SIMARRA Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 120 To enhance public health and safety by improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Federal prison system for incarcerated pregnant women and mothers by establishing a pilot program of critical-stage, develop- mental nurseries in Federal prisons for children born to inmates, with risk and needs assessments, and risk and recidivism reduction. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 4, 2021 Ms. JACKSON LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To enhance public health and safety by improving the effec- tiveness and efficiency of the Federal prison system for incarcerated pregnant women and mothers by estab- lishing a pilot program of critical-stage, developmental nurseries in Federal prisons for children born to inmates, with risk and needs assessments, and risk and recidivism reduction. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:07 Jan 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H120.IH H120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 120 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Infant Mortality 2 And Recidivism Reduction Act of 2021’’ or the 3 ‘‘SIMARRA Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 5 Not later than 270 days after the date of the enact- 6 ment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Bureau of 7 Prisons (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall 8 establish a pilot program (hereinafter referred to as the 9 ‘‘Program’’) in accordance with this Act to permit women 10 incarcerated in Federal prisons and the children born to 11 such women during incarceration to reside together while 12 the inmate serves a term of imprisonment in a separate 13 housing wing of the prison. 14 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 15 The purposes of the Act are to— 16 (1) prevent infant mortality among infants born 17 to incarcerated mothers and greatly reduce the trau- 18 ma and stress experienced by the unborn fetuses of 19 pregnant inmates; 20 (2) reduce the recidivism rates of federally in- 21 carcerated women and mothers, and enhance public 22 safety by improving the effectiveness of the Federal 23 prison system for women as a population with spe- 24 cial needs; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:07 Jan 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H120.IH H120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 120 IH (3) establish female offender risk and needs as- 1 sessment as the cornerstones of a more effective and 2 efficient Federal prison system; 3 (4) implement a validated post-sentencing risk 4 and needs assessment system that relies on dynamic 5 risk factors to provide Federal prison officials with 6 a roadmap to address the pre- and post-natal needs 7 of Federal pregnant offenders, manage limited re- 8 sources, and enhance public safety; 9 (5) perform regular outcome evaluations of the 10 effectiveness of programs and interventions for fed- 11 erally incarcerated pregnant women and mothers to 12 assure that such programs and interventions are evi- 13 dence-based and to suggest changes, deletions, and 14 expansions based on the results of such evaluations; 15 and 16 (6) assist the Department of Justice to address 17 the underlying cost structure of the Federal prison 18 system and ensure that the Department can con- 19 tinue to run prison nurseries safely and securely 20 without compromising the scope or quality of the 21 Department’s critical health, safety and law enforce- 22 ment missions. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:07 Jan 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H120.IH H120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 120 IH SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR OF FEDERAL BUREAU 1 OF PRISONS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry out this 3 section in consultation with— 4 (1) a licensed and board-certified gynecologist 5 or obstetrician; 6 (2) the Director of the Administrative Office of 7 the United States Courts; 8 (3) the Director of the Office of Probation and 9 Pretrial Services; 10 (4) the Director of the National Institute of 11 Justice; and 12 (5) the Director of the U.S. Department of 13 Health & Human Services. 14 (b) DUTIES.—The Director shall, in accordance with 15 subsection (c)— 16 (1) develop an offender risk and needs assess- 17 ment system particular to the health and sensitivi- 18 ties of federally incarcerated pregnant women and 19 mothers in accordance with this section; 20 (2) develop recommendations regarding recidi- 21 vism reduction programs and productive activities in 22 accordance with section 9; 23 (3) conduct ongoing research and data analysis 24 on— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:07 Jan 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H120.IH H120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 120 IH (A) the best practices relating to the use of 1 offender risk and needs assessment tools par- 2 ticular to the health and sensitivities of feder- 3 ally incarcerated pregnant women and mothers; 4 (B) the best available risk and needs as- 5 sessment tools particular to the health and sen- 6 sitivities of federally incarcerated pregnant 7 women and mothers and the level to which they 8 rely on dynamic risk factors that could be ad- 9 dressed and changed over time, and on meas- 10 ures of risk of recidivism, individual needs, and 11 responsivity to recidivism reduction programs; 12 (C) the most effective and efficient uses of 13 such tools in conjunction with recidivism reduc- 14 tion programs, productive activities, incentives, 15 and rewards; and 16 (D) which recidivism reduction programs 17 are the most effective— 18 (i) for federally incarcerated pregnant 19 women and mothers classified at different 20 recidivism risk levels; and 21 (ii) for addressing the specific needs 22 of federally incarcerated pregnant women 23 and mothers; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:07 Jan 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H120.IH H120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 120 IH (4) on a biennial basis, review the system devel- 1 oped under paragraph (1) and the recommendations 2 developed under paragraph (2), using the research 3 conducted under paragraph (3), to determine wheth- 4 er any revisions or updates should be made, and if 5 so, make such revisions or updates; 6 (5) hold periodic meetings with the individuals 7 listed in subsection (a) at intervals to be determined 8 by the Director; and 9 (6) report to Congress in accordance with sec- 10 tion 9. 11 (c) METHODS.—In carrying out the duties under sub- 12 section (b), the Director shall— 13 (1) consult relevant stakeholders; and 14 (2) make decisions using data that is based on 15 the best available statistical and empirical evidence. 16 SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY. 17 An inmate may apply to participate in the Program 18 if the inmate— 19 (1) is pregnant at the beginning of the term of 20 imprisonment; and 21 (2) is in the custody or control of the Federal 22 Bureau of Prisons. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:07 Jan 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H120.IH H120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 120 IH SEC. 6. PROGRAM TERMS. 1 (a) TERM OF PARTICIPATION.—To correspond with 2 the purposes and goals of the program to promote bonding 3 during the critical stages of child development, an eligible 4 inmate selected for the Program may participate in the 5 Program, subject to section 7, for the shorter of the in- 6 mate’s term of imprisonment or 30 months. 7 (b) INMATE REQUIREMENTS.—For the duration of 8 an inmate’s participation in the Program, the inmate shall 9 agree to— 10 (1) accept the responsibility of child-rearing; 11 (2) participate in any educational or counseling 12 opportunities established by the Director, including 13 topics such as child development, parenting skills, 14 domestic violence, vocational training, or substance 15 abuse; 16 (3) abide by any court decision regarding the 17 legal or physical custody of the child; 18 (4) transfer to the Federal Bureau of Prisons 19 any child support payments for the infant of the 20 participating inmate from any person or govern- 21 mental entity; and 22 (5) specify a person who has agreed to take 23 custody of the child if the inmate’s participation in 24 the Program terminates before the inmate’s release. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:07 Jan 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H120.IH H120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 120 IH SEC. 7. TERMINATION OF PARTICIPATION. 1 An inmate’s participation in the Program terminates 2 upon the earliest of the following to occur: 3 (1) The inmate is released from prison. 4 (2) The infant fails to meet any medical criteria 5 established by the Director or the Director’s des- 6 ignee along with a collective determination of the 7 persons listed in section 4(a). 8 SEC. 8. CONTINUITY OF CARE. 9 The Director shall take appropriate actions to pre- 10 vent detachment or disruption of either an inmate’s or in- 11 fant’s health and bonding-based well-being due to termi- 12 nation of the Program. 13 SEC. 9. REPORTING. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 15 date of the enactment of this Act and once every year 16 thereafter for 5 years, the Director shall submit a report 17 to the Congress with regards to progress in implementing 18 the Program. 19 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 20 the termination of the Program, the Director shall issue 21 a final report to the Congress that contains a detailed 22 statement of the Director’s findings and conclusions, in- 23 cluding recommendations for legislation, administrative 24 actions, and regulations the Director considers appro- 25 priate. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:07 Jan 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H120.IH H120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 120 IH SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 To carry out this Act, there is authorized to be appro- 2 priated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 3 2025. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:07 Jan 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H120.IH H120 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS