Sponsors (10)
The bill focuses federal attention on improving mental-health care access for public safety personnel—particularly via reports, draft program designs, and telehealth—trading potential improvements in care and access for new fiscal and administrative costs and risks around confidentiality, program duplication, and uneven service reach in rural/Tribal areas.
Public safety officers and telecommunicators (police, firefighters/EMS, transportation workers, 911/dispatch) would gain access to evidence-based, trauma-informed treatment, peer support, counseling, and family supports for job-related PTSD and acute stress, improving mental-health outcomes for these high-risk workers.
State, Tribal, territorial, and local governments would be encouraged to establish remote or regional mental-health check and telehealth delivery programs, improving access in rural, Tribal, and underserved communities where local capacity is limited.
The required report would include draft grant conditions to protect confidentiality plus draft legislative language and cost estimates, which could reduce barriers to care for officers and give Congress concrete, actionable proposals to implement programs more quickly.
Taxpayers could face increased federal spending if Congress funds new programs recommended in the report, raising fiscal costs.
Officers may have raised expectations for services but receive no new funding or implementation, leaving needs unaddressed despite recognition.
If confidentiality protections are imperfect in grants or programs, officers may still fear career or disciplinary consequences and avoid using services, limiting program effectiveness.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Attorney General, through the COPS Office at DOJ, to deliver a report within 150 days proposing one or more DOJ‑administered programs to provide state‑of‑the‑art treatment and preventive care for job‑related PTSD and acute stress disorder for public safety officers and 911 telecommunicators. The report must include proposed program designs, draft grant conditions to protect confidentiality, analysis of delivery options (in‑person and telehealth) across State, Tribal, territorial, and local settings, draft legislative language to authorize the programs, and annual funding estimates. Defines covered personnel (police, firefighters, EMTs and Tribal counterparts, and public safety telecommunicators), requires consultation with a wide set of governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders, and emphasizes evidence‑based, trauma‑informed care, peer support, counselor and family supports in the proposed program(s).
Introduced March 4, 2025 by Charles Ernest Grassley · Last progress March 4, 2025