Eliminating Debtor’s Prison for Kids Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2300 To establish a grant to provide mental health services and behavioral health services to at-risk youth, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 12, 2019 Mr. CA´RDENAS (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mrs. NAPOLI- TANO, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. LEE of Cali- fornia, Mr. TRONE, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. SEWELL of Ala- bama, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. MENG, Ms. ADAMS, and Ms. BASS) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To establish a grant to provide mental health services and behavioral health services to at-risk youth, 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 ‘‘Eliminating Debtor’s 4 Prison for Kids Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Apr 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2300.IH H2300 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2300 IH SEC. 2. YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH GRANT. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 180 2 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attor- 3 ney General shall carry out a program under which the 4 Attorney General makes grants to eligible States for the 5 purpose of providing evidence-based and trauma-informed 6 mental and behavioral health services to at-risk youth in 7 any school, secure detention facility, or secure correctional 8 facility in the State. 9 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 10 under this section, a State shall— 11 (1) certify to the Attorney General that the 12 laws of the State prohibit a juvenile offender or a 13 parent or guardian of such an offender from being 14 ordered to pay probation supervision fees or court 15 administrative fees, including the cost of court-ap- 16 pointed attorneys or public defenders, the cost of 17 prosecution, and other administrative costs of the 18 court; 19 (2) certify to the Attorney General that the 20 laws of the State prohibit a parent or guardian of 21 a juvenile offender from paying child support or 22 other costs for detention or post-adjudication place- 23 ment to the State; and 24 (3) submit to the Attorney General an applica- 25 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Apr 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2300.IH H2300 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2300 IH such information as the Attorney General may re- 1 quire. 2 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives a grant 3 under this section shall use the grant to provide evidence- 4 based and trauma-informed mental and behavioral health 5 services to at-risk youth in any school, secure detention 6 facility, or secure correctional facility in the State. 7 (d) CONTRACTS AND SUBAWARDS.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State may, in using a 9 grant under this section for purposes authorized by 10 subsection (c), use all or a portion of that grant to 11 contract with or make one or more subawards to one 12 or more units of local government. 13 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity that receives a 14 contract or a subaward under this subsection may 15 use such funds to provide services or benefits de- 16 scribed under subsection (c). 17 (e) INFORMATION FOR REPORT.—A State that re- 18 ceives a grant under this section shall provide to an inde- 19 pendent criminal justice organization, selected by the At- 20 torney General, such information as is necessary to com- 21 plete the report described in section 3. 22 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 23 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 24 $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Apr 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2300.IH H2300 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2300 IH SEC. 3. NATIONAL REPORT. 1 (a) INDEPENDENT REPORT.—Not later than 18 2 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, an 3 independent criminal justice organization, selected by the 4 Attorney General, shall submit to the Committee on the 5 Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Com- 6 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate a national report 7 on fines and fees imposed on adults and juveniles in the 8 criminal justice system, including— 9 (1) information with respect to the monetary 10 amount of fines and fees imposed, including the 11 race, ethnicity, tribal affiliation, and other demo- 12 graphic data of the individuals upon whom such 13 fines and fees are imposed and the rate at which in- 14 dividuals are reincarcerated within 1 year of release 15 from a secure detention facility or a secure correc- 16 tional facility; 17 (2) a description of each type of service for 18 which a fee is imposed; 19 (3) a description of each type of charge for 20 which a fine is imposed; 21 (4) a comparison of the average length of im- 22 prisonment or detention for individuals who are un- 23 able to pay a fine and the average length of impris- 24 onment or detention for individuals who are able to 25 pay a fine; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Apr 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2300.IH H2300 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2300 IH (5) a disclosure of the sum total of fines and 1 fees collected minus the cost for efforts to collect 2 such sum. 3 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 4 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 5 $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, which shall remain avail- 6 able until expended. 7 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 8 In this Act: 9 (1) AT-RISK YOUTH.—The term ‘‘at-risk youth’’ 10 means an individual who— 11 (A) has not attained the age of 21; and 12 (B)(i) is likely to fail academically without 13 intervention, including an individual who— 14 (I) has a high truancy rate; 15 (II) has withdrawn from school pre- 16 viously; 17 (III) is not less than 1 year behind 18 the appropriate grade level for such indi- 19 vidual; or 20 (IV) has limited English language 21 proficiency; 22 (ii) uses drugs or alcohol; 23 (iii) is pregnant or a parent; 24 (iv) is a gang member; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Apr 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2300.IH H2300 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2300 IH (v) is in contact with the juvenile justice 1 system; or 2 (vi) is homeless, has run away from home, 3 or is in foster care. 4 (2) EVIDENCE-BASED.—The term ‘‘evidence- 5 based’’ has the meaning given such term in section 6 103 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Preven- 7 tion Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11103). 8 (3) JUVENILE OFFENDER.—The term ‘‘juvenile 9 offender’’ means an individual— 10 (A) who has not attained the age of 21; 11 and 12 (B)(i) against whom a petition is filed for 13 the adjudication of a delinquency offense under 14 the laws of a State or the United States; or 15 (ii) who has been adjudicated delinquent 16 for a delinquency offense under the laws of a 17 State or the United States. 18 (4) SECURE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY.—The 19 term ‘‘secure correctional facility’’ has the meaning 20 given such term in section 103 of the Juvenile Jus- 21 tice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 22 U.S.C. 11103). 23 (5) SECURE DETENTION FACILITY.—The term 24 ‘‘secure detention facility’’ has the meaning given 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Apr 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2300.IH H2300 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2300 IH such term in section 103 of the Juvenile Justice and 1 Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 2 11103). 3 (6) SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘school’’ means— 4 (A) an early childhood education program 5 (as such term is defined in section 8101 of the 6 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 7 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); 8 (B) an elementary school (as such term is 9 defined in section 8101 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 10 7801)); or 11 (C) a secondary school (as such term is de- 12 fined in section 8101 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 13 7801)). 14 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 15 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 16 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 17 States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the 18 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 19 and any possession of the United States. 20 (8) TRAUMA-INFORMED.—The term ‘‘trauma- 21 informed’’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 22 tion 103 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 23 Prevention Act of 1974 (34 U.S.C. 11103). 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Apr 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2300.IH H2300 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS