Posted by: jgomori Posted date: December 16, 2022

On Dec. 14, Congress passed three bills that NAPO has long endorsed and made a year-end priority to get across the finish line. The Law Enforcement De-Escalation Training Act (S. 4003), the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Reauthorization Act (S. 3846), and the Help Find the Missing Act (S. 5230) are now on their way to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

The Law Enforcement De-Escalation Training Act, builds off of the existing Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne-JAG) structure to provide a dedicated stream of funding to local and State law enforcement agencies to train their officers—as well as mental health professionals working with those officers—in de-escalation tactics, alternatives to use of force, safely responding to mental or behavioral health crises, successfully participating on a crisis intervention team, and making referrals to community-based mental and behavioral health services and support and other social programs.

The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Reauthorization Act makes important improvements to the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP).

The Help Find the Missing Act closes loopholes in America’s missing persons systems.

For more details on these bills, please click on the Dec. 15, 2022 Washington Report below.