Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act of 2024”.
Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act of 2024
A BILL
To provide funding to the Bureau of Prisons, States, and localities to carry out mental health screenings and provide referrals to mental healthcare providers for certain corrections officers.
Sec. 2 Grant program
Establishment— Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a grant program (hereinafter referred to as the “Program”) to implement and administer mental health screenings to corrections officers at an eligible detention center and refer such individuals to mental healthcare providers, as applicable.
Grant authority— In carrying out the Program, the Attorney General may award a grant on a competitive basis to an eligible recipient in accordance with this section.
Application— The Attorney General may award a grant under the Program to a State or locality, determined by the Attorney General to carry out a project described in subsection (d).
Eligible recipients—
Hiring requirement— To be eligible for a grant under the Program, a State or locality shall hire a mental health liaison staff member for eligible detention centers under its jurisdiction. One mental health liaison staff member may cover multiple eligible detention centers. The mental health liaison staff member shall be responsible for—
coordinating efforts between the eligible detention center and mental health providers in the local region to help corrections officers;
coordinating with the Advisory Board to ensure that the Program is operating in accordance with this section; and
overseeing and coordinating activities of the outreach team (as described in subsection (g)).
Plan— To be eligible for a grant under the Program, a State or locality shall submit a plan to the Advisory Board established under section 4 explaining how the Program established shall meet the criteria under subsection (e).
Eligible projects— Grant funds awarded under the Program may only be used to:
Develop and administer a brief mental health screening survey as required under subsection (f).
Develop any technology necessary for an eligible detention center to provide the survey under paragraph (1).
Hire any staff necessary for an eligible detention center to provide the survey under paragraph (1).
Establish an outreach team pursuant to subsection (g) to refer a correctional officer, if their responses to the survey indicate severe mental illness, to a local mental healthcare provider for further assessment and outreach, admission (when necessary), and support for that officer in re-establishing ties with a mental health provider.
Pay the salary or overtime pay of an outreach team as established pursuant to subsection (g), including providing direct funding to an eligible detention center to compensate staff members.
Brief mental health screening survey— The mental health screening survey developed and administered under subsection (e) shall:
Be composed of 5 to 10 questions.
Be based on the questions and content of the Employee Assistance Program standard mental health screening or the Bureau of Prisons initial mental health screening standard.
Seek to identify severe mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression.
Ask individuals about the symptoms of severe mental illness they may be experiencing or have experienced and any prior use of mental health-related medications or inpatient care.
Identify the individual’s place of residence.
Be administered by a trained staff member at the eligible detention center to all corrections officers.
Outreach team—
In general— A referral to a mental healthcare provider, pursuant to subsection (e), shall be made by a mental health outreach team that is composed of—
mental healthcare professionals and clinicians from mental healthcare centers local to the eligible detention center;
staff from the eligible detention center, when applicable; and
a mental health liaison staff member who shall oversee the outreach team.
Alert— If an individual has been determined to need a referral to a mental healthcare provider, the mental health outreach team shall be notified immediately by eligible detention center staff and informed, when applicable.
Sec. 3 Bureau of Prisons
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons shall establish a program that is substantially similar to the Program established under section 2 to implement and administer mental health screenings to corrections officers at eligible detention centers and refer such officers to mental healthcare providers, as applicable.
Sec. 4 Advisory board on program implementation
Establishment— Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish an Advisory Board to manage and administer the Program under section 2, with the responsibility to:
Evaluate and approve the plans submitted by a State or locality as required under section 2 and to ensure that grant funding is used as specified under section 2.
Monitor plans submitted by the Bureau of Prisons and advise the Attorney General on compliance to ensure that funding to the Bureau of Prisons is used as specified under section 2.
Provide technical assistance to a State or locality to help with the implementation and administration of mental health screening and referral programs.
Create a working group of mental healthcare providers, jail and prison administrators, law enforcement officials, and operators of existing mental health screening and referral programs to share best practices on how to create and implement mental health screening and referral programs that have the largest impact on reducing crime rates and improving employment and wage rates for individuals released from prison or jail.
Work in coordination with mental health outreach teams as established under section 2, to ensure that the Program is operating as required.
Determine if a grant awarded by the Program is not meeting the requirements of the Program and mandate necessary changes and reduce funding if such changes are not made.
Technical assistance— The Advisory Board shall provide technical assistance to the Bureau of Prisons, States, and localities in setting up and administering the Program and shall identify evidence-backed models for the administration of mental health screening and referral programs that the Bureau of Prisons, States, and localities can look to when designing their own programs.
Membership—
In general— The Attorney General shall appoint members to serve on the Advisory Board established under subsection (a) who have expertise with respect to—
designing and administering mental health screenings and providing referrals for corrections officers;
mental healthcare within prisons or jails; or
program evaluation using rigorous experimental and quasi-experimental statistical methods.
Number of members— The Attorney General shall appoint as many members to the Advisory Board established under subsection (a) as deemed necessary by the Attorney General.
Sec. 5 Funding
Authorization— There is authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General to carry out this Act—
$50,000,000 for fiscal year 2025;
$55,000,000 for fiscal year 2026;
$60,000,000 for fiscal year 2027;
$65,000,000 for fiscal year 2028; and
$70,000,000 for fiscal year 2029.
Distribution of funds— Of the amounts made available under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall use—
90 percent of such amount for a grant program under sections 2 and 3, as applicable, of which—
20 percent shall go to the Bureau of Prisons for screening and referral implementation activities at Federal prisons;
20 percent shall go to States as competitive grants to carry out screening and referral implementation activities at State prisons; and
50 percent shall go to localities as competitive grants to carry out screening and referral implementation activities at locally-administered jails;
5 percent of such amount to carry out evaluation activities under section 5; and
5 percent of such amount for the Advisory Board to provide technical assistance to the Bureau of Prisons, States, and localities and for general operations as described in section 4.
Sec. 6 Definitions
In this Act:
State— The term State means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Locality— The term locality means any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State.
Mental healthcare provider— The term mental healthcare provider means a fully-licensed professional or group of professionals who diagnose mental health conditions and provide mental health treatment, and who operate near to the relevant jail or prison. Mental healthcare providers may provide services at hospitals or at private clinics.
Mental healthcare center— The term mental healthcare center means any facility where one or more mental healthcare providers offer mental health services, such as a hospital or private clinic.
Jail or prison administrator— The term jail or prison administrator means any individual who has been appointed to a supervisory position in a Federal, State, or local incarceration facility by the Federal Government, a State, or a locality.
Law enforcement official— The term law enforcement official means any officer of an entity administered by a locality, State, or the Federal Government that exists primarily to prevent and detect crime and enforce criminal laws who is designated by the leadership of that entity to represent the entity.
Corrections officers— Any officer or employee of any prison, jail, or other detention facility, operated by, or under contract to, a Federal governmental agency, whose job responsibilities include providing for the custody of incarcerated individuals.
Eligible detention center— The term eligible detention center means any prison or jail administered by the Bureau of Prisons or a State or any jail administered by a State or locality.
Severe mental illness— The term severe mental illness means one or more mental, behavioral, or emotional disorders that results in serious functional impairment and substantially interferes with or limits major life activities.