COPS Counseling Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3070 To make Federal law enforcement officer peer support communications confidential, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 7, 2021 Mr. TRONE (for himself and Mr. RESCHENTHALER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To make Federal law enforcement officer peer support communications confidential, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Confidentiality Oppor- 4 tunities for Peer Support Counseling Act’’ or the ‘‘COPS 5 Counseling Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. CONFIDENTIALITY OF PEER SUPPORT COMMUNICA- 7 TIONS. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3070.IH H3070 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3070 IH (1) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 1 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means a Federal agency 2 that employs a law enforcement officer. 3 (2) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 4 ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ has the meaning given the 5 term ‘‘Federal law enforcement officer’’ in section 6 115 of title 18, United States Code. 7 (3) PEER SUPPORT COMMUNICATION.—The 8 term ‘‘peer support communication’’ includes— 9 (A) an oral or written communication 10 made in the course of a peer support counseling 11 session; 12 (B) a note or report arising out of a peer 13 support counseling session; 14 (C) a record of a peer support counseling 15 session; or 16 (D) with respect to a communication made 17 by a peer support participant in the course of 18 a peer support counseling session, another com- 19 munication, regarding the first communication, 20 that is made between a peer support specialist 21 and— 22 (i) another peer support specialist; 23 (ii) a staff member of a peer support 24 counseling program; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3070.IH H3070 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3070 IH (iii) a supervisor of the peer support 1 specialist. 2 (4) PEER SUPPORT COUNSELING PROGRAM.— 3 The term ‘‘peer support counseling program’’ means 4 a program provided by a law enforcement agency 5 that provides counseling services from a peer sup- 6 port specialist to a law enforcement officer of the 7 agency. 8 (5) PEER SUPPORT COUNSELING SESSION.— 9 The term ‘‘peer support counseling session’’ means 10 any counseling formally provided through a peer 11 support counseling program between a peer support 12 specialist and 1 or more law enforcement officers. 13 (6) PEER SUPPORT PARTICIPANT.—The term 14 ‘‘peer support participant’’ means a law enforcement 15 officer who receives counseling services from a peer 16 support specialist. 17 (7) PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST.—The term 18 ‘‘peer support specialist’’ means a law enforcement 19 officer who— 20 (A) has received training in— 21 (i) peer support counseling; and 22 (ii) providing emotional and moral 23 support to law enforcement officers who 24 have been involved in or exposed to an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3070.IH H3070 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3070 IH emotionally traumatic experience in the 1 course of employment; and 2 (B) is designated by a law enforcement 3 agency to provide the services described in sub- 4 paragraph (A). 5 (b) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsection 6 (c), a peer support specialist or a peer support participant 7 may not disclose the contents of a peer support commu- 8 nication to an individual who was not a party to the peer 9 support communication. 10 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (b) shall not apply to 11 a peer support communication if— 12 (1) the peer support communication contains— 13 (A) an explicit threat of suicide, the disclo- 14 sure of which the peer support specialist be- 15 lieves is necessary to avoid a suicide attempt; 16 (B) an explicit threat of imminent and se- 17 rious physical bodily harm or death to a clearly 18 identified or identifiable individual; 19 (C) information— 20 (i) relating to the abuse or neglect 21 of— 22 (I) a child; or 23 (II) an older or vulnerable indi- 24 vidual; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3070.IH H3070 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3070 IH (ii) that is required by law to be re- 1 ported; or 2 (D) an admission of criminal conduct; 3 (2) the disclosure is permitted by each peer 4 support participant who was a party to, as applica- 5 ble— 6 (A) the peer support communication; 7 (B) the peer support counseling session out 8 of which the peer support communication arose; 9 (C) the peer support counseling session of 10 which the peer support communication is a 11 record; or 12 (D) the communication made in the course 13 of a peer support counseling session that the 14 peer support communication is regarding; or 15 (3) a court of competent jurisdiction issues an 16 order or subpoena requiring the disclosure of the 17 peer support communication. 18 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub- 19 section (b) shall be construed to prohibit the disclosure 20 of— 21 (1) an observation made by a law enforcement 22 officer of a peer support participant outside of a 23 peer support counseling session; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3070.IH H3070 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3070 IH (2) knowledge of a law enforcement officer 1 about a peer support participant not gained from a 2 peer support communication. 3 (e) DISCLOSURE OF RIGHTS.—Before the initial peer 4 support counseling session of a peer support participant, 5 a peer support specialist shall inform the peer support 6 participant in writing of the confidentiality requirement 7 under subsection (b) and the exceptions to the require- 8 ment under subsection (c). 9 SEC. 3. BEST PRACTICES AND SUPPORT. 10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 (1) FIRST RESPONDER.—The term ‘‘first re- 12 sponder’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘public 13 safety officer’’ in section 1204 of title I of the Omni- 14 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 15 U.S.C. 10284). 16 (2) FIRST RESPONDER AGENCY.—The term 17 ‘‘first responder agency’’ means a Federal, State, 18 local, or Tribal agency that employs or otherwise en- 19 gages the services of a first responder. 20 (3) PEER SUPPORT COUNSELING PROGRAM.— 21 The term ‘‘peer support counseling program’’ means 22 a program provided by a first responder agency that 23 provides counseling services from a peer support spe- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3070.IH H3070 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3070 IH cialist to a first responder of the first responder 1 agency. 2 (4) PEER SUPPORT PARTICIPANT.—The term 3 ‘‘peer support participant’’ means a first responder 4 who receives counseling services from a peer support 5 specialist. 6 (5) PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST.—The term 7 ‘‘peer support specialist’’ means a first responder 8 who— 9 (A) has received training in— 10 (i) peer support counseling; and 11 (ii) providing emotional and moral 12 support to first responders who have been 13 involved in or exposed to an emotionally 14 traumatic experience in the course of the 15 duties of those first responders; and 16 (B) is designated by a first responder 17 agency to provide the services described in sub- 18 paragraph (A). 19 (b) REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 20 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attor- 21 ney General, in coordination with the Secretary of Health 22 and Human Services, shall develop a report on best prac- 23 tices and professional standards for peer support coun- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3070.IH H3070 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3070 IH seling programs for first responder agencies that in- 1 cludes— 2 (1) advice on— 3 (A) establishing and operating peer sup- 4 port counseling programs; and 5 (B) training and certifying peer support 6 specialists; 7 (2) a code of ethics for peer support specialists; 8 (3) recommendations for continuing education 9 for peer support specialists; 10 (4) advice on disclosing to first responders any 11 confidentiality rights of peer support participants; 12 and 13 (5) information on— 14 (A) the different types of peer support 15 counseling programs in use by first responder 16 agencies; 17 (B) any differences in peer support coun- 18 seling programs offered across categories of 19 first responders; and 20 (C) the important role senior first respond- 21 ers play in supporting access to mental health 22 resources. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3070.IH H3070 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3070 IH (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Attorney General shall 1 support and encourage the implementation of peer support 2 counseling programs in first responder agencies by— 3 (1) making the report developed under sub- 4 section (b) publicly available on the website of the 5 Department of Justice; and 6 (2) providing a list of peer support specialist 7 training programs on the website of the Department 8 of Justice. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3070.IH H3070 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS