A bi-partisan bill, championed by bill sponsor Rep. David Trone (MD-6), addressing mental health services for incarcerated people in federal and state prisons received a unanimous House of Representatives vote, and will be sent to the President to be signed into law.

Today, Representative David Trone (MD-06) announced that his bipartisan legislation, the Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Act of 2020, which would support mental health treatment for incarcerated individuals, unanimously passed the House of Representatives. The bill already passed the Senate on November 16th and now heads to the President’s desk for signature.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1 in 7 individuals incarcerated in state and federal prisons and 1 in 4 individuals in jails self-reported experiences of serious psychological distress. The Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Act would allow for correctional institutions to partner with mental health providers to provide mental health treatment and crisis stabilization for incarcerated individuals and promote warm handoffs to community-based care upon reentry.

Trone introduced the legislation in February of this year along with along with Representatives John Rutherford (R-FL), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), and Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Richard Blumenthal (D-RI).

“We are facing a mental health crisis that has only been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, and incarcerated populations are bearing the brunt of it due to the lack of social distancing and safety measures,” said Rep. Trone. “Every American deserves access to high-quality mental health care, and this bill will help us make this a reality by ensuring that incarcerated individuals can access treatment should they need it.”

Read more details on Representative Trone’s website.