I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1423 

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 mobile crisis response program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2023 

Mr. SMITH of Washington (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. CARSON, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. TRONE, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, 

and Ms. TLAIB) 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 mobile crisis 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 Community Crisis 

3 Responders Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR UNARMED MOBILE CRISIS RESPONSE 

5 PROGRAMS. 

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

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

8 290ee–7) the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 553. GRANTS FOR UNARMED MOBILE CRISIS RE10 SPONSE PROGRAMS. 

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

12 the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance 

13 Use, may award grants to States, territories, political sub14 divisions of States and territories (such as counties), Trib15 al Governments, and consortia of Tribal Governments to 

16 establish an unarmed mobile crisis response program 

17 under which nonviolent emergency calls are referred to un18 armed professional service providers for response, instead 

19 of to a law enforcement agency. 

20 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—An unarmed mo21 bile crisis response program funded under this section 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) dispatch unarmed professional service pro24 viders in groups of two or more in a timely manner; 

25 ‘‘(2) be capable of providing screening, assess26 ment, de-escalation, trauma-informed culturally comVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:04 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1423.IH H1423

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1 petent services, engagement and referrals to commu2 nity-based treatment providers, and transportation 

3 to immediately necessary treatment; 

4 ‘‘(3) when necessary, coordinate with health, 

5 housing, or social services; 

6 ‘‘(4) not be subject to oversight of State, Trib7 al, or local law enforcement agencies; and 

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

9 or may be referred to the unarmed mobile crisis re10 sponse program as first responders. 

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

12 may be used for— 

13 ‘‘(1) hiring unarmed professional service pro14 viders and public safety telecommunicators; 

15 ‘‘(2) training unarmed professional service pro16 viders to respond to emergency calls by identifying, 

17 understanding, and responding to signs of mental ill18 nesses, physical disabilities, developmental or intel19 lectual disabilities, and substance use disorders, in20 cluding by means of— 

21 ‘‘(A) de-escalation; 

22 ‘‘(B) crisis intervention; and 

23 ‘‘(C) connecting individuals to local service 

24 providers, health care providers, housing pro25 viders, community-based organizations, and the 


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1 full range of other available providers and re2 sources, with a focus on culturally competent 

3 service providers; 

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

5 triage between nonviolent 911 calls and those that 

6 require a response from law enforcement; 

7 ‘‘(4) developing curriculum to train, and con8 ducting training of, public safety telecommunicators 

9 on de-escalation and call processing; 

10 ‘‘(5) coordinating with 9–8–8 call centers to es11 tablish a process for dispatching an unarmed mobile 

12 crisis response program; 

13 ‘‘(6) building the capacity— 

14 ‘‘(A) to coordinate with local trauma-in15 formed social service providers, health care pro16 viders, and community-based organizations; and 

17 ‘‘(B) to provide multilingual and culturally 

18 competent services; and 

19 ‘‘(7) collecting data for reports to the Sec20 retary. 

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

22 under this section shall submit to the Secretary an appli23 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

24 information as the Secretary may reasonably require, in25 cluding the applicant’s plan to train 911 public safety teleVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:04 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1423.IH H1423

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1 communicators to determine when a call requires a re2 sponse from an unarmed mobile crisis response program. 

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

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

5 a biannual basis, a report on the following: 

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

7 were diverted to the grantee’s unarmed mobile crisis 

8 response program. 

9 ‘‘(2) Demographic information on the individ10 uals served by the grantee’s unarmed mobile crisis 

11 response program, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, 

12 age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, location, 

13 mental illness, physical disabilities, developmental or 

14 intellectual disabilities, substance use disorders, and 

15 housing status. 

16 ‘‘(3) The effects of the grantee’s unarmed mo17 bile crisis response program on emergency room vis18 its, hospitalizations, use of ambulances, and involve19 ment of law enforcement in mental health or sub20 stance use disorder crises. 

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

22 crises to which the grantee’s unarmed mobile crisis 

23 response program responded and the services pro24 vided, including— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals successfully 

2 transferred to an alternative destination; 

3 ‘‘(B) the time between notification by a 

4 public safety telecommunicator and arrival at 

5 the scene by a provider; and 

6 ‘‘(C) the time spent by providers at scene. 

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

8 mobile crisis response program. 

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

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

11 the program under this section, including a summary of 

12 the reports submitted by grantees pursuant to subsection 

13 (e). 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

21 site other than a hospital emergency depart22 ment or jail; and 

23 ‘‘(B) includes an outpatient clinic, primary 

24 care provider’s office, crisis apartment, crisis 


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1 home, respite home, crisis stabilization center, 

2 urgent care facility, and community care center. 

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘nonviolent emergency call’ 

4 means a 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, substance 

16 use disorder professional, or peer support specialist) 

17 who— 

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

19 or substance abuse crises or intellectual and de20 velopmental disabilities; and 

21 ‘‘(B) does not carry a firearm. 

22 ‘‘(i) NONDISCRIMINATION.—No person in the United 

23 States shall, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, 

24 religion, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation 

25 and gender identity), or disability, be excluded from parVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:04 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1423.IH H1423

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1 ticipation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to 

2 discrimination under any program or activity funded, in 

3 whole or in part, with funds made available under this sec4 tion.’’. 

Æ 


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