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]
[S. 1137 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






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.

    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. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SUICIDE PREVENTION AND 
              RESILIENCY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) In General.--Title VII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 710 the 
following:

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

    ``(a) Definitions.--
            ``(1) Department of homeland security component.--The term 
        `Department of Homeland Security component' means--
                    ``(A) U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
                    ``(B) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
                    ``(C) the Office of the Inspector General of the 
                Department of Homeland Security;
                    ``(D) the United States Coast Guard;
                    ``(E) the United States Secret Service;
                    ``(F) the Transportation Security Administration; 
                and
                    ``(G) any other Department of Homeland Security 
                component or office with law enforcement officers or 
                agents.
            ``(2) Program.--The term `Program' means the Law 
        Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program established 
        pursuant to subsection (b).
    ``(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, the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness 
                Program.
                    ``(B) Purpose.--The purpose of the Program shall be 
                to provide a comprehensive approach to address the 
                mental health and wellness of Department of Homeland 
                Security law enforcement agents and officers.
                    ``(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 law 
                        enforcement personnel within the Department of 
                        Homeland Security, 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 of Homeland Security's 
                        directives and policies, section 1128E of the 
                        Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a-7e), 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 Department of 
                        Homeland Security components;
                            ``(v) promote education and training 
                        related to mental health, resilience, suicide 
                        prevention, stigma, and mental health resources 
                        to raise mental health awareness and to support 
                        others the needs of supervisors, clinicians, 
                        care-givers, peer support members, chaplains, 
                        and those who have been exposed to trauma;
                            ``(vi) establish the Peer-to-Peer Support 
                        Program Advisory Council, which shall--
                                    ``(I) include at least 1 licensed 
                                clinician and at least 1 official with 
                                requisite and relevant training and 
                                experience in peer support for law 
                                enforcement personnel from each 
                                Department of Homeland Security 
                                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 of Homeland Security 
                                components; and
                                    ``(VI) sustain peer support 
                                programs through ongoing funding of 
                                annual and refresher training and 
                                resources for peer support programing 
                                in the workplace--
                                            ``(aa) to ensure minimum 
                                        standards for peer support 
                                        services; and
                                            ``(bb) to provide 
                                        appropriate care for peer 
                                        support personnel across 
                                        Department of Homeland Security 
                                        components;
                            ``(vii) assist Department of Homeland 
                        Security components in developing a program to 
                        provide suicide prevention and resiliency 
                        support and training for--
                                    ``(I) families of law enforcement 
                                agents and officers; and
                                    ``(II) surviving families of 
                                officers and agents who have died by 
                                suicide;
                            ``(viii) work with law enforcement mental 
                        health and wellness program officials of 
                        Department of Homeland Security components 
                        (which shall include 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 of Homeland 
                        Security components, of available training 
                        opportunities and resources.
                    ``(D) Confidentiality; limitation.--
                            ``(i) Confidentiality.--Actions 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 used for any purpose other than 
                        the implementation of this section unless 
                        otherwise permitted under applicable law. Any 
                        personally identifiable information that is 
                        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 that the Program is 
                        staffed with the number of employees that the 
                        Chief Medical Officer determines to be 
                        necessary to carry out the duties described in 
                        subparagraph (C), including representatives 
                        from each Department of Homeland Security 
                        component and the Office of the Chief Privacy 
                        Officer.
            ``(2) Directive.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of the DHS Suicide Prevention and Resiliency for 
        Law Enforcement Act, 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 
of Homeland Security components by assigning at least 1 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 of Homeland Security Components.--The Secretary 
shall require the head of each Department of Homeland Security 
component to prioritize and improve mental health and wellness 
programs, which may include other Department of Homeland Security 
component personnel, 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 Department of Homeland 
        Security 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 of 
        Homeland Security components that inadvertently deter personnel 
        from seeking mental health 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 training for law enforcement officers and agents;
            ``(7) make such training available, as appropriate, to 
        other personnel--
                    ``(A) upon the commencement of their employment 
                with the Department of Homeland Security;
                    ``(B) on an annual basis during such employment;
                    ``(C) during such employees' transition into a 
                supervisory role; and
                    ``(D) if feasible, shortly before the officer, 
                agent, or other Department of Homeland Security 
                component personnel terminates his or her employment 
                with the Department, if such individual elects to 
                participate; and
            ``(8) include prevention and awareness training 
        opportunities and support services for families of officers, 
        agents, and other Department of Homeland Security 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 develop criteria to assess the 
                effectiveness of law enforcement health and wellness 
                programs carried out by the Department;
                    ``(B) shall conduct annual confidential surveys of 
                law enforcement agents and officers within Department 
                of Homeland Security components to assist in evaluating 
                the effectiveness of law enforcement health and 
                wellness programs in accordance with the criteria 
                developed pursuant to subparagraph (A);
                    ``(C) shall ensure that the surveys conducted 
                pursuant to subparagraph (B)--
                            ``(i) incorporate leading practices in 
                        questionnaire and survey design and 
                        development; and
                            ``(ii) establish a baseline and 
                        subsequently measure change over time; and
                    ``(D) may utilize contractor support in carrying 
                out the duties described in subparagraphs (A) through 
                (C).
            ``(2) Recommendations.--The Chief Medical Officer of the 
        Department shall provide recommendations to Department of 
        Homeland Security components based on the evaluation of 
        programs and the results of the surveys conducted pursuant to 
        paragraph (1)(B).
            ``(3) Incident reports.--Each Department of Homeland 
        Security component shall report to the Workplace Health and 
        Wellness Coordinator incidents of suicide involving law 
        enforcement officers and agents and any data consistent with 
        data collected under section 2(a) of the Law Enforcement 
        Suicide Data Collection Act (Public Law 116-143). The Workplace 
        Health and Wellness 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 used for any purpose other than the implementation 
                of this section unless otherwise permitted under 
                applicable law. Any personally identifiable information 
                that is 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 the DHS Suicide Prevention and Resiliency for Law 
Enforcement Act, and annually thereafter through fiscal year 2027, the 
Chief Medical Officer of the Department shall provide a briefing to the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 
and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives 
regarding the implementation of the requirements described in this 
section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 710 the following:

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