[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7079 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7079

  To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to, and enter into 
 cooperative agreements with, States and units of local government to 
develop, implement, or expand a program to provide medication-assisted 
 treatment, from arrest to release, to individuals incarcerated in the 
   jurisdiction who are addicted to opioids, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 19, 2018

 Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire (for herself, Mrs. Walorski, Ms. Jayapal, 
 Ms. Bass, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Esty of Connecticut, Mr. Turner, and Mr. 
  Langevin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to, and enter into 
 cooperative agreements with, States and units of local government to 
develop, implement, or expand a program to provide medication-assisted 
 treatment, from arrest to release, to individuals incarcerated in the 
   jurisdiction who are addicted to opioids, 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 ``Corrections Public Health and 
Community Re-entry Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. MEDICATION ASSISTED TREATMENT COMMUNITY RE-ENTRY PROGRAM.

    (a)  Authorization.--The Attorney General, acting through the 
Director of the National Institute of Corrections, is authorized to 
make grants to, and enter into cooperative agreements with, States and 
units of local government to develop, implement, or expand a program to 
provide medication-assisted treatment to individuals incarcerated in 
the jurisdiction who are addicted to opioids.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of the program under this section are 
to--
            (1) develop medication-assisted treatment programs, in 
        consultation with nonprofit organizations qualified to provide 
        technical support for such programs;
            (2) reduce the risk of overdose to individuals following 
        release from incarceration; and
            (3) reduce the rate of recidivism.
    (c) Program Requirements.--A program described in subsection (a) 
which is funded by a grant or a cooperative agreement under this 
section shall include the following:
            (1) A sufficient number of providers who can prescribe (or 
        otherwise dispense) and discuss with patients the risks of, 
        benefits of, and differences between--
                    (A) not less than 1 opioid antagonist medication 
                approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat 
                addiction involving opioids; and
                    (B) not less than 1 opioid agonist (or partial 
                agonist) medication approved by the Food and Drug 
                Administration to treat addiction involving opioids.
            (2) A certified recovery coach to work with newly released 
        individuals recovering from addiction to opioids, in order to 
        support the individual's sustained recovery.
    (d) Application.--A jurisdiction seeking a grant or cooperative 
agreement under this section shall submit an application to the 
Attorney General at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information as the Attorney General may reasonably require, including--
            (1) a description of the objectives of the program and 
        activities to be funded by the grant or cooperative agreement 
        and how the grant or agreement will be used to achieve these 
        objectives, including specific activities and services to be 
        conducted;
            (2) a plan for measuring progress in achieving the 
        objectives described in paragraph (1), including a strategy to 
        collect data that can be used to measure such progress;
            (3) assurance that the prison or jail at which the program 
        will be operated has, or has access to, a sufficient number of 
        clinicians licensed to administer medication-assisted treatment 
        to program participants, which may include clinicians who are 
        available using telemedicine;
            (4) a plan for ensuring secure storage of medications and 
        protocols for diversion prevention;
            (5) a description of the program's outreach and education 
        component, in order to encourage maximum participation in the 
        program;
            (6) assurance that the program will provide psychosocial 
        counseling services to compliment medication-assisted 
        treatment; and
            (7) a plan for ensuring that program participants have 
        continuity of care, both with respect to medication-assisted 
        treatment and psychosocial counseling services, through 
        community service providers after release from incarceration, 
        including providing assistance to eligible participants in 
        registering for Medicaid.
    (e) Duration.--A grant awarded or cooperative agreement entered 
into under this section shall be for a period not to exceed 4 years, 
except that the Attorney General may extend the term of such a grant or 
agreement based on outcome data or extenuating circumstances.
    (f) Collaboration With Corrections Organization.--The Attorney 
General shall establish a working relationship with a knowledgeable 
corrections organization with expertise in security, medical health, 
mental health, and addiction care, to oversee and support 
implementation of the program under this section, including the use of 
evidence-based clinical practices.
    (g) Report.--
            (1) In general.--A jurisdiction that receives a grant or 
        enters into a cooperative agreement under this section shall 
        submit an annual report to the Attorney General which includes 
        information about the program funded by the grant or 
        cooperative agreement, including goals, interventions, outcomes 
        (including recidivism rates), and expenditures.
            (2) Publication.--
                    (A) By recipient.--A jurisdiction that submits a 
                report under paragraph (1) shall make the report 
                publicly available on the website of the appropriate 
                department of corrections, prison, or jail.
                    (B) By attorney general.--The Attorney General 
                shall make each report received under paragraph (1) 
                publicly available on the website of the National 
                Institute of Corrections.
            (3) Submission to congress.--On an annual basis, the 
        Attorney General shall submit to Congress a summary and 
        compilation of the reports the Attorney General received under 
        paragraph (1) for that year.
    (h) Application Review Panel.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish 
        a Medication-Assisted Treatment Community Re-entry Application 
        Review Panel, which shall include--
                    (A) employees of the Department of Justice;
                    (B) employees of the Substance Abuse and Mental 
                Health Service Administration; and
                    (C) other stakeholders with expert knowledge of the 
                opioid epidemic, drug treatment, and community 
                addiction services, which may include law enforcement 
                and public health entities.
            (2) Duties.--The review panel established under paragraph 
        (1) shall review and evaluate applications for grants and 
        cooperative agreements under this section, and make 
        recommendations for the awarding of such grants and agreements 
        to the Attorney General.
    (i) Publication of Criteria in Federal Register.--Not later than 90 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and in consultation 
with the review panel established under subsection (g), the Attorney 
General shall publish in the Federal Register the application process 
and criteria for grants and cooperative agreements under this section.
    (j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $50,000,000 to carry out this section for each of fiscal 
years 2019 through 2022.
    (k) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``medication-assisted treatment'' means the 
        use of drugs or combinations of drugs that have, under the 
        Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or section 351 of the 
        Public Health Service Act, been approved for use in maintenance 
        or detoxification treatment, in combination with counseling and 
        behavioral therapies, to provide a comprehensive approach to 
        the treatment of substance use disorders.
            (2) The term ``psychosocial'' means the interrelation of 
        social factors and individual thought and behavior.
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