Sponsors (6)
The bill funds and guides community-based, round‑the‑clock mental health and justice‑involved care that could reduce hospitalizations and recidivism, but it requires sustained funding, workforce capacity, and strong privacy safeguards to avoid service gaps, fiscal strain, and civil‑liberties risks.
People with serious mental illness who are involved with the criminal justice system could receive round-the-clock, community-based treatment and supports, lowering psychiatric hospitalizations and emergency department visits.
Individuals who cycle through jails/prisons and the communities they return to — and the communities themselves — could see reduced arrests, reoffending, and lower justice-system costs if FACT teams reduce recidivism.
States and localities (including rural areas) would receive federal grant funding and an implementation framework to start or scale FACT programs, easing startup and expansion costs and offering rural adaptations.
State and local systems may become dependent on time-limited federal grants, risking service gaps or program closures when pilot funding ends after five years.
Taxpayers could face increased federal spending to support the grants and study over multiple years, with total appropriations unspecified.
Implementing multidisciplinary FACT teams may strain local provider capacity and require hiring and training (psychiatrists, forensic peers, justice partners), which could be hard to staff—especially in rural communities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a 5-year HHS grant pilot to expand forensic assertive community treatment teams and funds a National Academies study; authorizes funding for FY2027–2032.
Official title: To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to establish a 5-year pilot program under which the Secretary will award grants to eligible entities for purposes of expanding forensic assertive community treatment team programs.
Introduced July 14, 2026 by Alma Adams · Last progress July 14, 2026
Creates a five-year HHS pilot grant program to expand forensic assertive community treatment (FACT) teams run by state or local governments to serve people with serious mental illness who are involved with the criminal justice system. It also directs a contract with the National Academies to study FACT program metrics, fidelity, scaling options (including rural adaptations), costs, and cost-benefit analysis and requires a report to HHS and Congress within 18 months. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 2027–2032 as necessary for the pilot program and provides $1.5 million (available until expended) for the National Academies study, which HHS must publish and distribute after delivery.