection (a) in partnership with local law enforcement, 
judicial, and community-based treatment and legal assistance 
organizations.
    ``(c) Authorized Activities.--In carrying out the program required 
by subsection (a), the Secretary may conduct the following:
            ``(1) Training for police, prosecutors, courts, public 
        defenders, and other community-based support organizations on 
        matters relating to psychological trauma associated with 
        military service and mental health and substance abuse services 
        available from the Department.
            ``(2) Support for courts and their officers, including 
        physical presence in the courtroom setting, by facilitating 
        mental health assessments, treatment planning, referrals to 
        Department services, or such other services as may be requested 
        by the courts.
            ``(3) Such other outreach and assistance as the Secretary 
        considers appropriate for the provision of support described in 
        subsection (a).
    ``(d) Justice Outreach Coordinators.--(1) In order to effectively 
assist veterans in contact with the criminal justice system, the 
Secretary shall establish coordinators to provide outreach under the 
program required by subsection (a).
    ``(2) The Secretary shall ensure that each coordinator established 
under paragraph (1) is knowledgeable about psychological and 
psychiatric evaluation in relation to justice-based forensic matters, 
such as--
            ``(A) psychiatric diagnosis;
            ``(B) developmental disabilities;
            ``(C) medical issues, such as traumatic brain injury;
            ``(D) competency and sanity;
            ``(E) neglect and abuse;
            ``(F) parental rights; and
            ``(G) life threatening issues, such as suicidality and 
        homicidally.
    ``(e) Veteran in Contact With the Criminal Justice System 
Defined.--In this section, the term `veteran in contact with the 
criminal justice system' includes the following:
            ``(1) A veteran in contact with local law enforcement who 
        can be appropriately diverted from arrest to mental health 
        treatment.
            ``(2) A veteran in local jail either pretrial or serving a 
        sentence.
            ``(3) A veteran in adjudication or monitoring by a 
        court.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 2023(f) of such title, 
        as redesignated by paragraph (1)(A), is amended in paragraphs 
        (2)(C) and (3)(C) by striking ``section 2023'' both places it 
        appears and inserting ``section 2024''.
            (3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
        beginning of chapter 20 of such title is amended by striking 
        the items relating to sections 2022 and 2023 and inserting the 
        following new items:

``2022. Coordination of outreach for justice-involved veterans at risk 
                            of homelessness.
``2023. Coordination of outreach services for veterans at risk of 
                            homelessness.
``2024. Referral and counseling services: veterans at risk of 
                            homelessness who are transitioning from 
                            certain institutions.''.
    (b) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
        shall submit to Congress a report on the program carried out 
        under section 2022(a) of such title, as added by subsection 
        (a)(1).
            (2) Contents.--The report submitted under paragraph (1) 
        shall include an assessment of the following:
                    (A) The number of coordinators established under 
                section 2022(d)(1) of such title, as added by 
                subsection (a)(1).
                    (B) The training of such coordinators.
                    (C) The capabilities of such coordinators.
                    (D) The capacity of the program carried out under 
                section 2022(a) of such title, as so added, to meet the 
                demand of veterans and courts for services under the 
                program.
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