Sec. 2. Data system to capture national public safety officer suicide incidence
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The Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting before section 318 of such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 247c ) the following: The Secretary, in coordination with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies as the Secretary determines appropriate, shall— develop and maintain a data system, to be known as the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, for the purposes of— collecting data on the suicide incidence among public safety officers; and facilitating the study of successful interventions to reduce suicide among public safety officers; and integrate such system into the National Violent Death Reporting System, so long as the Secretary determines such integration to be consistent with the purposes described in paragraph (1).
In collecting data for the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, the Secretary shall, at a minimum, collect the following information: The total number of suicides in the United States among all public safety officers in a given calendar year. Suicide rates for public safety officers in a given calendar year, disaggregated by— age and gender of the public safety officer; State; occupation; including both the individual’s role in their public safety agency and their primary occupation in the case of volunteer public safety officers; where available, the status of the public safety officer as volunteer, paid-on-call, or career; and status of the public safety officer as active or retired.
In developing the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, the Secretary shall consult with non-Federal experts to determine the best means to collect data regarding suicide incidence in a safe, sensitive, anonymous, and effective manner. Such non-Federal experts shall include, as appropriate, the following: Public health experts with experience in developing and maintaining suicide registries. Organizations that track suicide among public safety officers. Mental health experts with experience in studying suicide and other profession-related traumatic stress.
Clinicians with experience in diagnosing and treating mental health issues. Active and retired volunteer, paid-on-call, and career public safety officers. Relevant national police, and fire and emergency medical services, organizations. In developing and maintaining the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, the Secretary shall ensure that all applicable Federal privacy and security protections are followed to ensure that— the confidentiality and anonymity of suicide victims and their families are protected, including so as to ensure that data cannot be used to deny benefits; and data is sufficiently secure to prevent unauthorized access.
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Helping Emergency Responders Overcome Act , and biannually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress on the suicide incidence among public safety officers. Each such report shall— include the number and rate of such suicide incidence, disaggregated by age, gender, and State of employment; identify characteristics and contributing circumstances for suicide among public safety officers; disaggregate rates of suicide by— occupation; status as volunteer, paid-on-call, or career; and status as active or retired; include recommendations for further study regarding the suicide incidence among public safety officers; specify in detail, if found, any obstacles in collecting suicide rates for volunteers and include recommended improvements to overcome such obstacles; identify options for interventions to reduce suicide among public safety officers; and describe procedures to ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of suicide victims and their families, as described in subsection (d)(1).
Upon the submission of each report to the Congress under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall make the full report publicly available on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In this section, the term public safety officer means— a public safety officer as defined in section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968; or a public safety telecommunicator as described in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the Standard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office of Management and Budget (2018).
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if an individual is identified as deceased based on information contained in the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, such information may not be used to deny or rescind life insurance payments or other benefits to a survivor of the deceased individual. .
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Sec. 2
Data system to capture national public safety officer suicide incidence
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