Sec. 5. Task Force on Federal programs and activities relating to reentry of offenders
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The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the heads of such other agencies of the Federal Government as the Attorney General considers appropriate, and in collaboration with interested persons, service providers, nonprofit organizations, States, tribal, and local governments, shall establish an interagency task force on Federal programs and activities relating to the reentry of offenders into the community (referred to in this section as the Task Force ).
The Task Force shall— identify such programs and activities that may be resulting in overlap or duplication of services, the scope of such overlap or duplication, and the relationship of such overlap and duplication to public safety, public health, and effectiveness and efficiency; identify methods to improve collaboration and coordination of such programs and activities; identify areas of responsibility in which improved collaboration and coordination of such programs and activities would result in increased effectiveness or efficiency; develop innovative interagency or intergovernmental programs, activities, or procedures that would improve outcomes of reentering offenders and children of offenders; develop methods for increasing regular communication among agencies that would increase interagency program effectiveness; identify areas of research that can be coordinated across agencies with an emphasis on applying evidence-based practices to support, treatment, and intervention programs for reentering offenders; identify funding areas that should be coordinated across agencies and any gaps in funding; and in collaboration with the National Adult and Juvenile Offender Reentry Resources Center, identify successful programs currently operating and collect best practices in offender reentry from demonstration grantees and other agencies and organizations, determine the extent to which such programs and practices can be replicated, and make information on such programs and practices available to States, localities, nonprofit organizations, and others.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Task Force shall submit a report, including recommendations, to Congress on barriers to reentry. The report required under paragraph
(1)shall identify Federal and other barriers to successful reentry of offenders into the community and analyze the effects of such barriers on offenders and on children and other family members of offenders, including— admissions and evictions from Federal housing programs; child support obligations and procedures; Social Security benefits, veterans benefits, food stamps, and other forms of Federal public assistance; Medicaid Program and Medicare Program procedures, requirements, regulations, and guidelines; education programs, financial assistance, and full civic participation; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program funding criteria and other welfare benefits; employment and training; reentry procedures, case planning, and transitions of persons from the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to a Federal parole or probation program or community corrections; laws, regulations, rules, and practices that may require a parolee to return to the same county that they were living in before their arrest and therefore prevent offenders from changing their setting upon release; and trying to establish pre-release planning procedures for prisoners to ensure that a prisoner's eligibility for Federal or State benefits (including Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and veterans benefits) upon release is established prior to release, subject to any limitations in law, and to ensure that prisoners are provided with referrals to appropriate social and health services or are referred to appropriate nonprofit organizations. On an annual basis, the Task Force shall submit to Congress an updated report on the activities of the Task Force, including specific recommendations on issues described in subsections
(b)and (c).