Sponsors (20)
The bill would improve recognition, planning, and potential access to trauma-informed mental‑health supports for public safety personnel—especially via telehealth and Tribal inclusion—but mostly produces reports and proposals rather than guaranteed funding, risking unmet expectations, implementation costs for localities, and possible budgetary pressure.
Public safety officers and telecommunicators (police, firefighters, EMTs, 911 dispatchers) would gain access to evidence-based, trauma-informed care, peer support, counselor services, and family supports to prevent and treat job-related PTSD and acute stress.
Public safety agencies and communities would get formal recognition of elevated behavioral-health risks and clearer identification of capacity gaps, creating a stronger basis to seek DOJ/COPS funding, technical assistance, and targeted policy responses.
Requiring plans for remote/regional programs and both in-person and telehealth delivery could expand access—especially in rural, underserved, and Tribal areas—by enabling telehealth or shared regional services where local providers are scarce.
Law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs, and telecommunicators may see no immediate new services because the bill mainly requires studies/reports and recognition rather than guaranteed funding or mandates.
State and local governments could face coordination, administrative, or implementation costs if remote/regional program proposals are developed but not funded, straining local budgets.
The report could lead to new federal spending recommendations that increase annual appropriations and place pressure on the federal budget or require offsets that affect taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires DOJ/COPS to report within 150 days proposing a DOJ‑administered PTSD prevention/treatment program for public safety officers and telecommunicators, with draft authorization, confidentiality rules, admin plans, and cost estimates.
Official title: Require the Attorney General to propose a program for making treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder available to public safety officers, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 4, 2025 by Charles Ernest Grassley · Last progress June 15, 2026
Requires the Department of Justice, through the COPS Office, to produce a report within 150 days that proposes at least one DOJ‑administered program to prevent and treat job‑related post‑traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and acute stress disorder for public safety officers and public safety telecommunicators. The report must describe evidence‑based, trauma‑informed care options (including peer support, counseling, family supports, and telehealth), draft confidentiality and grant conditions, proposals for national administration, draft legislative authorization language, and an estimate of annual funding needed. Defines covered personnel by referencing existing statutory definitions for public safety officers (and adding Tribal public safety officers) and defines public safety telecommunicators, and grounds the proposal in findings about elevated behavioral‑health risks and gaps in access to mental‑health resources for first responders.