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August 28, 2008
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The Second Chance Act Moving through Congress
Bills that would help address the needs of people who are returning to their communities following incarceration will be before Congress when it returns after its August recess. The House bill, H.R. 1704, has 121 bi-partisan cosponsors and was approved by the House Judiciary committee in July. On the Senate side, S. 1934, has 25 bi-partisan co-sponsors. The Second Chance Act begins to address alcohol and drug addiction and mental health treatment, job training and education opportunities, housing and a range of other services for individuals and their families when they return to their communities after incarceration.
Key provisions of the Second Chance Act include:
- Reauthorization of a Department of Justice grant program for people returning to the community from incarceration; this program would provide grants to States and local areas to create or strengthen the systems that help adults and youth transition into the community when they are released from incarceration by providing drug addiction and mental health treatment, job training and education opportunities, housing and other necessary services.
- Improvement of the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State and Federal Prisoners Programs by requiring that these programs have an aftercare component and clarifying that "residential substance abuse treatment" means a course of individual and group activities and treatment lasting at least 6 months in residential treatment facilities set apart from the general prison population.
- Establishing grant programs to divert appropriate people with low-level drug offenses to addiction treatment through a prosecutorially-based program, to provide treatment for women and parents with children during incarceration, and to improve addiction treatment programs provided at prisons, jails and juvenile facilities by supporting addiction treatment and recovery support services including job training and placement, education, peer support, mentoring and other services.
- Authorizing a grant program to establish pharmacological drug treatment services as part of the available addiction treatment programs being offered to people with addiction histories who are in prison or jail.
It is unclear when the full House and Senate will consider the legislation, but the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to take up S. 1934 in the fall. More information about the Second Chance Act including a list of co-sponsors of the House and Senate bills can be found at: http://thomas.loc.gov/. (Thanks to the Legal Action Center’s Washington Weekly Round Up for the information above.)