H.R. 1902 — HERO Act

This section establishes the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System to collect data on suicide incidence among public safety officers (i.e., as defined in section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, or public safety telecommunicators under Standard Occupational Classification 43–5031) and to facilitate study of interventions to reduce such suicides. The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director, may develop and maintain the system—potentially integrating it into CDC's National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS, which tracks violent deaths including suicides)—with data collection at minimum including annual suicide totals and rates disaggregated by age, gender, state, occupation, volunteer/paid-on-call/career status, and active/retired status. The Secretary must consult non-Federal experts (e.g., public health and mental health specialists, public safety organizations, and officers) on sensitive, anonymous data collection methods and must ensure federal privacy protections to safeguard victim confidentiality and prevent denial of survivor benefits such as life insurance. Not later than two years after enactment and biannually thereafter, the Secretary must submit to Congress—and publicly post on the CDC website—a report with suicide numbers and rates (disaggregated as above), contributing factors, intervention options, study recommendations, volunteer data obstacles, and confidentiality procedures. Information from the system cannot be used to deny survivor benefits.

This section establishes a grant program under the Public Health Service Act authorizing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to eligible nonprofit organizations for establishing or enhancing peer-support behavioral health and wellness programs within fire departments and emergency medical services agencies. Such programs must (1) use career and volunteer members as peer counselors, (2) provide training to members to serve as peer counselors, (3) purchase materials exclusively for such training, and (4) disseminate necessary information and materials. This section also makes a technical correction to the amendment instructions in the Children’s Health Act of 2000.

This section establishes a grant program authorizing the Secretary to award grants to eligible entities—hospitals (including critical access hospitals and disproportionate share hospitals), federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), or other health care facilities—for establishing or enhancing behavioral health and wellness programs for health care providers. Such programs must (1) provide confidential support services, including counseling and wellness seminars, to help providers handle stressful or traumatic patient-related events; (2) train providers to serve as peer counselors; (3) purchase materials exclusively for such training; and (4) disseminate necessary information and materials for the training and peer counseling.

This section directs the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and national fire and emergency medical services organizations, to develop and make publicly available resources to educate mental health professionals about (1) the culture of Federal, State, Tribal, and local career, volunteer, and combination fire departments and emergency medical services (EMS) agencies; (2) stressors experienced by firefighters and EMS personnel, supervisory firefighters and EMS personnel, and chief officers; (3) challenges encountered by retired firefighters and EMS personnel; and (4) evidence-based therapies for mental health issues common to these groups. It defines (1) chief officer as any individual responsible for the overall operation of a fire department or EMS agency, regardless of whether they also serve as a firefighter or EMS personnel; (2) EMS personnel as defined in 34 U.S.C. 10284(7) (i.e., employees, regardless of rank or compensation); and (3) firefighter as any employee, regardless of rank or compensation, of a fire department responsible for responding to emergency calls.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and assemble evidence-based best practices and other resources to identify, prevent, and treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and co-occurring disorders in public safety officers, and to reassess and update them as necessary, including based on annual reports required under section 317W(e)(1)(F) of the Public Health Service Act (as added by section 2). In doing so, HHS must consult with public health experts, mental health experts experienced in suicide and profession-related traumatic stress, clinicians experienced in diagnosing and treating mental health issues, and relevant national police, fire, and emergency medical services organizations. HHS must make the best practices and resources available to federal, state, and local fire, law enforcement, and emergency medical services agencies and incorporate them into federal training and development programs for public safety officers, working with relevant federal departments and agencies including the U.S. Fire Administration. In this section, public safety officer means (1) an officer as defined in 34 U.S.C. 10284 (i.e., a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew) or (2) a public safety telecommunicator, as described in detailed occupation 43-5031 in the Standard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office of Management and Budget (2018).