119-s2645

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2645 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2645

 To establish the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program, 
 and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 August 1, 2025

Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Hawley) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
 and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``DHS Suicide Prevention and 
Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SUICIDE PREVENTION AND 
 RESILIENCY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) In General.--Title VII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

section 710 the 
following:

``

SEC. 710A. SUICIDE PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT.

 ``

    (a) 

=== Definitions. ===
-
 ``

    (1) Department of homeland security component.--The term 
 `Department of Homeland Security component' means--
 ``
        (A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
 ``
        (B) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
 ``
            (C) the Office of the Inspector General of the 
 Department of Homeland Security;
 ``
            (D) the United States Coast Guard;
 ``
        (E) the United States Secret Service;
 ``
        (F) the Transportation Security Administration; 
 and
 ``
        (G) any other Department of Homeland Security 
 component or office with law enforcement officers or 
 agents.
 ``

    (2) Program.--The term `Program' means the Law 
 Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program established 
 pursuant to subsection

    (b) .
 ``

    (b) Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program.--
 ``

    (1) Establishment.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--The Secretary shall establish, 
 within the office overseen by the Chief Medical 
 Officer, the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness 
 Program.
 ``
        (B) === Purpose ===
-The purpose of the Program shall be 
 to provide a comprehensive approach to address the 
 mental health and wellness of Department of Homeland 
 Security law enforcement agents and officers.
 ``
            (C) Administration.--The Secretary, working 
 through the Program, shall--
 ``
            (i) establish and maintain policies and 
 standard operating procedures, consistent with 
 best evidence-based practices, that detail the 
 authority, roles, and responsibilities of the 
 Program;
 ``
            (ii) conduct data collection and research 
 on mental health, suicides, and, to the extent 
 possible, attempted suicides, of law 
 enforcement personnel within the Department of 
 Homeland Security, in accordance with 

section 552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly 
 known as the Privacy Act of 1974), 

section 501 
 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 
 791), the Department of Homeland Security's 
 directives and policies, 

section 1128E of the 
 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-7e), and 
 

section 2

    (a) of the Law Enforcement Suicide 
 Data Collection Act (Public Law 116-143);
 ``
            (iii) track current trends and leading 
 practices from other governmental and 
 nongovernmental organizations for law 
 enforcement mental health and wellness;
 ``
            (iv) evaluate current mental health and 
 resiliency programs within Department of 
 Homeland Security components;
 ``
            (v) promote education and training 
 related to mental health, resilience, suicide 
 prevention, stigma, and mental health resources 
 to raise mental health awareness and to support 
 the needs of supervisors, clinicians, care-
 givers, peer support members, chaplains, and 
 those who have been exposed to trauma;
 ``
            (vi) establish partnerships with faith-
 based organizations, community-based 
 organizations, counseling programs, or other 
 social service programs that provide mental 
 health and suicide prevention support services;
 ``
            (vii) establish the Peer-to-Peer Support 
 Program Advisory Council, which shall--
 ``
            (I) include at least 1 licensed 
 clinician and at least 1 official with 
 requisite and relevant training and 
 experience in peer support for law 
 enforcement personnel from each 
 Department of Homeland Security 
 component;
 ``
            (II) evaluate component peer 
 support programs;
 ``
            (III) identify and address any 
 potential deficiencies, limitations, 
 and gaps;
 ``
            (IV) provide for sharing of 
 leading practices or best practices, 
 including internationally recognized 
 peer support standards of care 
 protocols;
 ``
            (V) create a peer support network 
 that enables the sharing of trained 
 peer support personnel, chaplains, and 
 other peer-to-peer personnel across 
 Department of Homeland Security 
 components, and may also include 
 outside agency organizations, such as 
 faith-based organizations, community-
 based organizations, counseling 
 programs, and other social service 
 programs; and
 ``
            (VI) sustain peer support 
 programs through ongoing funding of 
 annual and refresher training and 
 resources for peer support programing 
 in the workplace--
 ``

    (aa) to ensure minimum 
 standards for peer support 
 services; and
 ``

    (bb) to provide 
 appropriate care for peer 
 support personnel across 
 Department of Homeland Security 
 components;
 ``
            (viii) assist Department of Homeland 
 Security components in developing a program to 
 provide suicide prevention and resiliency 
 support and training for--
 ``
            (I) families of law enforcement 
 agents and officers; and
 ``
            (II) surviving families of 
 officers and agents who have died by 
 suicide;
 ``
            (ix) work with law enforcement mental 
 health and wellness program officials of 
 Department of Homeland Security components 
 (which shall include peer support-trained 
 personnel, agency mental health professionals, 
 chaplains, and, for components with employees 
 having an exclusive representative, the 
 exclusive representative with respect to such 
 program) to implement new policies, procedures, 
 and programs that may be necessary based on 
 findings from data collection, research, and 
 evaluation efforts; and
 ``
            (x) conduct regular outreach and 
 messaging, across Department of Homeland 
 Security components, of available training 
 opportunities and resources.
 ``
            (D) Confidentiality; limitation.--
 ``
            (i) Confidentiality.--Actions described 
 in subparagraph
            (C) may not--
 ``
            (I) include the publication of 
 any personally identifiable 
 information; or
 ``
            (II) compel any employee to 
 provide any information for the 
 purposes of this subsection.
 ``
            (ii) Limitation.--Personally identifiable 
 information collected pursuant to subparagraph
            (C) may not be used for any purpose other than 
 the implementation of this section unless 
 otherwise permitted under applicable law. Any 
 personally identifiable information that is 
 collected, maintained, or used pursuant to this 
 section is subject to applicable public 
 nondisclosure requirements, including sections 
 552 and 552a of title 5, United States Code.
 ``
        (E) Personnel.--
 ``
            (i) Management.--The Workplace Health and 
 Wellness Coordinator of the Department, under 
 the direction of the Chief Medical Officer of 
 the Department, shall be responsible for the 
 ongoing management of the Program.
 ``
            (ii) Minimum core personnel 
 requirements.--Subject to appropriations, the 
 Secretary shall ensure that the Program is 
 staffed with the number of employees that the 
 Chief Medical Officer determines to be 
 necessary to carry out the duties described in 
 subparagraph
            (C) , including representatives 
 from each Department of Homeland Security 
 component and the Office of the Chief Privacy 
 Officer.
 ``

    (2) Directive.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
 the enactment of the DHS Suicide Prevention and Resiliency for 
 Law Enforcement Act, the Chief Medical Officer of the 
 Department shall--
 ``
        (A) issue a directive or policy that outlines the 
 roles and responsibilities of the Program; and
 ``
        (B) distribute such directive or policy among all 
 Department personnel.
 ``
            (c) Coordination.--The Chief Medical Officer of the Department 
shall require the Program to regularly coordinate with the Department 
of Homeland Security components by assigning at least 1 official from 
each such component to the Program for the purpose of coordinating with 
field points of contact who are responsible for carrying out duties 
within Department mental health and wellness programs.
 ``
            (d) Department of Homeland Security Components.--The Secretary 
shall require the head of each Department of Homeland Security 
component to prioritize and improve mental health and wellness 
programs, which may include other Department of Homeland Security 
component personnel, that--
 ``

    (1) provide adequate resources for law enforcement mental 
 health, well-being, resilience, and suicide prevention programs 
 and research;
 ``

    (2) promote a culture that reduces the stigma of seeking 
 mental health assistance through regular messaging, training, 
 and raising mental health awareness;
 ``

    (3) offer several avenues of seeking mental health or 
 counseling assistance, both within the Department of Homeland 
 Security component and through private sources, which may 
 include faith-based organizations, community-based 
 organizations, counseling programs, and other social service 
 programs, that provide for anonymity and include access to 
 external mental health clinicians;
 ``

    (4) review and revise relevant policies of Department of 
 Homeland Security components that inadvertently deter personnel 
 from seeking mental health assistance;
 ``

    (5) ensure that such programs include safeguards against 
 adverse action by such component with respect to any employee 
 solely because such employee self identifies a need for 
 psychological health counseling or assistance or receives such 
 counseling or assistance;
 ``

    (6) ensure that such programs include safeguards 
 regarding automatic referrals for employment-related 
 examinations or inquiries that are based solely on an employee 
 who self identifies a need for psychological health counseling 
 or assistance or receives such counseling or assistance, except 
 that such safeguards shall not prevent a component referral to 
 evaluate an employee's ability to meet established medical or 
 psychological standards by such component or to evaluate an 
 employee's national security eligibility;
 ``

    (7) implement policies that require in-person or live and 
 interactive virtual suicide awareness and law enforcement 
 resiliency training for law enforcement officers and agents;
 ``

    (8) make such training available, as appropriate, to 
 other personnel--
 ``
        (A) upon the commencement of their employment 
 with the Department of Homeland Security;
 ``
        (B) on an annual basis during such employment;
 ``
            (C) during such employees' transition into a 
 supervisory role; and
 ``
            (D) if feasible, shortly before the officer, 
 agent, or other Department of Homeland Security 
 component personnel terminates his or her employment 
 with the Department, if such individual elects to 
 participate; and
 ``

    (9) include prevention and awareness training 
 opportunities and support services for families of officers, 
 agents, and other Department of Homeland Security component 
 personnel.
 ``

    (e) Data Collection and Evaluation.--
 ``

    (1) Assessment of effectiveness of law enforcement health 
 and wellness programs.--The Workplace Health and Wellness 
 Coordinator of the Department, under the direction of the Chief 
 Medical Officer of the Department--
 ``
        (A) shall develop criteria to assess the 
 effectiveness of law enforcement health and wellness 
 programs carried out by the Department;
 ``
        (B) shall conduct annual confidential surveys of 
 law enforcement agents and officers within Department 
 of Homeland Security components to assist in evaluating 
 the effectiveness of law enforcement health and 
 wellness programs in accordance with the criteria 
 developed pursuant to subparagraph
        (A) ;
 ``
            (C) shall ensure that the surveys conducted 
 pursuant to subparagraph
        (B) --
 ``
            (i) incorporate leading practices in 
 questionnaire and survey design and 
 development; and
 ``
            (ii) establish a baseline and 
 subsequently measure change over time; and
 ``
            (D) may utilize contractor support in carrying 
 out the duties described in subparagraphs
        (A) through
            (C) .
 ``

    (2) Recommendations.--The Chief Medical Officer of the 
 Department shall provide recommendations to Department of 
 Homeland Security components based on the evaluation of 
 programs and the results of the surveys conducted pursuant to 
 paragraph

    (1)
        (B) .
 ``

    (3) Incident reports.--Each Department of Homeland 
 Security component shall report, to the Workplace Health and 
 Wellness Coordinator, incidents of suicide involving law 
 enforcement officers and agents and any data consistent with 
 data collected under 

section 2

    (a) of the Law Enforcement 
 Suicide Data Collection Act (Public Law 116-143). The Workplace 
 Health and Wellness Coordinator shall forward such information 
 to the Law Enforcement Officers Suicide Data Collection Program 
 established pursuant to such section.
 ``

    (4) Confidentiality; limitation.--
 ``
        (A) Confidentiality.--Activities described in 
 paragraph

    (1) and reporting described under paragraph

    (3) may not include the publication of any personally 
 identifiable information.
 ``
        (B) Limitation.--Personally identifiable 
 information collected pursuant to paragraph

    (1) may not 
 be used for any purpose other than the implementation 
 of this section unless otherwise permitted under 
 applicable law. Any personally identifiable information 
 that is collected, maintained, or used pursuant to this 
 section is subject to applicable public nondisclosure 
 requirements, including sections 552 and 552a of title 
 5, United States Code.
 ``

    (f) Briefing.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of the DHS Suicide Prevention and Resiliency for Law 
Enforcement Act, and annually thereafter through fiscal year 2027, the 
Chief Medical Officer of the Department shall provide a briefing to the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 
and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives 
regarding the implementation of the requirements described in this 
section.
 ``

    (g) Voluntary Participation; Clarification.--Participation in any 
program, survey, or data collection conducted under this section is 
voluntary.
 ``

    (h) Rule of Construction.--Notwithstanding any provision of this 
section, the Secretary may provide services under the Program to any 
employee of the Department.''.

    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in 

section 1

    (b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to 

section 710 the following:

``

Sec. 710A. Suicide prevention and resiliency for law enforcement.''.
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