What This Bill Does
This bill allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to states, territories, counties, tribal governments and groups of tribes. These grants help them create mobile crisis response programs where unarmed professionals respond to certain emergency calls instead of police.
Who It Affects
States, territories, counties, tribal governments, groups of tribes, people who experience mental health or substance use crises, people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, and communities served by 911 systems.
Key Provisions
• Programs must send unarmed professional responders in groups of two or more to handle certain emergency calls (Sec. 553(b)(1))
• Programs must provide screening, assessment, de-escalation, trauma-informed culturally competent services, and referrals to community treatment providers (Sec. 553(b)(2))
• Programs cannot be overseen by law enforcement agencies (Sec. 553(b)(4))
• Grant money can be used to hire responders, train staff in de-escalation and crisis intervention, update 911 systems to identify which calls go to unarmed responders, and coordinate with mental health services (Sec. 553(c))
• Grantees must report every two years on number of calls diverted, who was served, effects on emergency rooms and hospitalizations, and program costs (Sec. 553(e))
What Changes
If this law passes, eligible states, territories, counties and tribal governments can apply for federal grant money to set up programs where trained unarmed professionals respond to certain types of emergency calls instead of police officers.
Important Definitions
• "Nonviolent emergency call" means a 911 call about mental health, homelessness, addiction, social services, truancy, developmental or intellectual disabilities, or public intoxication that does not involve obvious violent behavior (Sec. 553(h)(2))
• "Unarmed professional service provider" means a trained professional (such as a nurse, social worker, emergency medical technician, counselor, community health worker or peer support specialist) who deals with mental health or substance abuse crises or disabilities and does not carry a firearm (Sec. 553(h)(3))
• "Alternative destination" means any service or care location other than a hospital emergency department or jail, including outpatient clinics, crisis apartments, crisis homes, urgent care facilities and community care centers (Sec. 553(h)(1))
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1423
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 mobile crisis response program, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 7, 2023
Mr. SMITH of Washington (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. CARSON, Ms.
NORTON, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. TRONE, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK,
and Ms. TLAIB) 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 mobile crisis response program,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘911 Community Crisis
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Responders Act of 2023’’.
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SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR UNARMED MOBILE CRISIS RESPONSE
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PROGRAMS.
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Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act
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is amended by inserting after section 552 (42 U.S.C.
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290ee–7) the following new section:
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‘‘SEC. 553. GRANTS FOR UNARMED MOBILE CRISIS RE-
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SPONSE PROGRAMS.
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‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through
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the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance
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Use, may award grants to States, territories, political sub-
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divisions of States and territories (such as counties), Trib-
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al Governments, and consortia of Tribal Governments to
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establish an unarmed mobile crisis response program
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under which nonviolent emergency calls are referred to un-
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armed professional service providers for response, instead
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of to a law enforcement agency.
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‘‘(b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—An unarmed mo-
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bile crisis response program funded under this section
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shall—
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‘‘(1) dispatch unarmed professional service pro-
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viders in groups of two or more in a timely manner;
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‘‘(2) be capable of providing screening, assess-
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ment, de-escalation, trauma-informed culturally com-
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petent services, engagement and referrals to commu-
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nity-based treatment providers, and transportation
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to immediately necessary treatment;
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‘‘(3) when necessary, coordinate with health,
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housing, or social services;
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‘‘(4) not be subject to oversight of State, Trib-
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al, or local law enforcement agencies; and
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‘‘(5) clearly outline the scope of calls that must
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or may be referred to the unarmed mobile crisis re-
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sponse program as first responders.
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‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.—A grant under this section
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may be used for—
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‘‘(1) hiring unarmed professional service pro-
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viders and public safety telecommunicators;
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‘‘(2) training unarmed professional service pro-
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viders to respond to emergency calls by identifying,
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understanding, and responding to signs of mental ill-
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nesses, physical disabilities, developmental or intel-
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lectual disabilities, and substance use disorders, in-
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cluding by means of—
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‘‘(A) de-escalation;
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‘‘(B) crisis intervention; and
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‘‘(C) connecting individuals to local service
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providers, health care providers, housing pro-
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viders, community-based organizations, and the
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full range of other available providers and re-
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sources, with a focus on culturally competent
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service providers;
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‘‘(3) updating 911 response systems to enable
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triage between nonviolent 911 calls and those that
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require a response from law enforcement;
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‘‘(4) developing curriculum to train, and con-
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ducting training of, public safety telecommunicators
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on de-escalation and call processing;
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‘‘(5) coordinating with 9–8–8 call centers to es-
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tablish a process for dispatching an unarmed mobile
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crisis response program;
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‘‘(6) building the capacity—
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‘‘(A) to coordinate with local trauma-in-
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formed social service providers, health care pro-
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viders, and community-based organizations; and
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‘‘(B) to provide multilingual and culturally
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competent services; and
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‘‘(7) collecting data for reports to the Sec-
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retary.
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‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An applicant seeking a grant
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under this section shall submit to the Secretary an appli-
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cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such
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information as the Secretary may reasonably require, in-
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cluding the applicant’s plan to train 911 public safety tele-
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communicators to determine when a call requires a re-
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sponse from an unarmed mobile crisis response program.
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‘‘(e) REPORTS
TO SECRETARY.—A recipient of a
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grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary, on
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a biannual basis, a report on the following:
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‘‘(1) The number of calls placed to 911 that
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were diverted to the grantee’s unarmed mobile crisis
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response program.
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‘‘(2) Demographic information on the individ-
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uals served by the grantee’s unarmed mobile crisis
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response program, disaggregated by race, ethnicity,
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age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, location,
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mental illness, physical disabilities, developmental or
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intellectual disabilities, substance use disorders, and
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housing status.
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‘‘(3) The effects of the grantee’s unarmed mo-
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bile crisis response program on emergency room vis-
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its, hospitalizations, use of ambulances, and involve-
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ment of law enforcement in mental health or sub-
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stance use disorder crises.
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‘‘(4) An assessment of the types of events and
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crises to which the grantee’s unarmed mobile crisis
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response program responded and the services pro-
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vided, including—
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‘‘(A) the number of individuals successfully
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transferred to an alternative destination;
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‘‘(B) the time between notification by a
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public safety telecommunicator and arrival at
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the scene by a provider; and
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‘‘(C) the time spent by providers at scene.
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‘‘(5) A cost analysis of the grantee’s unarmed
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mobile crisis response program.
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‘‘(f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall
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submit to the Congress, on a biannual basis, a report on
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the program under this section, including a summary of
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the reports submitted by grantees pursuant to subsection
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(e).
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‘‘(g) GRANT AMOUNT.—The Secretary may make
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grants to applicants that do not meet all of the criteria
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under subsection (b)(1), but applicants that do not meet
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all such criteria may not receive the full grant amount.
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‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
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‘‘(1) The term ‘alternative destination’—
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‘‘(A) means any service- or care-providing
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site other than a hospital emergency depart-
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ment or jail; and
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‘‘(B) includes an outpatient clinic, primary
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care provider’s office, crisis apartment, crisis
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home, respite home, crisis stabilization center,
1
urgent care facility, and community care center.
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‘‘(2) The term ‘nonviolent emergency call’
3
means a 911 call that—
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‘‘(A) relates to mental health, homeless-
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ness, addiction problems, social services, tru-
6
ancy, intellectual and developmental disabilities,
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or public intoxication; and
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‘‘(B) does not involve obvious violent be-
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havior.
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‘‘(3) The term ‘unarmed professional service
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provider’ means a professional (which may include a
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nurse, social worker, emergency medical technician,
13
counselor, community health worker, trauma-in-
14
formed personnel, social service provider, substance
15
use disorder professional, or peer support specialist)
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who—
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‘‘(A) is trained to deal with mental health
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or substance abuse crises or intellectual and de-
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velopmental disabilities; and
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‘‘(B) does not carry a firearm.
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‘‘(i) NONDISCRIMINATION.—No person in the United
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States shall, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color,
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religion, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation
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and gender identity), or disability, be excluded from par-
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•HR 1423 IH
ticipation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
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discrimination under any program or activity funded, in
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whole or in part, with funds made available under this sec-
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tion.’’.
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Æ
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