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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6548 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6548
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Law
Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 10, 2025
Mr. Thompson of Mississippi (for himself and Mr. Garbarino) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the Law
Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``DHS Suicide Prevention and
Resiliency for Law Enforcement Act''.
SEC. 2. DHS SUICIDE PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT.
(a) In General.--The Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by
inserting after section 710 the following new section:
``SEC. 710A. SUICIDE PREVENTION AND RESILIENCY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT.
``(a) Department Components Defined.--In this section, the term
`Department components' means the following:
``(1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
``(2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
``(3) The Office of the Inspector General of the Department
of Homeland Security.
``(4) The United States Secret Service.
``(5) The Transportation Security Administration.
``(6) Any other Department component with law enforcement
officers or agents.
``(b) Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Program.--
``(1) Establishment.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall establish,
within the office overseen by the Chief Medical Officer
of the Department, the Law Enforcement Mental Health
and Wellness Program (in this section referred to as
the `Program') to provide a comprehensive approach to
address the mental health and wellness of Department
law enforcement officers and agents.
``(B) Administration.--The Secretary, working
through the Program, shall carry out the following:
``(i) Establish policies and standard
operating procedures, consistent with best
evidence-based practices, that detail the
authority, roles, and responsibilities of the
Program.
``(ii) Conduct data collection and research
on mental health, suicides, and, to the extent
possible, attempted suicides, of Department law
enforcement officers and agents, in accordance
with section 552a of title 5, United States
Code (commonly known as the Privacy Act of
1974), section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 (29 U.S.C. 791), the Department's
directives and policies, and section 2(a) of
the Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act
(Public Law 116-143).
``(iii) Track current trends and leading
practices from other governmental and
nongovernmental organizations for law
enforcement mental health and wellness.
``(iv) Evaluate current mental health and
resiliency programs within the Department
components.
``(v) Promote education and training
related to mental health, resilience, suicide
prevention, stigma, and mental health resources
to--
``(I) raise mental health
awareness; and
``(II) support to supervisors,
clinicians, care-givers, peer support
members, chaplains, and other
individuals.
``(vi) Establish a Peer-to-Peer Support
Program Advisory Council, which shall--
``(I) include at least one licensed
clinician and at least one official
with requisite and relevant training
and experience in peer support from
each Department component;
``(II) evaluate Department
component peer support programs;
``(III) identify and address any
potential deficiencies, limitations,
and gaps;
``(IV) provide for sharing of
leading practices or best practices,
including internationally recognized
peer support standards of care
protocols;
``(V) establish a peer support
network that enables the sharing of
trained peer support personnel,
chaplains, and other peer-to-peer
personnel across Department components;
and
``(VI) sustain peer support
programs through ongoing funding of
annual and refresher training and
resources for peer support programing
in the workplace to--
``(aa) ensure minimum
standards for peer support
services; and
``(bb) provide appropriate
care for peer support personnel
across Department components.
``(vii) Assist Department components in
developing a program to provide suicide
prevention and resiliency support and training
for the following:
``(I) Families of Department law
enforcement officers and agents.
``(II) Surviving families of such
officers and agents who have been lost
to suicide.
``(viii) Work with law enforcement mental
health and wellness program officials of
Department components (including peer support-
trained personnel, agency mental health
professionals, chaplains, and, for components
with employees having an exclusive
representative, the exclusive representative
with respect to such program) to implement new
policies, procedures, and programs that may be
necessary based on findings from data
collection, research, and evaluation efforts.
``(ix) Conduct regular outreach and
messaging, across Department components, of
available training opportunities and resources.
``(C) Confidentiality; limitation.--
``(i) Confidentiality.--Activities
described in subparagraph (C) may not include
the publication of any personally identifiable
information.
``(ii) Limitation.--Personally identifiable
information collected pursuant to subparagraph
(C) may not be maintained or used for any
purpose other than implementation of this
section, unless otherwise permitted under
applicable law. Any such personally
identifiable information that is so collected,
maintained, or used pursuant to this section is
subject to applicable public nondisclosure
requirements, including sections 552 and 552a
of title 5, United States Code.
``(D) Personnel.--
``(i) Management.--The Workplace Health and
Wellness Coordinator of the Department, under
the direction of the Chief Medical Officer of
the Department, shall be responsible for the
ongoing management of the Program.
``(ii) Minimum core personnel
requirements.--Subject to appropriations, the
Secretary shall ensure the Program is staffed
with the number of employees the Chief Medical
Officer of the Department determines necessary
to carry out the duties described in
subparagraph (C), including representatives
from each Department component and the Office
of the Chief Privacy Officer.
``(2) Directive.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this section, the Chief Medical Officer of the
Department shall carry out the following:
``(A) Issue a directive or policy that outlines the
roles and responsibilities of the Program.
``(B) Distribute such directive or policy among
Department components.
``(c) Coordination.--The Chief Medical Officer of the Department
shall require the Program to regularly coordinate with the Department
components by assigning at least one official from each such component
to the Program for the purpose of coordinating with field points of
contact who are responsible for carrying out duties within Department
mental health and wellness programs.
``(d) Department Components.--The Secretary shall require the head
of each Department component to prioritize and improve mental health
and wellness programs that--
``(1) provide adequate resources for law enforcement mental
health, well-being, resilience, and suicide prevention programs
and research;
``(2) promote a culture that reduces the stigma of seeking
mental health assistance through regular messaging, training,
and raising mental health awareness;
``(3) offer several avenues of seeking mental health or
counseling assistance, both within each such component and
through private sources that provide for anonymity and include
access to external mental health clinicians, service animals,
and any other appropriate, data-driven resources that improve
mental health;
``(4) review and revise relevant policies of Department
components that inadvertently deter Department law enforcement
officers and agents from seeking mental health or counseling
assistance;
``(5) ensure such programs include safeguards against
adverse or disciplinary action, including retaliation or
automatic referrals for a fitness for duty examination, by each
such component with respect to any Department law enforcement
officer or agent solely because such officer or agent self-
identifies a need for psychological health counseling or
assistance or receives such counseling or assistance;
``(6) implement policies that require in-person or live and
interactive virtual suicide awareness and law enforcement
resiliency trainings to be provided to Department law
enforcement officers and agents;
``(7) make such trainings available--
``(A) upon the commencement of the employment of
such Department law enforcement officers and agents
``(B) on an annual basis during such employment;
``(C) during the transition into supervisory roles;
and
``(D) if feasible, shortly before termination of
such employment if such officers and agents elect to
participate in such trainings; and
``(8) include prevention and awareness training
opportunities and support services for families of Department
law enforcement officers and agents, as well as other
Department personnel.
``(e) Data Collection and Evaluation.--
``(1) Assessment of effectiveness of law enforcement health
and wellness programs.--The Workplace Health and Wellness
Coordinator, under the direction of the Chief Medical Officer
of the Department--
``(A) shall--
``(i) develop criteria to assess the
effectiveness of law enforcement health and
wellness programs carried out by the
Department;
``(ii) conduct annual confidential surveys
of Department law enforcement officers and
agents to assist in evaluating the
effectiveness of such programs; and
``(iii) ensure that the surveys conducted
pursuant to clause (ii)--
``(I) incorporate leading practices
in questionnaire and survey design and
development; and
``(II) establish a baseline and
subsequently measure change over time;
and
``(B) may utilize contractor support in carrying
out the duties described in subparagraph (A).
``(2) Recommendations.--The Chief Medical Officer of the
Department shall provide recommendations to Department
components based on the assessment of law enforcement health
and wellness programs carried out by the Department and the
results of the surveys conducted pursuant to paragraph (1).
``(3) Incident reports.--Each Department component shall
report to the Workplace Health and Wellness Coordinator
incidents of suicide involving Department law enforcement
officers and agents, together with any data relating thereto
consistent with data collected under section 2(a) of the Law
Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act (Public Law 116-143).
The Coordinator shall forward such information to the Law
Enforcement Officers Suicide Data Collection Program
established pursuant to such section.
``(4) Confidentiality; limitation.--
``(A) Confidentiality.--Activities described in
paragraph (1) or reporting described under paragraph
(3) may not include the publication of any personally
identifiable information.
``(B) Limitation.--Personally identifiable
information collected pursuant to paragraph (1) may not
be maintained or used for any purpose other than
implementation of this section, unless otherwise
permitted under applicable law. Any such personally
identifiable information that is so collected,
maintained, or used pursuant to this section is subject
to applicable public nondisclosure requirements,
including sections 552 and 552a of title 5, United
States Code.
``(f) Briefing.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this section and annually thereafter through fiscal year
2027, the Chief Medical Officer of the Department shall provide to the
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a
briefing regarding the implementation of this section.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 710 the following new item:
``Sec. 710A. Suicide prevention and resiliency for law enforcement.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
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