Office of Correctional Public Health Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Office of Correctional Public Health (OCPH) within the Office of Public Health and Science. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of OCPH, to carry out public health activities for individuals who are employees in federal, state, or local penal or correctional institutions or who are incarcerated in such institutions. Includes among such activities disease prevention, health promotion, service delivery, research, and health professions education activities.
Authorizes the Secretary to make matching grants to states to provide for correctional populations screenings, immunizations, and treatment for hepatitis A, B, and C. Requires a portion of each grant to be expended to carry out such activities at penal or correctional facilities that are not facilities in which individuals serve terms of imprisonment, including remand facilities.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2737 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2737
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an Office of
Correctional Public Health.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 26, 2005
Mr. Strickland (for himself, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Holden, Mr.
Hastings of Florida, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Payne,
Mr. McDermott, and Mr. Grijalva) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an Office of
Correctional Public Health.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Office of Correctional Public Health
Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. FINDING.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Approximately 2.1 million people are incarcerated in
the United States.
(2) The number of inmates held in Federal, State, and
private correctional facilities rose 28 percent between midyear
1995 and 2000.
(3) The offender population in jails turns over between 20
and 25 times each year.
(4) At least 95 percent of those currently incarcerated
will be released from custody.
(5) Offender populations enter correctional facilities with
a higher rate of infection of chronic and communicable
diseases, including asthma, diabetes, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, and
tuberculosis, than is present in the general population.
(6) The prevalence of mental illness in correctional
facilities is rising. Estimates are that between 14 and 20
percent of jail inmates in 1996 had some type of anxiety
disorder. In State prison facilities, it is estimated that
between 22 and 30 percent have an anxiety disorder.
(7) The prevalence of AIDS among inmates is 3.5 times
higher than among the general population.
(8) An estimated 98,500 to 145,500 HIV-positive inmates
were released from prisons and jails in 1996.
(9) According to estimates, between 12 and 15 percent of
all individuals in the United States with chronic or current
hepatitis B infection in 1996 spent time in a correctional
facility that year.
(10) Between 1.3 and 1.4 million inmates released from
prison or jail in 1996 were infected with hepatitis C. The
prevalence of hepatitis C among inmates is between 9 and 10
times higher than the estimated hepatitis C prevalence in the
Nation's population as a whole. In the United States, about 30
percent of the total population with hepatitis C virus are
former prisoners or have a history of incarceration.
(11) In 1996, an estimated 35 percent of all those in
America who had tuberculosis had served time in a correctional
facility.
(12) According to estimates, substance abuse is a major
characteristic of incoming prisoners. Seventy-five percent of
State prisoners, and 80 percent of Federal prisoners, may be
characterized as alcohol-involved or drug-involved offenders.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF CORRECTIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH.
Title XVII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u et
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following section:
``office of correctional public health
``Sec. 1711. (a) In General.--There is established within the
Office of Public Health and Science an office to be known as the Office
of Correctional Public Health (in this section referred to as the
`Office'), which shall be headed by a director appointed by the
Secretary. The Secretary shall carry out this section acting through
the Director of the Office.
``(b) General Duties.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out public
health activities regarding individuals who are employees in
Federal, State, or local penal or correctional institutions or
who are incarcerated in such institutions (which activities
regarding such individuals are referred to in this section as
`correctional health activities', and which individuals are so
referred to collectively as `correctional populations').
Correctional health activities that may be carried out under
the preceding sentence include activities regarding disease
prevention, health promotion, service delivery, research, and
health professions education.
``(2) Certain types of institutions.--The types of penal or
correctional institutions with respect to which this section is
authorized to be carried out include facilities in which
individuals are held pending judicial proceedings (including
individuals who are minors), facilities in which individuals
are held pending administrative proceedings of the Secretary of
Homeland Security with respect to citizenship and immigration
services, and facilities in which individuals who are minors
are held pursuant to judicial proceedings in which such
individuals are found, as minors, to have engaged in violations
of law.
``(c) Certain Activities.--In carrying out correctional health
activities under subsection (b), the Secretary shall--
``(1) coordinate all correctional health programs within
the Department of Health and Human Services;
``(2) provide technical support to State and local
correctional agencies on correctional health issues;
``(3) cooperate with other Federal agencies carrying out
correctional health programs to ensure coordination of such
programs;
``(4) consult with, and provide outreach to, State
directors of correctional health and providers of correctional
health care;
``(5) facilitate the exchange of information regarding
correctional health activities; and
``(6) facilitate collaboration between correctional
facilities and State and local health departments.
``(d) Grants Regarding Hepatitis.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary, in consultation with the
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may
make grants to States for the purpose of providing for
correctional populations screenings, immunizations, and
treatment for hepatitis A, B, and C.
``(2) Discretion of grantee regarding scope of program.--A
State receiving a grant under paragraph (1) may expend the
grant for any or all of the activities authorized in such
paragraph.
``(3) Requirement of matching funds.--
``(A) In general.--With respect to the costs of the
program to be carried out under paragraph (1) by a
State, the Secretary may make a grant under such
paragraph only if the State agrees to make available
(directly or through donations from public or private
entities) non-Federal contributions toward such costs
in an amount not less than 20 percent of such costs ($1
for each $4 of Federal funds provided in the grant).
``(B) Determination of amount contributed.--Non-
Federal contributions required in subparagraph (A) may
be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including
plant, equipment, or services. Amounts provided by the
Federal Government, or services assisted or subsidized
to any significant extent by the Federal Government,
may not be included in determining the amount of such
non-Federal contributions.
``(4) Certain expenditures of grant.--The Secretary may
make a grant under paragraph (1) only if, with respect to the
activities to be carried out with the grant pursuant to
paragraph (2), the State agrees that a portion of the grant
will be expended to carry out such activities at penal or
correctional institutions that are not facilities in which
individuals serve terms of imprisonment, including facilities
in which individuals are held pending judicial proceedings.
``(e) Annual Report.--The Secretary shall annually submit to the
Congress a report describing the correctional health activities carried
out under this section. The report shall include a description of the
status of correctional health activities in the United States.
``(f) Rule of Construction Regarding Agency Jurisdiction.--With
respect to correctional health programs that are carried out by
agencies of the Public Health Service and were in operation as of the
day before the date of the enactment of the Office of Correctional
Public Health Act of 2005, this section may not be construed as
requiring the Secretary to transfer jurisdiction for the programs from
such agencies to the office established in subsection (a).
``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--For the purpose of carrying out this
section, other than subsection (d), there are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each of the
fiscal years 2006 through 2010.
``(2) Grants regarding hepatitis.--For the purpose of
carrying out subsection (d), there are authorized to be
appropriated $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006
through 2008, and $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2009
and 2010.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
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