Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB472 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 472
5	5	To require the Attorney General to propose a program for making treatment
6	6	for post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder available
7	7	to public safety officers, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	JANUARY24, 2023
10	10	Mr. J
11	11	OYCEof Ohio (for himself, Ms. ROSS, Ms. BROWN, and Mr. TURNER)
12	12	introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
13	13	Judiciary
14	14	A BILL
15	15	To require the Attorney General to propose a program for
16	16	making treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and
17	17	acute stress disorder available to public safety officers,
18	18	and for other purposes.
19	19	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
20	20	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
21	21	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
22	22	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fighting Post-Trau-4
23	23	matic Stress Disorder Act of 2023’’. 5
24	24	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
25	25	Congress finds the following: 7
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28	28	•HR 472 IH
29	29	(1) Public safety officers serve their commu-1
30	30	nities with bravery and distinction in order to keep 2
31	31	their communities safe. 3
32	32	(2) Public safety officers, including police offi-4
33	33	cers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, 5
34	34	and 911 dispatchers, are on the front lines of deal-6
35	35	ing with situations that are stressful, graphic, 7
36	36	harrowing, and life threatening. 8
37	37	(3) The work of public safety officers puts them 9
38	38	at risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder 10
39	39	and acute stress disorder. 11
40	40	(4) It is estimated that 30 percent of public 12
41	41	safety officers develop behavioral health conditions 13
42	42	at some point in their lifetimes, including depression 14
43	43	and post-traumatic stress disorder, in comparison to 15
44	44	20 percent of the general population that develops 16
45	45	such conditions. 17
46	46	(5) Victims of post-traumatic stress disorder 18
47	47	and acute stress disorder are at a higher risk of 19
48	48	dying by suicide. 20
49	49	(6) Firefighters have been reported to have 21
50	50	higher suicide attempt and ideation rates than the 22
51	51	general population. 23
52	52	(7) It is estimated that between 125 and 300 24
53	53	police officers die by suicide every year. 25
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56	56	•HR 472 IH
57	57	(8) In 2019, pursuant to section 2(b) of the 1
58	58	Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act 2
59	59	of 2017 (Public Law 115–113; 131 Stat. 2276), the 3
60	60	Director of the Office of Community Oriented Polic-4
61	61	ing Services of the Department of Justice developed 5
62	62	a report (referred to in this section as the 6
63	63	‘‘LEMHWA report’’) that expressed that many law 7
64	64	enforcement agencies do not have the capacity or 8
65	65	local access to the mental health professionals nec-9
66	66	essary for treating their law enforcement officers. 10
67	67	(9) The LEMHWA report recommended meth-11
68	68	ods for establishing remote access or regional mental 12
69	69	health check programs at the State or Federal level. 13
70	70	(10) Individual police and fire departments gen-14
71	71	erally do not have the resources to employ full-time 15
72	72	mental health experts who are able to treat public 16
73	73	safety officers with state-of-the-art techniques for 17
74	74	the purpose of treating job-related post-traumatic 18
75	75	stress disorder and acute stress disorder. 19
76	76	SEC. 3. PROGRAMMING FOR POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DIS-20
77	77	ORDER. 21
78	78	(a) D
79	79	EFINITIONS.—In this section: 22
80	80	(1) P
81	81	UBLIC SAFETY OFFICER.—The term ‘‘pub-23
82	82	lic safety officer’’— 24
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85	85	•HR 472 IH
86	86	(A) has the meaning given the term in sec-1
87	87	tion 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and 2
88	88	Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284); 3
89	89	and 4
90	90	(B) includes Tribal public safety officers. 5
91	91	(2) P
92	92	UBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATOR .— 6
93	93	The term ‘‘public safety telecommunicator’’ means 7
94	94	an individual who— 8
95	95	(A) operates telephone, radio, or other 9
96	96	communication systems to receive and commu-10
97	97	nicate requests for emergency assistance at 911 11
98	98	public safety answering points and emergency 12
99	99	operations centers; 13
100	100	(B) takes information from the public and 14
101	101	other sources relating to crimes, threats, dis-15
102	102	turbances, acts of terrorism, fires, medical 16
103	103	emergencies, and other public safety matters; 17
104	104	and 18
105	105	(C) coordinates and provides information 19
106	106	to law enforcement and emergency response 20
107	107	personnel. 21
108	108	(b) R
109	109	EPORT.—Not later than 150 days after the date 22
110	110	of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, acting 23
111	111	through the Director of the Office of Community Oriented 24
112	112	Policing Services of the Department of Justice, shall sub-25
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115	115	•HR 472 IH
116	116	mit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 1
117	117	the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep-2
118	118	resentatives a report on— 3
119	119	(1) not fewer than 1 proposed program, if the 4
120	120	Attorney General determines it appropriate and fea-5
121	121	sible to do so, to be administered by the Department 6
122	122	of Justice for making state-of-the-art treatments or 7
123	123	preventative care available to public safety officers 8
124	124	and public safety telecommunicators with regard to 9
125	125	job-related post-traumatic stress disorder or acute 10
126	126	stress disorder by providing public safety officers 11
127	127	and public safety telecommunicators access to evi-12
128	128	dence-based trauma-informed care, peer support, 13
129	129	counselor services, and family supports for the pur-14
130	130	pose of treating or preventing post-traumatic stress 15
131	131	disorder or acute stress disorder; 16
132	132	(2) a draft of any necessary grant conditions 17
133	133	required to ensure that confidentiality is afforded to 18
134	134	public safety officers on account of seeking the care 19
135	135	or services described in paragraph (1) under the pro-20
136	136	posed program; 21
137	137	(3) how each proposed program described in 22
138	138	paragraph (1) could be most efficiently administered 23
139	139	throughout the United States at the State, Tribal, 24
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142	142	•HR 472 IH
143	143	territorial, and local levels, taking into account in- 1
144	144	person and telehealth capabilities; 2
145	145	(4) a draft of legislative language necessary to 3
146	146	authorize each proposed program described in para-4
147	147	graph (1); and 5
148	148	(5) an estimate of the amount of annual appro-6
149	149	priations necessary for administering each proposed 7
150	150	program described in paragraph (1). 8
151	151	(c) D
152	152	EVELOPMENT.—In developing the report re-9
153	153	quired under subsection (b), the Attorney General shall 10
154	154	consult relevant stakeholders, including— 11
155	155	(1) Federal, State, Tribal, territorial, and local 12
156	156	agencies employing public safety officers and public 13
157	157	safety telecommunicators; and 14
158	158	(2) non-governmental organizations, inter-15
159	159	national organizations, academies, or other entities, 16
160	160	including organizations that support the interests of 17
161	161	public safety officers and public safety telecommu-18
162	162	nicators and the interests of family members of pub-19
163	163	lic safety officers and public safety telecommunica-20
164	164	tors. 21
165	165	Æ
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