H.R. 3312

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3312 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3312

To authorize the Attorney General to make grants for the creation and 
operation of veterans response teams within law enforcement agencies, 
and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 8, 2025

Mr. Strong (for himself, Mr. Correa, Ms. Salazar, Mr. Ivey, Mr. Higgins 
of Louisiana, Mr. Valadao, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Tran, Mr. Davis of 
North Carolina, Mr. Scott Franklin of Florida, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, 
Mr. Goldman of New York, and Ms. Goodlander) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To authorize the Attorney General to make grants for the creation and 
operation of veterans response teams within law enforcement agencies, 
and for other purposes.

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 ``Supporting Every at-Risk Veteran In 
Critical Emergencies Act of 2025'' or the ``SERVICE Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. VETERAN RESPONSE TEAM PILOT PROGRAM.

(a) Grant Authorization.--The Attorney General, acting through the 
Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, is 
authorized to operate a pilot program to make grants to States, units 
of local government, and Indian Tribal governments, to support the 
creation and operation of veterans response teams in the law 
enforcement agencies of the jurisdiction, in accordance with subsection 
(b).
(b) Grants To Develop Veterans Response Teams.--
(1) Activities of a veterans response team.--A veterans 
response team may include a program that does the following:
(A) Provides law enforcement officers who are 
veterans with a pin that identifies the department of 
the Armed Forces in which the officer served, which the 
officer may wear while on duty.
(B) Uses the Veterans Re-Entry Search Service of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(C) Establishes a system of communication and 
information sharing with the Department of Veterans 
Affairs and other community resource agencies.
(D) Establishes a working relationship with the 
Veterans Justice Outreach specialist.
(E) Establishes a working relationship with the 
local justice system and veterans court, if applicable, 
including identifying veterans upon entry into the 
court system and local detention facility, with 
notification to the local Department of Veterans 
Affairs office for confirmation and appropriate 
services.
(F) Provides training and education for law 
enforcement officers on mental health issues related to 
military service, such as post-traumatic stress 
disorder, traumatic brain injury, depression, and 
anxiety.
(G) Meets regularly to discuss issues veterans are 
facing in the community, as well as suitable responses.
(H) Organizes coordinated and trained teams of 
first responders to respond 24 hours per day, and 7 
days per week, on a volunteer basis, to calls for 
assistance involving a veteran in crisis.
(I) Develops a plan to--
(i) measure the success of veteran response 
teams; and
(ii) track nationwide best practices on how 
veterans response teams provide law enforcement 
officers with essential information during and 
following veteran-involved incidents to which 
veterans response teams respond.
(J) Offers veterans who have come into contact with 
the veterans response team the opportunity to maintain 
ongoing contact with the veterans response team.
(2) Creation, hiring, and training of veterans response 
team.--The creation of a veterans response team within a law 
enforcement agency pursuant to a grant under this section may 
include doing the following:
(A) Identifying a law enforcement officer in the 
law enforcement agency who is passionate about and 
committed to forming a veterans response team, and will 
serve as the leader of such team.
(B) Identifying other law enforcement officers in 
the law enforcement agency who are interested and 
willing to participate on the veterans response team.
(C) Identifying and inviting interested community 
members to join the veterans response team, which may 
include members of veteran resource organizations, the 
local office of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 
regional veterans justice outreach program, other law 
enforcement agencies, fire and emergency medical 
services departments, hospitals, social work agencies, 
other entities within the justice system, nonprofit 
organizations, and other appropriate entities.
(D) Immersing veterans response team members in the 
veteran community by attending veterans events, 
responding to incidents involving veterans, as 
described in paragraph (1)(I), and making public 
appearances to further engage with veterans.
(E) Providing training on veterans experiencing 
crisis for individuals involved with the veterans 
response team, and for other law enforcement officers 
who are likely to come in contact with veterans.
(c) Termination.--The authority under this section shall terminate 
on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 
section.
(d) Reporting.--The Attorney General shall provide a report to 
Congress on the progress of the pilot program that includes the 
following:
(1) The number of applicants.
(2) The number of grants awarded.
(3) The average grant amount sought by an applicant.
(4) The average amount of a grant awarded.
(5) Any other information that the Attorney General 
determines to be appropriate.
(e) Funds.--Subject to the availability of appropriations, the 
pilot program under this section shall be carried out using funds made 
available for grants under part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.) for each 
of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
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