Law Enforcement Training for Mental Health Crisis Response Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2698 To provide grants to State, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law enforcement officers. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 14, 2019 Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma (for herself and Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide grants to State, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law enforcement officers. 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 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2698.IH H2698 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2698 IH (1) Law enforcement officers routinely respond 1 to emergencies involving individuals suffering from a 2 mental health crisis. 3 (2) Recent statistics have shown that as many 4 as— 5 (A) 1 in every 10 calls for police response 6 involve a person suffering from a mental illness; 7 (B) 1 in every 4 people killed by police suf- 8 fer from a mental health problem; and 9 (C) 1 in 3 people transported to a hospital 10 emergency room for psychiatric reasons are 11 taken by the police. 12 (3) Law enforcement response calls to individ- 13 uals suffering from substance use disorder has in- 14 creased during the current opioid epidemic. 15 (4) There is a need to ensure that law enforce- 16 ment officers have access to proper evidence-based 17 training in responding to mental health crises. 18 (5) Proper training for response to individuals 19 suffering from a mental health crisis can better pro- 20 tect the safety of the general public and law enforce- 21 ment officers. 22 (6) Our Nation’s law enforcement officers can 23 better serve their communities if they receive train- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2698.IH H2698 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2698 IH ing to effectively and safely resolve the mental 1 health crises. 2 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 3 grants to State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies 4 to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law 5 enforcement officers to— 6 (1) better train law enforcement officers to re- 7 solve behavioral health crisis situations; 8 (2) reduce the number of law enforcement offi- 9 cers killed or injured while responding to a behav- 10 ioral health crisis; and 11 (3) reduce the number of individuals killed or 12 injured during a behavioral health crisis in which a 13 law enforcement officer responds. 14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 15 In this Act: 16 (1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘applicant’’ means 17 a law enforcement agency that applies for a grant 18 under section 4. 19 (2) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Attorney 20 General’’ means the Attorney General, acting 21 through the Assistant Attorney General for the Of- 22 fice of Justice Programs. 23 (3) CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The 24 term ‘‘chief law enforcement officer’’ has the mean- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2698.IH H2698 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2698 IH ing given the term in section 922(s) of title 18, 1 United States Code. 2 (4) GRANT FUNDS.—The term ‘‘grant funds’’ 3 means funds from a grant awarded under section 4. 4 (5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 5 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 6 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 7 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 8 (6) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 9 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means an agency of a 10 State, unit of local government, or Indian Tribe that 11 is authorized by law or by a government agency to 12 engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, in- 13 vestigation, or prosecution of any violation of crimi- 14 nal law. 15 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means a 16 program or class that— 17 (A) provides instructional training to law 18 enforcement officers for response to a behav- 19 ioral health crises, including response to people 20 suspected to be under the influence of a drug 21 or substance, and response to circumstances in 22 which a person is suspected to be suicidal or 23 suffering from a mental illness; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2698.IH H2698 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2698 IH (B) includes training on techniques and 1 strategies designed to protect the health and 2 safety of law enforcement officers and the pub- 3 lic, including the person or persons a law en- 4 forcement officer encounters during a behav- 5 ioral health crisis response. 6 (8) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘recipient’’ means 7 an applicant that receives a grant under section 4. 8 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 9 ing given the term in section 901 of title I of the 10 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 11 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251). 12 SEC. 4. GRANTS. 13 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Attorney General 14 shall award grants to applicants for— 15 (1) law enforcement officers to receive training 16 from a behavioral health crisis response program; 17 and 18 (2) the cost of transportation and lodging asso- 19 ciated with law enforcement officers attending a pro- 20 gram. 21 (b) PROGRAM STANDARDS.—The Attorney General 22 shall establish and publish qualification standards for or- 23 ganizations that provide behavioral health crisis response 24 programs. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2698.IH H2698 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2698 IH (c) APPLICATIONS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The chief law enforcement 2 officer of an applicant shall submit to the Attorney 3 General an application that— 4 (A) shall include— 5 (i) a statement describing the pro- 6 gram the law enforcement officers will 7 complete; 8 (ii) the total number of law enforce- 9 ment officers in the agency; 10 (iii) the number of law enforcement 11 officers of the agency that have been killed, 12 or seriously injured while responding to a 13 behavioral health crisis during the 5-year- 14 period preceding the date of the applica- 15 tion; and 16 (iv) whether the law enforcement offi- 17 cers employed by the agency receive any 18 behavioral health crisis response training, 19 including during basic police officer train- 20 ing; and 21 (B) in addition to the information required 22 under subparagraph (A), may, at the option of 23 the applicant, include information relating to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2698.IH H2698 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2698 IH (i) recent incidents involving law en- 1 forcement officers of the agency in which 2 behavioral health crisis response training 3 could have played a role in protecting the 4 safety of the law enforcement officer or the 5 public, including the person or persons the 6 law enforcement officers encountered; and 7 (ii) estimated cost of attendance of a 8 program per law enforcement officer. 9 (d) RESTRICTIONS.— 10 (1) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—Grant funds shall 11 be used to supplement, and not supplant, State, 12 local, and tribal funds made available to any appli- 13 cant for any of the purposes described in subsection 14 (a). 15 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 3 16 percent of any grant made under this section may 17 be used for administrative costs. 18 (e) REPORTS AND RECORDS.— 19 (1) REPORTS.—For each year during which 20 grant funds are used, the recipient shall submit to 21 the Attorney General a report containing— 22 (A) a summary of any activity carried out 23 using grant funds; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2698.IH H2698 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2698 IH (B) the number of officers that received 1 training using grant funds; and 2 (C) any other information relevant to the 3 purpose of this Act that the Attorney General 4 may determine appropriate. 5 (2) RECORDS.—For the purpose of an audit by 6 the Attorney General of the receipt and use of grant 7 funds, a recipient shall— 8 (A) keep— 9 (i) any record relating to the receipt 10 and use of grant funds; and 11 (ii) any other record as the Attorney 12 General may require; and 13 (B) make the records described in subpara- 14 graph (A) available to the Attorney General 15 upon request by the Attorney General. 16 SEC. 5. USE OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS. 17 Of the total amount appropriated to carry out the 18 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant under 19 subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con- 20 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et 21 seq.) for each of fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022, 22 $5,000,000 shall be used to carry out this Act for each 23 such fiscal year. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2698.IH H2698 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS