119-hr2502

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2502 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2502

 To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
authorize a grant program for law enforcement agencies and corrections 
 agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law 
 enforcement officers and corrections officers, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 March 31, 2025

Ms. Kaptur (for herself, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Ms. Titus, Mr. Evans 
of Pennsylvania, Mr. Casten, and Ms. Brownley) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
authorize a grant program for law enforcement agencies and corrections 
 agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law 
 enforcement officers and corrections officers, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Law Enforcement Training for Mental 
Health Crisis Response Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

    (a) 

=== Findings ===
-Congress finds the following:

    (1) Law enforcement and corrections officers routinely 
 respond to emergencies involving individuals suffering from a 
 mental health crisis.

    (2) Recent statistics have shown that as many as--
        (A) 1 in every 10 calls for police response involve 
 a person suffering from a mental illness;
        (B) 1 in every 4 people killed by police suffer 
 from a mental health problem; and
            (C) 1 in 3 people transported to a hospital 
 emergency room for psychiatric reasons are taken by the 
 police.

    (3) Law enforcement response calls to individuals suffering 
 from substance use disorder have increased during the current 
 opioid epidemic.

    (4) There is a need to ensure that law enforcement officers 
 have access to proper evidence-based training in responding to 
 mental health crises.

    (5) Proper training for response to individuals suffering 
 from a mental health crisis can better protect the safety of 
 the general public and law enforcement officers.

    (6) Law enforcement and corrections officers in the United 
 States can better serve their communities if the officers 
 receive training to effectively and safely resolve the mental 
 health crises.

    (b) 

=== Purpose ===
-The purpose of this Act is to provide grants to 
State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies and corrections 
agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law 
enforcement officers and corrections officers to--

    (1) better train law enforcement officers and corrections 
 officers to resolve behavioral health crisis situations;

    (2) reduce the number of law enforcement officers and 
 corrections officers killed or injured while responding to a 
 behavioral health crisis; and

    (3) reduce the number of individuals killed or injured 
 during a behavioral health crisis in which a law enforcement 
 officer or corrections officer responds.

SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS GRANT 
 PROGRAM.

    (a) Reservation of Funds.--

Section 506 of the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10157) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
 ``
            (c) Of the total amount made available to carry out this subpart 
for a fiscal year, the Attorney General may reserve not more than 
$10,000,000 to carry out the program under 

section 509.''.

    (b) Law Enforcement Training for Mental Health Crisis Grant 
Program.--Subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:

``

SEC. 510. LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS GRANT 
 PROGRAM.

 ``

    (a) Grants Authorized.--Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, the Attorney General is authorized to award grants to 
applicants for--
 ``

    (1) law enforcement officers or corrections officers to 
 receive training from a program; and
 ``

    (2) the cost of transportation and lodging associated 
 with law enforcement officers or corrections officers attending 
 such program.
 ``

    (b) Program Standards.--The Attorney General shall establish and 
publish qualification standards for organizations that provide 
programs.
 ``
            (c) Applications.--The head of an applicant shall submit to the 
Attorney General an application that--
 ``

    (1) shall include--
 ``
        (A) a statement describing the program the law 
 enforcement officers or corrections officers will 
 complete;
 ``
        (B) the total number of law enforcement officers 
 or corrections officers in the agency;
 ``
            (C) the number of law enforcement officers or 
 corrections officers of the agency that have been 
 killed, or seriously injured while responding to a 
 behavioral health crisis during the 5-year period 
 preceding the date of the application; and
 ``
            (D) whether the law enforcement officers or 
 corrections officers employed by the agency receive any 
 behavioral health crisis response training, including 
 during basic officer training; and
 ``

    (2) in addition to the information required under 
 paragraph

    (1) , may, at the option of the applicant, include 
 information relating to--
 ``
        (A) recent incidents involving officers of the 
 agency during which behavioral health crisis response 
 training could have played a role in protecting the 
 safety of--
 ``
            (i) the law enforcement officer or the 
 public, including the person or persons the law 
 enforcement officers encountered; or
 ``
            (ii) the corrections officer or inmates 
 at the correctional facility; and
 ``
        (B) estimated cost of attendance of a program per 
 officer.
 ``
            (d) Restrictions.--
 ``

    (1) Supplemental funds.--Grant funds shall be used to 
 supplement, and not supplant, State, local, and Tribal funds 
 made available to any applicant for any of the purposes 
 described in subsection

    (a) .
 ``

    (2) Administrative costs.--Not more than 3 percent of any 
 grant made under this section may be used for administrative 
 costs.
 ``

    (e) Reports and Records.--
 ``

    (1) Reports.--For each year during which grant funds are 
 used, the recipient shall submit to the Attorney General a 
 report containing--
 ``
        (A) a summary of any activity carried out using 
 grant funds;
 ``
        (B) the number of officers that received training 
 using grant funds; and
 ``
            (C) any other information relevant to the purpose 
 of this Act that the Attorney General may determine 
 appropriate.
 ``

    (2) Records.--For the purpose of an audit by the Attorney 
 General of the receipt and use of grant funds, a recipient 
 shall--
 ``
        (A) keep--
 ``
            (i) any record relating to the receipt 
 and use of grant funds; and
 ``
            (ii) any other record as the Attorney 
 General may require; and
 ``
        (B) make the records described in subparagraph
        (A) available to the Attorney General upon request by 
 the Attorney General.
 ``

    (f) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:
 ``

    (1) Applicant.--The term `applicant' means a law 
 enforcement agency or corrections agency that applies for a 
 grant under this section.
 ``

    (2) Attorney general.--The term `Attorney General' means 
 the Attorney General, acting through the Assistant Attorney 
 General for the Office of Justice Programs.
 ``

    (3) Grant funds.--The term `grant funds' means funds from 
 a grant awarded under this section.
 ``

    (4) Law enforcement agency.--The term `law enforcement 
 agency' means an agency of a State or unit of local government 
 that is authorized by law or by a government agency to engage 
 in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or 
 prosecution of any violation of criminal law.
 ``

    (5) Program.--The term `program' means a program or class 
 that--
 ``
        (A) provides instructional training to law 
 enforcement officers or corrections officers for 
 response to a behavioral health crisis, including 
 response to people suspected to be under the influence 
 of a drug or psychoactive substance, and response to 
 circumstances in which a person is suspected to be 
 suicidal or experiencing a mental illness;
 ``
        (B) includes training on techniques and 
 strategies designed to protect--
 ``
            (i) the health and safety of law 
 enforcement officers and the public, including 
 the person or persons a law enforcement officer 
 encounters during a behavioral health crisis 
 response; or
 ``
            (ii) the health and safety of corrections 
 officers and inmates at the correctional 
 facility, including the inmate a corrections 
 officer encounters during a behavioral health 
 crisis response, or in the normal course of 
 business of interactions with the inmate; and
 ``
            (C) is developed in conjunction with healthcare 
 professionals and people with lived experiences of 
 mental health illness to provide crisis intervention 
 training focused on understanding mental and behavioral 
 health, developing empathy, navigating community 
 resources, de-escalation and communications skills, and 
 practical application training for officers.
 ``

    (6) Recipient.--The term `recipient' means an applicant 
 that receives a grant under this section.''.
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