Federal funding for corrections officer mental health screenings and crisis referrals
H.R. 2305 — Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act of 2025 · Filed by Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) · 6 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 24, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a federal grant program to fund mental health screenings and referrals for corrections officers in prisons and jails. The Attorney General will distribute $50–70 million annually (2026–2030) to states and local governments to hire staff, develop screening surveys, and establish outreach teams that connect officers showing signs of severe mental illness to treatment providers. The bill is named after Blake Schwarz, a corrections officer who died by suicide.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward federal grant program to fund mental health screening and referral services for a specific occupational group (corrections officers) facing elevated suicide risk. It is not a regulatory carve-out, tax provision, or industry subsidy—it is direct public investment in occupational health.
What the text implies
- The bill requires mental health screening surveys to be 'anonymous and confidential,' but also mandates that eligible detention centers hire a 'mental health liaison staff member' to coordinate referrals. This creates potential tension between anonymity and follow-up outreach, and may require officers to disclose identity to receive referral services.
- The Advisory Board is tasked with 'identifying and neutralizing any impediment to self-reporting, including loss of job and benefits,' but the bill does not explicitly prohibit disciplinary action against officers who disclose mental health conditions. Protections against retaliation are implied but not statutory.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
mental health care providers and clinics; hospital systems offering mental health services; state and local government agencies (administrative capacity)