I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1368 
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants 
to States and political subdivisions of States to hire, employ, train, 
and dispatch mental health professionals to respond in lieu of law en-
forcement officers in emergencies involving one or more persons with 
a mental illness or an intellectual or developmental disability, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 25, 2021 
Ms. PORTER (for herself, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. 
MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. TRONE, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 
WELCH, Mr. CARSON, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. KHANNA, 
Mr. POCAN, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. RYAN, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. 
LEVIN of California, Mr. LIEU, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. CON-
NOLLY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. JONES, Ms. WILD, Mr. DESAULNIER, 
Ms. MENG, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. CHU, Mr. RUSH, Ms. 
DEAN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. JACOBS of California, Ms. 
OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. TORRES 
of New York, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. OMAR, 
Ms. BUSH, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. 
EVANS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. JACK-
SON LEE, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. SPEIER, 
Mrs. HAYES, Mrs. DEMINGS, and Mr. LAWSON of Florida) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to award grants to States and political subdivisions of 
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States to hire, employ, train, and dispatch mental health 
professionals to respond in lieu of law enforcement offi-
cers in emergencies involving one or more persons with 
a mental illness or an intellectual or developmental dis-
ability, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mental Health Justice 
Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Needless institutionalization (including in 
psychiatric hospitals) of people with disabilities is 
generally a violation of the Americans with Disabil-
ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), and the 
failure to provide sufficient community-based serv-
ices (such as supported housing, assertive commu-
nity treatment, mobile crisis, peer support, and sup-
ported employment) has resulted in needless institu-
tionalization as well as incarceration of persons with 
mental illness or an intellectual or developmental 
disability. 
(2) In the landmark 1999 Supreme Court case 
Olmstead v. L.C., the Supreme Court ruled that the 
‘‘unjustified institutional isolation of persons with 
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disabilities is a form of discrimination’’ prohibited by 
the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 
(3) Regulations promulgated by the Attorney 
General in 1991 affirm that title II of the Ameri-
cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12131 
et seq.) requires public entities to ‘‘administer serv-
ices, programs, and activities in the most integrated 
setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individ-
uals with disabilities’’ (28 C.F.R. 35.130(d)). The 
regulation defines ‘‘the most integrated setting’’ as 
one that ‘‘enables individuals with disabilities to 
interact with nondisabled persons to the fullest ex-
tent possible’’ (28 C.F.R. pt. 35, App. B). 
(4) Yet today, persons with a mental illness or 
an intellectual or developmental disability are more 
likely to be incarcerated and to be subject to exces-
sive use of force by law enforcement officers: 
(A) One out of every four of the deaths 
caused by law enforcement officers is a person 
with mental illness. 
(B) Persons with a mental illness or an in-
tellectual or developmental disability are often 
charged with minor, nonviolent offenses. For 
many of these persons, arrest and incarceration 
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could have been avoided if they had access to 
intensive community-based services and stable 
housing. 
(5) Many of the police encounters that lead to 
the incarceration (and in too many cases, death) of 
people with mental illness or an intellectual or devel-
opmental disability could be avoided by having in 
place systems that ensure that calls to 911 or to law 
enforcement result in dispatch of mental health pro-
fessionals, peer support workers, or others rather 
than law enforcement officers. 
(6) Many people who are incarcerated would be 
better served in community services. If there were 
sufficient community services, and persons with 
mental illness or an intellectual or developmental 
disability were connected to those services rather 
than being arrested, thousands of people with men-
tal illness or an intellectual or developmental dis-
ability would avoid needless admissions to hospitals 
or jails. Further, jails and hospitals would experi-
ence less crowding. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TO 
ACT AS FIRST RESPONDERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec-
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retary’’), acting through the Assistant Secretary for Men-
tal Health and Substance Use and in consultation with 
the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Divi-
sion of the Department of Justice (in this section referred 
to as the ‘‘Assistant Attorney General’’), shall award 
grants to States and political subdivisions of States— 
(1) to hire, employ, train, and dispatch mental 
health professionals to respond in lieu of law en-
forcement officers in emergencies in which— 
(A) an individual calling 911, 988, or an-
other emergency hotline states that a person— 
(i) is in a mental health crisis; or 
(ii) may have a mental illness or an 
intellectual or developmental disability; 
(B) a law enforcement officer or other first 
responder identifies a person as having (or pos-
sibly having) a mental illness or an intellectual 
or developmental disability; or 
(C) a law enforcement officer or other first 
responder identifies a person as being (or pos-
sibly being) under the influence of a legal or il-
legal substance; 
(2) to include in the training for mental health 
professionals pursuant to paragraph (1) training 
in— 
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