I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3550 
To provide grants to enable nonprofit disability organizations to develop 
training programs that support safe interactions between law enforcement 
officers and individuals with disabilities and older individuals. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 18, 2023 
Ms. WILD (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. CASTEN) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide grants to enable nonprofit disability organizations 
to develop training programs that support safe inter-
actions between law enforcement officers and individuals 
with disabilities and older individuals. 
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 ‘‘Safe Interactions Act 
of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Individuals with disabilities are 2.5 times 
more likely to be victims of violent crime. 
(2) Individuals with disabilities are 3 times 
more likely to be victims of a serious crime. 
(3) Individuals with disabilities make up be-
tween one-third and one-half of all individuals killed 
by law enforcement officers. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 
The purposes of this Act are to— 
(1) authorize the Secretary to award competi-
tive grants to nonprofit disability organizations to 
administer enhanced training programs to law en-
forcement officers who may encounter or provide 
services to covered individuals, including— 
(A) individuals with mental health disabil-
ities, including schizophrenia; 
(B) individuals who are deaf, deaf-blind, 
hard of hearing, or blind, are autistic, or have 
other intellectual or developmental disabilities; 
(C) older individuals with dementia or 
other cognitive impairments; and 
(D) individuals with any other disability or 
chronic health condition; 
(2) support, not replace, other specialized law 
enforcement officer training; and 
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(3)(A) increase the awareness, knowledge, and 
understanding of law enforcement officers about cov-
ered individuals and their unique needs and applica-
ble Federal civil rights laws; 
(B) reduce incidences of violence between law 
enforcement officers and covered individuals; 
(C) expand the knowledge of law enforcement 
officers, in areas such as the signs of disabilities, 
identifying people with disabilities, communicating 
with people with disabilities, and effective ways to 
approach covered individuals to minimize situations 
of risk to— 
(i) those individuals; and 
(ii) the law enforcement officers who inter-
vene or provide services to those individuals; 
and 
(D) increase the knowledge of law enforcement 
officers of community resources available for covered 
individuals to ultimately limit interactions with law 
enforcement officers. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COVERED
GRANT.—The term ‘‘covered 
grant’’ means a grant awarded under section 5(a). 
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(2) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 
individual’’ means— 
(A) an older individual; or 
(B) an individual with a disability. 
(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means a nonprofit disability organization that 
has formed a partnership with a law enforcement 
agency or a consortium of law enforcement agencies 
to administer enhanced training programs to law en-
forcement officers of the agency or agencies on how 
to interact with covered individuals. 
(4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
(5) INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 
‘‘individual with a disability’’ means any individual 
who has a disability, as defined in section 3 of the 
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
12102). 
(6) INITIAL
TRAINING
PROGRAM.—The term 
‘‘initial training program’’ means a mandatory train-
ing program offered to new law enforcement officers 
during their orientation under section 5(d)(1)(A). 
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(7) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 
‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means any officer, agent, 
or employee of a State, political subdivision of a 
State, or Indian Tribe— 
(A) authorized by law or by a government 
agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, 
detection, or investigation of any violation of 
criminal law; or 
(B) authorized by law to supervise sen-
tenced criminal offenders. 
(8) NONPROFIT DISABILITY ORGANIZATION.— 
The term ‘‘nonprofit disability organization’’ means 
a nonprofit organization— 
(A) that serves covered individuals; and 
(B)(i) that is operated by a board of which 
the majority of members are covered individ-
uals; 
(ii) that has an advisory panel of which the 
majority of members are covered individuals; or 
(iii) the majority of the employees of which 
are covered individuals. 
(9) OLDER INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘older indi-
vidual’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
102 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 
3002). 
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(10) PARTNER ACADEMY.—The term ‘‘partner 
academy’’, with respect to an eligible entity that re-
ceives a covered grant, means a law enforcement 
training academy with which the eligible entity part-
ners to administer an initial training program, as 
described in section 5(b)(1). 
(11) PARTNER
AGENCY.—The term ‘‘partner 
agency’’, with respect to an eligible entity that re-
ceives a covered grant, means the law enforcement 
agency with which the eligible entity partners, or 
that is a member of a consortium with which the eli-
gible entity partners, to administer enhanced train-
ing programs to law enforcement officers of the 
agency on how to interact with covered individuals. 
(12) REFRESHER
TRAINING
PROGRAM.—The 
term ‘‘refresher training program’’ means a training 
program offered to existing law enforcement officers 
under section 5(d)(1)(B). 
(13) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award com-
petitive grants to nonprofit disability organizations to ad-
minister enhanced training programs to law enforcement 
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officers who may encounter or provide services to covered 
individuals. 
(b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a cov-
ered grant shall submit to the Secretary an application 
that— 
(1)(A) identifies a law enforcement training 
academy with which the eligible entity will partner 
to administer an initial training program; and 
(B) includes a memorandum of understanding 
entered into between the eligible entity and the law 
enforcement training academy; 
(2) describes the training program curriculum, 
which shall include training on how to interact with, 
identify, approach, and communicate with covered 
individuals that is provided, as of the date of sub-
mission of the application— 
(A) by the partner academy to new law en-
forcement officers; or 
(B) by any partner agency to existing law 
enforcement officers; 
(3) describes the learning objectives of the 
training programs that the eligible entity will admin-
ister using the grant; 
(4) describes the activities that will be carried 
out under the grant; 
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(5) includes a timeline of the activities de-
scribed in paragraph (4); and 
(6) demonstrates expertise in training related to 
covered individuals. 
(c) PREFERENCES.—In awarding covered grants, the 
Secretary shall ensure— 
(1) geographic diversity of grant recipients, in-
cluding grant recipients that serve rural localities; 
and 
(2) that the training funded by the grant is 
provided to multiple levels of law enforcement agen-
cies, including local, county, State, and Tribal agen-
cies. 
(d) USE OF FUNDS.— 
(1) MANDATORY USES.—An eligible entity that 
receives a covered grant shall use the grant funds 
to— 
(A) modify the training provided by the 
partner academy to new law enforcement offi-
cers of each partner agency so that the acad-
emy provides not fewer than 8 hours of training 
on topics such as how to interact with, identify, 
approach, and communicate with covered indi-
viduals and applicable Federal civil rights laws, 
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including not fewer than 4 hours of interactive 
learning taught by covered individuals; and 
(B) develop and implement an enhanced 
training program for existing law enforcement 
officers of each partner agency on safe, effec-
tive, and respectful interactions with covered in-
dividuals— 
(i) that includes— 
(I) awareness of and education 
about covered individuals, including— 
(aa) individuals with mental 
health 
disabilities, 
including 
schizophrenia; 
(bb) individuals who are 
deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing, 
or blind, are autistic, or have 
other 
intellectual 
or 
develop-
mental disabilities; 
(cc) older individuals with 
dementia or other cognitive im-
pairments; and 
(dd) individuals with any 
other disability or chronic health 
condition; 
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(II) escalation avoidance and de- 
escalation techniques to be used when 
interacting with covered individuals, 
including procedures a law enforce-
ment officer should follow to ensure 
the health and safety of a covered in-
dividual; and 
(III) communication strategies to 
be used when interacting with covered 
individuals, including individuals who 
do not use speech to communicate; 
(ii) that utilizes— 
(I) instructors who are covered 
individuals; or 
(II) guest instructors or speakers 
who are covered individuals; and 
(iii) in which each law enforcement of-
ficer participates not less frequently than 4 
hours every year. 
(2) OPTIONAL USES.—An eligible entity that re-
ceives a covered grant may use the grant funds to— 
(A) expand an existing training program 
regarding topics such as interacting with, iden-
tifying, approaching, and communicating with 
covered individuals that was provided to law en-
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