S. 666 — First Responders Wellness Act

This section establishes a national first responders mental health hotline to be maintained by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, not later than two years after enactment of the First Responders Wellness Act. The hotline must operate via a separate, widely recognizable toll-free number with 24/7 real-time voice and text support and bidirectional transfers to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline; be staffed by culturally competent first responder peer specialists or mental health services providers trained on first responder duties, stressors, trauma adaptation, and confidentiality; and provide peer support, brief interventions, and referrals for mental, behavioral, and substance use disorders to first responders (i.e., law enforcement officers, firefighters, rescue squad or ambulance crew members, public safety telecommunicators, and retirees) and their families or household members. (As background, first responders experience unique occupational trauma and stressors from emergency response work, and the hotline ensures specialized assistance integrated with existing crisis services.) The section further directs the Secretary to (1) consult with the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, Veterans Crisis Line, federal agencies, and first responder crisis hotlines on operations and awareness; (2) form partnerships with existing first responder helplines; (3) ensure 988 referrals of public safety personnel to the hotline; and (4) develop trauma-informed training standards for 988 personnel on first responder concerns, in coordination with mental health providers and first responder associations, not later than two years after enactment. The Secretary must submit annual reports to Congress evaluating hotline effectiveness, staffing needs, referral directories, and other data. The section authorizes appropriations of $10 million for each of FY2025 through FY2031.

This section expands the Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training program to authorize professional counseling services for qualified emergency response providers (i.e., firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical personnel, and similar personnel) responding to major disasters, in addition to victims of major disasters. (The program provides mental health counseling, including financial assistance to state or local agencies and private organizations, to relieve problems caused or aggravated by such disasters or their aftermath.)

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to issue a report not later than one year after enactment on best practices and recommendations to establish a new mobile health care delivery site providing integrated, short-term crisis services—(1) culturally and linguistically appropriate, (2) trauma-informed, and (3) incorporating disaster behavioral interventions—to qualified emergency response providers responding to a major disaster. It defines major disaster as in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122), major disaster area as in 20 CFR 625.2 (or successor regulations), and qualified emergency response providers as emergency response providers under section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101) and public safety telecommunicators.