Law Enforcement Training for Mental Health Crisis Response Act of 2025

[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.''.
                                 <all>