Title: Law Enforcement Training for Mental Health Crisis Response Act of 2019
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Law Enforcement Training for Mental Health Crisis Response Act of 2019
This bill directs the Office of Justice Programs within the Department of Justice to award grants to law enforcement agencies for behavioral health crisis response training.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2698 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2698

    To provide grants to State, local, territorial, and tribal law 
   enforcement agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response 
                 training for law enforcement officers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 14, 2019

 Ms. Kendra S. Horn of Oklahoma (for herself and Mr. Gonzalez of Ohio) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide grants to State, local, territorial, and tribal law 
   enforcement agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response 
                 training for law enforcement officers.

    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 ``Law Enforcement Training for Mental 
Health Crisis Response Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Law enforcement officers routinely respond to 
        emergencies involving individuals suffering from a mental 
        health crisis.
            (2) Recent statistics have shown that as many as--
                    (A) 1 in every 10 calls for police response involve 
                a person suffering from a mental illness;
                    (B) 1 in every 4 people killed by police suffer 
                from a mental health problem; and
                    (C) 1 in 3 people transported to a hospital 
                emergency room for psychiatric reasons are taken by the 
                police.
            (3) Law enforcement response calls to individuals suffering 
        from substance use disorder has increased during the current 
        opioid epidemic.
            (4) There is a need to ensure that law enforcement officers 
        have access to proper evidence-based training in responding to 
        mental health crises.
            (5) Proper training for response to individuals suffering 
        from a mental health crisis can better protect the safety of 
        the general public and law enforcement officers.
            (6) Our Nation's law enforcement officers can better serve 
        their communities if they receive training to effectively and 
        safely resolve the mental health crises.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide grants to 
State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to obtain behavioral 
health crisis response training for law enforcement officers to--
            (1) better train law enforcement officers to resolve 
        behavioral health crisis situations;
            (2) reduce the number of law enforcement officers killed or 
        injured while responding to a behavioral health crisis; and
            (3) reduce the number of individuals killed or injured 
        during a behavioral health crisis in which a law enforcement 
        officer responds.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Applicant.--The term ``applicant'' means a law 
        enforcement agency that applies for a grant under section 4.
            (2) Attorney general.--The term ``Attorney General'' means 
        the Attorney General, acting through the Assistant Attorney 
        General for the Office of Justice Programs.
            (3) Chief law enforcement officer.--The term ``chief law 
        enforcement officer'' has the meaning given the term in section 
        922(s) of title 18, United States Code.
            (4) Grant funds.--The term ``grant funds'' means funds from 
        a grant awarded under section 4.
            (5) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the 
        meaning given the term ``Indian tribe'' in section 4 of the 
        Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
        U.S.C. 5304).
            (6) Law enforcement agency.--The term ``law enforcement 
        agency'' means an agency of a State, unit of local government, 
        or Indian Tribe that is authorized by law or by a government 
        agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, 
        investigation, or prosecution of any violation of criminal law.
            (7) Program.--The term ``program'' means a program or class 
        that--
                    (A) provides instructional training to law 
                enforcement officers for response to a behavioral 
                health crises, including response to people suspected 
                to be under the influence of a drug or substance, and 
                response to circumstances in which a person is 
                suspected to be suicidal or suffering from a mental 
                illness; and
                    (B) includes training on techniques and strategies 
                designed to protect the health and safety of law 
                enforcement officers and the public, including the 
                person or persons a law enforcement officer encounters 
                during a behavioral health crisis response.
            (8) Recipient.--The term ``recipient'' means an applicant 
        that receives a grant under section 4.
            (9) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
        Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251).

SEC. 4. GRANTS.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--The Attorney General shall award grants to 
applicants for--
            (1) law enforcement officers to receive training from a 
        behavioral health crisis response program; and
            (2) the cost of transportation and lodging associated with 
        law enforcement officers attending a program.
    (b) Program Standards.--The Attorney General shall establish and 
publish qualification standards for organizations that provide 
behavioral health crisis response programs.
    (c) Applications.--
            (1) In general.--The chief law enforcement officer of an 
        applicant shall submit to the Attorney General an application 
        that--
                    (A) shall include--
                            (i) a statement describing the program the 
                        law enforcement officers will complete;
                            (ii) the total number of law enforcement 
                        officers in the agency;
                            (iii) the number of law enforcement 
                        officers of the agency that have been killed, 
                        or seriously injured while responding to a 
                        behavioral health crisis during the 5-year-
                        period preceding the date of the application; 
                        and
                            (iv) whether the law enforcement officers 
                        employed by the agency receive any behavioral 
                        health crisis response training, including 
                        during basic police officer training; and
                    (B) in addition to the information required under 
                subparagraph (A), may, at the option of the applicant, 
                include information relating to--
                            (i) recent incidents involving law 
                        enforcement officers of the agency in which 
                        behavioral health crisis response training 
                        could have played a role in protecting the 
                        safety of the law enforcement officer or the 
                        public, including the person or persons the law 
                        enforcement officers encountered; and
                            (ii) estimated cost of attendance of a 
                        program per law enforcement officer.
    (d) Restrictions.--
            (1) Supplemental funds.--Grant funds shall be used to 
        supplement, and not supplant, State, local, and tribal funds 
        made available to any applicant for any of the purposes 
        described in subsection (a).
            (2) Administrative costs.--Not more than 3 percent of any 
        grant made under this section may be used for administrative 
        costs.
    (e) Reports and Records.--
            (1) Reports.--For each year during which grant funds are 
        used, the recipient shall submit to the Attorney General a 
        report containing--
                    (A) a summary of any activity carried out using 
                grant funds;
                    (B) the number of officers that received training 
                using grant funds; and
                    (C) any other information relevant to the purpose 
                of this Act that the Attorney General may determine 
                appropriate.
            (2) Records.--For the purpose of an audit by the Attorney 
        General of the receipt and use of grant funds, a recipient 
        shall--
                    (A) keep--
                            (i) any record relating to the receipt and 
                        use of grant funds; and
                            (ii) any other record as the Attorney 
                        General may require; and
                    (B) make the records described in subparagraph (A) 
                available to the Attorney General upon request by the 
                Attorney General.

SEC. 5. USE OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.

    Of the total amount appropriated to carry out the Edward Byrne 
Memorial Justice Assistance Grant under subpart 1 of part E of title I 
of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 
10151 et seq.) for each of fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022, 
$5,000,000 shall be used to carry out this Act for each such fiscal 
year.
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