DHS Suicide Prevention and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act

II Calendar No. 218 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1137 [Report No. 118–102] To establish the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 30, 2023 Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. HAWLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs OCTOBER 3, 2023 Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To establish the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program, 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 ‘‘DHS Suicide Preven- 4 tion and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1137.RS S1137 dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1137 RS SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SUICIDE 1 PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR LAW EN- 2 FORCEMENT. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu- 4 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 5 inserting after section 710 the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 710A. SUICIDE PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR 7 LAW ENFORCEMENT. 8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.— 9 ‘‘(1) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY 10 COMPONENT.—The term ‘Department of Homeland 11 Security component’ means— 12 ‘‘(A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 13 ‘‘(B) U.S. Immigration and Customs En- 14 forcement; 15 ‘‘(C) the Office of the Inspector General of 16 the Department of Homeland Security; 17 ‘‘(D) the United States Coast Guard; 18 ‘‘(E) the United States Secret Service; 19 ‘‘(F) the Transportation Security Adminis- 20 tration; and 21 ‘‘(G) any other Department of Homeland 22 Security component or office with law enforce- 23 ment officers or agents. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1137.RS S1137 dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1137 RS ‘‘(2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Program’ means 1 the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness 2 Program established pursuant to subsection (b). 3 ‘‘(b) LAW ENFORCEMENT MENTAL HEALTH AND 4 WELLNESS PROGRAM.— 5 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 7 establish, within the office overseen by the 8 Chief Medical Officer, the Law Enforcement 9 Mental Health and Wellness Program. 10 ‘‘(B) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Pro- 11 gram shall be to provide a comprehensive ap- 12 proach to address the mental health and 13 wellness of Department of Homeland Security 14 law enforcement agents and officers. 15 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary, 16 working through the Program, shall— 17 ‘‘(i) establish and maintain policies 18 and standard operating procedures, con- 19 sistent with best evidence-based practices, 20 that detail the authority, roles, and respon- 21 sibilities of the Program; 22 ‘‘(ii) conduct data collection and re- 23 search on mental health, suicides, and, to 24 the extent possible, attempted suicides, of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1137.RS S1137 dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1137 RS law enforcement personnel within the De- 1 partment of Homeland Security, in accord- 2 ance with section 552a of title 5, United 3 States Code (commonly known as the Pri- 4 vacy Act of 1974), section 501 of the Re- 5 habilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791), 6 the Department of Homeland Security’s di- 7 rectives and policies, section 1128E of the 8 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7e), 9 and section 2(a) of the Law Enforcement 10 Suicide Data Collection Act (Public Law 11 116–143); 12 ‘‘(iii) track current trends and leading 13 practices from other governmental and 14 nongovernmental organizations for law en- 15 forcement mental health and wellness; 16 ‘‘(iv) evaluate current mental health 17 and resiliency programs within Depart- 18 ment of Homeland Security components; 19 ‘‘(v) promote education and training 20 related to mental health, resilience, suicide 21 prevention, stigma, and mental health re- 22 sources to raise mental health awareness 23 and to support others the needs of super- 24 visors, clinicians, care-givers, peer support 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1137.RS S1137 dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1137 RS members, chaplains, and those who have 1 been exposed to trauma; 2 ‘‘(vi) establish the Peer-to-Peer Sup- 3 port Program Advisory Council, which 4 shall— 5 ‘‘(I) include at least 1 licensed 6 clinician and at least 1 official with 7 requisite and relevant training and ex- 8 perience in peer support for law en- 9 forcement personnel from each De- 10 partment of Homeland Security com- 11 ponent; 12 ‘‘(II) evaluate component peer 13 support programs; 14 ‘‘(III) identify and address any 15 potential deficiencies, limitations, and 16 gaps; 17 ‘‘(IV) provide for sharing of lead- 18 ing practices or best practices, includ- 19 ing internationally recognized peer 20 support standards of care protocols; 21 ‘‘(V) create a peer support net- 22 work that enables the sharing of 23 trained peer support personnel, chap- 24 lains, and other peer-to-peer personnel 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1137.RS S1137 dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1137 RS across Department of Homeland Se- 1 curity components; and 2 ‘‘(VI) sustain peer support pro- 3 grams through ongoing funding of an- 4 nual and refresher training and re- 5 sources for peer support programing 6 in the workplace— 7 ‘‘(aa) to ensure minimum 8 standards for peer support serv- 9 ices; and 10 ‘‘(bb) to provide appropriate 11 care for peer support personnel 12 across Department of Homeland 13 Security components; 14 ‘‘(vii) assist Department of Homeland 15 Security components in developing a pro- 16 gram to provide suicide prevention and re- 17 siliency support and training for— 18 ‘‘(I) families of law enforcement 19 agents and officers; and 20 ‘‘(II) surviving families of officers 21 and agents who have died by suicide; 22 ‘‘(viii) work with law enforcement 23 mental health and wellness program offi- 24 cials of Department of Homeland Security 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1137.RS S1137 dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1137 RS components (which shall include peer sup- 1 port-trained personnel, agency mental 2 health professionals, chaplains, and, for 3 components with employees having an ex- 4 clusive representative, the exclusive rep- 5 resentative with respect to such program) 6 to implement new policies, procedures, and 7 programs that may be necessary based on 8 findings from data collection, research, and 9 evaluation efforts; and 10 ‘‘(ix) conduct regular outreach and 11 messaging, across Department of Home- 12 land Security components, of available 13 training opportunities and resources. 14 ‘‘(D) CONFIDENTIALITY; LIMITATION.— 15 ‘‘(i) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Actions de- 16 scribed in subparagraph (C) may not in- 17 clude the publication of any personally 18 identifiable information. 19 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—Personally identi- 20 fiable information collected pursuant to 21 subparagraph (C) may not be used for any 22 purpose other than the implementation of 23 this section unless otherwise permitted 24 under applicable law. Any personally iden- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1137.RS S1137 dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1137 RS tifiable information that is collected, main- 1 tained, or used pursuant to this section is 2 subject to applicable public nondisclosure 3 requirements, including sections 552 and 4 552a of title 5, United States Code. 5 ‘‘(E) PERSONNEL.— 6 ‘‘(i) MANAGEMENT.—The Workplace 7 Health and Wellness Coordinator of the 8 Department, under the direction of the 9 Chief Medical Officer of the Department, 10 shall be responsible for the ongoing man- 11 agement of the Program. 12 ‘‘(ii) MINIMUM CORE PERSONNEL RE- 13 QUIREMENTS.—Subject to appropriations, 14 the Secretary shall ensure that the Pro- 15 gram is staffed with the number of em- 16 ployees that the Chief Medical Officer de- 17 termines to be necessary to carry out the 18 duties described in subparagraph (C), in- 19 cluding representatives from each Depart- 20 ment of Homeland Security component 21 and the Office of the Chief Privacy Officer. 22 ‘‘(2) DIRECTIVE.—Not later than 180 days 23 after the date of the enactment of the DHS Suicide 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1137.RS S1137 dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1137 RS Prevention and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act, 1 the Chief Medical Officer of the Department shall— 2 ‘‘(A) issue a directive or policy that out- 3 lines the roles and responsibilities of the Pro- 4 gram; and 5 ‘‘(B) distribute such directive or policy 6 among all Department personnel. 7 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—The Chief Medical Officer of 8 the Department shall require the Program to regularly co- 9 ordinate with the Department of Homeland Security com- 10 ponents by assigning at least 1 official from each such 11 component to the Program for the purpose of coordinating 12 with field points of contact who are responsible for car- 13 rying out duties within Department mental health and 14 wellness programs. 15 ‘‘(d) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY COM- 16 PONENTS.—The Secretary shall require the head of each 17 Department of Homeland Security component to prioritize 18 and improve mental health and wellness programs, which 19 may include other Department of Homeland Security com- 20 ponent personnel, that— 21 ‘‘(1) provide adequate resources for law enforce- 22 ment mental health, well-being, resilience, and sui- 23 cide prevention programs and research; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1137.RS S1137 dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1137 RS ‘‘(2) promote a culture that reduces the stigma 1 of seeking mental health assistance through regular 2 messaging, training, and raising mental health 3 awareness; 4 ‘‘(3) offer several avenues of seeking mental 5 health or counseling assistance, both within the De- 6 partment of Homeland Security component and 7 through private sources that provide for anonymity 8 and include access to external mental health clini- 9 cians; 10 ‘‘(4) review and revise relevant policies of De- 11 partment of Homeland Security components that in- 12 advertently deter personnel from seeking mental 13 health assistance; 14 ‘‘(5) ensure that such programs include safe- 15 guards against adverse action, including automatic 16 referrals for a fitness for duty examination, by such 17 component with respect to any employee solely be- 18 cause such employee self identifies a need for psy- 19 chological health counseling or assistance or receives 20 such counseling or assistance; 21 ‘‘(6) implement policies that require in-person 22 or live and interactive virtual suicide awareness and 23 law enforcement resiliency training for law enforce- 24 ment officers and agents; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1137.RS S1137 dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1137 RS ‘‘(7) make such training available, as appro- 1 priate, to other personnel— 2 ‘‘(A) upon the commencement of their em- 3 ployment with the Department of Homeland 4 Security; 5 ‘‘(B) on an annual basis during such em- 6 ployment; 7 ‘‘(C) during such employees’ transition 8 into a supervisory role; and 9 ‘‘(D) if feasible, shortly before the officer, 10 agent, or other Department of Homeland Secu- 11 rity component personnel terminates his or her 12 employment with the Department, if such indi- 13 vidual elects to participate; and 14 ‘‘(8) include prevention and awareness training 15 opportunities and support services for families of of- 16 ficers, agents, and other Department of Homeland 17 Security component personnel. 18 ‘‘(e) DATA COLLECTION AND EVALUATION.— 19 ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF LAW 20 ENFORCEMENT HEALTH AND WELLNESS PRO- 21 GRAMS.—The Workplace Health and Wellness Coor- 22 dinator, under the direction of the Chief Medical Of- 23 ficer of the Department— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1137.RS S1137 dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1137 RS ‘‘(A) shall develop criteria to assess the ef- 1 fectiveness of law enforcement health and 2 wellness programs carried out by the Depart- 3 ment; 4 ‘‘(B) shall conduct annual confidential sur- 5 veys of law enforcement agents and officers 6 within Department of Homeland Security com- 7 ponents to assist in evaluating the effectiveness 8 of law enforcement health and wellness pro- 9 grams in accordance with the criteria developed 10 pursuant to subparagraph (A); 11 ‘‘(C) shall ensure that the surveys con- 12 ducted pursuant to subparagraph (B)— 13 ‘‘(i) incorporate leading practices in 14 questionnaire and survey design and devel- 15 opment; and 16 ‘‘(ii) establish a baseline and subse- 17 quently measure change over time; and 18 ‘‘(D) may utilize contractor support in car- 19 rying out the duties described in subparagraphs 20 (A) through (C). 21 ‘‘(2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Chief Medical 22 Officer of the Department shall provide rec- 23 ommendations to Department of Homeland Security 24 components based on the evaluation of programs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1137.RS S1137 dmwilson on DSKJM0X7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1137 RS and the results of the surveys conducted pursuant to 1 paragraph (1)(B). 2 ‘‘(3) INCIDENT REPORTS.—Each Department of 3 Homeland Security component shall report to the 4 Workplace Health and Wellness Coordinator inci- 5 dents of suicide involving law enforcement officers 6 and agents and any data consistent with data col- 7 lected under section 2(a) of the Law Enforcement 8 Suicide Data Collection Act (Public Law 116–143). 9 The Workplace Health and Wellness Coordinator 10 shall forward such information to the Law Enforce- 11 ment Officers Suicide Data Collection Program es- 12 tablished pursuant to such section. 13 ‘‘(4) CONFIDENTIALITY; LIMITATION.— 14 ‘‘(A) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Activities de- 15 scribed in paragraph (1) or reporting desc [Text truncated for display. 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