I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8639 
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 
OCTOBER 20, 2020 
Ms. PORTER (for herself, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. 
LEE of California, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. 
KHANNA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. POCAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. CARSON of Indi-
ana, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. WELCH, Ms. 
MOORE, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. WILD, Ms. HAALAND, Mrs. 
BEATTY, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. 
RASKIN, Mr. AGUILAR, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, and Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 
addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 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 
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. 
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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 2020’’. 
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 
disabilities is a form of discrimination’’ prohibited by 
the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 
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(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 
could have been avoided if they had access to 
intensive community-based services and stable 
housing. 
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(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-
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-
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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 or another 
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 
the principles of de-escalation and anti-racism; 
(3) to ensure that such mental health profes-
sionals link persons described in subparagraph (A), 
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(B), or (C) of paragraph (1) with community-based 
services where appropriate; and 
(4) to train the staff of dispatch centers regard-
ing the proper handling of a report of an emergency 
described in paragraph (1). 
(b) DELEGATION.—The Secretary shall delegate re-
sponsibility for carrying out the Secretary’s responsibil-
ities under this section and section 4 to the Director of 
the Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance 
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 
(c) ADDITIONAL
AWARDS.—The Secretary shall 
make an additional award of funds under this section each 
fiscal year to grantees that demonstrate that their pro-
grams under this section resulted in— 
(1) a notable reduction in the incarceration and 
death of persons with mental illness or an intellec-
tual or developmental disability; or 
(2) a notable reduction in the use of force by 
police and a notable increase in referrals of persons 
with a mental illness or intellectual disability to com-
munity-based, voluntary support services (other than 
institutionalization carceral support services). 
(d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall give priority to States and polit-
ical subdivisions of States that— 
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(1) have high rates of arrests and incarceration 
of persons with a mental illness or an intellectual or 
developmental disability; or 
(2) commit to increasing resources for mental 
health and community-based support services or so-
lutions for such persons. 
(e) REPORTING.— 
(1) BY
GRANTEES.—A recipient of a grant 
under this section shall submit to the Secretary— 
(A) a quarterly report on— 
(i) the number and percentage of 
emergencies where mental health profes-
sionals were dispatched in lieu of law en-
forcement officers pursuant to assistance 
under this section; 
(ii) such other matters as the Sec-
retary may require for determining wheth-
er the recipient should receive an addi-
tional award under subsection (c); and 
(iii) any increase or decrease, com-
pared to any previous quarter, in incarcer-
ation or institutionalization as a result of 
dispatching mental health professionals 
pursuant to assistance under this section, 
disaggregated to include data specific to 
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persons with intellectual and developmental 
disabilities and mental illnesses where 
available, so as— 
(I) to provide a critical baseline 
analysis; and 
(II) to ensure that mental health 
practitioners are not simply funneling 
individuals into other institutionalized 
settings; and 
(B) a final report on the use of such grant. 
(2) BY
SECRETARY.—Not later than 1 year 
after awarding the first grant under this section, 
and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 
to the Congress a report on the grant program 
under this section. 
(f) REVOCATION OF GRANT.—If the Secretary finds, 
based on reporting under subsection (e) or other informa-
tion, that activities funded through a grant under this sec-
tion are leading to a significant increase in incarceration 
or institutionalization— 
(1) the Secretary shall revoke the grant; and 
(2) the grantee shall repay to the Federal Gov-
ernment any amounts that the grantee— 
(A) received through the grant; and 
(B) has not obligated or expended. 
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(g) FUNDING.—To carry out this section, there are 
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec-
essary for fiscal year 2021 and each subsequent fiscal 
year. 
SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR POLITICAL SUBDIVI-
SIONS OF A STATE. 
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 
through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and 
Substance Use and in consultation with the Assistant At-
torney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Depart-
ment of Justice, shall provide technical assistance to 
grantees under section 3 (or other Federal law), other po-
litical subdivisions of States, and States to hire, employ, 
train, and dispatch mental health professionals to respond 
in lieu of law enforcement officers, as described in section 
3. 
SEC. 5. STUDY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services and the Assistant Attorney General for 
the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice 
shall conduct a study of the effectiveness of programs and 
activities under sections 3 and 4. 
(b) QUALITATIVE
AND LONGITUDINAL EXAMINA-
TION.—The study under subsection (a) shall include a 
qualitative and longitudinal study of— 
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(1) the number of persons diverted from ar-
rests; and 
(2) short- and long-term outcomes for those 
persons, including reduced recidivism, reduced 
incidences of use of force, and reduced utilization of 
resources. 
(c) COMPLETION; REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services and the Assistant Attorney 
General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department 
of Justice shall— 
(1) complete the study under subsection (a); 
(2) submit a report to the Congress on the re-
sults of such study; and 
(3) publish such report. 
Æ 
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