COPS Counseling Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6694 To make Federal law enforcement officer peer support communications confidential, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 1, 2020 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 21:10 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6694.IH H6694 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6694 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 21:10 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6694.IH H6694 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6694 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 one 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 21:10 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6694.IH H6694 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6694 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; 14 (B) an explicit threat of imminent and se- 15 rious physical bodily harm or death to a clearly 16 identified or identifiable individual; 17 (C) information— 18 (i) relating to the abuse or neglect 19 of— 20 (I) a child; or 21 (II) an older or vulnerable indi- 22 vidual; or 23 (ii) that is required by law to be re- 24 ported; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6694.IH H6694 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6694 IH (D) an admission of criminal conduct; 1 (2) the disclosure is permitted by each peer 2 support participant who was a party to, as applica- 3 ble— 4 (A) the peer support communication; 5 (B) the peer support counseling session out 6 of which the peer support communication arose; 7 (C) the peer support counseling session of 8 which the peer support communication is a 9 record; or 10 (D) the communication made in the course 11 of a peer support counseling session that the 12 peer support communication is regarding; or 13 (3) a court of competent jurisdiction issues an 14 order or subpoena requiring the disclosure of the 15 peer support communication. 16 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub- 17 section (b) shall be construed to prohibit the disclosure 18 of— 19 (1) an observation made by a law enforcement 20 officer of a peer support participant outside of a 21 peer support counseling session; or 22 (2) knowledge of a law enforcement officer 23 about a peer support participant not gained from a 24 peer support communication. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6694.IH H6694 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6694 IH (e) DISCLOSURE OF RIGHTS.—Before the initial peer 1 support counseling session of a peer support participant, 2 a peer support specialist shall inform the peer support 3 participant in writing of the confidentiality requirement 4 under subsection (b) and the exceptions to the require- 5 ment under subsection (c). 6 SEC. 3. BEST PRACTICES AND SUPPORT. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 (1) FIRST RESPONDER.—The term ‘‘first re- 9 sponder’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘public 10 safety officer’’ in section 1204 of title I of the Omni- 11 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 12 U.S.C. 10284). 13 (2) FIRST RESPONDER AGENCY.—The term 14 ‘‘first responder agency’’ means a Federal, State, 15 local, or Tribal agency that employs or otherwise en- 16 gages the services of a first responder. 17 (3) PEER SUPPORT COUNSELING PROGRAM.— 18 The term ‘‘peer support counseling program’’ means 19 a program provided by a first responder agency that 20 provides counseling services from a peer support spe- 21 cialist to a first responder of the first responder 22 agency. 23 (4) PEER SUPPORT PARTICIPANT.—The term 24 ‘‘peer support participant’’ means a first responder 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6694.IH H6694 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6694 IH who receives counseling services from a peer support 1 specialist. 2 (5) PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST.—The term 3 ‘‘peer support specialist’’ means a first responder 4 who— 5 (A) has received training in— 6 (i) peer support counseling; and 7 (ii) providing emotional and moral 8 support to first responders who have been 9 involved in or exposed to an emotionally 10 traumatic experience in the course of the 11 duties of the first responder; and 12 (B) is designated by a first responder 13 agency to provide the services described in sub- 14 paragraph (A). 15 (b) REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 16 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attor- 17 ney General, in coordination with the Secretary of Health 18 and Human Services, shall develop a report on best prac- 19 tices and professional standards for peer support coun- 20 seling programs for first responder agencies that in- 21 cludes— 22 (1) advice on— 23 (A) establishing and operating peer sup- 24 port counseling programs; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6694.IH H6694 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6694 IH (B) training and certifying peer support 1 specialists; 2 (2) a code of ethics for peer support specialists; 3 (3) recommendations for continuing education 4 for peer support specialists; 5 (4) advice on disclosing to first responders any 6 confidentiality rights of peer support participants; 7 and 8 (5) information on— 9 (A) the different types of peer support 10 counseling programs in use by first responder 11 agencies; 12 (B) any differences in peer support coun- 13 seling programs offered across categories of 14 first responders; and 15 (C) the important role senior first respond- 16 ers play in supporting access to mental health 17 resources. 18 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Attorney General shall 19 support and encourage the implementation of peer support 20 counseling programs in first responder agencies by— 21 (1) making the report developed under sub- 22 section (b) publicly available on the website of the 23 Department of Justice; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6694.IH H6694 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6694 IH (2) providing a list of peer support specialist 1 training programs on the website of the Department 2 of Justice. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 May 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6694.IH H6694 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS