Mental Health Justice Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8639 To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to States and political subdivisions of States to hire, employ, train, and dispatch mental health professionals to respond in lieu of law en- forcement officers in emergencies involving one or more persons with a mental illness or an intellectual or developmental disability, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 20, 2020 Ms. PORTER (for herself, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. POCAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. CARSON of Indi- ana, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. WELCH, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. WILD, Ms. HAALAND, Mrs. BEATTY, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. AGUILAR, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to States and political subdivisions of States to hire, employ, train, and dispatch mental health professionals to respond in lieu of law enforcement offi- cers in emergencies involving one or more persons with a mental illness or an intellectual or developmental dis- ability, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H8639.IH H8639 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8639 IH 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 ‘‘Mental Health Justice 4 Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Needless institutionalization (including in 8 psychiatric hospitals) of people with disabilities is 9 generally a violation of the Americans with Disabil- 10 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), and the 11 failure to provide sufficient community-based serv- 12 ices (such as supported housing, assertive commu- 13 nity treatment, mobile crisis, peer support, and sup- 14 ported employment) has resulted in needless institu- 15 tionalization as well as incarceration of persons with 16 mental illness or an intellectual or developmental 17 disability. 18 (2) In the landmark 1999 Supreme Court case 19 Olmstead v. L.C., the Supreme Court ruled that the 20 ‘‘unjustified institutional isolation of persons with 21 disabilities is a form of discrimination’’ prohibited by 22 the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 23 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8639.IH H8639 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8639 IH (3) Regulations promulgated by the Attorney 1 General in 1991 affirm that title II of the Ameri- 2 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12131 3 et seq.) requires public entities to ‘‘administer serv- 4 ices, programs, and activities in the most integrated 5 setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individ- 6 uals with disabilities’’ (28 C.F.R. 35.130(d)). The 7 regulation defines ‘‘the most integrated setting’’ as 8 one that ‘‘enables individuals with disabilities to 9 interact with nondisabled persons to the fullest ex- 10 tent possible’’ (28 C.F.R. pt. 35, App. B). 11 (4) Yet today, persons with a mental illness or 12 an intellectual or developmental disability are more 13 likely to be incarcerated and to be subject to exces- 14 sive use of force by law enforcement officers: 15 (A) One out of every four of the deaths 16 caused by law enforcement officers is a person 17 with mental illness. 18 (B) Persons with a mental illness or an in- 19 tellectual or developmental disability are often 20 charged with minor, nonviolent offenses. For 21 many of these persons, arrest and incarceration 22 could have been avoided if they had access to 23 intensive community-based services and stable 24 housing. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Nov 07, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8639.IH H8639 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8639 IH (5) Many of the police encounters that lead to 1 the incarceration (and in too many cases, death) of 2 people with mental illness or an intellectual or devel- 3 opmental disability could be avoided by having in 4 place systems that ensure that calls to 911 or to law 5 enforcement result in dispatch of mental health pro- 6 fessionals, peer support workers, or others rather 7 than law enforcement officers. 8 (6) Many people who are incarcerated would be 9 better served in community services. If there were 10 sufficient community services, and persons with 11 mental illness or an intellectual or developmental 12 disability were connected to those services rather 13 than being arrested, thousands of people with men- 14 tal illness or an intellectual or developmental dis- 15 ability would avoid needless admissions to hospitals 16 or jails. Further, jails and hospitals would experi- 17 ence less crowding. 18 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TO 19 ACT AS FIRST RESPONDERS. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 21 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec- 22 retary’’), acting through the Assistant Secretary for Men- 23 tal Health and Substance Use and in consultation with 24 the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Divi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8639.IH H8639 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8639 IH sion of the Department of Justice (in this section referred 1 to as the ‘‘Assistant Attorney General’’), shall award 2 grants to States and political subdivisions of States— 3 (1) to hire, employ, train, and dispatch mental 4 health professionals to respond in lieu of law en- 5 forcement officers in emergencies in which— 6 (A) an individual calling 911 or another 7 emergency hotline states that a person— 8 (i) is in a mental health crisis; or 9 (ii) may have a mental illness or an 10 intellectual or developmental disability; 11 (B) a law enforcement officer or other first 12 responder identifies a person as having (or pos- 13 sibly having) a mental illness or an intellectual 14 or developmental disability; or 15 (C) a law enforcement officer or other first 16 responder identifies a person as being (or pos- 17 sibly being) under the influence of a legal or il- 18 legal substance; 19 (2) to include in the training for mental health 20 professionals pursuant to paragraph (1) training in 21 the principles of de-escalation and anti-racism; 22 (3) to ensure that such mental health profes- 23 sionals link persons described in subparagraph (A), 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8639.IH H8639 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8639 IH (B), or (C) of paragraph (1) with community-based 1 services where appropriate; and 2 (4) to train the staff of dispatch centers regard- 3 ing the proper handling of a report of an emergency 4 described in paragraph (1). 5 (b) DELEGATION.—The Secretary shall delegate re- 6 sponsibility for carrying out the Secretary’s responsibil- 7 ities under this section and section 4 to the Director of 8 the Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance 9 Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 10 (c) ADDITIONAL AWARDS.—The Secretary shall 11 make an additional award of funds under this section each 12 fiscal year to grantees that demonstrate that their pro- 13 grams under this section resulted in— 14 (1) a notable reduction in the incarceration and 15 death of persons with mental illness or an intellec- 16 tual or developmental disability; or 17 (2) a notable reduction in the use of force by 18 police and a notable increase in referrals of persons 19 with a mental illness or intellectual disability to com- 20 munity-based, voluntary support services (other than 21 institutionalization carceral support services). 22 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec- 23 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to States and polit- 24 ical subdivisions of States that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8639.IH H8639 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8639 IH (1) have high rates of arrests and incarceration 1 of persons with a mental illness or an intellectual or 2 developmental disability; or 3 (2) commit to increasing resources for mental 4 health and community-based support services or so- 5 lutions for such persons. 6 (e) REPORTING.— 7 (1) BY GRANTEES.—A recipient of a grant 8 under this section shall submit to the Secretary— 9 (A) a quarterly report on— 10 (i) the number and percentage of 11 emergencies where mental health profes- 12 sionals were dispatched in lieu of law en- 13 forcement officers pursuant to assistance 14 under this section; 15 (ii) such other matters as the Sec- 16 retary may require for determining wheth- 17 er the recipient should receive an addi- 18 tional award under subsection (c); and 19 (iii) any increase or decrease, com- 20 pared to any previous quarter, in incarcer- 21 ation or institutionalization as a result of 22 dispatching mental health professionals 23 pursuant to assistance under this section, 24 disaggregated to include data specific to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8639.IH H8639 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8639 IH persons with intellectual and developmental 1 disabilities and mental illnesses where 2 available, so as— 3 (I) to provide a critical baseline 4 analysis; and 5 (II) to ensure that mental health 6 practitioners are not simply funneling 7 individuals into other institutionalized 8 settings; and 9 (B) a final report on the use of such grant. 10 (2) BY SECRETARY.—Not later than 1 year 11 after awarding the first grant under this section, 12 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 13 to the Congress a report on the grant program 14 under this section. 15 (f) REVOCATION OF GRANT.—If the Secretary finds, 16 based on reporting under subsection (e) or other informa- 17 tion, that activities funded through a grant under this sec- 18 tion are leading to a significant increase in incarceration 19 or institutionalization— 20 (1) the Secretary shall revoke the grant; and 21 (2) the grantee shall repay to the Federal Gov- 22 ernment any amounts that the grantee— 23 (A) received through the grant; and 24 (B) has not obligated or expended. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8639.IH H8639 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8639 IH (g) FUNDING.—To carry out this section, there are 1 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec- 2 essary for fiscal year 2021 and each subsequent fiscal 3 year. 4 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR POLITICAL SUBDIVI- 5 SIONS OF A STATE. 6 The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 7 through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and 8 Substance Use and in consultation with the Assistant At- 9 torney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Depart- 10 ment of Justice, shall provide technical assistance to 11 grantees under section 3 (or other Federal law), other po- 12 litical subdivisions of States, and States to hire, employ, 13 train, and dispatch mental health professionals to respond 14 in lieu of law enforcement officers, as described in section 15 3. 16 SEC. 5. STUDY. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 18 Human Services and the Assistant Attorney General for 19 the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice 20 shall conduct a study of the effectiveness of programs and 21 activities under sections 3 and 4. 22 (b) QUALITATIVE AND LONGITUDINAL EXAMINA- 23 TION.—The study under subsection (a) shall include a 24 qualitative and longitudinal study of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Nov 07, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8639.IH H8639 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8639 IH (1) the number of persons diverted from ar- 1 rests; and 2 (2) short- and long-term outcomes for those 3 persons, including reduced recidivism, reduced 4 incidences of use of force, and reduced utilization of 5 resources. 6 (c) COMPLETION; REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 7 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 8 Health and Human Services and the Assistant Attorney 9 General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department 10 of Justice shall— 11 (1) complete the study under subsection (a); 12 (2) submit a report to the Congress on the re- 13 sults of such study; and 14 (3) publish such report. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:35 Nov 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8639.IH H8639 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS