[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3658 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3658
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through
the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to award
grants to States, territories, political subdivisions of States and
territories, Tribal Governments, and consortia of Tribal Governments to
establish an unarmed mobile crisis response program, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 29, 2025
Mr. Smith of Washington (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Khanna, Mr.
Case, and Ms. Strickland) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through
the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to award
grants to States, territories, political subdivisions of States and
territories, Tribal Governments, and consortia of Tribal Governments to
establish an unarmed mobile crisis response 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 ``911 Community Crisis Responders Act
of 2025''.
SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR UNARMED MOBILE CRISIS RESPONSE PROGRAMS.
Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act is amended by
inserting after section 552 (42 U.S.C. 290ee-10) the following new
section:
``SEC. 554. GRANTS FOR UNARMED MOBILE CRISIS RESPONSE PROGRAMS.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Assistant
Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, may award grants to
States, territories, political subdivisions of States and territories
(such as counties), Tribal Governments, and consortia of Tribal
Governments to establish an unarmed mobile crisis response program
under which nonviolent emergency calls are referred to unarmed
professional service providers for response, instead of to a law
enforcement agency.
``(b) Program Requirements.--An unarmed mobile crisis response
program funded under this section shall--
``(1) dispatch unarmed professional service providers in
groups of two or more in a timely manner;
``(2) be capable of providing screening, assessment, de-
escalation, trauma-informed culturally competent services,
engagement and referrals to community-based treatment
providers, and transportation to immediately necessary
treatment;
``(3) when necessary, coordinate with health, housing, or
social services;
``(4) not be subject to oversight of State, Tribal, or
local law enforcement agencies; and
``(5) clearly outline the scope of calls that must or may
be referred to the unarmed mobile crisis response program as
first responders.
``(c) Uses of Funds.--A grant under this section may be used for--
``(1) hiring unarmed professional service providers and
public safety telecommunicators;
``(2) training unarmed professional service providers to
respond to emergency calls by identifying, understanding, and
responding to signs of mental illnesses, physical disabilities,
developmental or intellectual disabilities, and substance use
disorders, including by means of--
``(A) de-escalation;
``(B) crisis intervention; and
``(C) connecting individuals to local service
providers, health care providers, housing providers,
community-based organizations, and the full range of
other available providers and resources, with a focus
on culturally competent service providers;
``(3) updating 911 response systems to enable triage
between nonviolent 911 calls and those that require a response
from law enforcement;
``(4) developing curriculum to train, and conducting
training of, public safety telecommunicators on de-escalation
and call processing;
``(5) coordinating with 9-8-8 call centers to establish a
process for dispatching an unarmed mobile crisis response
program;
``(6) building the capacity--
``(A) to coordinate with local trauma-informed
social service providers, health care providers, and
community-based organizations; and
``(B) to provide multilingual and culturally
competent services; and
``(7) collecting data for reports to the Secretary.
``(d) Application.--An applicant seeking a grant under this section
shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such
manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably
require, including the applicant's plan to train 911 public safety
telecommunicators to determine when a call requires a response from an
unarmed mobile crisis response program.
``(e) Reports to Secretary.--A recipient of a grant under this
section shall submit to the Secretary, on a biannual basis, a report on
the following:
``(1) The number of calls placed to 911 that were diverted
to the grantee's unarmed mobile crisis response program.
``(2) Demographic information on the individuals served by
the grantee's unarmed mobile crisis response program,
disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, sex, sexual orientation,
gender identity, location, mental illness, physical
disabilities, developmental or intellectual disabilities,
substance use disorders, and housing status.
``(3) The effects of the grantee's unarmed mobile crisis
response program on emergency room visits, hospitalizations,
use of ambulances, and involvement of law enforcement in mental
health or substance use disorder crises.
``(4) An assessment of the types of events and crises to
which the grantee's unarmed mobile crisis response program
responded and the services provided, including--
``(A) the number of individuals successfully
transferred to an alternative destination;
``(B) the time between notification by a public
safety telecommunicator and arrival at the scene by a
provider; and
``(C) the time spent by providers at scene.
``(5) A cost analysis of the grantee's unarmed mobile
crisis response program.
``(f) Reports to Congress.--The Secretary shall submit to the
Congress, on a biannual basis, a report on the program under this
section, including a summary of the reports submitted by grantees
pursuant to subsection (e).
``(g) Grant Amount.--The Secretary may make grants to applicants
that do not meet all of the criteria under subsection (b)(1), but
applicants that do not meet all such criteria may not receive the full
grant amount.
``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) The term `alternative destination'--
``(A) means any service- or care-providing site
other than a hospital emergency department or jail; and
``(B) includes an outpatient clinic, primary care
provider's office, crisis apartment, crisis home,
respite home, crisis stabilization center, urgent care
facility, and community care center.
``(2) The term `nonviolent emergency call' means a 911 call
that--
``(A) relates to mental health, homelessness,
addiction problems, social services, truancy,
intellectual and developmental disabilities, or public
intoxication; and
``(B) does not involve obvious violent behavior.
``(3) The term `unarmed professional service provider'
means a professional (which may include a nurse, social worker,
emergency medical technician, counselor, community health
worker, trauma-informed personnel, social service provider,
substance use disorder professional, or peer support
specialist) who--
``(A) is trained to deal with mental health or
substance abuse crises or intellectual and
developmental disabilities; and
``(B) does not carry a firearm.
``(i) Nondiscrimination.--No person in the United States shall, on
the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national
origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), or
disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits
of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity
funded, in whole or in part, with funds made available under this
section.''.
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