Justice for Incarcerated Moms Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 948 To improve maternal health outcomes for incarcerated individuals, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 8, 2021 Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. RYAN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. SOTO, Mr. NADLER, Mr. TRONE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. BASS, Mr. EVANS, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. SEWELL, and Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addi- tion to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be sub- sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To improve maternal health outcomes for incarcerated individuals, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice for Incarcer- 4 ated Moms Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H948.IH H948 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 948 IH SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 It is the sense of Congress that— 2 (1) the respect and proper care that birthing 3 people deserve is inclusive; and 4 (2) regardless of race, ethnicity, gender iden- 5 tity, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, fa- 6 milial status, socioeconomic status, immigration sta- 7 tus, incarceration status, or disability, all deserve 8 dignity. 9 SEC. 3. ENDING THE SHACKLING OF PREGNANT INDIVID- 10 UALS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 6 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and annu- 13 ally thereafter, in each State that receives a grant under 14 subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con- 15 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et 16 seq.) (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Edward Byrne Memo- 17 rial Justice Grant Program’’) and that does not have in 18 effect throughout the State for such fiscal year laws re- 19 stricting the use of restraints on pregnant individuals in 20 prison that are substantially similar to the rights, proce- 21 dures, requirements, effects, and penalties set forth in sec- 22 tion 4322 of title 18, United States Code, the amount of 23 such grant that would otherwise be allocated to such State 24 under such subpart for the fiscal year shall be decreased 25 by 25 percent. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H948.IH H948 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 948 IH (b) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated to a 1 State for failure to comply with subsection (a) shall be 2 reallocated in accordance with subpart 1 of part E of title 3 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 4 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) to States that have com- 5 plied with such subsection. 6 SEC. 4. CREATING MODEL PROGRAMS FOR THE CARE OF 7 INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS IN THE PRE- 8 NATAL AND POSTPARTUM PERIODS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 10 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, act- 11 ing through the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, shall 12 establish, in not fewer than 6 Bureau of Prisons facilities, 13 programs to optimize maternal health outcomes for preg- 14 nant and postpartum individuals incarcerated in such fa- 15 cilities. The Attorney General shall establish such pro- 16 grams in consultation with stakeholders such as— 17 (1) relevant community-based organizations, 18 particularly organizations that represent incarcer- 19 ated and formerly incarcerated individuals and orga- 20 nizations that seek to improve maternal health out- 21 comes for pregnant and postpartum individuals from 22 racial and ethnic minority groups; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H948.IH H948 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 948 IH (2) relevant organizations representing patients, 1 with a particular focus on patients from racial and 2 ethnic minority groups; 3 (3) organizations representing maternity care 4 providers and maternal health care education pro- 5 grams; 6 (4) perinatal health workers; and 7 (5) researchers and policy experts in fields re- 8 lated to maternal health care for incarcerated indi- 9 viduals. 10 (b) START DATE.—Each selected facility shall begin 11 facility programs not later than 18 months after the date 12 of enactment of this Act. 13 (c) FACILITY PRIORITY.—In carrying out subsection 14 (a), the Director shall give priority to a facility based on— 15 (1) the number of pregnant and postpartum in- 16 dividuals incarcerated in such facility and, among 17 such individuals, the number of pregnant and 18 postpartum individuals from racial and ethnic mi- 19 nority groups; and 20 (2) the extent to which the leaders of such facil- 21 ity have demonstrated a commitment to developing 22 exemplary programs for pregnant and postpartum 23 individuals incarcerated in such facility. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H948.IH H948 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 948 IH (d) PROGRAM DURATION.—The programs established 1 under this section shall be for a 5-year period. 2 (e) PROGRAMS.—Bureau of Prisons facilities selected 3 by the Director shall establish programs for pregnant and 4 postpartum incarcerated individuals, and such programs 5 may— 6 (1) provide access to perinatal health workers 7 from pregnancy through the postpartum period; 8 (2) provide access to healthy foods and coun- 9 seling on nutrition, recommended activity levels, and 10 safety measures throughout pregnancy; 11 (3) train correctional officers to ensure that 12 pregnant incarcerated individuals receive safe and 13 respectful treatment; 14 (4) train medical personnel to ensure that preg- 15 nant incarcerated individuals receive trauma-in- 16 formed, culturally congruent care that promotes the 17 health and safety of the pregnant individuals; 18 (5) provide counseling and treatment for indi- 19 viduals who have suffered from— 20 (A) diagnosed mental or behavioral health 21 conditions, including trauma and substance use 22 disorders; 23 (B) trauma or violence, including domestic 24 violence; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H948.IH H948 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 948 IH (C) human immunodeficiency virus; 1 (D) sexual abuse; 2 (E) pregnancy or infant loss; or 3 (F) chronic conditions; 4 (6) provide evidence-based pregnancy and child- 5 birth education, parenting support, and other rel- 6 evant forms of health literacy; 7 (7) provide clinical education opportunities to 8 maternity care providers in training to expand path- 9 ways into maternal health care careers serving incar- 10 cerated individuals; 11 (8) offer opportunities for postpartum individ- 12 uals to maintain contact with the individual’s new- 13 born child to promote bonding, including enhanced 14 visitation policies, access to prison nursery pro- 15 grams, or breastfeeding support; 16 (9) provide reentry assistance, particularly to— 17 (A) ensure access to health insurance cov- 18 erage and transfer of health records to commu- 19 nity providers if an incarcerated individual exits 20 the criminal justice system during such individ- 21 ual’s pregnancy or in the postpartum period; 22 and 23 (B) connect individuals exiting the criminal 24 justice system during pregnancy or in the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H948.IH H948 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 948 IH postpartum period to community-based re- 1 sources, such as referrals to health care pro- 2 viders, substance use disorder treatments, and 3 social services that address social determinants 4 maternal of health; or 5 (10) establish partnerships with local public en- 6 tities, private community entities, community-based 7 organizations, Indian Tribes and tribal organizations 8 (as such terms are defined in section 4 of the Indian 9 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 10 (25 U.S.C. 5304)), and urban Indian organizations 11 (as such term is defined in section 4 of the Indian 12 Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603)) to 13 establish or expand pretrial diversion programs as 14 an alternative to incarceration for pregnant and 15 postpartum individuals, including— 16 (A) evidence-based childbirth education or 17 parenting classes; 18 (B) prenatal health coordination; 19 (C) family and individual counseling; 20 (D) evidence-based screenings, education, 21 and, as needed, treatment for mental and be- 22 havioral health conditions, including drug and 23 alcohol treatments; 24 (E) family case management services; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H948.IH H948 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 948 IH (F) domestic violence education and pre- 1 vention; 2 (G) physical and sexual abuse counseling; 3 and 4 (H) programs to address social deter- 5 minants of health such as employment, housing, 6 education, transportation, and nutrition. 7 (f) IMPLEMENTATION AND REPORTING.—A selected 8 facility shall be responsible for— 9 (1) implementing programs, which may include 10 the programs described in subsection (e); and 11 (2) not later than 3 years after the date of en- 12 actment of this Act, and 6 years after the date of 13 enactment of this Act, reporting results of the pro- 14 grams to the Director, including information de- 15 scribing— 16 (A) relevant quantitative indicators of suc- 17 cess in improving the standard of care and 18 health outcomes for pregnant and postpartum 19 incarcerated individuals in the facility, including 20 data stratified by race, ethnicity, sex, gender, 21 age, geography, disability status, the category 22 of the criminal charge against such individual, 23 rates of pregnancy-related deaths, pregnancy- 24 associated deaths, cases of infant mortality and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H948.IH H948 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 948 IH morbidity, rates of preterm births and low- 1 birthweight births, cases of severe maternal 2 morbidity, cases of violence against pregnant or 3 postpartum individuals, diagnoses of maternal 4 mental or behavioral health conditions, and 5 other such information as appropriate; 6 (B) relevant qualitative and quantitative 7 evaluations from pregnant and postpartum in- 8 carcerated individuals who participated in such 9 programs, including measures of patient-re- 10 ported experience of care; and 11 (C) strategies to sustain such programs 12 after fiscal year 2026 and expand such pro- 13 grams to other facilities. 14 (g) REPORT.—Not later than 6 years after the date 15 of enactment of this Act, the Director shall submit to the 16 Attorney General and to the Congress a report describing 17 the results of the programs funded under this section. 18 (h) OVERSIGHT.—Not later than 1 year after the 19 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 20 award a contract to an independent organization or inde- 21 pendent organizations to conduct oversight of the pro- 22 grams described in subsection (e). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H948.IH H948 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 948 IH (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 1 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 2 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 3 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH 4 OUTCOMES FOR INDIVIDUALS IN STATE AND 5 LOCAL PRISONS AND JAILS. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, 8 acting through the Director of the Bureau of Justice As- 9 sistance, shall award Justice for Incarcerated Moms 10 grants to States to establish or expand programs in State 11 and local prisons and jails for pregnant and postpartum 12 incarcerated individuals. The Attorney General shall 13 award such grants in consultation with stakeholders such 14 as— 15 (1) relevant community-based organizations, 16 particularly organizations that represent incarcer- 17 ated and formerly incarcerated individuals and orga- 18 nizations that seek to improve maternal health out- 19 comes for pregnant and postpartum individuals from 20 racial and ethnic minority groups; 21 (2) relevant organizations representing patients, 22 with a particular focus on patients from racial and 23 ethnic minority groups; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H948.IH H948 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 948 IH (3) organizations representing maternity care 1 providers and maternal health care education pro- 2 grams; 3 (4) perinatal health workers; and 4 (5) researchers and policy experts in fields re- 5 lated to maternal health care for incarcerated indi- 6 viduals. 7 (b) APPLICATIONS.—Each applicant for a grant 8 under this section shall submit to the Director of the Bu- 9 reau of Justice Assistance an application at such time, in 10 such manner, and containing such information as the Di- 11 rector may require. 12 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that is awarded a grant 13 under this section shall use such grant to establish or ex- 14 pand programs for pregnant and postpartum incarcerated 15 individuals, and such programs may— 16 (1) provide access to perinatal health workers 17 from pregnancy through the postpartum period; 18 (2) provide access to healthy foods and coun- 19 seling on nutrition, recommended activity levels, and 20 safety measures throughout pregnancy; 21 (3) train correctional officers to ensure that 22 pregnant incarcerated individuals receive safe and 23 respectful treatment; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 Mar 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H948.IH H948 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 948 IH (4) train medical personnel to ensure that preg- 1 nant incarcerated individuals receive trauma-in- 2 formed, culturally congruent care that promotes the 3 health and safety of the pregna [Text truncated for display. 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