Updates on Federal Legislation re Mental Illness

From the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project:

"On March 6, 2008, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee passed S. 2304, the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act (MIOTCRA). The legislation, introduced last year by Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), will now be sent to the Senate floor for consideration.

The bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in January with overwhelming bipartisan support, will help provide states and counties with the resources needed to design and implement collaborative efforts between the criminal justice and mental health systems. The legislation offers grants to communities to develop diversion programs, mental health treatments in jails and prisons, and transition and aftercare services to facilitate reentry into the community. The bill also provides for the cross-training of criminal justice, law enforcement and mental health personnel.

With bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, the legislation will raise the authorization level of MIOTCRA from $50 million per year to $75 million per year and will extend the authorization through 2014. The bill will also reauthorize the Mental Health Courts grant program (Public Law 106-515) and will require that a study be conducted on the prevalence of mental illness in prisons and jails."

More information is available from the Consensus Project.

Earlier posts on the MIOTCRA are available here and here.
***

And last week, the U.S. Senate passed the Second Chance Act (H.R. 1593) by unanimous consent. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation last fall. The legislation would provide transitional assistance to ex-offenders in an effort to reduce a return to alcohol abuse. Additionally, the legislation would extend and provide a full continuum of care for treatment of substance use disorders and improve mental health screening and treatment.

"It is a national tragedy that jails and prisons have become the primary mental health care facilities in the United States today," said American Psychiatric Association President Carolyn Robinowitz, M.D. "This bi-partisan action represents significant steps forward in improving access to mental health services and substance abuse treatment programs for those incarcerated within the prison system."

Read the press release issued by the American Psychiatric Association.

U.S. House Passes Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act

Yesterday, January 23, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act (MIOTCRRIA), H.R. 3992.

Here's a statement from leaders of the Council of State Governments Justice Center, which appears in the January 2008 newsletter of the Consensus Project.

"Leaders of the Council of State Governments Justice Center laud Members of the U.S. House of Representatives for passage yesterday of the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act (MIOTCRRIA), H.R. 3992.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), will make a significant commitment to addressing the needs of both the criminal justice system and individuals with mental illnesses who come into contact with it.

'The passage of the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act illustrates the extraordinary bipartisan consensus that exists among elected officials to increase the accessibility of integrated mental health and substance abuse treatment, and to promote collaborative efforts between criminal justice and mental health agencies,' said Dr. James S. Reinhard, Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, and a Justice Center board member.

This legislation, which has received strong support in both the House and the Senate, will reauthorize the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA). Enacted in 2004, MIOTCRA created the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Grant Program designed to help states and counties design and implement coordinated efforts between criminal justice and mental health systems. Through appropriated funds, the Bureau of Justice Assistance within the Department of Justice has awarded 53 communities in 35 states with additional resources to plan and implement collaborative efforts between criminal justice and mental health systems.

The new bill will raise the authorization level of MIOTCRA from $50 million per year to $75 million per year and will extend the authorization through 2013. The bill will also reauthorize the mental health courts grant program, and require a study to be completed on the prevalence of mental illness in prisons and jails. Download the complete bill text (pdf).

'Reauthorizing MIOTCRA will provide much-needed support to states and local governments across the country. Every state is now seeking to design, implement, and expand initiatives that will improve the response to people with mental illnesses in contact with the criminal justice system. Front-line professionals, like corrections and police officers, are telling us that this will increase public safety, reduce state spending, and save lives,' said Justice Center board member and Connecticut State Representative Michael Lawlor. 'We urge the Senate to take swift action in support of this bill.'"

Earlier coverage of this legislation is available here and here.

House Committee Passes MIOTCRA

Here's an update from the Consensus Project on the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act (MIOTCRA):

"On November 7, 2007, just a week after the introduction of the bill, members of the full House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 3992, the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act. The bill will now be sent to the House floor for consideration, which sponsors say could take place later this month. The Senate sponsors intend to move the companion bill, S. 2304, before Congress breaks for recess.

During the mark-up of the bill, lead sponsors Representatives Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Randy Forbes (R-VA) spoke about the need for continued collaboration between criminal justice and mental health agencies. The bill will make a significant commitment to addressing the needs of both the criminal justice system and the mentally ill offender population. It offers grants to communities to develop diversion programs, mental health treatments in jails and prisons, and transition and after-care services to facilitate reentry into the community.

"I am pleased to be the lead cosponsor of a bi-cameral, bi-partisan legislation," Representative Scott said. "The MIOTCRA will not only provide for appropriate responses to mentally ill offenders, but save localities money in avoided jail and prison costs.

"With bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, the legislation will raise the authorization level of MIOTCRA from $50 million per year to $75 million per year and will extend the authorization through 2013. The bill will also reauthorize the Mental Health Courts grant program, (Public Law 106-515) and require a study to be completed on the prevalence of mental illness in prisons and jails."

Congress Introduces the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act

From the Consensus Project Newsletter, November 2007:

"This week U.S. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Arlen Specter (R-PA), and U.S. Representatives Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Randy Forbes (R-VA) introduced the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act.

This legislation, which has received bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, will reauthorize the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act or MIOTCRA (Public Law 108-414). Enacted in 2004, MIOTCRA created the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Grant Program (JMHCP) designed to help states and counties design and implement collaborative efforts between criminal justice and mental health systems. Through appropriated funds, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) within the Department of Justice has awarded 53 communities in 35 states with additional resources to plan and implement collaborative efforts between criminal justice and mental health systems."

Here are some provisions of the new bill:

• Raises the authorization level of MIOTCRA from $50 million per year to $75 million per year and will extend the authorization through 2013
• Reauthorizes the Mental Health Courts grant program (Public Law 106-515)
• Requires that a study be completed on the prevalence of mental illness in prisons and jails

The Consensus Project reports that the bill is scheduled for consideration in the full House Judiciary Committee on November 7, 2007; it passed the Crime Subcommittee on November 1. The Senate sponsors intend to move the bill before Congress breaks for recess.

More information available at http://consensusproject.org/.