Mental health awareness training; law-enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency personnel. (HB1480)

Introduced By

Del. Gordon Helsel (R-Poquoson) with support from co-patrons Del. Kaye Kory (D-Falls Church), Del. Chris Peace (R-Mechanicsville), and Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D-Herndon)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Mental health awareness training; law-enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical services personnel. Requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) to establish and administer a mental health awareness program for training persons in emergency services professions in recognizing potential mental health issues and assisting themselves and each other with mental health issues. The bill requires DBHDS to create and administer a process by which a program not created by DBHDS can be certified as a qualified mental health awareness program. The bill requires law-enforcement officers, emergency medical services personnel, and firefighters other than volunteer firefighters to participate in a mental health awareness program created or certified by DBHDS once every two years. Read the Bill »

Outcome

Bill Has Failed

History

DateAction
12/13/2016Committee
12/13/2016Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17100561D
12/13/2016Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
01/13/2017Assigned Courts sub: Mental Health
01/18/2017Impact statement from DPB (HB1480)
01/27/2017Subcommittee recommends laying on the table
02/07/2017Left in Courts of Justice

Duplicate Bills

The following bills are identical to this one: SB1064.

Comments

JoAnne Norton writes:

Excellent bill. Mental awareness training will help immensely in helping both police and firemen in dealing with people with anxiety, etc.

JoAnne Norton writes:

This is an excellent bill. Any increased help in helping a person who is anxious, depressed, acting out, confused, etc. is very necessary.

Brad writes:

This is a very good, commonsense bill that will help emergency responders perform their jobs better. It has the potential to not only prevent tragic incidents, but also the loss of confidence in public servants resulting from such incidents.