I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1859 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through 

the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to award 

grants to States, territories, political subdivisions of States and territories, Tribal governments, and consortia of Tribal governments to establish an unarmed 911 response program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 11, 2021 

Mr. SMITH of Washington (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARSON, and Ms. 

GARCIA of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health 

and Substance Use, to award grants to States, territories, political subdivisions of States and territories, 

Tribal governments, and consortia of Tribal governments 

to establish an unarmed 911 response program, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘911 Diversion to Un3 armed Personnel Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR UNARMED 911 RESPONSE PROGRAMS. 

5 Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act 

6 is amended by inserting after section 552 (42 U.S.C. 

7 290ee–7) the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 553. GRANTS FOR UNARMED 911 RESPONSE PRO9 GRAMS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

11 the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance 

12 Use, may award grants to States, territories, political sub13 divisions of States and territories, Tribal governments, 

14 and consortia of Tribal governments to establish an un15 armed 911 response program under which nonviolent 911 

16 calls are referred to unarmed professional service pro17 viders for response, instead of to a law enforcement agen18 cy. 

19 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—An unarmed 911 

20 response program funded under this section shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) dispatch unarmed professional service pro22 viders in groups of two or more in a timely manner; 

23 ‘‘(2) be capable of providing screening, assess24 ment, de-escalation, trauma-informed culturally com25 petent services, referrals to treatment providers, and 

26 transportation to immediately necessary treatment; 


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1 ‘‘(3) when necessary, coordinate with health or 

2 social services; 

3 ‘‘(4) not be subject to oversight of State or local 

4 law enforcement agencies; and 

5 ‘‘(5) clearly outline the scope of calls that must 

6 or may be referred to the unarmed 911 response 

7 program. 

8 ‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.—A grant under this section 

9 may be used for— 

10 ‘‘(1) hiring unarmed professional service pro11 viders and 911 dispatchers; 

12 ‘‘(2) training unarmed professional service pro13 viders to respond to 911 calls by identifying, under14 standing, and responding to signs of mental ill15 nesses, developmental or intellectual disabilities, and 

16 substance use disorders, including by means of— 

17 ‘‘(A) de-escalation; 

18 ‘‘(B) crisis intervention; and 

19 ‘‘(C) connecting individuals to local social 

20 service providers, health care providers, commu21 nity-based organizations, and the full range of 

22 other available providers and resources, with a 

23 focus on culturally competent service providers; 


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1 ‘‘(3) updating 911 response systems to enable 

2 triage between nonviolent 911 calls and those that 

3 require a response from law enforcement; 

4 ‘‘(4) training 911 dispatchers on call diversion; 

5 ‘‘(5) building the capacity— 

6 ‘‘(A) to coordinate with local social service 

7 providers, health care providers, suicide hotline 

8 operators, and community-based organizations; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) to provide multilingual and culturally 

11 competent services; and 

12 ‘‘(6) collecting data for reports to the Sec13 retary. 

14 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An applicant seeking a grant 

15 under this section shall submit to the Secretary an appli16 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

17 information as the Secretary may reasonably require, in18 cluding the applicant’s plan to train 911 dispatchers to 

19 determine when a call should be diverted to the unarmed 

20 911 response program. 

21 ‘‘(e) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—A recipient of a 

22 grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary, on 

23 a biannual basis, a report on the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The number of calls placed to 911 that 

2 were diverted to the grantee’s unarmed 911 response 

3 program. 

4 ‘‘(2) Demographic information on the individ5 uals served by the grantee’s unarmed 911 response 

6 program, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, sex, 

7 sexual orientation, gender identity, and location. 

8 ‘‘(3) The effects of the grantee’s unarmed 911 

9 response program on emergency room visits, hos10 pitalizations, use of ambulances, and involvement of 

11 law enforcement in mental health or substance use 

12 disorder crises. 

13 ‘‘(4) An assessment of the types of events and 

14 crises to which the grantee’s unarmed 911 response 

15 program responded and the services provided, in16 cluding— 

17 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals to whom 

18 services were provided who were involuntarily 

19 committed for treatment; 

20 ‘‘(B) the number of individuals successfully 

21 transferred to an alternative destination; 

22 ‘‘(C) the time between notification by a 

23 911 dispatcher and arrival at the scene by a 

24 provider; and 

25 ‘‘(D) the time spent by providers at scene. 


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1 ‘‘(5) A cost analysis of the grantee’s unarmed 

2 911 response program. 

3 ‘‘(6) An assessment of data sharing limitations 

4 or problems associated with adherence to— 

5 ‘‘(A) Federal regulations (concerning the 

6 privacy of individually identifiable health infor7 mation) promulgated under section 264(c) of 

8 the Health Insurance Portability and Account9 ability Act of 1996; and 

10 ‘‘(B) part II of title 42, Code of Federal 

11 Regulations. 

12 ‘‘(f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 

13 submit to the Congress, on a biannual basis, a report on 

14 the program under this section, including a summary of 

15 the reports submitted by grantees pursuant to subsection 

16 (e). 

17 ‘‘(g) GRANT AMOUNT.—The Secretary may make 

18 grants to applicants that do not meet all of the criteria 

19 under subsection (b)(1), but applicants that do not meet 

20 all such criteria may not receive the full grant amount. 

21 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) The term ‘alternative destination’— 

23 ‘‘(A) means any service- or care-providing 

24 site other than a hospital emergency depart25 ment or jail; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) includes a clinic, primary care office, 

2 crisis center, and community care center. 

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘nonviolent 911 call’ means a 

4 911 call that— 

5 ‘‘(A) relates to mental health, homeless6 ness, addiction problems, social services, tru7 ancy, intellectual and developmental disabilities, 

8 or public intoxication; and 

9 ‘‘(B) does not involve obvious violent be10 havior. 

11 ‘‘(3) The term ‘unarmed professional service 

12 provider’ means a professional (which may include a 

13 nurse, social worker, emergency medical technician, 

14 counselor, community health worker, trauma-in15 formed personnel, social service provider, or peer 

16 support specialist) who— 

17 ‘‘(A) is trained to deal with mental health 

18 or substance abuse crises or intellectual and de19 velopmental disabilities; and 

20 ‘‘(B) does not carry a firearm.’’. 

Æ 


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