Ayotte Statement on the International Association of Chiefs of Police's Proposal to Train Officers in Mental Health First Aid

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte issued the following statement regarding the International Association of Chiefs of Police's (IACP) proposal to train all current and incoming police officers and other support staff in Mental Health First Aid. Ayotte introduced the bipartisan Mental Health First Aid Act of 2015 (S. 711), which would expand access to Mental Health First Aid training for law enforcement, first responders, teachers, and others in the community in order to help better understand, identify, and address mental health crisis situations safely and direct those in need to professional care.

"I commend the IACP's proposal to train all police officers in Mental Health First Aid, a critical tool that can help de-escalate crisis situations and help to ensure both the safety of our police officers and first responders, as well as citizens with mental illness who they may encounter. This training initiative is a positive step towards better recognizing and understanding the signs of mental illness. My bipartisan legislation-the Mental Health First Aid Act-would make this same training more accessible to police officers and first responders, as well as others in the community, thereby empowering individuals to better assist those who are struggling with mental illness and direct them to professional care. I continue to urge my colleagues in the Senate to pass this critically important legislation so that we can ensure first responders and others on the front lines have access to this critical training."

Companion legislation (H.R. 1877) to Ayotte's Mental Health First Aid Act passed the House of Representatives in September 2016. A version of Ayotte's legislation that is tailored to allow states and school districts to make this training available to school personnel was included as an amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act last summer and was subsequently signed into law as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114-95). Additionally, a modified version of the Mental Health First Aid Act was included in two separate pieces of mental health reform legislation-the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016 (S. 2680) and the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2015 (S. 1893), the latter of which previously passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

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