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Authorizes a 5-year COPS Office pilot grant program to create Veterans Response Teams in State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies, funded under existing grant authority and subject to appropriations.
Official title: To authorize the Attorney General to make grants for the creation and operation of veterans response teams within law enforcement agencies, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 8, 2025 by Dale Strong · Last progress May 8, 2025
The bill funds local pilot teams, training, and grants to improve veterans' crisis response and build replicable models, but does so on a time-limited, annually appropriated basis and relies on law-enforcement engagement that raises criminalization and administrative-burden risks.
Veterans in participating communities will get specialized, coordinated 24/7 crisis response via local veterans response teams that connect them to VA services and courts, improving access to timely care.
Law enforcement officers (especially veteran officers) will receive training on veteran-specific mental health issues (e.g., PTSD, TBI), improving frontline recognition and response to veteran crises.
Local agencies (law enforcement and local governments) can receive grants to hire staff and purchase equipment, expanding local capacity to serve veterans in crisis.
Veterans and local programs face funding uncertainty because the program relies on annual appropriations for FY2026–FY2030, risking interruptions or limited scale-up.
Successful pilot programs could be left without long-term federal support after the five-year pilot period ends, jeopardizing sustained services.
Using law enforcement-based teams for some veteran behavioral-health crises could increase the risk of criminalization instead of treatment for veterans and others with mental health or substance-use issues.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a five-year pilot grant program, run by the Department of Justice’s COPS Office, to fund creation and operation of Veterans Response Teams in State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies. Grants may cover hiring, training, equipment, coordination with the VA, outreach, volunteer first-responder coordination, tracking outcomes, and partnerships; the program is funded through an existing Omnibus Crime Control grant authority and requires a Congressional progress report and a five-year termination.