I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3595 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 

authorize a grant program for law enforcement agencies and corrections 

agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law 

enforcement officers and corrections officers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 28, 2021 

Ms. KAPTUR (for herself, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Mr. RYAN, Mrs. BICE of 

Oklahoma, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. TAYLOR, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, 

and Mr. CUELLAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 to authorize a grant program for law enforcement agencies and corrections agencies to obtain 

behavioral health crisis response training for law enforcement officers and corrections officers, 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 ‘‘Law Enforcement 

5 Training for Mental Health Crisis Response Act of 2021’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3595 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

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

3 (1) Law enforcement and corrections officers 

4 routinely respond to emergencies involving individ5 uals suffering from a mental health crisis. 

6 (2) Recent statistics have shown that as many 

7 as— 

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

9 involve a person suffering from a mental illness; 

10 (B) 1 in every 4 people killed by police suf11 fer from a mental health problem; and 

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

13 emergency room for psychiatric reasons are 

14 taken by the police. 

15 (3) Law enforcement response calls to individ16 uals suffering from substance use disorder have in17 creased during the current opioid epidemic. 

18 (4) There is a need to ensure that law enforce19 ment officers have access to proper evidence-based 

20 training in responding to mental health crises. 

21 (5) Proper training for response to individuals 

22 suffering from a mental health crisis can better pro23 tect the safety of the general public and law enforce24 ment officers. 

25 (6) Law enforcement and corrections officers in 

26 the United States can better serve their communities 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3595 IH

1 if the officers receive training to effectively and safe2 ly resolve the mental health crises. 

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

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

5 and corrections agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis 

6 response training for law enforcement officers and correc7 tions officers to— 

8 (1) better train law enforcement officers and 

9 corrections officers to resolve behavioral health crisis 

10 situations; 

11 (2) reduce the number of law enforcement offi12 cers and corrections officers killed or injured while 

13 responding to a behavioral health crisis; and 

14 (3) reduce the number of individuals killed or 

15 injured during a behavioral health crisis in which a 

16 law enforcement officer or corrections officer re17 sponds. 

18 SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR MENTAL 

19 HEALTH CRISIS GRANT PROGRAM. 

20 (a) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Section 506 of the 

21 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

22 U.S.C. 10157) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(c) Of the total amount made available to carry out 

25 this subpart for a fiscal year, the Attorney General may 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3595 IH

1 reserve not more than $10,000,000 to carry out the pro2 gram under section 509.’’. 

3 (b) LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR MENTAL

4 HEALTH CRISIS GRANT PROGRAM.—Subpart 1 of part E 

5 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

6 Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) is amended by add7 ing at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 509. LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR MENTAL 

9 HEALTH CRISIS GRANT PROGRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—Subject to the avail11 ability of appropriations, the Attorney General is author12 ized to award grants to applicants for— 

13 ‘‘(1) law enforcement officers or corrections of14 ficers to receive training from a program; and 

15 ‘‘(2) the cost of transportation and lodging as16 sociated with law enforcement officers or corrections 

17 officers attending such program. 

18 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM STANDARDS.—The Attorney General 

19 shall establish and publish qualification standards for or20 ganizations that provide programs. 

21 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of an applicant 

23 shall submit to the Attorney General an application 

24 that— 

25 ‘‘(A) shall include— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3595 IH

1 ‘‘(i) a statement describing the pro2 gram the law enforcement officers or cor3 rections officers will complete; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the total number of law enforce5 ment officers or corrections officers in the 

6 agency; 

7 ‘‘(iii) the number of law enforcement 

8 officers or corrections officers of the agen9 cy that have been killed, or seriously in10 jured while responding to a behavioral 

11 health crisis during the 5-year-period pre12 ceding the date of the application; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) whether the law enforcement of14 ficers or corrections officers employed by 

15 the agency receive any behavioral health 

16 crisis response training, including during 

17 basic officer training; and 

18 ‘‘(B) in addition to the information re19 quired under subparagraph (A), may, at the op20 tion of the applicant, include information relat21 ing to— 

22 ‘‘(i) recent incidents involving officers 

23 of the agency during which behavioral 

24 health crisis response training could have 

25 played a role in protecting the safety of— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3595 IH

1 ‘‘(I) the law enforcement officer 

2 or the public, including the persons or 

3 persons the law enforcement officers 

4 encountered; or 

5 ‘‘(II) the corrections officer or in6 mates at the correctional facility; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) estimated cost of attendance of a 

8 program per officer. 

9 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—Grant funds 

11 shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, 

12 State, local, and Tribal funds made available to any 

13 applicant for any of the purposes described in sub14 section (a). 

15 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 

16 3 percent of any grant made under this section may 

17 be used for administrative costs. 

18 ‘‘(e) REPORTS AND RECORDS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) REPORTS.—For each year during which 

20 grant funds are used, the recipient shall submit to 

21 the Attorney General a report containing— 

22 ‘‘(A) a summary of any activity carried out 

23 using grant funds; 

24 ‘‘(B) the number of officers that received 

25 training using grant funds; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3595 IH

1 ‘‘(C) any other information relevant to the 

2 purpose of this Act that the Attorney General 

3 may determine appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(2) RECORDS.—For the purpose of an audit 

5 by the Attorney General of the receipt and use of 

6 grant funds, a recipient shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) keep— 

8 ‘‘(i) any record relating to the receipt 

9 and use of grant funds; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) any other record as the Attorney 

11 General may require; and 

12 ‘‘(B) make the records described in sub13 paragraph (A) available to the Attorney General 

14 upon request by the Attorney General. 

15 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

17 a law enforcement agency or corrections agency that 

18 applies for a grant under this section. 

19 ‘‘(2) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘Attor20 ney General’ means the Attorney General, acting 

21 through the Assistant Attorney General for the Of22 fice of Justice Programs. 

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

24 means funds from a grant awarded under this sec25 tion. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3595 IH

1 ‘‘(4) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 

2 ‘law enforcement agency’ means an agency of a 

3 State or unit of local government that is authorized 

4 by law or by a government agency to engage in or 

5 supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or 

6 prosecution of any violation of criminal law. 

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

8 program or class that— 

9 ‘‘(A) provides instructional training to law 

10 enforcement officers or corrections officers for 

11 response to a behavioral health crisis, including 

12 response to people suspected to be under the in13 fluence of a drug or psychoactive substance, 

14 and response to circumstances in which a per15 son is suspected to be suicidal or suffering from 

16 a mental illness; 

17 ‘‘(B) includes training on techniques and 

18 strategies designed to protect— 

19 ‘‘(i) the health and safety of law en20 forcement officers and the public, including 

21 the person or persons a law enforcement 

22 officer encounters during a behavioral 

23 health crisis response; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) the health and safety of correc25 tions officers and inmates at the correcVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3595.IH H3595

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 3595 IH

1 tional facility, including the inmate a cor2 rections officer encounters during a behav3 ioral health crisis response, or in the nor4 mal course of business of interactions with 

5 the inmate; and 

6 ‘‘(C) is developed in conjunction with 

7 healthcare professionals to provide crisis inter8 vention training focused on understanding men9 tal and behavioral health, developing empathy, 

10 navigating community resources, de-escalation 

11 skills, and practical application training for offi12 cers. 

13 ‘‘(6) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘recipient’ means 

14 an applicant that receives a grant under this sec15 tion.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS