DHS Suicide Prevention and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act

IB Union Calendar No. 189 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2577 [Report No. 118–237] To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 13, 2023 Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi (for himself and Mr. GARBARINO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security OCTOBER 2, 2023 Additional sponsors: Mr. IVEY, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. VASQUEZ, Mr. CASE, Mr. TRONE, Ms. ROSS, and Mr. MENENDEZ OCTOBER 2, 2023 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 13, 2023] VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2577 RH A BILL To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Pro- gram, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2577 RH 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 Prevention 4 and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DHS SUICIDE PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR 6 LAW ENFORCEMENT. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Homeland Security Act of 8 2002 is amended by inserting after section 710 the following 9 new section: 10 ‘‘SEC. 710A. SUICIDE PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR 11 LAW ENFORCEMENT. 12 ‘‘(a) DEPARTMENT COMPONENTS DEFINED.—In this 13 section, the term ‘Department components’ means the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘(1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 16 ‘‘(2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce- 17 ment. 18 ‘‘(3) The Office of the Inspector General of the 19 Department of Homeland Security. 20 ‘‘(4) The United States Secret Service. 21 ‘‘(5) The Transportation Security Administra- 22 tion. 23 ‘‘(6) Any other Department component with law 24 enforcement officers or agents. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2577 RH ‘‘(b) LAW ENFORCEMENT MENTAL HEALTH AND 1 WELLNESS PROGRAM.— 2 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es- 4 tablish, within the office overseen by the Chief 5 Medical Officer of the Department, the Law En- 6 forcement Mental Health and Wellness Program 7 (in this section referred to as the ‘Program’). 8 ‘‘(B) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Pro- 9 gram shall be to provide a comprehensive ap- 10 proach to address the mental health and wellness 11 of Department law enforcement officers and 12 agents. 13 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary, 14 working through the Program, shall— 15 ‘‘(i) establish and maintain policies 16 and standard operating procedures, con- 17 sistent with best evidence-based practices, 18 that detail the authority, roles, and respon- 19 sibilities of the Program; 20 ‘‘(ii) conduct data collection and re- 21 search on mental health, suicides, and, to 22 the extent possible, attempted suicides, of 23 Department law enforcement officers and 24 agents, in accordance with section 552a of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2577 RH title 5, United States Code (commonly 1 known as the Privacy Act of 1974), section 2 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 3 U.S.C. 791), the Department’s directives 4 and policies, and section 2(a) of the Law 5 Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act 6 (Public Law 116–143); 7 ‘‘(iii) track current trends and leading 8 practices from other governmental and non- 9 governmental organizations for law enforce- 10 ment mental health and wellness; 11 ‘‘(iv) evaluate current mental health 12 and resiliency programs within the Depart- 13 ment components; 14 ‘‘(v) promote education and training 15 related to mental health, resilience, suicide 16 prevention, stigma, and mental health re- 17 sources to raise mental health awareness, 18 and provide support to others, inclusive of 19 the needs of supervisors, clinicians, care- 20 givers, peer support members, chaplains, 21 and those who have been exposed to trauma; 22 ‘‘(vi) establish a Peer-to-Peer Support 23 Program Advisory Council, which shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2577 RH ‘‘(I) include at least one licensed 1 clinician and at least one official with 2 requisite and relevant training and ex- 3 perience in peer support from each De- 4 partment component; 5 ‘‘(II) evaluate component peer 6 support programs; 7 ‘‘(III) identify and address any 8 potential deficiencies, limitations, and 9 gaps; 10 ‘‘(IV) provide for sharing of lead- 11 ing practices or best practices, includ- 12 ing internationally recognized peer 13 support standards of care protocols; 14 ‘‘(V) create a peer support net- 15 work that enables the sharing of 16 trained peer support personnel, chap- 17 lains, and other peer-to-peer personnel 18 across Department components; and 19 ‘‘(VI) sustain peer support pro- 20 grams through ongoing funding of an- 21 nual and refresher training and re- 22 sources for peer support programing in 23 the workplace to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2577 RH ‘‘(aa) ensure minimum 1 standards for peer support serv- 2 ices; and 3 ‘‘(bb) provide appropriate 4 care for peer support personnel 5 across Department components; 6 ‘‘(vii) assist Department components 7 in developing a program to provide suicide 8 prevention and resiliency support and 9 training for— 10 ‘‘(I) families of Department law 11 enforcement officers and agents; and 12 ‘‘(II) surviving families of officers 13 and agents who have been lost to sui- 14 cide; 15 ‘‘(viii) work with law enforcement 16 mental health and wellness program offi- 17 cials of Department components (including 18 peer support-trained personnel, agency 19 mental health professionals, chaplains, and, 20 for components with employees having an 21 exclusive representative, the exclusive rep- 22 resentative with respect to such program) to 23 implement new policies, procedures, and 24 programs that may be necessary based on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2577 RH findings from data collection, research, and 1 evaluation efforts; and 2 ‘‘(ix) conduct regular outreach and 3 messaging, across Department components, 4 of available training opportunities and re- 5 sources. 6 ‘‘(D) CONFIDENTIALITY; LIMITATION.— 7 ‘‘(i) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Activities de- 8 scribed in subparagraph (C) may not in- 9 clude the publication of any personally 10 identifiable information. 11 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—Personally identifi- 12 able information collected pursuant to sub- 13 paragraph (C) may not be maintained or 14 used for any purpose other than implemen- 15 tation of this section, unless otherwise per- 16 mitted under applicable law. Any such per- 17 sonally identifiable information that is so 18 collected, maintained, or used pursuant to 19 this section is subject to applicable public 20 nondisclosure requirements, including sec- 21 tions 552 and 552a of title 5, United States 22 Code. 23 ‘‘(E) PERSONNEL.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2577 RH ‘‘(i) MANAGEMENT.—The Workplace 1 Health and Wellness Coordinator of the De- 2 partment, under the direction of the Chief 3 Medical Officer of the Department, shall be 4 responsible for the ongoing management of 5 the Program. 6 ‘‘(ii) MINIMUM CORE PERSONNEL RE- 7 QUIREMENTS.—Subject to appropriations, 8 the Secretary shall ensure the Program is 9 staffed with the number of employees the 10 Chief Medical Officer of the Department de- 11 termines necessary to carry out the duties 12 described in subparagraph (C), including 13 representatives from each Department com- 14 ponent and the Office of the Chief Privacy 15 Officer. 16 ‘‘(2) DIRECTIVE.—Not later than 180 days after 17 the date of the enactment of this section, the Chief 18 Medical Officer of the Department shall— 19 ‘‘(A) issue a directive or policy that outlines 20 the roles and responsibilities of the Program; and 21 ‘‘(B) distribute such directive or policy 22 among all Department personnel. 23 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—The Chief Medical Officer of the 24 Department shall require the Program to regularly coordi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 2577 RH nate with the Department components by assigning at least 1 one official from each such component to the Program for 2 the purpose of coordinating with field points of contact who 3 are responsible for carrying out duties within Department 4 mental health and wellness programs. 5 ‘‘(d) DEPARTMENT COMPONENTS.—The Secretary 6 shall require the head of each Department component to 7 prioritize and improve mental health and wellness pro- 8 grams that— 9 ‘‘(1) provide adequate resources for law enforce- 10 ment mental health, well-being, resilience, and suicide 11 prevention programs and research; 12 ‘‘(2) promote a culture that reduces the stigma of 13 seeking mental health assistance through regular mes- 14 saging, training, and raising mental health aware- 15 ness; 16 ‘‘(3) offer several avenues of seeking mental 17 health or counseling assistance, both within the com- 18 ponent and through private sources that provide for 19 anonymity and include access to external mental 20 health clinicians, service animals, and any other ap- 21 propriate, data-driven resources that improve mental 22 health; 23 ‘‘(4) review and revise relevant policies of De- 24 partment components that inadvertently deter per- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 2577 RH sonnel from seeking mental health or counseling as- 1 sistance; 2 ‘‘(5) ensure that such programs include safe- 3 guards against adverse or disciplinary action, includ- 4 ing retaliation or automatic referrals for a fitness for 5 duty examination, by such component with respect to 6 any employee solely because such employee self-identi- 7 fies a need for psychological health counseling or as- 8 sistance or receives such counseling or assistance; 9 ‘‘(6) implement policies that require in-person or 10 live and interactive virtual suicide awareness and 11 law enforcement resiliency trainings to be provided to 12 law enforcement officers and agents; 13 ‘‘(7) makes such trainings available, as appro- 14 priate, to other component personnel— 15 ‘‘(A) upon the commencement of such offi- 16 cers’, agents’, and other component’s personnel’s 17 employment; 18 ‘‘(B) on an annual basis during such em- 19 ployment; 20 ‘‘(C) during such officers’, agents’, or other 21 component’s personnel’s transition into super- 22 visory roles; and 23 ‘‘(D) if feasible, shortly before such officer, 24 agent, or other component’s personnel terminates 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 2577 RH his or her employment with the Department, if 1 such officer, agent, or other component’s per- 2 sonnel elects to participate; and 3 ‘‘(8) include prevention and awareness training 4 opportunities and support services for families of 5 agents, officers, and other component personnel. 6 ‘‘(e) DATA COLLECTION AND EVALUATION.— 7 ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF LAW 8 ENFORCEMENT HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS.— 9 The Workplace Health and Wellness Coordinator, 10 under the direction of the Chief Medical Officer of the 11 Department— 12 ‘‘(A) shall— 13 ‘‘(i) develop criteria to assess the effec- 14 tiveness of law enforcement health and 15 wellness programs carried out by the De- 16 partment; 17 ‘‘(ii) conduct annual confidential sur- 18 veys of law enforcement officers and agents 19 within Department components to assist in 20 evaluating the effectiveness of law enforce- 21 ment health and wellness programs in ac- 22 cordance with the criteria developed pursu- 23 ant to clause (i); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 2577 RH ‘‘(iii) ensure that the surveys conducted 1 pursuant to clause (ii)— 2 ‘‘(I) incorporate leading practices 3 in questionnaire and survey design 4 and development; and 5 ‘‘(II) establish a baseline and sub- 6 sequently measure change over time; 7 and 8 ‘‘(B) may utilize contractor support in car- 9 rying out the duties described in subparagraph 10 (A). 11 ‘‘(2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Chief Medical 12 Officer of the Department shall provide recommenda- 13 tions to Department components based on the evalua- 14 tion of programs and the results of the surveys con- 15 ducted pursuant to paragraph (1). 16 ‘‘(3) INCIDENT REPORTS.—Each Department 17 component shall report to the Workplace Health and 18 Wellness Coordinator incidents of suicide involving 19 law enforcement officers and agents, together with any 20 data relating thereto consistent with data collected 21 under section 2(a) of the Law Enforcement Suicide 22 Data Collection Act (Public Law 116–143). The Coor- 23 dinator shall forward such information to the Law 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 14 •HR 2577 RH Enforcement Officers Suicide Data Collection Pro- 1 gram established pursuant to such section. 2 ‘‘(4) CONFIDENTIALITY; LIMITATION.— 3 ‘‘(A) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Activities de- 4 scribed in paragraph (1) or reporting described 5 u [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]