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Title V — Addiction and treatment services for women, families, and veterans

S. 2839 · 113th Congress · Sep 17, 2014 · Lineage

V Addiction and treatment services for women, families, and veterans

Sec. 501 Authority to award competitive grants to address opioid and heroin abuse by pregnant and parenting female offenders

(a)
Definitions— In this section—
(1)
the term State criminal justice agency means the agency of the State responsible for administering criminal justice funds, including the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.); and
(2)
the term State substance abuse agency means the agency of the State responsible for the State prevention, treatment, and recovery system, including management of the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant under subpart II of part B of title XIX of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x–21 et seq.).
(b)
Purpose and program authority—
(1)
Grant authorization— The Attorney General may award competitive grants jointly to a State substance abuse agency and a State criminal justice agency to address the use of opioids and heroin among pregnant and parenting female offenders in the State to promote public safety, public health, family permanence, and well-being.
(2)
Purposes and program authority— A grant under this section shall be used to facilitate or enhance collaboration between the State criminal justice and State substance abuse systems in order to carry out programs to address the use of opioid and heroin abuse by pregnant and parenting female offenders.
(c)
Applications—
(1)
In general— A State substance abuse agency and State criminal justice agency desiring a grant under this section shall jointly submit to the Attorney General an application in such form, and containing such information, as the Attorney General may prescribe by regulation or guidelines.
(2)
Contents—
(A)
In general— Each application for a grant under this section shall contain a plan to expand the services of the State for pregnant and parenting female offenders for the use of opioids, heroin, and other drugs, which shall be in accordance with regulations or guidelines established by the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(B)
Plan— A plan submitted under subparagraph (A) shall, at a minimum, include—
(i)
a description of how the applicants will work jointly to address the needs associated with the use of opioids or heroin by pregnant and parenting female offenders to promote family stability and permanence;
(ii)
a description of the nature and the extent of the problem of opioid and heroin use by pregnant and parenting female offenders in the State;
(iii)
a certification that the State has involved counties and other units of local government, when appropriate, in the development, expansion, modification, operation, or improvement of proposed programs to address the problems associated with opioid and heroin use;
(iv)
a certification that funds received under this section will be used to supplement, not supplant, other Federal, State, and local funds; and
(v)
a description of clinically appropriate practices and procedures to—
(I)
screen and assess pregnant and parenting female offenders for problems associated with opioids and heroin;
(II)
provide clinically appropriate services, including medication assisted treatment, for female offenders and their children in the same location to promote family permanence and self-sufficiency; and
(III)
provide for a process to enhance or ensure the abilities of the State criminal justice agency and State substance abuse agency to work together to reunite families when appropriate in the case where family treatment is not provided.
(d)
Period of grant; renewal—
(1)
Period— A grant under this section shall be for a period of 3 years.
(2)
Renewal— A State substance abuse agency and a State criminal justice agency receiving a grant under this section may apply for and, after the end of the period of the first grant under this section, receive 1 additional grant under this section.
(e)
Performance accountability; reports—
(1)
Reports— A State substance abuse agency and a State criminal justice agency receiving a grant under this section shall jointly submit to the Attorney General a report on the activities carried out under the grant at the end of each fiscal year during the period of the grant.
(2)
Evaluation— Not later than 1 year after the end of the period of a grant under this section, the Attorney General shall submit a report to each committee of Congress with jurisdiction of the program under this section that summarizes the reports of the recipients of the grant and provides recommendations, if any, for further legislative action.
(f)
Training and Technical Assistance— The Attorney General shall support State substance abuse and State criminal justice agencies by developing, in consultation with State substance abuse and State criminal justice agencies, and offering a program of training and technical assistance to assist the agencies in developing programs and protocols—
(1)
to implement this section; and
(2)
for effectively working across the Federal and State criminal and substance abuse systems.
(g)
Authorization of Appropriations— There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020.

Sec. 502 Grants for family-based substance abuse treatment

Section 2925 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797s–4) is amended—
(1)
by striking “An entity” and inserting “(a) Entity Reports.—An entity”; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following:

“(b) Attorney general report on family-Based substance abuse treatment—The Attorney General shall submit to Congress an annual report that describes the number of grants awarded under section 2921(1) and how such grants are used by the recipients for family-based substance abuse treatment programs that serve as alternatives to incarceration for custodial parents to receive treatment and services as a family.”

Sec. 503 Veterans' treatment courts

Section 2991 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa) is amended—
(1)
by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection (j);
(2)
by inserting after subsection (h) the following:

“(i) Assisting veterans

“(1) Definitions—In this subsection:

“(A) Peer to peer services or programs—The term peer to peer services or programs means services or programs that connect qualified veterans with other veterans for the purpose of providing support and mentorship to assist qualified veterans in obtaining treatment, recovery, stabilization, or rehabilitation.

“(B) Qualified veteran—The term qualified veteran means a preliminarily qualified offender who—

“(i) has served on active duty in any branch of the Armed Forces, including the National Guard and reserve components; and

“(ii) was discharged or released from such service under conditions other than dishonorable.

“(C) Veterans treatment court program—The term veterans treatment court program means a court program involving collaboration among criminal justice, veterans, and mental health and substance abuse agencies that provides qualified veterans with—

“(i) intensive judicial supervision and case management, which may include random and frequent drug testing where appropriate;

“(ii) a full continuum of treatment services, including mental health services, substance abuse services, medical services, and services to address trauma;

“(iii) alternatives to incarceration; and

“(iv) other appropriate services, including housing, transportation, mentoring, employment, job training, education, and assistance in applying for and obtaining available benefits.

“(2) Veterans assistance program

“(A) In general—The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, may award grants under this subsection to applicants to establish or expand—

“(i) veterans treatment court programs;

“(ii) peer to peer services or programs for qualified veterans;

“(iii) practices that identify and provide treatment, rehabilitation, legal, transitional, and other appropriate services to qualified veterans who have been incarcerated; and

“(iv) training programs to teach criminal justice, law enforcement, corrections, mental health, and substance abuse personnel how to identify and appropriately respond to incidents involving qualified veterans.

“(B) Priority—In awarding grants under this subsection, the Attorney General shall give priority to applications that—

“(i) demonstrate collaboration between and joint investments by criminal justice, mental health, substance abuse, and veterans service agencies;

“(ii) promote effective strategies to identify and reduce the risk of harm to qualified veterans and public safety; and

“(iii) propose interventions with empirical support to improve outcomes for qualified veterans.”

(3)
in subsection (j), as so redesignated—
(A)
by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
(B)
by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:

“(2) Veterans treatment courts—In addition to the amounts authorized under paragraph (1), there are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020 to carry out subsection (i).”