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DHS Suicide Prevention and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act

Introduced Dec 10, 2025 · Last action Dec 11, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.

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Summary

This legislation is called the DHS Suicide Prevention and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act. Referred to the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.

Full bill text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6548 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 6548

    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

                           December 10, 2025

Mr. Thompson of Mississippi (for himself and Mr. Garbarino) introduced
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland
                                Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 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. DHS SUICIDE PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by
inserting after section 710 the following new section:

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

    ``(a) Department Components Defined.--In this section, the term
`Department components' means the following:
            ``(1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
            ``(2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
            ``(3) The Office of the Inspector General of the Department
        of Homeland Security.
            ``(4) The United States Secret Service.
            ``(5) The Transportation Security Administration.
            ``(6) Any other Department component with law enforcement
        officers or agents.
    ``(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
                of the Department, the Law Enforcement Mental Health
                and Wellness Program (in this section referred to as
                the `Program') to provide a comprehensive approach to
                address the mental health and wellness of Department
                law enforcement officers and agents.
                    ``(B) Administration.--The Secretary, working
                through the Program, shall carry out the following:
                            ``(i) Establish 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 Department law
                        enforcement officers and agents, 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's
                        directives and policies, 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 the Department
                        components.
                            ``(v) Promote education and training
                        related to mental health, resilience, suicide
                        prevention, stigma, and mental health resources
                        to--
                                    ``(I) raise mental health
                                awareness; and
                                    ``(II) support to supervisors,
                                clinicians, care-givers, peer support
                                members, chaplains, and other
                                individuals.
                            ``(vi) Establish a Peer-to-Peer Support
                        Program Advisory Council, which shall--
                                    ``(I) include at least one licensed
                                clinician and at least one official
                                with requisite and relevant training
                                and experience in peer support from
                                each Department component;
                                    ``(II) evaluate Department
                                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) establish a peer support
                                network that enables the sharing of
                                trained peer support personnel,
                                chaplains, and other peer-to-peer
                                personnel across Department components;
                                and
                                    ``(VI) sustain peer support
                                programs through ongoing funding of
                                annual and refresher training and
                                resources for peer support programing
                                in the workplace to--
                                            ``(aa) ensure minimum
                                        standards for peer support
                                        services; and
                                            ``(bb) provide appropriate
                                        care for peer support personnel
                                        across Department components.
                            ``(vii) Assist Department components in
                        developing a program to provide suicide
                        prevention and resiliency support and training
                        for the following:
                                    ``(I) Families of Department law
                                enforcement officers and agents.
                                    ``(II) Surviving families of such
                                officers and agents who have been lost
                                to suicide.
                            ``(viii) Work with law enforcement mental
                        health and wellness program officials of
                        Department components (including 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.
                            ``(ix) Conduct regular outreach and
                        messaging, across Department components, of
                        available training opportunities and resources.
                    ``(C) Confidentiality; limitation.--
                            ``(i) Confidentiality.--Activities
                        described in subparagraph (C) may not include
                        the publication of any personally identifiable
                        information.
                            ``(ii) Limitation.--Personally identifiable
                        information collected pursuant to subparagraph
                        (C) may not be maintained or used for any
                        purpose other than implementation of this
                        section, unless otherwise permitted under
                        applicable law. Any such personally
                        identifiable information that is so 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.
                    ``(D) 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 the Program is staffed
                        with the number of employees the Chief Medical
                        Officer of the Department determines necessary
                        to carry out the duties described in
                        subparagraph (C), including representatives
                        from each Department component and the Office
                        of the Chief Privacy Officer.
            ``(2) Directive.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
        the enactment of this section, the Chief Medical Officer of the
        Department shall carry out the following:
                    ``(A) Issue a directive or policy that outlines the
                roles and responsibilities of the Program.
                    ``(B) Distribute such directive or policy among
                Department components.
    ``(c) Coordination.--The Chief Medical Officer of the Department
shall require the Program to regularly coordinate with the Department
components by assigning at least one 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 Components.--The Secretary shall require the head
of each Department component to prioritize and improve mental health
and wellness programs 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 each such component and
        through private sources that provide for anonymity and include
        access to external mental health clinicians, service animals,
        and any other appropriate, data-driven resources that improve
        mental health;
            ``(4) review and revise relevant policies of Department
        components that inadvertently deter Department law enforcement
        officers and agents from seeking mental health or counseling
        assistance;
            ``(5) ensure such programs include safeguards against
        adverse or disciplinary action, including retaliation or
        automatic referrals for a fitness for duty examination, by each
        such component with respect to any Department law enforcement
        officer or agent solely because such officer or agent self-
        identifies a need for psychological health counseling or
        assistance or receives such counseling or assistance;
            ``(6) implement policies that require in-person or live and
        interactive virtual suicide awareness and law enforcement
        resiliency trainings to be provided to Department law
        enforcement officers and agents;
            ``(7) make such trainings available--
                    ``(A) upon the commencement of the employment of
                such Department law enforcement officers and agents
                    ``(B) on an annual basis during such employment;
                    ``(C) during the transition into supervisory roles;
                and
                    ``(D) if feasible, shortly before termination of
                such employment if such officers and agents elect to
                participate in such trainings; and
            ``(8) include prevention and awareness training
        opportunities and support services for families of Department
        law enforcement officers and agents, as well as other
        Department personnel.
    ``(e) Data Collection and Evaluation.--
            ``(1) Assessment of effectiveness of law enforcement health
        and wellness programs.--The Workplace Health and Wellness
        Coordinator, under the direction of the Chief Medical Officer
        of the Department--
                    ``(A) shall--
                            ``(i) develop criteria to assess the
                        effectiveness of law enforcement health and
                        wellness programs carried out by the
                        Department;
                            ``(ii) conduct annual confidential surveys
                        of Department law enforcement officers and
                        agents to assist in evaluating the
                        effectiveness of such programs; and
                            ``(iii) ensure that the surveys conducted
                        pursuant to clause (ii)--
                                    ``(I) incorporate leading practices
                                in questionnaire and survey design and
                                development; and
                                    ``(II) establish a baseline and
                                subsequently measure change over time;
                                and
                    ``(B) may utilize contractor support in carrying
                out the duties described in subparagraph (A).
            ``(2) Recommendations.--The Chief Medical Officer of the
        Department shall provide recommendations to Department
        components based on the assessment of law enforcement health
        and wellness programs carried out by the Department and the
        results of the surveys conducted pursuant to paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Incident reports.--Each Department component shall
        report to the Workplace Health and Wellness Coordinator
        incidents of suicide involving Department law enforcement
        officers and agents, together with any data relating thereto
        consistent with data collected under section 2(a) of the Law
        Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act (Public Law 116-143).
        The 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) or 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 maintained or used for any purpose other than
                implementation of this section, unless otherwise
                permitted under applicable law. Any such personally
                identifiable information that is so 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 this section and annually thereafter through fiscal year
2027, the Chief Medical Officer of the Department shall provide to the
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a
briefing regarding the implementation of this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 710 the following new item:

``Sec. 710A. Suicide prevention and resiliency for law enforcement.''.
                                 <all>

Official legislative text sourced from the public record (cached on CivicsHQ).

Official source

View the original bill, actions, and full legislative record on Congress.gov.

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Status

In Committee

  1. 1Introduced
  2. 2Committee
  3. 3Floor
  4. 4Passed
  5. 5Signed

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