Federal grants fund mental health responders to replace police in crises

What it does

This bill creates a federal grant program run by the Department of Health and Human Services to help local governments, fire departments, community health clinics, and nonprofits build or expand mental health crisis response teams that respond to behavioral emergencies WITHOUT relying primarily on police. Eligible entities can use grant money to hire and train mental health professionals, integrate them into 911/988 dispatch systems, and establish them as the first responders to mental health crises instead of police officers.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a straightforward federal grant program designed to fund local behavioral health crisis response infrastructure. It is a public-health investment in alternatives to police-led crisis response, with no hidden mechanisms or narrow beneficiaries.

What the text implies

• Grant prioritization for jurisdictions without existing programs may accelerate a national shift away from police-led mental health response, potentially creating pressure on police departments to reduce crisis-response roles.
• Reporting requirements (response outcomes, diversion rates, community feedback) will generate data on non-police crisis response effectiveness, which could inform future federal or state policy on police reform.
• The bill's definition of co-response teams permits peace officers to participate, meaning some funded programs may still include police—the 'do not rely primarily' language allows police involvement as secondary support.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Citizens experiencing behavioral health crises gain access to specialized mental health professionals trained to de-escalate and provide appropriate care, reducing unnecessary police involvement, arrest, and potential harm. The bill explicitly protects state authority over detention laws and does not mandate changes, making it a voluntary expansion of alternatives rather than a mandate.

Who stands to gain

• local and tribal governments
• regional emergency medical services agencies
• fire departments
• certified community behavioral health clinics
• nonprofit organizations

Named in the bill

Department of Health and Human Services, Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, local governments, tribal governments, emergency medical services agencies, fire departments, certified community behavioral health clinics, nonprofit organizations, 988 call dispatch, 911 dispatch

Where it stands

10 cosponsors: 10 Democrats.

• Oct 8, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Oct 8, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $340,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 104 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Yassamin Ansari, the sponsor, reported $234,033 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Psychological Association Services Inc.(fka American Psychological Assn — $340,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 16, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.