Law Enforcement Training for Mental Health Crisis Response Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3595 To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize a grant program for law enforcement agencies and corrections agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law enforcement officers and corrections officers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 28, 2021 Ms. KAPTUR (for herself, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Mr. RYAN, Mrs. BICE of Oklahoma, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. TAYLOR, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, and Mr. CUELLAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize a grant program for law en- forcement agencies and corrections agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law enforce- ment officers and corrections officers, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Law Enforcement 4 Training for Mental Health Crisis Response Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3595.IH H3595 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3595 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Law enforcement and corrections officers 3 routinely respond to emergencies involving individ- 4 uals suffering from a mental health crisis. 5 (2) Recent statistics have shown that as many 6 as— 7 (A) 1 in every 10 calls for police response 8 involve a person suffering from a mental illness; 9 (B) 1 in every 4 people killed by police suf- 10 fer from a mental health problem; and 11 (C) 1 in 3 people transported to a hospital 12 emergency room for psychiatric reasons are 13 taken by the police. 14 (3) Law enforcement response calls to individ- 15 uals suffering from substance use disorder have in- 16 creased during the current opioid epidemic. 17 (4) There is a need to ensure that law enforce- 18 ment officers have access to proper evidence-based 19 training in responding to mental health crises. 20 (5) Proper training for response to individuals 21 suffering from a mental health crisis can better pro- 22 tect the safety of the general public and law enforce- 23 ment officers. 24 (6) Law enforcement and corrections officers in 25 the United States can better serve their communities 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3595.IH H3595 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3595 IH if the officers receive training to effectively and safe- 1 ly resolve the mental health crises. 2 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 3 grants to State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies 4 and corrections agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis 5 response training for law enforcement officers and correc- 6 tions officers to— 7 (1) better train law enforcement officers and 8 corrections officers to resolve behavioral health crisis 9 situations; 10 (2) reduce the number of law enforcement offi- 11 cers and corrections officers killed or injured while 12 responding to a behavioral health crisis; and 13 (3) reduce the number of individuals killed or 14 injured during a behavioral health crisis in which a 15 law enforcement officer or corrections officer re- 16 sponds. 17 SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR MENTAL 18 HEALTH CRISIS GRANT PROGRAM. 19 (a) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Section 506 of the 20 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 21 U.S.C. 10157) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 22 lowing: 23 ‘‘(c) Of the total amount made available to carry out 24 this subpart for a fiscal year, the Attorney General may 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3595.IH H3595 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3595 IH reserve not more than $10,000,000 to carry out the pro- 1 gram under section 509.’’. 2 (b) LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR MENTAL 3 HEALTH CRISIS GRANT PROGRAM.—Subpart 1 of part E 4 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 5 Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) is amended by add- 6 ing at the end the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 509. LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR MENTAL 8 HEALTH CRISIS GRANT PROGRAM. 9 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—Subject to the avail- 10 ability of appropriations, the Attorney General is author- 11 ized to award grants to applicants for— 12 ‘‘(1) law enforcement officers or corrections of- 13 ficers to receive training from a program; and 14 ‘‘(2) the cost of transportation and lodging as- 15 sociated with law enforcement officers or corrections 16 officers attending such program. 17 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM STANDARDS.—The Attorney General 18 shall establish and publish qualification standards for or- 19 ganizations that provide programs. 20 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of an applicant 22 shall submit to the Attorney General an application 23 that— 24 ‘‘(A) shall include— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3595.IH H3595 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3595 IH ‘‘(i) a statement describing the pro- 1 gram the law enforcement officers or cor- 2 rections officers will complete; 3 ‘‘(ii) the total number of law enforce- 4 ment officers or corrections officers in the 5 agency; 6 ‘‘(iii) the number of law enforcement 7 officers or corrections officers of the agen- 8 cy that have been killed, or seriously in- 9 jured while responding to a behavioral 10 health crisis during the 5-year-period pre- 11 ceding the date of the application; and 12 ‘‘(iv) whether the law enforcement of- 13 ficers or corrections officers employed by 14 the agency receive any behavioral health 15 crisis response training, including during 16 basic officer training; and 17 ‘‘(B) in addition to the information re- 18 quired under subparagraph (A), may, at the op- 19 tion of the applicant, include information relat- 20 ing to— 21 ‘‘(i) recent incidents involving officers 22 of the agency during which behavioral 23 health crisis response training could have 24 played a role in protecting the safety of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3595.IH H3595 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3595 IH ‘‘(I) the law enforcement officer 1 or the public, including the persons or 2 persons the law enforcement officers 3 encountered; or 4 ‘‘(II) the corrections officer or in- 5 mates at the correctional facility; and 6 ‘‘(ii) estimated cost of attendance of a 7 program per officer. 8 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTIONS.— 9 ‘‘(1) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—Grant funds 10 shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, 11 State, local, and Tribal funds made available to any 12 applicant for any of the purposes described in sub- 13 section (a). 14 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 15 3 percent of any grant made under this section may 16 be used for administrative costs. 17 ‘‘(e) REPORTS AND RECORDS.— 18 ‘‘(1) REPORTS.—For each year during which 19 grant funds are used, the recipient shall submit to 20 the Attorney General a report containing— 21 ‘‘(A) a summary of any activity carried out 22 using grant funds; 23 ‘‘(B) the number of officers that received 24 training using grant funds; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3595.IH H3595 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3595 IH ‘‘(C) any other information relevant to the 1 purpose of this Act that the Attorney General 2 may determine appropriate. 3 ‘‘(2) RECORDS.—For the purpose of an audit 4 by the Attorney General of the receipt and use of 5 grant funds, a recipient shall— 6 ‘‘(A) keep— 7 ‘‘(i) any record relating to the receipt 8 and use of grant funds; and 9 ‘‘(ii) any other record as the Attorney 10 General may require; and 11 ‘‘(B) make the records described in sub- 12 paragraph (A) available to the Attorney General 13 upon request by the Attorney General. 14 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 ‘‘(1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘applicant’ means 16 a law enforcement agency or corrections agency that 17 applies for a grant under this section. 18 ‘‘(2) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘Attor- 19 ney General’ means the Attorney General, acting 20 through the Assistant Attorney General for the Of- 21 fice of Justice Programs. 22 ‘‘(3) GRANT FUNDS.—The term ‘grant funds’ 23 means funds from a grant awarded under this sec- 24 tion. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3595.IH H3595 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3595 IH ‘‘(4) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 1 ‘law enforcement agency’ means an agency of a 2 State or unit of local government that is authorized 3 by law or by a government agency to engage in or 4 supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or 5 prosecution of any violation of criminal law. 6 ‘‘(5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means a 7 program or class that— 8 ‘‘(A) provides instructional training to law 9 enforcement officers or corrections officers for 10 response to a behavioral health crisis, including 11 response to people suspected to be under the in- 12 fluence of a drug or psychoactive substance, 13 and response to circumstances in which a per- 14 son is suspected to be suicidal or suffering from 15 a mental illness; 16 ‘‘(B) includes training on techniques and 17 strategies designed to protect— 18 ‘‘(i) the health and safety of law en- 19 forcement officers and the public, including 20 the person or persons a law enforcement 21 officer encounters during a behavioral 22 health crisis response; or 23 ‘‘(ii) the health and safety of correc- 24 tions officers and inmates at the correc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3595.IH H3595 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3595 IH tional facility, including the inmate a cor- 1 rections officer encounters during a behav- 2 ioral health crisis response, or in the nor- 3 mal course of business of interactions with 4 the inmate; and 5 ‘‘(C) is developed in conjunction with 6 healthcare professionals to provide crisis inter- 7 vention training focused on understanding men- 8 tal and behavioral health, developing empathy, 9 navigating community resources, de-escalation 10 skills, and practical application training for offi- 11 cers. 12 ‘‘(6) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘recipient’ means 13 an applicant that receives a grant under this sec- 14 tion.’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3595.IH H3595 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS