Mental Health Emergency Responder Act

This bill would create a competitive federal grant program, run by the Department of Health and Human Services, to help develop or expand behavioral health crisis response programs that do not rely mainly on law enforcement. Local and Tribal governments, emergency medical services agencies, fire departments, certified community behavioral health clinics, and nonprofits partnered with local governments could apply. Grant money could be used to hire and train behavioral health professionals and paramedics, connect response teams to 911 or 988 dispatch, and set up medical or clinician-led teams as primary responders to behavioral health emergencies where State and local law allows. Grant recipients would file annual reports, and priority would go to places without such programs or with limited ones. The bill authorizes such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Yassamin Ansari Democrat sponsor
• 10 cosponsors