TBI and PTSD Law Enforcement Training Act
Bill: S.4286 | Sponsor: Sen. Ossoff, Jon (D-GA)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Law Enforcement Training Act or the TBI and PTSD Law Enforcement Training Act
This bill requires the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to consult with relevant agencies to establish crisis intervention training tools for first responders to address individuals with traumatic brain injuries, acquired brain injuries, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The BJA must ensure that at least one police department designated as a Law Enforcement Mental Health Learning Site utilizes the tools and that such tools are part of the Police-Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit.
Additionally, the bill requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study and report about the prevalence and incidence of concussions among first responders.

To direct the Attorney General to develop crisis intervention training 
 tools for use by first responders related to interacting with persons 
   who have a traumatic brain injury, another form of acquired brain 
   injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder, 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 ``Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder Law Enforcement Training Act'' or the ``TBI 
and PTSD Law Enforcement Training Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, approximately 2,900,000 emergency department 
        visits, hospitalizations, and deaths were related to traumatic 
        brain injury in the United States in 2014.
            (2) Effects of traumatic brain injury (referred to in this 
        section as ``TBI'') can be short-term or long-term, and include 
        impaired thinking or memory, movement, vision or hearing, or 
        emotional functioning, such as personality changes or 
        depression.
            (3) As of the date of enactment of this Act, between 
        3,200,000 and 5,300,000 persons are living with a TBI-related 
        disability in the United States.
            (4) About 7 or 8 percent of individuals in the United 
        States will experience post-traumatic stress disorder (referred 
        to in this section as ``PTSD'') at some point in their lives, 
        and about 8,000,000 adults have PTSD during the course of a 
        given year.
            (5) TBI and PTSD have been recognized as the signature 
        injuries of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
            (6) According to the Department of Defense, 383,000 men and 
        women deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan sustained a brain injury 
        while in the line of duty between 2000 and 2018.
            (7) Approximately 13.5 percent of veterans of Operation 
        Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom screen positive 
        for PTSD, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
            (8) About 12 percent of Gulf War veterans have PTSD in a 
        given year, while about 30 percent of Vietnam veterans have had 
        PTSD in their lifetime.
            (9) Physical signs of TBI can include motor impairment, 
        dizziness or poor balance, slurred speech, impaired depth 
        perception, or impaired verbal memory, while physical signs of 
        PTSD can include agitation, irritability, hostility, 
        hypervigilance, self-destructive behavior, fear, severe 
        anxiety, or mistrust.
            (10) Physical signs of TBI and PTSD often overlap with 
        physical signs of alcohol or drug impairment, which complicate 
        a first responder's ability to quickly and effectively identify 
        an individual's condition.

SEC. 3. CREATION OF A TBI AND PTSD TRAINING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.

    Part HH of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10651 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 2991 (34 U.S.C. 10651)--
                    (A) in subsection (h)(1)(A), by inserting before 
                the period at the end the following: ``, including the 
                training developed under section 2993''; and
                    (B) in subsection (o), by striking paragraph (1) 
                and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        to the Department of Justice to carry out this section 
        $54,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 2993. CREATION OF TBI AND PTSD TRAINING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this section, the Attorney General, acting through the 
Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in consultation with the 
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the 
Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall--
            ``(1) solicit best practices regarding techniques to 
        interact with persons who have a traumatic brain injury, an 
        acquired brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder from 
        first responder, brain injury, veteran, and mental health 
        organizations, health care and mental health providers, 
        hospital emergency departments, and other relevant 
        stakeholders; and
            ``(2) develop crisis intervention training tools for use by 
        first responders (as that term is defined in section 3025) that 
        provide--
                    ``(A) information on the conditions and symptoms of 
                a traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain injury, and 
                post-traumatic stress disorder;
                    ``(B) techniques to interact with persons who have 
                a traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain injury, or 
                post-traumatic stress disorder; and
                    ``(C) information on how to recognize persons who 
                have a traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain 
                injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
    ``(b) Use of Training Tools at Law Enforcement-Mental Health 
Learning Sites.--The Attorney General shall ensure that not less than 1 
Law Enforcement-Mental Health Learning Site designated by the Director 
of the Bureau of Justice Assistance uses the training tools developed 
under subsection (a)(2).
    ``(c) Police Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit.--The Attorney 
General shall make the training tools developed under subsection (a)(2) 
available as part of the Police-Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit 
provided by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.''.

SEC. 4. SURVEILLANCE AND REPORTING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS WITH TBI.

    Section 393C of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280b-1d) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Law Enforcement and First Responder Surveillance.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the 
        Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
        shall implement concussion data collection and analysis to 
        determine the prevalence and incidence of concussion among 
        first responders (as such term is defined in section 3025 of 
        title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 
        1968 (34 U.S.C. 10705)).
            ``(2) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
        the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary, acting through 
        the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
        and the Director of the National Institutes of Health and in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 
        Veterans Affairs, shall submit to the relevant committees of 
        Congress a report that contains the findings of the 
        surveillance conducted under paragraph (1). The report shall 
        include surveillance data and recommendations for resources for 
        first responders who have experienced traumatic brain 
        injury.''.
                                 <all>