DHS Suicide Prevention and Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act

Subjects: Government Operations and Politics, Administrative law and regulatory procedures, Advisory bodies, Congressional oversight, Department of Homeland Security, Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management, Government information and archives, Health information and medical records, Health promotion and preventive care, Law enforcement officers, Mental health, Performance measurement


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2577 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2577

    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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Law 
Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``DHS Suicide Prevention and 
Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act''.

SEC. 2. DHS SUICIDE PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by 
inserting after section 710 the following new section:

``SEC. 710A. SUICIDE PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT.

    ``(a) Department Components Defined.--In this section, the term 
`Department components' means the following:
            ``(1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
            ``(2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
            ``(3) The Office of the Inspector General of the Department 
        of Homeland Security.
            ``(4) The United States Secret Service.
            ``(5) The Transportation Security Administration.
            ``(6) Any other Department component with law enforcement 
        officers or agents.
    ``(b) Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall establish, 
                within the office overseen by the Chief Medical Officer 
                of the Department, the Law Enforcement Mental Health 
                and Wellness Program (in this section referred to as 
                the `Program').
                    ``(B) Purpose.--The purpose of the Program shall be 
                to provide a comprehensive approach to address the 
                mental health and wellness of Department law 
                enforcement officers and agents.
                    ``(C) Administration.--The Secretary, working 
                through the Program, shall--
                            ``(i) establish and maintain policies and 
                        standard operating procedures, consistent with 
                        best evidence-based practices, that detail the 
                        authority, roles, and responsibilities of the 
                        Program;
                            ``(ii) conduct data collection and research 
                        on mental health, suicides, and, to the extent 
                        possible, attempted suicides, of Department law 
                        enforcement officers and agents, in accordance 
                        with section 552a of title 5, United States 
                        Code (commonly known as the Privacy Act of 
                        1974), section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 
                        1973 (29 U.S.C. 791), the Department's 
                        directives and policies, and section 2(a) of 
                        the Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act 
                        (Public Law 116-143);
                            ``(iii) track current trends and leading 
                        practices from other governmental and 
                        nongovernmental organizations for law 
                        enforcement mental health and wellness;
                            ``(iv) evaluate current mental health and 
                        resiliency programs within the Department 
                        components;
                            ``(v) promote education and training 
                        related to mental health, resilience, suicide 
                        prevention, stigma, and mental health resources 
                        to raise mental health awareness, and provide 
                        support to others, inclusive of the needs of 
                        supervisors, clinicians, care-givers, peer 
                        support members, chaplains, and those who have 
                        been exposed to trauma;
                            ``(vi) establish a Peer-to-Peer Support 
                        Program Advisory Council, which shall--
                                    ``(I) include at least one licensed 
                                clinician and at least one official 
                                with requisite and relevant training 
                                and experience in peer support from 
                                each Department component;
                                    ``(II) evaluate component peer 
                                support programs;
                                    ``(III) identify and address any 
                                potential deficiencies, limitations, 
                                and gaps;
                                    ``(IV) provide for sharing of 
                                leading practices or best practices, 
                                including internationally recognized 
                                peer support standards of care 
                                protocols;
                                    ``(V) create a peer support network 
                                that enables the sharing of trained 
                                peer support personnel, chaplains, and 
                                other peer-to-peer personnel across 
                                Department components; and
                                    ``(VI) sustain peer support 
                                programs through ongoing funding of 
                                annual and refresher training and 
                                resources for peer support programing 
                                in the workplace to--
                                            ``(aa) ensure minimum 
                                        standards for peer support 
                                        services; and
                                            ``(bb) provide appropriate 
                                        care for peer support personnel 
                                        across Department components;
                            ``(vii) assist Department components in 
                        developing a program to provide suicide 
                        prevention and resiliency support and training 
                        for--
                                    ``(I) families of Department law 
                                enforcement officers and agents; and
                                    ``(II) surviving families of 
                                officers and agents who have been lost 
                                to suicide;
                            ``(viii) work with law enforcement mental 
                        health and wellness program officials of 
                        Department components (including peer support-
                        trained personnel, agency mental health 
                        professionals, chaplains, and, for components 
                        with employees having an exclusive 
                        representative, the exclusive representative 
                        with respect to such program) to implement new 
                        policies, procedures, and programs that may be 
                        necessary based on findings from data 
                        collection, research, and evaluation efforts; 
                        and
                            ``(ix) conduct regular outreach and 
                        messaging, across Department components, of 
                        available training opportunities and resources.
                    ``(D) Confidentiality; limitation.--
                            ``(i) Confidentiality.--Activities 
                        described in subparagraph (C) may not include 
                        the publication of any personally identifiable 
                        information.
                            ``(ii) Limitation.--Personally identifiable 
                        information collected pursuant to subparagraph 
                        (C) may not be maintained or used for any 
                        purpose other than implementation of this 
                        section, unless otherwise permitted under 
                        applicable law. Any such personally 
                        identifiable information that is so collected, 
                        maintained, or used pursuant to this section is 
                        subject to applicable public nondisclosure 
                        requirements, including sections 552 and 552a 
                        of title 5, United States Code.
                    ``(E) Personnel.--
                            ``(i) Management.--The Workplace Health and 
                        Wellness Coordinator of the Department, under 
                        the direction of the Chief Medical Officer of 
                        the Department, shall be responsible for the 
                        ongoing management of the Program.
                            ``(ii) Minimum core personnel 
                        requirements.--Subject to appropriations, the 
                        Secretary shall ensure the Program is staffed 
                        with the number of employees the Chief Medical 
                        Officer of the Department determines necessary 
                        to carry out the duties described in 
                        subparagraph (C), including representatives 
                        from each Department component and the Office 
                        of the Chief Privacy Officer.
            ``(2) Directive.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this section, the Chief Medical Officer of the 
        Department shall--
                    ``(A) issue a directive or policy that outlines the 
                roles and responsibilities of the Program; and
                    ``(B) distribute such directive or policy among all 
                Department personnel.
    ``(c) Coordination.--The Chief Medical Officer of the Department 
shall require the Program to regularly coordinate with the Department 
components by assigning at least one official from each such component 
to the Program for the purpose of coordinating with field points of 
contact who are responsible for carrying out duties within Department 
mental health and wellness programs.
    ``(d) Department Components.--The Secretary shall require the head 
of each Department component to prioritize and improve mental health 
and wellness programs that--
            ``(1) provide adequate resources for law enforcement mental 
        health, well-being, resilience, and suicide prevention programs 
        and research;
            ``(2) promote a culture that reduces the stigma of seeking 
        mental health assistance through regular messaging, training, 
        and raising mental health awareness;
            ``(3) offer several avenues of seeking mental health or 
        counseling assistance, both within the component and through 
        private sources that provide for anonymity and include access 
        to external mental health clinicians;
            ``(4) review and revise relevant policies of Department 
        components that inadvertently deter personnel from seeking 
        mental health or counseling assistance;
            ``(5) ensure that such programs include safeguards against 
        adverse action, including automatic referrals for a fitness for 
        duty examination, by such component with respect to any 
        employee solely because such employee self-identifies a need 
        for psychological health counseling or assistance or receives 
        such counseling or assistance;
            ``(6) implement policies that require in-person or live and 
        interactive virtual suicide awareness and law enforcement 
        resiliency trainings to be provided to law enforcement officers 
        and agents;
            ``(7) makes such trainings available, as appropriate, to 
        other component personnel--
                    ``(A) upon the commencement of such officers', 
                agents', and other component's personnel's employment;
                    ``(B) on an annual basis during such employment;
                    ``(C) during such officers', agents', or other 
                component's personnel's transition into supervisory 
                roles; and
                    ``(D) if feasible, shortly before such officer, 
                agent, or other component's personnel terminates his or 
                her employment with the Department, if such officer, 
                agent, or other component's personnel elects to 
                participate; and
            ``(8) include prevention and awareness training 
        opportunities and support services for families of agents, 
        officers, and other component personnel.
    ``(e) Data Collection and Evaluation.--
            ``(1) Assessment of effectiveness of law enforcement health 
        and wellness programs.--The Workplace Health and Wellness 
        Coordinator, under the direction of the Chief Medical Officer 
        of the Department--
                    ``(A) shall--
                            ``(i) develop criteria to assess the 
                        effectiveness of law enforcement health and 
                        wellness programs carried out by the 
                        Department;
                            ``(ii) conduct annual confidential surveys 
                        of law enforcement officers and agents within 
                        Department components to assist in evaluating 
                        the effectiveness of law enforcement health and 
                        wellness programs in accordance with the 
                        criteria developed pursuant to clause (i); and
                            ``(iii) ensure that the surveys conducted 
                        pursuant to clause (ii)--
                                    ``(I) incorporate leading practices 
                                in questionnaire and survey design and 
                                development; and
                                    ``(II) establish a baseline and 
                                subsequently measure change over time; 
                                and
                    ``(B) may utilize contractor support in carrying 
                out the duties described in subparagraph (A).
            ``(2) Recommendations.--The Chief Medical Officer of the 
        Department shall provide recommendations to Department 
        components based on the evaluation of programs and the results 
        of the surveys conducted pursuant to paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Incident reports.--Each Department component shall 
        report to the Workplace Health and Wellness Coordinator 
        incidents of suicide involving law enforcement officers and 
        agents, together with any data relating thereto consistent with 
        data collected under section 2(a) of the Law Enforcement 
        Suicide Data Collection Act (Public Law 116-143). The 
        Coordinator shall forward such information to the Law 
        Enforcement Officers Suicide Data Collection Program 
        established pursuant to such section.
            ``(4) Confidentiality; limitation.--
                    ``(A) Confidentiality.--Activities described in 
                paragraph (1) or reporting described under paragraph 
                (3) may not include the publication of any personally 
                identifiable information.
                    ``(B) Limitation.--Personally identifiable 
                information collected pursuant to paragraph (1) may not 
                be maintained or used for any purpose other than 
                implementation of this section, unless otherwise 
                permitted under applicable law. Any such personally 
                identifiable information that is so collected, 
                maintained, or used pursuant to this section is subject 
                to applicable public nondisclosure requirements, 
                including sections 552 and 552a of title 5, United 
                States Code.
    ``(f) Briefing.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section and annually thereafter through fiscal year 
2027, the Chief Medical Officer of the Department shall provide to the 
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a 
briefing regarding the implementation of this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 710 the following new item:

``Sec. 710A. Suicide prevention and resiliency for law enforcement.''.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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