H.R. 8976 — Women in Criminal Justice Reform Act

This section requires federal law enforcement officers authorized to make arrests to permit an arrested custodial parent or guardian of a minor or dependent child to arrange care for the child at the time of arrest, including by providing access to a telephone and relevant phone numbers. It prohibits referral of the child to a child welfare agency unless the parent or guardian cannot secure care or the officer has reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect, and specifies that a drug-related charge alone does not constitute such cause.

This section establishes a grant program authorizing the Attorney General to award states up to $20 million annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to implement gender-informed law enforcement training. It requires states to provide at least 8 hours of such training annually to law enforcement academy enrollees and 4 hours to chief law enforcement officers on topics including trauma, domestic violence responses that discourage dual arrests, interrogation techniques for trauma survivors, intersectional effects of race and gender, and protocols for pregnant persons; states must certify compliance within 2 years or lose eligibility for subsequent grants.

This section establishes a grant program to improve recruitment and retention of women law enforcement officers. It directs the Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to award grants within 60 days to eligible agencies for activities including revising hiring practices, producing inclusive recruitment materials, conducting targeted outreach, providing on-site child care at academies, improving family leave policies, establishing mentoring programs, and training on implicit bias, and authorizes $5 million annually for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.

This section requires federal courts to consider a defendant's minor or dependent children and whether pretrial detention would negatively affect them, including through potential loss of custody, when weighing release or detention pending trial.

This section revises temporary release authority under 18 U.S.C. 3622 to require the Bureau of Prisons and U.S. Marshals Service to release individuals from imprisonment for up to thirty days to obtain medical treatment (including access to sexual assault nurse examiners), establish family or community ties, or attend juvenile custody proceedings, and for up to seven days to visit a dying relative, attend a funeral, contact a prospective employer, or engage in other significant activities. It also authorizes releases to participate in community education or paid employment programs while remaining in official detention, and permits judicial officers to set conditions upon petition.

This section extends from 15 of the most recent 22 months to 24 consecutive months the period a child may remain in foster care before a state must consider filing a petition to terminate parental rights, but only for children not placed with kin or fictive kin. It requires the state to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that it has provided the family with services, supports, and time for safe reunification and that termination serves the child's best interest, and it bars such petitions when a parent is actively engaged in services, incarcerated, or detained or deported by the Department of Homeland Security.

This section establishes a federal pretrial diversion program that allows a U.S. court to divert a criminal case into a court-ordered recidivism reduction plan at any time before sentencing. The plan requires supervision and may include employment assistance, job training, housing support, education aid, financial counseling, legal referrals, transportation, trauma-informed treatment, substance use services, and other needs-based requirements. Successful completion yields a diversionary disposition that avoids incarceration. Participation requires the defendant's voluntary agreement, a speedy-trial waiver, and access to counsel.

This section caps the penalty for attempting or conspiring to commit an offense under the Controlled Substances Act or the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act at a fine under title 18, imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or both, provided the penalty does not exceed that for the underlying substantive offense (from the same penalties as the underlying offense).

This section authorizes courts to impose sentences below statutory minimums if a defendant shows reasonable fear of serious bodily injury prevented substantial assistance to the government, the government cannot demonstrate the defendant possesses useful information about others’ offenses, or the defendant provided such assistance but the government filed no motion. It also limits drug quantities in conspiracy cases under the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to the defendant’s own conduct and the foreseeable acts of co-conspirators the defendant agreed to jointly undertake.

This section prohibits a federal court from considering, except for purposes of mitigating a sentence, any act for which a person was criminally charged and adjudicated not guilty after trial in a Federal, State, or Tribal court, or for which a juvenile was found not responsible after a juvenile adjudication hearing. It also bars consideration of any act underlying a charge dismissed on a motion for acquittal under Rule 29 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or an analogous State or Tribal rule.

This section expands the factors that courts must consider when imposing a sentence to include any mitigation on behalf of the defendant, such as a history of trauma, substance use, or medical and mental health disorders. It also requires that needed educational, vocational, medical, or other correctional treatment be gender-responsive and trauma-informed.

This section directs the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to ensure all incarcerated women receive obstetric and gynecological care from a specialized licensed provider, including intake and annual screenings for hepatitis A/B/C, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections, breast exams, and pelvic exams with Pap smears and HPV testing at least every three years. It requires human papillomavirus vaccination access for juveniles, dental care meeting Americans with Disabilities Act standards, an annual report to Congress on dental requests and services disaggregated by race and gender, and additional screenings and assessments for high-risk factors such as bone density, colorectal cancer, diabetes, lipids, and preeclampsia.

This section directs the Bureau of Prisons to develop and implement trauma-informed care training for its officers and employees, a trauma screening program for all incarcerated persons upon intake and during periodic assessments under the First Step Act, and trauma-informed therapy and counseling programs administered by licensed mental health professionals. It requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics to submit annual reports to Congress beginning two years after enactment that detail screening results, program participation, waitlists, and demographic percentages by age, race, and gender.

This section directs the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to develop and implement gender-responsive training for all correctional officers and employees, including separate training at facilities housing women and female juveniles on the characteristics, trauma exposure, mental health diagnoses, menstrual and reproductive health needs, motherhood roles, and low public safety risk of incarcerated women. It also requires the Women and Special Populations Branch to maintain at least 12 full-time employees to ensure consistent supervision, policy implementation, and programming for female incarcerated persons.

This section expands the Resolve Trauma Therapy Program for female incarcerated persons. It requires the program at all Bureau of Prisons institutions housing such persons, with access beginning in the first 12 months of a sentence and prerequisites offered within 60 days of intake; minimum staffing of one Resolve Coordinator and one Treatment Specialist per facility; and Spanish-language offerings. It also mandates annual reports to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees and Appropriations Subcommittees on participation rates, waitlists, staffing vacancies, and Spanish-language access, beginning one year after enactment.

This section directs the Bureau of Prisons Director to ensure all programs and services for incarcerated persons are gender-responsive. The programs must account for the national profile of women entering the justice system, use evidence-based approaches that address substance misuse, trauma, and mental health, provide education and training to improve socioeconomic conditions, promote healthy family and community connections, and mitigate risks of abuse and traumatization. It also requires that evidence-based recidivism reduction programs eligible for First Step Act early release credits be gender-responsive.

This section requires the Bureau of Prisons Director to maintain equivalent minimum standards of care and conditions in all facilities housing female inmates as those for male inmates. It defines those standards to include safe and orderly conditions, preparation for release, protection from harm, respect for dignity, adequate staffing, healthful living quarters with single-occupancy cells preferred, natural light, sanitation, gender-appropriate clothing and hygiene, at least one hour of daily outdoor exercise, congregate meals, and dignified treatment during menstruation.

This section directs the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to assign female staff to locations in female institutions where searches of incarcerated persons commonly occur, ensuring compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 without requiring female correctional officers to leave other assigned posts.

This section revises Bureau of Prisons nutrition standards to require gender-specific diets for women consistent with national dietary guidelines. It prohibits using food quantity, type, or denial as discipline and bars serving Nutraloaf, ground leftovers, or similar meals. It requires pregnant and lactating incarcerated persons to receive 64–96 ounces of fluid daily, appropriate dietary supplements, and medically appropriate caloric supplementation not from processed meats associated with listeriosis.

This section requires the Bureau of Prisons Director to develop gender-responsive discipline policies that review existing sanctions, incorporate trauma-informed approaches and gender-based peer dynamics, prioritize rehabilitation over punishment, and eliminate shackling and segregated housing except when an incarcerated person poses severe danger to others. It restricts loss of visitation privileges to high or greatest severity offenses and mandates annual reports to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, beginning one year after enactment, on all sanctions imposed, disaggregated by race, gender, and age.

This section requires the Bureau of Prisons to notify all correctional officers, employees, and female inmates of the Residential Parenting Program and the Mothers and Infants Nurturing Together Program. It expands eligibility for both programs to every woman who gives birth while in Bureau custody, except those presenting a danger to herself or others, without regard to citizenship status or criminal charge. It requires review of any exclusion by the Director of the Women and Special Populations Branch or a licensed psychologist designee. It also mandates annual reports to the Judiciary and Appropriations Committees beginning one year after enactment that detail pregnancies in custody, program starts and completions, reasons for non-completion, unused spaces, and exclusions.

This section requires the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, beginning one year after enactment and annually thereafter, to report to the Judiciary Committees and Appropriations Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies of both chambers on compliance with the 500-mile placement rule under 18 U.S.C. 3621(b). The report must state the number of noncompliant placements, the reason and distance for each, and whether the individual received visits in the prior calendar year.

This section directs the Comptroller General to study best practices for recruiting and retaining women as correctional officers in the Bureau of Prisons, including practices that have been counterproductive, and to report on the demographics of the Bureau workforce disaggregated by age, race, ethnicity, and gender.

This section authorizes appropriations of $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to carry out the title. It requires that at least 30 percent of the funds be used for salaries and benefits and increased employment mandates.

This section requires the Director to ensure that placements of incarcerated persons into prerelease community confinement permit custodial parents to visit or reside with their minor children, provide gender-appropriate hygiene, healthcare, and nutrition, and allow victims of domestic violence, dating violence, or sexual assault to reside in safe and confidential dwellings.

This section requires probation officer training to include gender-informed supervision practices addressing the specific needs of women in the justice system, including trauma, sexual and physical abuse, family issues, physical and mental health, hygiene, racial disparities in arrests and law enforcement contacts, and minimizing trauma to children during parental supervision, arrest, or search. It also revises the duties of probation officers to effect the successful rehabilitation and reintegration of persons under supervision into society using trauma-informed and restorative techniques that account for collateral consequences of conviction.

This section directs courts to consider any basis for difficulty in compliance with supervised release conditions, including parental obligations, poverty, substance use disorders, or mental health disorders, when modifying terms or revoking supervised release. It eliminates the fourth statutory ground for mandatory revocation.

This section defines the terms gender-responsive, trauma-informed, and victim-centered as used throughout the Act according to rules issued by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.