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Union Calendar No. 189 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2577 

[Report No. 118–237] 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Law 

Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2023 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi (for himself and Mr. GARBARINO) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

OCTOBER 2, 2023 

Additional sponsors: Mr. IVEY, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. TITUS, 

Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, 

Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. VASQUEZ, Mr. CASE, Mr. 

TRONE, Ms. ROSS, and Mr. MENENDEZ

OCTOBER 2, 2023 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 13, 2023] 


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A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish 

the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program, and for other purposes. 


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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 Prevention 

5 and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DHS SUICIDE PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR 

7 LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Homeland Security Act of 

9 2002 is amended by inserting after section 710 the following 

10 new section: 

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

12 LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

13 ‘‘(a) DEPARTMENT COMPONENTS DEFINED.—In this 

14 section, the term ‘Department components’ means the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

17 ‘‘(2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce18 ment. 

19 ‘‘(3) The Office of the Inspector General of the 

20 Department of Homeland Security. 

21 ‘‘(4) The United States Secret Service. 

22 ‘‘(5) The Transportation Security Administra23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(6) Any other Department component with law 

25 enforcement officers or agents. 


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1 ‘‘(b) LAW ENFORCEMENT MENTAL HEALTH AND

2 WELLNESS PROGRAM.— 

3 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es5 tablish, within the office overseen by the Chief 

6 Medical Officer of the Department, the Law En7 forcement Mental Health and Wellness Program 

8 (in this section referred to as the ‘Program’). 

9 ‘‘(B) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Pro10 gram shall be to provide a comprehensive ap11 proach to address the mental health and wellness 

12 of Department law enforcement officers and 

13 agents. 

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

15 working through the Program, shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) establish and maintain policies 

17 and standard operating procedures, con18 sistent with best evidence-based practices, 

19 that detail the authority, roles, and respon20 sibilities of the Program; 

21 ‘‘(ii) conduct data collection and re22 search on mental health, suicides, and, to 

23 the extent possible, attempted suicides, of 

24 Department law enforcement officers and 

25 agents, in accordance with section 552a of 


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1 title 5, United States Code (commonly 

2 known as the Privacy Act of 1974), section 

3 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

4 U.S.C. 791), the Department’s directives 

5 and policies, and section 2(a) of the Law 

6 Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act 

7 (Public Law 116–143); 

8 ‘‘(iii) track current trends and leading 

9 practices from other governmental and non10 governmental organizations for law enforce11 ment mental health and wellness; 

12 ‘‘(iv) evaluate current mental health 

13 and resiliency programs within the Depart14 ment components; 

15 ‘‘(v) promote education and training 

16 related to mental health, resilience, suicide 

17 prevention, stigma, and mental health re18 sources to raise mental health awareness, 

19 and provide support to others, inclusive of 

20 the needs of supervisors, clinicians, care21 givers, peer support members, chaplains, 

22 and those who have been exposed to trauma; 

23 ‘‘(vi) establish a Peer-to-Peer Support 

24 Program Advisory Council, which shall— 


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1 ‘‘(I) include at least one licensed 

2 clinician and at least one official with 

3 requisite and relevant training and ex4 perience in peer support from each De5 partment component; 

6 ‘‘(II) evaluate component peer 

7 support programs; 

8 ‘‘(III) identify and address any 

9 potential deficiencies, limitations, and 

10 gaps; 

11 ‘‘(IV) provide for sharing of lead12 ing practices or best practices, includ13 ing internationally recognized peer 

14 support standards of care protocols; 

15 ‘‘(V) create a peer support net16 work that enables the sharing of 

17 trained peer support personnel, chap18 lains, and other peer-to-peer personnel 

19 across Department components; and 

20 ‘‘(VI) sustain peer support pro21 grams through ongoing funding of an22 nual and refresher training and re23 sources for peer support programing in 

24 the workplace to— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) ensure minimum 

2 standards for peer support serv3 ices; and 

4 ‘‘(bb) provide appropriate 

5 care for peer support personnel 

6 across Department components; 

7 ‘‘(vii) assist Department components 

8 in developing a program to provide suicide 

9 prevention and resiliency support and 

10 training for— 

11 ‘‘(I) families of Department law 

12 enforcement officers and agents; and 

13 ‘‘(II) surviving families of officers 

14 and agents who have been lost to sui15 cide; 

16 ‘‘(viii) work with law enforcement 

17 mental health and wellness program offi18 cials of Department components (including 

19 peer support-trained personnel, agency 

20 mental health professionals, chaplains, and, 

21 for components with employees having an 

22 exclusive representative, the exclusive rep23 resentative with respect to such program) to 

24 implement new policies, procedures, and 

25 programs that may be necessary based on 


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1 findings from data collection, research, and 

2 evaluation efforts; and 

3 ‘‘(ix) conduct regular outreach and 

4 messaging, across Department components, 

5 of available training opportunities and re6 sources. 

7 ‘‘(D) CONFIDENTIALITY; LIMITATION.— 

8 ‘‘(i) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Activities de9 scribed in subparagraph (C) may not in10 clude the publication of any personally 

11 identifiable information. 

12 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—Personally identifi13 able information collected pursuant to sub14 paragraph (C) may not be maintained or 

15 used for any purpose other than implemen16 tation of this section, unless otherwise per17 mitted under applicable law. Any such per18 sonally identifiable information that is so 

19 collected, maintained, or used pursuant to 

20 this section is subject to applicable public 

21 nondisclosure requirements, including sec22 tions 552 and 552a of title 5, United States 

23 Code. 

24 ‘‘(E) PERSONNEL.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) MANAGEMENT.—The Workplace 

2 Health and Wellness Coordinator of the De3 partment, under the direction of the Chief 

4 Medical Officer of the Department, shall be 

5 responsible for the ongoing management of 

6 the Program. 

7 ‘‘(ii) MINIMUM CORE PERSONNEL RE8 QUIREMENTS.—Subject to appropriations, 

9 the Secretary shall ensure the Program is 

10 staffed with the number of employees the 

11 Chief Medical Officer of the Department de12 termines necessary to carry out the duties 

13 described in subparagraph (C), including 

14 representatives from each Department com15 ponent and the Office of the Chief Privacy 

16 Officer. 

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

18 the date of the enactment of this section, the Chief 

19 Medical Officer of the Department shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) issue a directive or policy that outlines 

21 the roles and responsibilities of the Program; and 

22 ‘‘(B) distribute such directive or policy 

23 among all Department personnel. 

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

25 Department shall require the Program to regularly coordiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577

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1 nate with the Department components by assigning at least 

2 one official from each such component to the Program for 

3 the purpose of coordinating with field points of contact who 

4 are responsible for carrying out duties within Department 

5 mental health and wellness programs. 

6 ‘‘(d) DEPARTMENT COMPONENTS.—The Secretary 

7 shall require the head of each Department component to 

8 prioritize and improve mental health and wellness pro9 grams that— 

10 ‘‘(1) provide adequate resources for law enforce11 ment mental health, well-being, resilience, and suicide 

12 prevention programs and research; 

13 ‘‘(2) promote a culture that reduces the stigma of 

14 seeking mental health assistance through regular mes15 saging, training, and raising mental health aware16 ness; 

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

18 health or counseling assistance, both within the com19 ponent and through private sources that provide for 

20 anonymity and include access to external mental 

21 health clinicians, service animals, and any other ap22 propriate, data-driven resources that improve mental 

23 health; 

24 ‘‘(4) review and revise relevant policies of De25 partment components that inadvertently deter perVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:28 Oct 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2577.RH H2577

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1 sonnel from seeking mental health or counseling as2 sistance; 

3 ‘‘(5) ensure that such programs include safe4 guards against adverse or disciplinary action, includ5 ing retaliation or automatic referrals for a fitness for 

6 duty examination, by such component with respect to 

7 any employee solely because such employee self-identi8 fies a need for psychological health counseling or as9 sistance or receives such counseling or assistance; 

10 ‘‘(6) implement policies that require in-person or 

11 live and interactive virtual suicide awareness and 

12 law enforcement resiliency trainings to be provided to 

13 law enforcement officers and agents; 

14 ‘‘(7) makes such trainings available, as appro15 priate, to other component personnel— 

16 ‘‘(A) upon the commencement of such offi17 cers’, agents’, and other component’s personnel’s 

18 employment; 

19 ‘‘(B) on an annual basis during such em20 ployment; 

21 ‘‘(C) during such officers’, agents’, or other 

22 component’s personnel’s transition into super23 visory roles; and 

24 ‘‘(D) if feasible, shortly before such officer, 

25 agent, or other component’s personnel terminates 


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1 his or her employment with the Department, if 

2 such officer, agent, or other component’s per3 sonnel elects to participate; and 

4 ‘‘(8) include prevention and awareness training 

5 opportunities and support services for families of 

6 agents, officers, and other component personnel. 

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

8 ‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF LAW

9 ENFORCEMENT HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS.— 

10 The Workplace Health and Wellness Coordinator, 

11 under the direction of the Chief Medical Officer of the 

12 Department— 

13 ‘‘(A) shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) develop criteria to assess the effec15 tiveness of law enforcement health and 

16 wellness programs carried out by the De17 partment; 

18 ‘‘(ii) conduct annual confidential sur19 veys of law enforcement officers and agents 

20 within Department components to assist in 

21 evaluating the effectiveness of law enforce22 ment health and wellness programs in ac23 cordance with the criteria developed pursu24 ant to clause (i); and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) ensure that the surveys conducted 

2 pursuant to clause (ii)— 

3 ‘‘(I) incorporate leading practices 

4 in questionnaire and survey design 

5 and development; and 

6 ‘‘(II) establish a baseline and sub7 sequently measure change over time; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) may utilize contractor support in car10 rying out the duties described in subparagraph 

11 (A). 

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

13 Officer of the Department shall provide recommenda14 tions to Department components based on the evalua15 tion of programs and the results of the surveys con16 ducted pursuant to paragraph (1). 

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

18 component shall report to the Workplace Health and 

19 Wellness Coordinator incidents of suicide involving 

20 law enforcement officers and agents, together with any 

21 data relating thereto consistent with data collected 

22 under section 2(a) of the Law Enforcement Suicide 

23 Data Collection Act (Public Law 116–143). The Coor24 dinator shall forward such information to the Law 


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1 Enforcement Officers Suicide Data Collection Pro2 gram established pursuant to such section. 

3 ‘‘(4) CONFIDENTIALITY; LIMITATION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Activities de5 scribed in paragraph (1) or reporting described 

6 under paragraph (3) may not include the publi7 cation of any personally identifiable informa8 tion. 

9 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Personally identifiable 

10 information collected pursuant to paragraph (1) 

11 may not be maintained or used for any purpose 

12 other than implementation of this section, unless 

13 otherwise permitted under applicable law. Any 

14 such personally identifiable information that is 

15 so collected, maintained, or used pursuant to this 

16 section is subject to applicable public nondisclo17 sure requirements, including sections 552 and 

18 552a of title 5, United States Code. 

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

20 of the enactment of this section and annually thereafter 

21 through fiscal year 2027, the Chief Medical Officer of the 

22 Department shall provide to the Committee on Homeland 

23 Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

24 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 


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1 Senate a briefing regarding the implementation of this sec2 tion.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in 

4 section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

5 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 710 

6 the following new item: 

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


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Union Calendar No. 189 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2577 

[Report No. 118–237] 

A BILL 

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to 

and Wellness Program, and for other purposes. establish the Law Enforcement Mental Health 

OCTOBER 2, 2023 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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