Safer Communities Act of 2017

[AI summary unavailable — showing source text] Safer Communities Act of 2017 This bill provides grants to expand mental health crisis assistance programs, support comprehensive school mental health programs, and enhance mental health and substance abuse needs of prisoners. The Department of Health and Human Services must expand research on violence associated with mental illness and substance abuse disorders. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must expand the National Violent Death Reporting System to all 50 states and research the causes, mechanisms, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of injuries from gun violence. The bill states that no provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act prohibits physicians from asking patients about guns in their homes, speaking to a patient about gun safety, or reporting a patient's threat of violence. It amends the federal criminal code to specify that the term "committed to a mental institution" applies to involuntary inpatient or outpatient treatment. It amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize state grants to remove firearms from individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others. The Department of Justice must promptly notify…