I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2698 

To provide grants to State, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement 

agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law 

enforcement officers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2019 

Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma (for herself and Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide grants to State, local, territorial, and tribal law 

enforcement agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis 

response training for law enforcement officers. 

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 ‘‘Law Enforcement 

5 Training for Mental Health Crisis Response Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Law enforcement officers routinely respond 

2 to emergencies involving individuals suffering from a 

3 mental health crisis. 

4 (2) Recent statistics have shown that as many 

5 as— 

6 (A) 1 in every 10 calls for police response 

7 involve a person suffering from a mental illness; 

8 (B) 1 in every 4 people killed by police suf9 fer from a mental health problem; and 

10 (C) 1 in 3 people transported to a hospital 

11 emergency room for psychiatric reasons are 

12 taken by the police. 

13 (3) Law enforcement response calls to individ14 uals suffering from substance use disorder has in15 creased during the current opioid epidemic. 

16 (4) There is a need to ensure that law enforce17 ment officers have access to proper evidence-based 

18 training in responding to mental health crises. 

19 (5) Proper training for response to individuals 

20 suffering from a mental health crisis can better pro21 tect the safety of the general public and law enforce22 ment officers. 

23 (6) Our Nation’s law enforcement officers can 

24 better serve their communities if they receive trainVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:22 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2698.IH H2698

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1 ing to effectively and safely resolve the mental 

2 health crises. 

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

4 grants to State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies 

5 to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law 

6 enforcement officers to— 

7 (1) better train law enforcement officers to re8 solve behavioral health crisis situations; 

9 (2) reduce the number of law enforcement offi10 cers killed or injured while responding to a behav11 ioral health crisis; and 

12 (3) reduce the number of individuals killed or 

13 injured during a behavioral health crisis in which a 

14 law enforcement officer responds. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘applicant’’ means 

18 a law enforcement agency that applies for a grant 

19 under section 4. 

20 (2) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Attorney 

21 General’’ means the Attorney General, acting 

22 through the Assistant Attorney General for the Of23 fice of Justice Programs. 

24 (3) CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The 

25 term ‘‘chief law enforcement officer’’ has the meanVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 May 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2698.IH H2698

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1 ing given the term in section 922(s) of title 18, 

2 United States Code. 

3 (4) GRANT FUNDS.—The term ‘‘grant funds’’ 

4 means funds from a grant awarded under section 4. 

5 (5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

6 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 

7 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu8 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

9 (6) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 

10 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means an agency of a 

11 State, unit of local government, or Indian Tribe that 

12 is authorized by law or by a government agency to 

13 engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, in14 vestigation, or prosecution of any violation of crimi15 nal law. 

16 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means a 

17 program or class that— 

18 (A) provides instructional training to law 

19 enforcement officers for response to a behav20 ioral health crises, including response to people 

21 suspected to be under the influence of a drug 

22 or substance, and response to circumstances in 

23 which a person is suspected to be suicidal or 

24 suffering from a mental illness; and 


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1 (B) includes training on techniques and 

2 strategies designed to protect the health and 

3 safety of law enforcement officers and the pub4 lic, including the person or persons a law en5 forcement officer encounters during a behav6 ioral health crisis response. 

7 (8) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘recipient’’ means 

8 an applicant that receives a grant under section 4. 

9 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean10 ing given the term in section 901 of title I of the 

11 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

12 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251). 

13 SEC. 4. GRANTS. 

14 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Attorney General 

15 shall award grants to applicants for— 

16 (1) law enforcement officers to receive training 

17 from a behavioral health crisis response program; 

18 and 

19 (2) the cost of transportation and lodging asso20 ciated with law enforcement officers attending a pro21 gram. 

22 (b) PROGRAM STANDARDS.—The Attorney General 

23 shall establish and publish qualification standards for or24 ganizations that provide behavioral health crisis response 

25 programs. 


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1 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The chief law enforcement 

3 officer of an applicant shall submit to the Attorney 

4 General an application that— 

5 (A) shall include— 

6 (i) a statement describing the pro7 gram the law enforcement officers will 

8 complete; 

9 (ii) the total number of law enforce10 ment officers in the agency; 

11 (iii) the number of law enforcement 

12 officers of the agency that have been killed, 

13 or seriously injured while responding to a 

14 behavioral health crisis during the 5-year15 period preceding the date of the applica16 tion; and 

17 (iv) whether the law enforcement offi18 cers employed by the agency receive any 

19 behavioral health crisis response training, 

20 including during basic police officer train21 ing; and 

22 (B) in addition to the information required 

23 under subparagraph (A), may, at the option of 

24 the applicant, include information relating to— 


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1 (i) recent incidents involving law en2 forcement officers of the agency in which 

3 behavioral health crisis response training 

4 could have played a role in protecting the 

5 safety of the law enforcement officer or the 

6 public, including the person or persons the 

7 law enforcement officers encountered; and 

8 (ii) estimated cost of attendance of a 

9 program per law enforcement officer. 

10 (d) RESTRICTIONS.— 

11 (1) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—Grant funds shall 

12 be used to supplement, and not supplant, State, 

13 local, and tribal funds made available to any appli14 cant for any of the purposes described in subsection 

15 (a). 

16 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 3 

17 percent of any grant made under this section may 

18 be used for administrative costs. 

19 (e) REPORTS AND RECORDS.— 

20 (1) REPORTS.—For each year during which 

21 grant funds are used, the recipient shall submit to 

22 the Attorney General a report containing— 

23 (A) a summary of any activity carried out 

24 using grant funds; 


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1 (B) the number of officers that received 

2 training using grant funds; and 

3 (C) any other information relevant to the 

4 purpose of this Act that the Attorney General 

5 may determine appropriate. 

6 (2) RECORDS.—For the purpose of an audit by 

7 the Attorney General of the receipt and use of grant 

8 funds, a recipient shall— 

9 (A) keep— 

10 (i) any record relating to the receipt 

11 and use of grant funds; and 

12 (ii) any other record as the Attorney 

13 General may require; and 

14 (B) make the records described in subpara15 graph (A) available to the Attorney General 

16 upon request by the Attorney General. 

17 SEC. 5. USE OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS. 

18 Of the total amount appropriated to carry out the 

19 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant under 

20 subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con21 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et 

22 seq.) for each of fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022, 

23 $5,000,000 shall be used to carry out this Act for each 

24 such fiscal year. 

Æ 


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