,i #aaith ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #bicg ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,april #ag1 #bjbe,ms4 ,kelly of ,illinois 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,fitzpatrick1 ,mrs4 ,torres of ,california1 ,mr4 ,neguse1 and ,ms4 ,scholten7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,energy and ,commerce ,a ,,bill ,to require the ,secretary of ,health and ,human ,services to improve the detection1 prevention1 and treatment of mental health issues among public safety telecommunicators4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,providing ,resources and ,occupational ,training for ,emotional ,crisis and ,trauma in #iaa ,act or the ,,protect #iaa ,act4 #b4 ,best practices and other resources for addressing mental health in public safety telecommunicators 7a7 ,best practices ,the ,secretary shall-- 7#a7 develop and make publicly available evidence-based best practices to identify1 prevent1 and treat posttraumatic stress disorder and co-occurring disorders in public safety telecommunicators2 and 7#b7 periodically reassess and update1 as the ,secretary determines necessary1 such best practices4 7b7 ,development of resources for educating mental health professionals about treating public safety telecommunicators ,the ,secretary shall develop and make publicly available resources that may be used by the ,federal ,government and other entities to educate mental health professionals about-- 7#a7 the culture of emergency communications centers2 7#b7 the different stressors experienced by public safety telecommunicators2 7#c7 challenges encountered by retired public safety telecommunicators2 and 7#d7 evidence-based therapies for mental health issues common to public safety telecommunicators4 7c7 ,consultation ,in developing best practices under subsection 7a7 and resources under subsection 7b71 the ,secretary shall consult with-- 7#a7 public health experts2 7#b7 mental health experts with experience studying suicide1 posttraumatic stress disorder1 and other illnesses associated with job-related stress2 7#c7 clinicians with experience in diagnosing and treating mental health issues2 and 7#d7 relevant national nonprofit associations of public safety telecommunicators4 7d7 ,definitions 7#a7 ,emergency communications center ,the term emergency communications center means a facility that is designated to receive a #i-a-a request for emergency assistance and perform one or more of the following functions3 7,a7 ,process and analyze #i-a-a requests for emergency assistance and other gathered information4 7,b7 ,dispatch appropriate emergency response providers4 7,c7 ,transfer or exchange #i-a-a requests for emergency assistance and other gathered information with other emergency communications centers and emergency response providers4 7,d7 ,analyze any communications received from emergency response providers4 7,e7 ,support incident command functions4 7#b7 ,public safety telecommunicator ,the term public safety telecommunicator means a public safety telecommunicator as designated in detailed occupation #dc-ejca in the ,standard ,occupational ,classification ,manual of the ,office of ,management and ,budget 7#bjah71 or any successor designation4 #c4 ,grants for behavioral health and wellness programs within emergency communications centers ,part ,b of title ,,iii of the ,public ,health ,service ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #bdc et seq47 is amended by adding at the end the following3 #cbj;,c4 ,grants for behavioral health and wellness programs within emergency communications centers 7a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary shall award grants to ,state1 local1 and regional emergency communications centers and other eligible entities for the purpose of establishing or enhancing behavioral health and wellness programs4 7b7 ,use of funds ,an eligible entity receiving a grant under this section shall use funds received through the grant-- 7#a7 to establish evidence-based behavioral health and wellness programs for emergency communications centers to support public safety telecommunicators1 including programs dedicated to raising awareness of1 preventing1 and mitigating job-related mental health issues2 7#b7 to establish or enhance peer-support behavioral health and wellness programs2 7#c7 to acquire materials or instructors to provide such training2 and 7#d7 to disseminate such information and materials as are necessary to carry out a evidence-based behavioral health and wellness program4 7c7 ,definitions 7#a7 ,emergency communications center ,the term emergency communications center means a facility that is designated to receive a #i-a-a request for emergency assistance and perform one or more of the following functions3 7,a7 ,process and analyze #i-a-a requests for emergency assistance and other gathered information4 7,b7 ,dispatch appropriate emergency response providers4 7,c7 ,transfer or exchange #i-a-a requests for emergency assistance and other gathered information with other emergency communications centers and emergency response providers4 7,d7 ,analyze any communications received from emergency response providers4 7,e7 ,support incident command functions4 7#b7 ,other eligible entity ,the term other eligible entity means a nonprofit organization with expertise and experience with respect to the health and wellness of public safety telecommunicators1 including ,state1 local1 and regional #i-a-a authorities and ,state1 regional1 and national public safety communications associations4 7#c7 ,peer-support behavioral health and wellness program ,the term peer-support behavioral health and wellness program means programs that use public safety telecommunicators to serve as peer counselors or provide training to public safety telecommunicators to serve as such peer counselors4 7#d7 ,public safety telecommunicator ,the term public safety telecommunicator means a public safety telecommunicator as designated in detailed occupation #dc-ejca in the ,standard ,occupational ,classification ,manual of the ,office of ,management and ,budget 7#bjah71 or any successor designation4 4