I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8140 

To authorize the Attorney General to make grants for the creation and 

operation of veterans response teams within law enforcement agencies, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2024 

Mr. STRONG (for himself, Mr. CORREA, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. IVEY, Mr. HIGGINS

of Louisiana, Mr. STANTON, Mr. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida, Mr. PHILLIPS, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

MILLER of Ohio, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. CASTEN, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. JAMES, 

and Mr. BALDERSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize the Attorney General to make grants for the 

creation and operation of veterans response teams within 

law enforcement agencies, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Every at5 Risk Veteran In Critical Emergencies Act of 2024’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SERVICE Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VETERAN RESPONSE TEAM PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General, 

3 acting through the Director of the Office of Community 

4 Oriented Policing Services, is authorized to operate a pilot 

5 program to make grants to States, units of local govern6 ment, and Indian Tribal governments, to support the cre7 ation and operation of veterans response teams in the law 

8 enforcement agencies of the jurisdiction, in accordance 

9 with subsection (b). 

10 (b) GRANTS TO DEVELOP VETERANS RESPONSE

11 TEAMS.— 

12 (1) ACTIVITIES OF A VETERANS RESPONSE

13 TEAM.—A veterans response team may include a 

14 program that does the following: 

15 (A) Provides law enforcement officers who 

16 are veterans with a pin that identifies the de17 partment of the Armed Forces in which the of18 ficer served, which the officer may wear while 

19 on duty. 

20 (B) Uses the Veterans Re-Entry Search 

21 Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs; 

22 (C) Establishes a system of communication 

23 and information sharing with the Department 

24 of Veterans Affairs and other community re25 source agencies. 


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1 (D) Establishes a working relationship 

2 with the Veterans Justice Outreach specialist. 

3 (E) Establishes a working relationship 

4 with the local justice system and veterans court, 

5 if applicable, including identifying veterans 

6 upon entry into the court system and local de7 tention facility, with notification to the local 

8 Department of Veterans Affairs office for con9 firmation and appropriate services. 

10 (F) Provides training and education for 

11 law enforcement officers on mental health 

12 issues related to military service, such as post13 traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain in14 jury, depression, and anxiety. 

15 (G) Meets regularly to discuss issues vet16 erans are facing in the community, as well as 

17 suitable responses. 

18 (H) Organizes coordinated and trained 

19 teams of first responders to respond 24 hours 

20 per day, and 7 days per week, on a volunteer 

21 basis, to calls for assistance involving a veteran 

22 in crisis. 

23 (I) Develops a plan to— 

24 (i) measure the success of veteran re25 sponse teams; and 


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1 (ii) track nationwide best practices on 

2 how veterans response teams provide law 

3 enforcement officers with essential infor4 mation during and following veteran-in5 volved incidents to which veterans response 

6 teams respond. 

7 (J) Offers veterans who have come into 

8 contact with the veterans response team the op9 portunity to maintain ongoing contact with the 

10 veterans response team. 

11 (2) CREATION, HIRING, AND TRAINING OF VET12 ERANS RESPONSE TEAM.—The creation of a vet13 erans response team within a law enforcement agen14 cy pursuant to a grant under this section may in15 clude doing the following: 

16 (A) Identifying a law enforcement officer 

17 in the law enforcement agency who is pas18 sionate about and committed to forming a vet19 erans response team, and will serve as the lead20 er of such team. 

21 (B) Identifying other law enforcement offi22 cers in the law enforcement agency who are in23 terested and willing to participate on the vet24 erans response team. 


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1 (C) Identifying and inviting interested 

2 community members to join the veterans re3 sponse team, which may include members of 

4 veteran resource organizations, the local office 

5 of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the re6 gional veterans justice outreach program, other 

7 law enforcement agencies, fire and emergency 

8 medical services departments, hospitals, social 

9 work agencies, other entities within the justice 

10 system, nonprofit organizations, and other ap11 propriate entities. 

12 (D) Immersing veterans response team 

13 members in the veteran community by attend14 ing veterans events, responding to incidents in15 volving veterans, as described in paragraph 

16 (1)(I), and making public appearances to fur17 ther engage with veterans. 

18 (E) Providing training on veterans experi19 encing crisis for individuals involved with the 

20 veterans response team, and for other law en21 forcement officers who are likely to come in 

22 contact with veterans. 

23 (c) TERMINATION.—The authority under this section 

24 shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date 

25 of the enactment of this section. 


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1 (d) REPORTING.—The Attorney General shall provide 

2 a report to Congress on the progress of the pilot program 

3 that includes the following: 

4 (1) The number of applicants. 

5 (2) The number of grants awarded. 

6 (3) The average grant amount sought by an ap7 plicant. 

8 (4) The average amount of a grant awarded. 

9 (5) Any other information that the Attorney 

10 General determines to be appropriate. 

Æ 


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