THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, FONTANA, ERICKSON, MUSTO, WILLIAMS, FERLO, BROWNE, M. WHITE, EARLL, O'PAKE AND LEACH, JANUARY 29, 2009

REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, JANUARY 29, 2009  

AN ACT

Establishing the Criminal Justice and Mental Health Reinvestment

Program; and providing for the powers and duties of the

Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the Criminal

Justice and Mental Health Reinvestment Act.

Section 2.  Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this act shall

have the meanings given to them in this section unless the

context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Advisory committee."  The Advisory Committee for Criminal

Justice and Mental Health Reinvestment.

"Commission."  The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and

Delinquency.

"Program."  The Criminal Justice and Mental Health

Reinvestment Program.

Section 3.  Criminal Justice and Mental Health Reinvestment

Program.

(a)  Establishment.--The Criminal Justice and Mental Health

Reinvestment Program is hereby established. The commission shall

administer the program.

(b)  Purpose.--The purpose of the program is to provide

funding to counties with which they can plan, implement or

expand initiatives that increase public safety, avert increased

spending on criminal justice and improve the effectiveness of

treatment services for individuals with mental illnesses,

substance abuse disorders or co-occurring mental health and

substance abuse disorders and who are involved or at risk of

involvement with the criminal justice system.

(c)  Advisory committee.--

(1)  The Advisory Committee for Criminal Justice and

Mental Health Reinvestment is hereby established.

(2)  The advisory committee shall have oversight

responsibilities for the program, which shall include

monitoring both the grant process and outcome aspects of the

program. The advisory committee shall advise the commission

in establishing the criteria to be used to review submitted

grant proposals and to select counties that will be awarded

grants.

(3)  The advisory committee shall be comprised of one

representative from each of the following agencies or

organizations:

(i)  The Department of Public Welfare.

(ii)  The Department of Corrections.

(iii)  The Department of Health.

(iv)  The Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole.

(v)  The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania

Courts.

(d)  Types of grants.--A county may apply for a one-year

planning grant, a two-year implementation grant or a two-year

expansion grant. The purpose of the grant is to demonstrate that

investment in treatment efforts related to mental illness,

substance abuse disorders or co-occurring disorders results in

reduced demand on the resources of the judicial, corrections or

health and social services systems.

(e)  Eligibility.--

(1)  To be eligible to receive a one-year planning grant,

a two-year implementation grant or a two-year expansion

grant, a county applicant must submit a proposal on behalf of

county criminal justice and mental health or substance abuse

service entities.

(2)  When developing the proposal, the county shall

consult with county criminal justice and mental health or

substance abuse service entities, as well as the public. At a

minimum, the following shall be consulted for purposes of

developing the proposal:

(i)  Court of Common Pleas.

(ii)  Board of County Commissioners or county

executive.

(iii)  District Attorney.

(iv)  Public defender.

(v)  The warden of the county correctional

institution.

(vi)  Single county authority.

(vii)  Mental Health/Mental Retardation Office.

(viii)  Local law enforcement.

(ix)  A primary consumer of mental health services.

(x)  A primary consumer of substance abuse services.

(xi)  A family member of a primary consumer of

community-based treatment services.

(xii)  A representative from an area homeless program

or a supportive housing program.

(xiii)  The director of a juvenile detention

facility.

(f)  Requirements.--

(1)  (i)  The application criteria for a one-year

planning grant shall include a requirement that the

applicant county will develop a strategic plan to

initiate systemic change to identify and treat

individuals who have mental illnesses, substance abuse

disorders or co-occurring mental health and substance

abuse disorders who are in, or at risk of entering, the

criminal justice system.

(ii)  The one-year planning grant shall be used to

develop effective collaboration efforts among

participants in affected governmental agencies, including

the criminal and civil justice systems, mental health and

substance abuse treatment service providers,

transportation programs and housing assistance programs.

The collaboration efforts shall be the basis for

developing a problem-solving model and strategic plan for

treating persons who are in, or at risk of entering, the

criminal justice system and doing so at the earliest

point of contact, taking into consideration public

safety.

(iii)  The planning grant shall include strategies to

divert individuals from judicial commitment to community-

based service programs.

(2)  The application for a two-year implementation

program shall include information from a county that

demonstrates its completion of a well-established

collaboration plan that includes public-private partnership

models and the application of evidence-based practices.

(3)  The implementation or expansion grants may support

programs and diversion initiatives that include, but need not

be limited to:

(i)  Specialized responses by law enforcement

agencies.

(ii)  Centralized receiving facilities for

individuals evidencing behavioral difficulties.

(iii)  Postbooking alternatives to incarceration.

(iv)  New court programs, including pretrial services

and specialized dockets.

(v)  Specialized diversion programs.

(vi)  Intensified transition services that are

directed to the designated populations while they are in

jail to facilitate their transition to the community.

(vii)  Specialized probation and parole processes.

(viii)  Day-reporting centers.

(ix)  Linkages to community-based, evidence-based

treatment programs for people who have mental illness or

substance abuse problems.

(x)  Community services and programs designed to

prevent criminal justice involvement of high-risk

populations.

(xi)  Specialized training for criminal justice and

treatment services professionals.

(4)  Each county application shall include the following

information:

(i)  An analysis of the current jail population in

the county, which shall include:

(A)  The screening and assessment process that

the county uses to identify a person who has a mental

illness, substance abuse problem or co-occurring

disorder.

(B)  The percentage of each category of persons

admitted to the jail which represents people who have

a mental illness, substance abuse problem or co-

occurring disorder.

(C)  An analysis of observed contributing factors

that affect county jail population trends.

(ii)  A description of the strategies the county

intends to use to serve one or more clearly defined

subsets of the jail population that have a mental illness

or to serve those at risk of arrest and incarceration.

The proposed strategies may include identifying the

population designated to receive the new interventions, a

description of the services and supervision methods to be

applied to that population and the goals and measurable

objectives of the new interventions.

(iii)  The projected effect the proposed initiatives

will have on the jail population and the jail's budget.

The information shall include:

(A)  The county's estimate of how the initiative

will reduce the expenditures associated with the

incarceration of people who have a mental illness.

(B)  The methodology that the county intends to

use to measure the defined outcomes and the

corresponding savings or averted costs.

(C)  The county's estimate of how the cost

savings or averted costs will sustain or expand the

mental health and substance abuse treatment services

and supports needed in the community.

(D)  How the county's proposed initiative will

reduce the number of individuals judicially committed

to a State mental health treatment facility.

(iv)  The proposed strategies that the county intends

to use to preserve and enhance its community mental

health and substance abuse system, which system serves as

the local behavioral health safety net for low-income and

uninsured individuals.

(v)  The proposed strategies that the county intends

to use to continue the implemented or expanded programs

and initiatives that have resulted from the grant

funding.

Section 4.  Powers and duties of commission.

(a)  Application.--The commission shall develop an

application procedure with input from the advisory committee.

(b)  Grants.--

(1)  The commission shall award grants to counties that

apply to the commission for funds to assist in planning,

implementing or expanding initiatives that increase public

safety, avert increased spending on criminal justice and

improve the effectiveness of treatment services for

individuals with mental illnesses, substance abuse disorders

or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders

who are involved or at risk of involvement with the criminal

justice system.

(2)  The commission shall base the number of grants on

the amount of funds appropriated by the General Assembly and

other funds available for the purposes of this act.

(3)  The amount of a specific grant shall be based on the

category of the award: planning, implementation or expansion.

Planning grants shall be proportionately smaller than

implementation grants, which shall be proportionately smaller

than expansion grants, as determined by the commission in

consultation with the advisory committee.

(c)  Monitoring and reporting.--

(1)  The commission shall monitor a county's use of

grants awarded under this act and may require an accounting

of the use of the funds.

(2)  The commission shall annually report to the

Judiciary Committee of the Senate and the Judiciary Committee

of the House of Representatives on the program. The report

shall include the numbers and the amounts of the grants

awarded, the counties receiving the grants and any other

relevant information.

(d)  Technical assistance to grantees.--

(1)  The commission shall designate at least one "Center

for Excellence" at colleges or universities located in this

Commonwealth on criteria determined by the commission in

consultation with the advisory committee.

(2)  A center for excellence shall:

(i)  Provide technical assistance to counties in

preparing a grant application.

(ii)  Assist an applicant county in projecting the

effect of the proposed intervention on the criminal

justice system in the county.

(iii)  Assist an applicant county in monitoring the

effect of a grant award on the criminal justice system in

the county.

(iv)  Disseminate and share evidence-based practices

and best practices among grantees.

(v)  Act as a clearinghouse for information and

resources related to criminal justice, mental health and

substance abuse.

Section 5.  Effective date.

This act shall take effect July 1, 2009, or immediately,

whichever is later.