[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 118, 108th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

118 STAT. 2327

Public Law 108-414
108th Congress

An Act


 
To foster local collaborations which will ensure that resources are
effectively and efficiently used within the criminal and juvenile
justice systems. NOTE: Oct. 30, 2004 -  [S. 1194]

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in NOTE: Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and
Crime Reduction Act of 2004. Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. NOTE: 42 USC 3711 note. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and
Crime Reduction Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. NOTE: 42 USC 3797aa note. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:
(1) According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, over 16
percent of adults incarcerated in United States jails and
prisons have a mental illness.
(2) According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, approximately 20 percent of youth in the
juvenile justice system have serious mental health problems, and
a significant number have co-occurring mental health and
substance abuse disorders.
(3) According to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill,
up to 40 percent of adults who suffer from a serious mental
illness will come into contact with the American criminal
justice system at some point in their lives.
(4) According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, over 150,000 juveniles who come into
contact with the juvenile justice system each year meet the
diagnostic criteria for at least 1 mental or emotional disorder.
(5) A significant proportion of adults with a serious mental
illness who are involved with the criminal justice system are
homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness, and many of these
individuals are arrested and jailed for minor, nonviolent
offenses.
(6) The majority of individuals with a mental illness or
emotional disorder who are involved in the criminal or juvenile
justice systems are responsive to medical and psychological
interventions that integrate treatment, rehabilitation, and
support services.
(7) Collaborative programs between mental health, substance
abuse, and criminal or juvenile justice systems that ensure the
provision of services for those with mental illness or co-
occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorders can
reduce the number of such individuals in adult and juvenile
corrections facilities, while providing improved public safety.

[[Page 2328]]
118 STAT. 2328

SEC. 3. NOTE: 42 USC 3797aa note. PURPOSE.

The purpose of this Act is to increase public safety by facilitating
collaboration among the criminal justice, juvenile justice, mental
health treatment, and substance abuse systems. Such collaboration is
needed to--
(1) protect public safety by intervening with adult and
juvenile offenders with mental illness or co-occurring mental
illness and substance abuse disorders;
(2) provide courts, including existing and new mental health
courts, with appropriate mental health and substance abuse
treatment options;
(3) maximize the use of alternatives to prosecution through
graduated sanctions in appropriate cases involving nonviolent
offenders with mental illness;
(4) promote adequate training for criminal justice system
personnel about mental illness and substance abuse disorders and
the appropriate responses to people with such illnesses;
(5) promote adequate training for mental health and
substance abuse treatment personnel about criminal offenders
with mental illness or co-occurring substance abuse disorders
and the appropriate response to such offenders in the criminal
justice system;
(6) promote communication among adult or juvenile justice
personnel, mental health and co-occurring mental illness and
substance abuse disorders treatment personnel, nonviolent
offenders with mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and
substance abuse disorders, and support services such as housing,
job placement, community, faith-based, and crime victims
organizations; and
(7) promote communication, collaboration, and
intergovernmental partnerships among municipal, county, and
State elected officials with respect to mentally ill offenders.
SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE MENTAL HEALTH AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE
COLLABORATION PROGRAM.

(a) In General.--Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended by adding at the
end the following:

``PART HH--ADULT AND JUVENILE COLLABORATION PROGRAM GRANTS

``SEC. 2991. NOTE: 42 USC 3797aa. ADULT AND JUVENILE COLLABORATION
PROGRAMS.

``(a) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
``(1) Applicant.--The term `applicant' means States, units
of local government, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations
that apply for a grant under this section.
``(2) Collaboration program.--The term `collaboration
program' means a program to promote public safety by ensuring
access to adequate mental health and other treatment services
for mentally ill adults or juveniles that is overseen
cooperatively by--
``(A) a criminal or juvenile justice agency or a
mental health court; and
``(B) a mental health agency.

[[Page 2329]]
118 STAT. 2329

``(3) Criminal or juvenile justice agency.--The term
`criminal or juvenile justice agency' means an agency of a State
or local government or its contracted agency that is responsible
for detection, arrest, enforcement, prosecution, defense,
adjudication, incarceration, probation, or parole relating to
the violation of the criminal laws of that State or local
government.
``(4) Diversion and alternative prosecution and
sentencing.--
``(A) In general.--The terms `diversion' and
`alternative prosecution and sentencing' mean the
appropriate use of effective mental health treatment
alternatives to juvenile justice or criminal justice
system institutional placements for preliminarily
qualified offenders.
``(B) Appropriate use.--In this paragraph, the term
`appropriate use' includes the discretion of the judge
or supervising authority, the leveraging of graduated
sanctions to encourage compliance with treatment, and
law enforcement diversion, including crisis intervention
teams.
``(C) Graduated sanctions.--In this paragraph, the
term `graduated sanctions' means an accountability-based
graduated series of sanctions (including incentives,
treatments, and services) applicable to mentally ill
offenders within both the juvenile and adult justice
system to hold individuals accountable for their actions
and to protect communities by providing appropriate
sanctions for inducing law-abiding behavior and
preventing subsequent involvement in the criminal
justice system.
``(5) Mental health agency.--The term `mental health agency'
means an agency of a State or local government or its contracted
agency that is responsible for mental health services or co-
occurring mental health and substance abuse services.
``(6) Mental health court.--The term `mental health court'
means a judicial program that meets the requirements of part V
of this title.
``(7) Mental illness.--The term `mental illness' means a
diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder--
``(A) of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic
criteria within the most recent edition of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
published by the American Psychiatric Association; and
``(B)(i) that, in the case of an adult, has resulted
in functional impairment that substantially interferes
with or limits 1 or more major life activities; or
``(ii) that, in the case of a juvenile, has resulted
in functional impairment that substantially interferes
with or limits the juvenile's role or functioning in
family, school, or community activities.
``(8) Nonviolent offense.--The term `nonviolent offense'
means an offense that does not have as an element the use,
attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the
person or property of another or is not a felony that by its
nature involves a substantial risk that physical force against
the person or property of another may be used in the course of
committing the offense.

[[Page 2330]]
118 STAT. 2330

``(9) Preliminarily qualified offender.--The term
`preliminarily qualified offender' means an adult or juvenile
accused of a nonviolent offense who--
``(A)(i) previously or currently has been diagnosed
by a qualified mental health professional as having a
mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and
substance abuse disorders; or
``(ii) manifests obvious signs of mental illness or
co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse
disorders during arrest or confinement or before any
court; and
``(B) has faced, is facing, or could face criminal
charges for a misdemeanor or nonviolent offense and is
deemed eligible by a diversion process, designated
pretrial screening process, or by a magistrate or judge,
on the ground that the commission of the offense is the
product of the person's mental illness.
``(10) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Health and Human Services.
``(11) Unit of local government.--The term `unit of local
government' means any city, county, township, town, borough,
parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision
of a State, including a State court, local court, or a
governmental agency located within a city, county, township,
town, borough, parish, or village.

``(b) Planning and Implementation Grants.--
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General, in consultation
with the Secretary, may award nonrenewable grants to eligible
applicants to prepare a comprehensive plan for and implement an
adult or juvenile collaboration program, which targets
preliminarily qualified offenders in order to promote public
safety and public health.
``(2) Purposes.--Grants awarded under this section shall be
used to create or expand--
``(A) mental health courts or other court-based
programs for preliminarily qualified offenders;
``(B) programs that offer specialized training to
the officers and employees of a criminal or juvenile
justice agency and mental health personnel serving those
with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse
problems in procedures for identifying the symptoms of
preliminarily qualified offenders in order to respond
appropriately to individuals with such illnesses;
``(C) programs that support cooperative efforts by
criminal and juvenile justice agencies and mental health
agencies to promote public safety by offering mental
health treatment services and, where appropriate,
substance abuse treatment services for--
``(i) preliminarily qualified offenders with
mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and
substance abuse disorders; or
``(ii) adult offenders with mental illness
during periods of incarceration, while under the
supervision of a criminal justice agency, or
following release from correctional facilities;
and
``(D) programs that support intergovernmental
cooperation between State and local governments with
respect to the mentally ill offender.

[[Page 2331]]
118 STAT. 2331

``(3) Applications.--
``(A) In general.--To receive a planning grant or an
implementation grant, the joint applicants shall prepare
and submit a single application to the Attorney General
at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Attorney General and the Secretary
shall reasonably require. An application under part V of
this title may be made in conjunction with an
application under this section.
``(B) Combined NOTE: Procedures. planning and
implementation grant application.--The Attorney General
and the Secretary shall develop a procedure under which
applicants may apply at the same time and in a single
application for a planning grant and an implementation
grant, with receipt of the implementation grant
conditioned on successful completion of the activities
funded by the planning grant.
``(4) Planning grants.--
``(A) Application.--The joint applicants may apply
to the Attorney General for a nonrenewable planning
grant to develop a collaboration program.
``(B) Contents.--The Attorney General and the
Secretary may not approve a planning grant unless the
application for the grant includes or provides, at a
minimum, for a budget and a budget justification, a
description of the outcome measures that will be used to
measure the effectiveness of the program in promoting
public safety and public health, the activities proposed
(including the provision of substance abuse treatment
services, where appropriate) and a schedule for
completion of such activities, and the personnel
necessary to complete such activities.
``(C) Period of grant.--A planning grant shall be
effective for a period of 1 year, beginning on the first
day of the month in which the planning grant is made.
Applicants may not receive more than 1 such planning
grant.
``(D) Amount.--The amount of a planning grant may
not exceed $75,000, except that the Attorney General
may, for good cause, approve a grant in a higher amount.
``(E) Collaboration set aside.--Up to 5 percent of
all planning funds shall be used to foster collaboration
between State and local governments in furtherance of
the purposes set forth in the Mentally Ill Offender
Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004.
``(5) Implementation grants.--
``(A) Application.--Joint applicants that have
prepared a planning grant application may apply to the
Attorney General for approval of a nonrenewable
implementation grant to develop a collaboration program.
``(B) Collaboration.--To receive an implementation
grant, the joint applicants shall--
``(i) document that at least 1 criminal or
juvenile justice agency (which can include a
mental health court) and 1 mental health agency
will participate in the administration of the
collaboration program;
``(ii) describe the responsibilities of each
participating agency, including how each agency
will use

[[Page 2332]]
118 STAT. 2332

grant resources to provide supervision of
offenders and jointly ensure that the provision of
mental health treatment services and substance
abuse services for individuals with co-occurring
mental health and substance abuse disorders are
coordinated, which may range from consultation or
collaboration to integration in a single setting
or treatment model;
``(iii) in the case of an application from a
unit of local government, document that a State
mental health authority has provided comment and
review; and
``(iv) involve, to the extent practicable, in
developing the grant application--
``(I) preliminarily qualified
offenders;
``(II) the families and advocates of
such individuals under subclause (I);
and
``(III) advocates for victims of
crime.
``(C) Content.--To be eligible for an implementation
grant, joint applicants shall comply with the following:
``(i) Definition of target population.--
Applicants for an implementation grant shall--
``(I) describe the population with
mental illness or co-occurring mental
illness and substance abuse disorders
that is targeted for the collaboration
program; and
``(II) develop guidelines that can
be used by personnel of an adult or
juvenile justice agency to identify
preliminarily qualified offenders.
``(ii) Services.--Applicants for an
implementation grant shall--
``(I) ensure that preliminarily
qualified offenders who are to receive
treatment services under the
collaboration program will first receive
individualized, validated, needs-based
assessments to determine, plan, and
coordinate the most appropriate services
for such individuals;
``(II) specify plans for making
mental health, or mental health and
substance abuse, treatment services
available and accessible to
preliminarily qualified offenders at the
time of their release from the criminal
justice system, including outside of
normal business hours;
``(III) ensure that there are
substance abuse personnel available to
respond appropriately to the treatment
needs of preliminarily qualified
offenders;
``(IV) determine eligibility for
Federal benefits;
``(V) ensure that preliminarily
qualified offenders served by the
collaboration program will have adequate
supervision and access to effective and
appropriate community-based mental
health services, including, in the case
of individuals with co-occurring mental
health and substance abuse disorders,
coordinated services, which may range
from consultation or collaboration to
integration in a single setting
treatment model;

[[Page 2333]]
118 STAT. 2333

``(VI) make available, to the extent
practicable, other support services that
will ensure the preliminarily qualified
offender's successful reintegration into
the community (such as housing,
education, job placement, mentoring, and
health care and benefits, as well as the
services of faith-based and community
organizations for mentally ill
individuals served by the collaboration
program); and
``(VII) include strategies, to the
extent practicable, to address
developmental and learning disabilities
and problems arising from a documented
history of physical or sexual abuse.
``(D) Housing and job placement.--Recipients of an
implementation grant may use grant funds to assist
mentally ill offenders compliant with the program in
seeking housing or employment assistance.
``(E) Policies and procedures.--Applicants for an
implementation grant shall strive to ensure prompt
access to defense counsel by criminal defendants with
mental illness who are facing charges that would trigger
a constitutional right to counsel.
``(F) Financial.--Applicants for an implementation
grant shall--
``(i) explain the applicant's inability to
fund the collaboration program adequately without
Federal assistance;
``(ii) specify how the Federal support
provided will be used to supplement, and not
supplant, State, local, Indian tribe, or tribal
organization sources of funding that would
otherwise be available, including billing third-
party resources for services already covered under
programs (such as Medicaid, Medicare, and the
State Children's Insurance Program); and
``(iii) outline plans for obtaining necessary
support and continuing the proposed collaboration
program following the conclusion of Federal
support.
``(G) Outcomes.--Applicants for an implementation
grant shall--
``(i) identify methodology and outcome
measures, as required by the Attorney General and
the Secretary, to be used in evaluating the
effectiveness of the collaboration program;
``(ii) ensure mechanisms are in place to
capture data, consistent with the methodology and
outcome measures under clause (i); and
``(iii) submit specific agreements from
affected agencies to provide the data needed by
the Attorney General and the Secretary to
accomplish the evaluation under clause (i).
``(H) State plans.--Applicants for an implementation
grant shall describe how the adult or juvenile
collaboration program relates to existing State criminal
or juvenile justice and mental health plans and
programs.
``(I) Use of funds.--Applicants that receive an
implementation grant may use funds for 1 or more of the
following purposes:

[[Page 2334]]
118 STAT. 2334

``(i) Mental health courts and diversion/
alternative prosecution and sentencing programs.--
Funds may be used to create or expand existing
mental health courts that meet program
requirements established by the Attorney General
under part V of this title, other court-based
programs, or diversion and alternative prosecution
and sentencing programs (including crisis
intervention teams and treatment accountability
services for communities) that meet requirements
established by the Attorney General and the
Secretary.
``(ii) Training.--Funds may be used to create
or expand programs, such as crisis intervention
training, which offer specialized training to--
``(I) criminal justice system
personnel to identify and respond
appropriately to the unique needs of
preliminarily qualified offenders; or
``(II) mental health system
personnel to respond appropriately to
the treatment needs of preliminarily
qualified offenders.
``(iii) Service delivery.--Funds may be used
to create or expand programs that promote public
safety by providing the services described in
subparagraph (C)(ii) to preliminarily qualified
offenders.
``(iv) In-jail and transitional services.--
Funds may be used to promote and provide mental
health treatment and transitional services for
those incarcerated or for transitional re-entry
programs for those released from any penal or
correctional institution.
``(J) Geographic distribution of grants.--The
Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary,
shall ensure that planning and implementation grants are
equitably distributed among the geographical regions of
the United States and between urban and rural
populations.

``(c) Priority.--The Attorney General, in awarding funds under this
section, shall give priority to applications that--
``(1) demonstrate the strongest commitment to ensuring that
such funds are used to promote both public health and public
safety;
``(2) demonstrate the active participation of each co-
applicant in the administration of the collaboration program;
``(3) 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 re-entry services for such individuals; and
``(4) have the support of both the Attorney General and the
Secretary.

``(d) Matching Requirements.--
``(1) Federal share.--The Federal share of the cost of a
collaboration program carried out by a State, unit of local
government, Indian tribe, or tribal organization under this
section shall not exceed--
``(A) 80 percent of the total cost of the program
during the first 2 years of the grant;
``(B) 60 percent of the total cost of the program in
year 3; and

[[Page 2335]]
118 STAT. 2335

``(C) 25 percent of the total cost of the program in
years 4 and 5.
``(2) Non-federal share.--The non-Federal share of payments
made under this section may be made in cash or in-kind fairly
evaluated, including planned equipment or services.

``(e) Federal Use of Funds.--The Attorney General, in consultation
with the Secretary, in administering grants under this section, may use
up to 3 percent of funds appropriated to--
``(1) research the use of alternatives to prosecution
through pretrial diversion in appropriate cases involving
individuals with mental illness;
``(2) offer specialized training to personnel of criminal
and juvenile justice agencies in appropriate diversion
techniques;
``(3) provide technical assistance to local governments,
mental health courts, and diversion programs, including
technical assistance relating to program evaluation;
``(4) help localities build public understanding and support
for community reintegration of individuals with mental illness;
``(5) develop a uniform program evaluation process; and
``(6) conduct a national evaluation of the collaboration
program that will include an assessment of its cost-
effectiveness.

``(f) Interagency NOTE: Establishment. Task Force.--
``(1) In general.--The Attorney General and the Secretary
shall establish an interagency task force with the Secretaries
of Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Education, and Veterans
Affairs and the Commissioner of Social Security, or their
designees.
``(2) Responsibilities.--The task force established under
paragraph (1) shall--
``(A) identify policies within their departments
that hinder or facilitate local collaborative
initiatives for preliminarily qualified offenders; and
``(B) NOTE: Reports. Deadline. submit, not later
than 2 years after the date of enactment of this
section, a report to Congress containing recommendations
for improved interdepartmental collaboration regarding
the provision of services to preliminarily qualified
offenders.

``(g) Minimum Allocation.--Unless all eligible applications
submitted by any State or unit of local government within such State for
a planning or implementation grant under this section have been funded,
such State, together with grantees within the State (other than Indian
tribes), shall be allocated in each fiscal year under this section not
less than 0.75 percent of the total amount appropriated in the fiscal
year for planning or implementation grants pursuant to this section.
``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Department of Justice to carry out this section--
``(1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; and
``(2) such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2006
through 2009.''.

(b) List of ``Best Practices''.--The Attorney General, in
consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall

[[Page 2336]]
118 STAT. 2336

develop a list of ``best practices'' for appropriate diversion from
incarceration of adult and juvenile offenders.

Approved October 30, 2004.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 1194:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 108-732 (Comm. on the Judiciary).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
Vol. 149 (2003):
Oct. 27, considered and passed
Senate.
Vol. 150 (2004):
Oct. 6, considered and passed House,
amended.
Oct. 11, Senate concurred in House
amendment.