[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.''.
                                 ______