Mental Health Emergency Responder Act
Mental Health Emergency Responder Act would create a federal grant program to help local governments, tribal governments, EMS/fire departments, certified community behavioral health clinics, and certain nonprofits develop or expand crisis response systems that primarily rely on health professionals rather than police. Administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, the program would fund hiring and training, the creation of co-response teams that include both behavioral health professionals and emergency responders, and activities to educate communities about alternatives to police-led crisis response. It also allows EMS or clinician-led teams to become the primary responders to behavioral health crises, in a way that respects state and local law. The act includes guardrails to avoid expanding involuntary detention beyond what state law already permits, requires annual reporting from grant recipients, and prioritizes jurisdictions without non-law-enforcement crisis response programs or with limited capacities. Funding would be authorized for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
Key Points
- 1Establishment of a competitive grant program to expand non-law-enforcement behavioral health crisis response, administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use.
- 2Eligible recipients include local or tribal governments, regional EMS or fire departments, certified community behavioral health clinics, and nonprofits partnering with government or health authorities.
- 3Grant-funded uses include recruiting/training behavioral health professionals and paramedics, integrating co-response teams into 911 or 988 dispatch, community education about alternatives to police-led crisis response, custody-transfer protocols where allowed by state law, and establishing EMS or clinician-led mobile crisis teams as primary responders in lieu of law enforcement.
- 4Legal safeguards limiting scope: does not require changes to emergency detention/custody laws or authorize involuntary detention beyond what state law permits.
- 5Reporting and prioritization: recipients must submit annual outcome/diversion/community feedback reports; grants favor jurisdictions without non-law-enforcement crisis programs or with limited capacity; funding is authorized for 2026–2030.