TBI and PTSD Law Enforcement Training Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6008 To direct the Attorney General to develop crisis intervention training tools for use by first responders related to interacting with persons who have a traumatic brain injury, another form of acquired brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 27, 2020 Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. BACON, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. RUTHERFORD, and Mr. COX of California) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Attorney General to develop crisis intervention training tools for use by first responders related to inter- acting with persons who have a traumatic brain injury, another form of acquired brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder, 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 ‘‘Traumatic Brain In- 4 jury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Law Enforce- 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6008.IH H6008 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6008 IH ment Training Act’’ or the ‘‘TBI and PTSD Law Enforce- 1 ment Training Act’’. 2 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 3 Congress finds the following: 4 (1) According to the Centers for Disease Con- 5 trol and Prevention, there were approximately 2.9 6 million traumatic brain injury-related emergency de- 7 partment visits, hospitalizations, and deaths in the 8 United States in 2014. 9 (2) Effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) can 10 be short-term or long-term, and include impaired 11 thinking or memory, movement, vision or hearing, or 12 emotional functioning, such as personality changes 13 or depression. 14 (3) Currently, between 3.2 million and 5.3 mil- 15 lion persons are living with a TBI-related disability 16 in the United States. 17 (4) About 7 or 8 percent of Americans will ex- 18 perience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at 19 some point in their lives, and about 8 million adults 20 have PTSD during the course of a given year. 21 (5) TBI and PTSD have been recognized as the 22 signature injuries of the Wars in Iraq and Afghani- 23 stan. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6008.IH H6008 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6008 IH (6) According to the Department of Defense, 1 383,000 men and women deployed to Iraq and Af- 2 ghanistan sustained a brain injury while in the line 3 of duty between 2000 and 2018. 4 (7) Approximately 13.5 percent of Operations 5 Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom veterans 6 screen positive for PTSD, according to the Depart- 7 ment of Veteran Affairs. 8 (8) About 12 percent of Gulf War Veterans 9 have PTSD in a given year while about 30 percent 10 of Vietnam Veterans have had PTSD in their life- 11 time. 12 (9) Physical signs of TBI can include motor im- 13 pairment, dizziness or poor balance, slurred speech, 14 impaired depth perception, or impaired verbal mem- 15 ory, while physical signs of PTSD can include agita- 16 tion, irritability, hostility, hypervigilance, self-de- 17 structive behavior, fear, severe anxiety, or mistrust. 18 (10) Physical signs of TBI and PTSD often 19 overlap with physical signs of alcohol or drug im- 20 pairment, which complicate a first responder’s abil- 21 ity to quickly and effectively identify an individual’s 22 condition. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6008.IH H6008 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6008 IH SEC. 3. CREATION OF A TBI AND PTSD TRAINING FOR 1 FIRST RESPONDERS. 2 Part HH of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 3 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10651 et seq.) is 4 amended— 5 (1) in section 2991— 6 (A) in subsection (h)(1)(A), by inserting 7 before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, in- 8 cluding the training developed under section 9 2993’’; and 10 (B) in subsection (o)(1)(C), by striking 11 ‘‘$50,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$54,000,000’’; 12 and 13 (2) by inserting after section 2992 the following 14 new section: 15 ‘‘SEC. 2993. CREATION OF A TBI AND PTSD TRAINING FOR 16 FIRST RESPONDERS. 17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 18 date of the enactment of this section, the Attorney Gen- 19 eral, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Justice 20 Assistance, in consultation with the Director of the Cen- 21 ters for Disease Control and Prevention and the Assistant 22 Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall so- 23 licit best practices regarding techniques to interact with 24 persons who have traumatic brain injury, acquired brain 25 injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder from first re- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6008.IH H6008 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6008 IH sponder, brain injury, veteran, and mental health organi- 1 zations, health care and mental health providers, hospital 2 emergency departments, and other relevant stakeholders, 3 and shall develop crisis intervention training tools for use 4 by first responders (as such term is defined in section 5 3025) that provide— 6 ‘‘(1) information on the conditions and symp- 7 toms of traumatic brain injury, acquired brain in- 8 jury, and post-traumatic stress disorder; 9 ‘‘(2) techniques to interact with persons who 10 have a traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain in- 11 jury, or post-traumatic stress disorder; and 12 ‘‘(3) information on how to recognize persons 13 who have a traumatic brain injury, an acquired 14 brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder. 15 ‘‘(b) USE OF TRAINING TOOLS AT LAW ENFORCE- 16 MENT MENTAL HEALTH LEARNING SITES.—The Attor- 17 ney General shall ensure that not less than one Law En- 18 forcement Mental Health Learning Site designated by the 19 Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in consulta- 20 tion with the Council of State Governments Justice Cen- 21 ter, utilizes the training tools developed under subsection 22 (a). 23 ‘‘(c) POLICE MENTAL HEALTH COLLABORATION 24 TOOLKIT.—The Attorney General shall make the training 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6008.IH H6008 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6008 IH tools developed under subsection (a) available as part of 1 the Police-Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit provided 2 by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.’’. 3 SEC. 4. SURVEILLANCE AND REPORTING FOR FIRST RE- 4 SPONDERS WITH TBI. 5 Section 393C of the Public Health Service Act (42 6 U.S.C. 280b–1d) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(d) LAW ENFORCEMENT AND FIRST RESPONDER 9 SURVEILLANCE.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 11 through the Director of the Centers for Disease 12 Control and Prevention, shall implement concussion 13 data collection and analysis to determine the preva- 14 lence and incidence of concussion among first re- 15 sponders (as such term is defined in section 3025 of 16 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 17 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10705)). 18 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 19 the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 20 Secretary, acting through the Director of the Cen- 21 ters for Disease Control and Prevention and the Di- 22 rector of the National Institutes of Health and in 23 consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the 24 Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6008.IH H6008 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6008 IH relevant committees of Congress a report that con- 1 tains the findings of the surveillance conducted 2 under paragraph (1). The report shall include sur- 3 veillance data and recommendations for resources 4 for first responders who have experienced traumatic 5 brain injury.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6008.IH H6008 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS