[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 153 (Thursday, September 22, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5025-S5026]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 5627. Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr.
Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the
bill H.R. 7900, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. ___. LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS
GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Findings; Purpose.--
(1) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(A) Law enforcement and corrections officers routinely
respond to emergencies involving individuals suffering from a
mental health crisis.
(B) Recent statistics have shown that as many as--
(i) 1 in every 10 calls for police response involve a
person suffering from a mental illness;
(ii) 1 in every 4 people killed by police suffer from a
mental health problem; and
(iii) 1 in 3 people transported to a hospital emergency
room for psychiatric reasons are taken by the police.
(C) Law enforcement response calls to individuals suffering
from substance use disorder have increased during the current
opioid epidemic.
(D) There is a need to ensure that law enforcement officers
have access to proper evidence-based training in responding
to mental health crises.
(E) 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.
(F) Law enforcement and corrections officers in the United
States can better serve their communities if the officers
receive training to effectively and safely resolve the mental
health crises.
(2) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to provide
grants to State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies
and corrections agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis
response training for law enforcement officers and
corrections officers to--
(A) better train law enforcement officers and corrections
officers to resolve behavioral health crisis situations;
(B) reduce the number of law enforcement officers and
corrections officers killed or injured while responding to a
behavioral health crisis; and
(C) reduce the number of individuals killed or injured
during a behavioral health crisis in which a law enforcement
officer or corrections officer responds.
(b) Law Enforcement Training for Mental Health Crisis Grant
Program.--
(1) Reservation of funds.--Section 506 of title I of the
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C.
10157) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Of the total amount made available to carry out this
subpart for a fiscal year, the Attorney General may reserve
not more than $10,000,000 to carry out the program under
section 509.''.
(2) Law enforcement training for mental health crisis grant
program.--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.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 509. LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FOR MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS
GRANT PROGRAM.
``(a) Grants Authorized.--Subject to the availability of
appropriations, the Attorney General is authorized to award
grants to applicants for--
``(1) law enforcement officers or corrections officers to
receive training from a program; and
``(2) the cost of transportation and lodging associated
with law enforcement officers or corrections officers
attending such program.
``(b) Program Standards.--The Attorney General shall
establish and publish qualification standards for
organizations that provide programs.
``(c) Applications.--
``(1) In general.--The head 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 or corrections officers will complete;
``(ii) the total number of law enforcement officers or
corrections officers in the agency;
``(iii) the number of law enforcement officers or
corrections 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 or corrections
officers employed by the agency receive any behavioral health
crisis response training, including during basic 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 officers of the agency
during which behavioral health crisis response training could
have played a role in protecting the safety of--
``(I) the law enforcement officer or the public, including
the persons or persons the law enforcement officers
encountered; or
``(II) the corrections officer or inmates at the
correctional facility; and
``(ii) estimated cost of attendance of a program per
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.
``(f) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Applicant.--The term `applicant' means a law
enforcement agency or corrections agency that applies for a
grant under this section.
``(2) Attorney general.--The term `Attorney General' means
the Attorney General, acting through the Assistant Attorney
General for the Office of Justice Programs.
``(3) Grant funds.--The term `grant funds' means funds from
a grant awarded under this section.
``(4) Law enforcement agency.--The term `law enforcement
agency' means an agency of a State or unit of local
government 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.
``(5) Program.--The term `program' means a program or class
that--
``(A) provides instructional training to law enforcement
officers or corrections officers for response to a behavioral
health crisis, including response to people suspected to be
under the influence of a drug or psychoactive substance, and
response to circumstances in
[[Page S5026]]
which a person is suspected to be suicidal or suffering from
a mental illness;
``(B) includes training on techniques and strategies
designed to protect--
``(i) 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; or
``(ii) the health and safety of corrections officers and
inmates at the correctional facility, including the inmate a
corrections officer encounters during a behavioral health
crisis response, or in the normal course of business of
interactions with the inmate; and
``(C) is developed in conjunction with healthcare
professionals to provide crisis intervention training focused
on understanding mental and behavioral health, developing
empathy, navigating community resources, de-escalation
skills, and practical application training for officers.
``(6) Recipient.--The term `recipient' means an applicant
that receives a grant under this section.''.
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