Govwatch

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8776 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8776

To require a report by the Attorney General on effective strategies and 
  best practices to reduce stigma related to mental health among law 
                         enforcement officers.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 13, 2026

 Ms. Gillen (for herself and Mr. Rutherford) introduced the following 
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To require a report by the Attorney General on effective strategies and 
  best practices to reduce stigma related to mental health among law 
                         enforcement officers.

    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 ``Officer Wellness and Peer Support 
Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. REPORT REQUIRED.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 270 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the 
Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, the 
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Director of 
the National Institute of Justice, shall submit to the Committees on 
the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of the Senate a 
report setting forth--
            (1) effective strategies and best practices to--
                    (A) reduce stigma related to mental health among 
                law enforcement officers;
                    (B) encourage law enforcement officers to access 
                mental health screening, peer-to-peer counseling, and 
                other resources related to mental health; and
                    (C) ensure the confidentiality of mental health 
                services, including peer-to-peer counseling, critical 
                incident stress debriefings, peer crisis lines, and 
                employee assistance programs, for law enforcement 
                officers; and
            (2) recommendations for action to implement such strategies 
        and best practices.
    (b) Consultation.--In preparing the report under this section, the 
Attorney General, the Director of the Office of Community Oriented 
Policing Services, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
and the Director of the National Institute of Justice shall consult 
with relevant stakeholders including--
            (1) Federal, State, Tribal and local law enforcement 
        agencies; and
            (2) professional law enforcement organizations, local law 
        enforcement labor and representative organizations, academic 
        organizations, mental health and suicide prevention 
        organizations, or such other entities as the Attorney General 
        may determine appropriate.
    (c) Definition.--For purposes of this Act, the term ``law 
enforcement officer'' means an individual involved in crime and 
juvenile delinquency control or reduction, or enforcement of the 
criminal laws (including juvenile delinquency), including, but not 
limited to, police, corrections, probation, parole, and judicial 
officers.
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Officer Wellness and Peer Support Act of 2026

Full Text
