Bill > S666

This bill establishes a comprehensive national mental health support system for first responders, including law enforcement officers, firefighters, rescue squad members, ambulance crew, public safety telecommunicators, and retired first responders. The bill creates a dedicated first responders mental health hotline that will operate 24/7, offering toll-free voice and text support, and will be staffed by culturally competent peer specialists and mental health professionals who understand the unique stressors of emergency response work. The hotline will provide peer support, mental health and substance use disorder assistance, and referral services, and will have the ability to transfer calls to other specialized crisis lines like the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Additionally, the bill requires the development of a trauma-informed training curriculum for crisis counselors, mandates an annual report to Congress evaluating the hotline's effectiveness, and authorizes $10 million in funding annually from 2025 to 2031. The bill also expands crisis counseling assistance to emergency response providers during major disasters and requires a report on establishing mobile healthcare delivery sites to provide integrated, culturally appropriate, and trauma-informed crisis services to emergency responders.

Health and Social Services

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/666/all-info