II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1137 

To establish the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 30, 2023 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. HAWLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish the Law Enforcement Mental Health and 

Wellness 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DHS Suicide Preven5 tion and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SUICIDE 

2 PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR LAW EN3 FORCEMENT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Homeland Secu5 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by 

6 inserting after section 710 the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 710A. SUICIDE PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR 

8 LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

11 COMPONENT.—The term ‘Department of Homeland 

12 Security component’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection; 

14 ‘‘(B) U.S. Immigration and Customs En15 forcement; 

16 ‘‘(C) the Office of the Inspector General of 

17 the Department of Homeland Security; 

18 ‘‘(D) the United States Coast Guard; 

19 ‘‘(E) the United States Secret Service; 

20 ‘‘(F) the Transportation Security Adminis21 tration; and 

22 ‘‘(G) any other Department of Homeland 

23 Security component or office with law enforce24 ment officers or agents. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Program’ means 

2 the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness 

3 Program established pursuant to subsection (b). 

4 ‘‘(b) LAW ENFORCEMENT MENTAL HEALTH AND

5 WELLNESS PROGRAM.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

8 establish, within the office overseen by the 

9 Chief Medical Officer, the Law Enforcement 

10 Mental Health and Wellness Program. 

11 ‘‘(B) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Pro12 gram shall be to provide a comprehensive ap13 proach to address the mental health and 

14 wellness of Department of Homeland Security 

15 law enforcement agents and officers. 

16 ‘‘(C) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary, 

17 working through the Program, shall— 

18 ‘‘(i) establish and maintain policies 

19 and standard operating procedures, con20 sistent with best evidence-based practices, 

21 that detail the authority, roles, and respon22 sibilities of the Program; 

23 ‘‘(ii) conduct data collection and re24 search on mental health, suicides, and, to 

25 the extent possible, attempted suicides, of 


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1 law enforcement personnel within the De2 partment of Homeland Security, in accord3 ance with section 552a of title 5, United 

4 States Code (commonly known as the Pri5 vacy Act of 1974), section 501 of the Re6 habilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791), 

7 the Department of Homeland Security’s di8 rectives and policies, section 1128E of the 

9 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–7e), 

10 and section 2(a) of the Law Enforcement 

11 Suicide Data Collection Act (Public Law 

12 116–143); 

13 ‘‘(iii) track current trends and leading 

14 practices from other governmental and 

15 nongovernmental organizations for law en16 forcement mental health and wellness; 

17 ‘‘(iv) evaluate current mental health 

18 and resiliency programs within Depart19 ment of Homeland Security components; 

20 ‘‘(v) promote education and training 

21 related to mental health, resilience, suicide 

22 prevention, stigma, and mental health re23 sources to raise mental health awareness 

24 and to support others the needs of super25 visors, clinicians, care-givers, peer support 


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1 members, chaplains, and those who have 

2 been exposed to trauma; 

3 ‘‘(vi) establish the Peer-to-Peer Sup4 port Program Advisory Council, which 

5 shall— 

6 ‘‘(I) include at least 1 licensed 

7 clinician and at least 1 official with 

8 requisite and relevant training and ex9 perience in peer support for law en10 forcement personnel from each De11 partment of Homeland Security com12 ponent; 

13 ‘‘(II) evaluate component peer 

14 support programs; 

15 ‘‘(III) identify and address any 

16 potential deficiencies, limitations, and 

17 gaps; 

18 ‘‘(IV) provide for sharing of lead19 ing practices or best practices, includ20 ing internationally recognized peer 

21 support standards of care protocols; 

22 ‘‘(V) create a peer support net23 work that enables the sharing of 

24 trained peer support personnel, chap25 lains, and other peer-to-peer personnel 


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1 across Department of Homeland Se2 curity components; and 

3 ‘‘(VI) sustain peer support pro4 grams through ongoing funding of an5 nual and refresher training and re6 sources for peer support programing 

7 in the workplace— 

8 ‘‘(aa) to ensure minimum 

9 standards for peer support serv10 ices; and 

11 ‘‘(bb) to provide appropriate 

12 care for peer support personnel 

13 across Department of Homeland 

14 Security components; 

15 ‘‘(vii) assist Department of Homeland 

16 Security components in developing a pro17 gram to provide suicide prevention and re18 siliency support and training for— 

19 ‘‘(I) families of law enforcement 

20 agents and officers; and 

21 ‘‘(II) surviving families of officers 

22 and agents who have died by suicide; 

23 ‘‘(viii) work with law enforcement 

24 mental health and wellness program offi25 cials of Department of Homeland Security 


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1 components (which shall include peer sup2 port-trained personnel, agency mental 

3 health professionals, chaplains, and, for 

4 components with employees having an ex5 clusive representative, the exclusive rep6 resentative with respect to such program) 

7 to implement new policies, procedures, and 

8 programs that may be necessary based on 

9 findings from data collection, research, and 

10 evaluation efforts; and 

11 ‘‘(ix) conduct regular outreach and 

12 messaging, across Department of Home13 land Security components, of available 

14 training opportunities and resources. 

15 ‘‘(D) CONFIDENTIALITY; LIMITATION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Actions de17 scribed in subparagraph (C) may not in18 clude the publication of any personally 

19 identifiable information. 

20 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—Personally identi21 fiable information collected pursuant to 

22 subparagraph (C) may not be used for any 

23 purpose other than the implementation of 

24 this section unless otherwise permitted 

25 under applicable law. Any personally idenVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1137.IS S1137

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1 tifiable information that is collected, main2 tained, or used pursuant to this section is 

3 subject to applicable public nondisclosure 

4 requirements, including sections 552 and 

5 552a of title 5, United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(E) PERSONNEL.— 

7 ‘‘(i) MANAGEMENT.—The Workplace 

8 Health and Wellness Coordinator of the 

9 Department, under the direction of the 

10 Chief Medical Officer of the Department, 

11 shall be responsible for the ongoing man12 agement of the Program. 

13 ‘‘(ii) MINIMUM CORE PERSONNEL RE14 QUIREMENTS.—Subject to appropriations, 

15 the Secretary shall ensure that the Pro16 gram is staffed with the number of em17 ployees that the Chief Medical Officer de18 termines to be necessary to carry out the 

19 duties described in subparagraph (C), in20 cluding representatives from each Depart21 ment of Homeland Security component 

22 and the Office of the Chief Privacy Officer. 

23 ‘‘(2) DIRECTIVE.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the date of the enactment of the DHS Suicide 


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1 Prevention and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act, 

2 the Chief Medical Officer of the Department shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) issue a directive or policy that out4 lines the roles and responsibilities of the Pro5 gram; and 

6 ‘‘(B) distribute such directive or policy 

7 among all Department personnel. 

8 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—The Chief Medical Officer of 

9 the Department shall require the Program to regularly co10 ordinate with the Department of Homeland Security com11 ponents by assigning at least 1 official from each such 

12 component to the Program for the purpose of coordinating 

13 with field points of contact who are responsible for car14 rying out duties within Department mental health and 

15 wellness programs. 

16 ‘‘(d) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY COM17 PONENTS.—The Secretary shall require the head of each 

18 Department of Homeland Security component to prioritize 

19 and improve mental health and wellness programs, which 

20 may include other Department of Homeland Security com21 ponent personnel, that— 

22 ‘‘(1) provide adequate resources for law enforce23 ment mental health, well-being, resilience, and sui24 cide prevention programs and research; 


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1 ‘‘(2) promote a culture that reduces the stigma 

2 of seeking mental health assistance through regular 

3 messaging, training, and raising mental health 

4 awareness; 

5 ‘‘(3) offer several avenues of seeking mental 

6 health or counseling assistance, both within the De7 partment of Homeland Security component and 

8 through private sources that provide for anonymity 

9 and include access to external mental health clini10 cians; 

11 ‘‘(4) review and revise relevant policies of De12 partment of Homeland Security components that in13 advertently deter personnel from seeking mental 

14 health assistance; 

15 ‘‘(5) ensure that such programs include safe16 guards against adverse action, including automatic 

17 referrals for a fitness for duty examination, by such 

18 component with respect to any employee solely be19 cause such employee self identifies a need for psy20 chological health counseling or assistance or receives 

21 such counseling or assistance; 

22 ‘‘(6) implement policies that require in-person 

23 or live and interactive virtual suicide awareness and 

24 law enforcement resiliency training for law enforce25 ment officers and agents; 


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1 ‘‘(7) make such training available, as appro2 priate, to other personnel— 

3 ‘‘(A) upon the commencement of their em4 ployment with the Department of Homeland 

5 Security; 

6 ‘‘(B) on an annual basis during such em7 ployment; 

8 ‘‘(C) during such employees’ transition 

9 into a supervisory role; and 

10 ‘‘(D) if feasible, shortly before the officer, 

11 agent, or other Department of Homeland Secu12 rity component personnel terminates his or her 

13 employment with the Department, if such indi14 vidual elects to participate; and 

15 ‘‘(8) include prevention and awareness training 

16 opportunities and support services for families of of17 ficers, agents, and other Department of Homeland 

18 Security component personnel. 

19 ‘‘(e) DATA COLLECTION AND EVALUATION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF LAW

21 ENFORCEMENT HEALTH AND WELLNESS PRO22 GRAMS.—The Workplace Health and Wellness Coor23 dinator, under the direction of the Chief Medical Of24 ficer of the Department— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall develop criteria to assess the ef2 fectiveness of law enforcement health and 

3 wellness programs carried out by the Depart4 ment; 

5 ‘‘(B) shall conduct annual confidential sur6 veys of law enforcement agents and officers 

7 within Department of Homeland Security com8 ponents to assist in evaluating the effectiveness 

9 of law enforcement health and wellness pro10 grams in accordance with the criteria developed 

11 pursuant to subparagraph (A); 

12 ‘‘(C) shall ensure that the surveys con13 ducted pursuant to subparagraph (B)— 

14 ‘‘(i) incorporate leading practices in 

15 questionnaire and survey design and devel16 opment; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) establish a baseline and subse18 quently measure change over time; and 

19 ‘‘(D) may utilize contractor support in car20 rying out the duties described in subparagraphs 

21 (A) through (C). 

22 ‘‘(2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Chief Medical 

23 Officer of the Department shall provide rec24 ommendations to Department of Homeland Security 

25 components based on the evaluation of programs 


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1 and the results of the surveys conducted pursuant to 

2 paragraph (1)(B). 

3 ‘‘(3) INCIDENT REPORTS.—Each Department of 

4 Homeland Security component shall report to the 

5 Workplace Health and Wellness Coordinator inci6 dents of suicide involving law enforcement officers 

7 and agents and any data consistent with data col8 lected under section 2(a) of the Law Enforcement 

9 Suicide Data Collection Act (Public Law 116–143). 

10 The Workplace Health and Wellness Coordinator 

11 shall forward such information to the Law Enforce12 ment Officers Suicide Data Collection Program es13 tablished pursuant to such section. 

14 ‘‘(4) CONFIDENTIALITY; LIMITATION.— 

15 ‘‘(A) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Activities de16 scribed in paragraph (1) or reporting described 

17 under paragraph (3) may not include the publi18 cation of any personally identifiable informa19 tion. 

20 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Personally identifiable 

21 information collected pursuant to paragraph (1) 

22 may not be used for any purpose other than the 

23 implementation of this section unless otherwise 

24 permitted under applicable law. Any personally 

25 identifiable information that is collected, mainVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:58 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1137.IS S1137

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1 tained, or used pursuant to this section is sub2 ject to applicable public nondisclosure require3 ments, including sections 552 and 552a of title 

4 5, United States Code. 

5 ‘‘(f) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of the DHS Suicide Prevention and 

7 Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act, and annually there8 after through fiscal year 2027, the Chief Medical Officer 

9 of the Department shall provide a briefing to the Com10 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

11 of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security 

12 of the House of Representatives regarding the implemen13 tation of the requirements described in this section.’’. 

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

15 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

16 (Public Law 107–296) is amended by inserting after the 

17 item relating to section 710 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 710A. Suicide prevention and resiliency for law enforcement.’’. 

Æ 


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