Sponsors (19)
Introduced December 10, 2025 by Jill Tokuda · Last progress December 10, 2025
The bill extends formal recognition and federally supported mental-health services to a broader set of emergency responders (including 911 telecommunicators), improving access and moving toward national standards, but does so with modest new federal costs and risks of delayed implementation, limited grant scale/duration, and uneven service quality across jurisdictions.
Firefighters, EMS, law enforcement, public safety telecommunicators, and other qualified emergency responders gain 24/7 confidential mental-health care and prioritized outreach/education to reduce stigma and encourage treatment.
Public safety telecommunicators (911 dispatchers) and other responders are explicitly recognized as 'qualified emergency response providers', making them eligible for Stafford Act assistance and easier inclusion in preparedness/recovery programs and funding.
State and local governments, healthcare systems, and responders receive federal funding ($5M/year) plus required research and coordination to develop best practices and help standardize responder mental health care nationally.
Implementation timelines, required interagency coordination, and ambiguity about how new definitions interact with existing rules could delay services reaching responders.
Expanding who qualifies as a responder may increase demand on FEMA-funded programs and other federal/state resources, potentially stretching limited funds or shifting support away from other needs.
The small grant cap ($150,000) and short maximum grant terms (≤2 years) may limit the scale and continuity of mobile crisis services during major disasters, reducing effectiveness in large or prolonged events.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires HHS/SAMHSA to build within two years a 24/7 mental-health program (988 hotline, peer support, outreach, training, and research) for qualified emergency response providers.
Creates a federally led mental health and peer-support program for emergency responders and public safety telecommunicators. It adds definitions so telecommunicators are treated as emergency responders under disaster law, requires HHS/SAMHSA to build a 24/7 confidential mental-health system (including a hotline routed through 988), funds outreach/education and research on best practices, and requires a peer support counseling program using active and retired responders. The program must be developed and implemented within two years and coordinate with federal, state, and local partners.