911 Diversion to Unarmed Personnel Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1859 To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to award grants to States, territories, political subdivisions of States and terri- tories, Tribal governments, and consortia of Tribal governments to estab- lish an unarmed 911 response program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 11, 2021 Mr. SMITH of Washington (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARSON, and Ms. GARCIA of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to award grants to States, terri- tories, political subdivisions of States and territories, Tribal governments, and consortia of Tribal governments to establish an unarmed 911 response program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1859.IH H1859 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1859 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘911 Diversion to Un- 2 armed Personnel Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR UNARMED 911 RESPONSE PROGRAMS. 4 Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act 5 is amended by inserting after section 552 (42 U.S.C. 6 290ee–7) the following new section: 7 ‘‘SEC. 553. GRANTS FOR UNARMED 911 RESPONSE PRO- 8 GRAMS. 9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 10 the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance 11 Use, may award grants to States, territories, political sub- 12 divisions of States and territories, Tribal governments, 13 and consortia of Tribal governments to establish an un- 14 armed 911 response program under which nonviolent 911 15 calls are referred to unarmed professional service pro- 16 viders for response, instead of to a law enforcement agen- 17 cy. 18 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—An unarmed 911 19 response program funded under this section shall— 20 ‘‘(1) dispatch unarmed professional service pro- 21 viders in groups of two or more in a timely manner; 22 ‘‘(2) be capable of providing screening, assess- 23 ment, de-escalation, trauma-informed culturally com- 24 petent services, referrals to treatment providers, and 25 transportation to immediately necessary treatment; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1859.IH H1859 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1859 IH ‘‘(3) when necessary, coordinate with health or 1 social services; 2 ‘‘(4) not be subject to oversight of State or local 3 law enforcement agencies; and 4 ‘‘(5) clearly outline the scope of calls that must 5 or may be referred to the unarmed 911 response 6 program. 7 ‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.—A grant under this section 8 may be used for— 9 ‘‘(1) hiring unarmed professional service pro- 10 viders and 911 dispatchers; 11 ‘‘(2) training unarmed professional service pro- 12 viders to respond to 911 calls by identifying, under- 13 standing, and responding to signs of mental ill- 14 nesses, developmental or intellectual disabilities, and 15 substance use disorders, including by means of— 16 ‘‘(A) de-escalation; 17 ‘‘(B) crisis intervention; and 18 ‘‘(C) connecting individuals to local social 19 service providers, health care providers, commu- 20 nity-based organizations, and the full range of 21 other available providers and resources, with a 22 focus on culturally competent service providers; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1859.IH H1859 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1859 IH ‘‘(3) updating 911 response systems to enable 1 triage between nonviolent 911 calls and those that 2 require a response from law enforcement; 3 ‘‘(4) training 911 dispatchers on call diversion; 4 ‘‘(5) building the capacity— 5 ‘‘(A) to coordinate with local social service 6 providers, health care providers, suicide hotline 7 operators, and community-based organizations; 8 and 9 ‘‘(B) to provide multilingual and culturally 10 competent services; and 11 ‘‘(6) collecting data for reports to the Sec- 12 retary. 13 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An applicant seeking a grant 14 under this section shall submit to the Secretary an appli- 15 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 16 information as the Secretary may reasonably require, in- 17 cluding the applicant’s plan to train 911 dispatchers to 18 determine when a call should be diverted to the unarmed 19 911 response program. 20 ‘‘(e) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—A recipient of a 21 grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary, on 22 a biannual basis, a report on the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1859.IH H1859 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1859 IH ‘‘(1) The number of calls placed to 911 that 1 were diverted to the grantee’s unarmed 911 response 2 program. 3 ‘‘(2) Demographic information on the individ- 4 uals served by the grantee’s unarmed 911 response 5 program, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, sex, 6 sexual orientation, gender identity, and location. 7 ‘‘(3) The effects of the grantee’s unarmed 911 8 response program on emergency room visits, hos- 9 pitalizations, use of ambulances, and involvement of 10 law enforcement in mental health or substance use 11 disorder crises. 12 ‘‘(4) An assessment of the types of events and 13 crises to which the grantee’s unarmed 911 response 14 program responded and the services provided, in- 15 cluding— 16 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals to whom 17 services were provided who were involuntarily 18 committed for treatment; 19 ‘‘(B) the number of individuals successfully 20 transferred to an alternative destination; 21 ‘‘(C) the time between notification by a 22 911 dispatcher and arrival at the scene by a 23 provider; and 24 ‘‘(D) the time spent by providers at scene. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1859.IH H1859 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1859 IH ‘‘(5) A cost analysis of the grantee’s unarmed 1 911 response program. 2 ‘‘(6) An assessment of data sharing limitations 3 or problems associated with adherence to— 4 ‘‘(A) Federal regulations (concerning the 5 privacy of individually identifiable health infor- 6 mation) promulgated under section 264(c) of 7 the Health Insurance Portability and Account- 8 ability Act of 1996; and 9 ‘‘(B) part II of title 42, Code of Federal 10 Regulations. 11 ‘‘(f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 12 submit to the Congress, on a biannual basis, a report on 13 the program under this section, including a summary of 14 the reports submitted by grantees pursuant to subsection 15 (e). 16 ‘‘(g) GRANT AMOUNT.—The Secretary may make 17 grants to applicants that do not meet all of the criteria 18 under subsection (b)(1), but applicants that do not meet 19 all such criteria may not receive the full grant amount. 20 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 ‘‘(1) The term ‘alternative destination’— 22 ‘‘(A) means any service- or care-providing 23 site other than a hospital emergency depart- 24 ment or jail; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1859.IH H1859 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1859 IH ‘‘(B) includes a clinic, primary care office, 1 crisis center, and community care center. 2 ‘‘(2) The term ‘nonviolent 911 call’ means a 3 911 call that— 4 ‘‘(A) relates to mental health, homeless- 5 ness, addiction problems, social services, tru- 6 ancy, intellectual and developmental disabilities, 7 or public intoxication; and 8 ‘‘(B) does not involve obvious violent be- 9 havior. 10 ‘‘(3) The term ‘unarmed professional service 11 provider’ means a professional (which may include a 12 nurse, social worker, emergency medical technician, 13 counselor, community health worker, trauma-in- 14 formed personnel, social service provider, or peer 15 support specialist) who— 16 ‘‘(A) is trained to deal with mental health 17 or substance abuse crises or intellectual and de- 18 velopmental disabilities; and 19 ‘‘(B) does not carry a firearm.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1859.IH H1859 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS