Crisis-Response Workforce Training Act

Summary#

The 9–8–8 Crisis Response Workforce Act is a proposed bill that would amend the Public Health Service Act. Its stated goal is to expand behavioral health workforce training, including training for crisis response services. It is not law, and the bill gives no start date.

  • The Secretary of Health and Human Services would have to collect and publish data comparing crisis-service availability and need in health professional shortage areas, including counts of crisis call centers, mobile crisis units, stabilization facilities, and crisis-service professionals.
  • Fellowship training could cover crisis management services, including work at call centers, mobile crisis teams, and crisis receiving and stabilization facilities.
  • Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training grants could cover more crisis-response training, including certain remote programs with practicum hours and training for call, text, or chat responders.
  • The bill authorizes specified funding for fellowships and training grants, including amounts reserved for crisis workforce development. Authorization does not itself provide the money.

What it means for you#

  • People who use crisis services: The bill does not create a crisis service, guarantee access to one, or change how people contact or receive crisis care.
  • Training programs and behavioral health workers: Some programs and fields could become eligible for existing fellowship or training-grant support for crisis-response training. The bill does not require anyone to take that training or work in crisis services.
  • Federal health officials: The Secretary would have to collect and publish the specified data. The bill does not set a method or schedule for doing so.
  • Taxpayers: The bill authorizes federal spending, but Congress would still need to provide the funds.

Money#

The bill authorizes funding but does not itself appropriate it; no publicly available information on the bill’s estimated cost.

  • It authorizes $25 million per year for fiscal years 2023–2027 for the existing fellowship program, except for the new crisis-management fellowship category.
  • It authorizes $10 million per year for crisis-management fellowships for fiscal years 2027–2031.
  • It authorizes $50 million per year for workforce training grants for fiscal years 2026–2030, with set amounts for four grant categories.
  • It adds authorization for $10 million per year for crisis workforce development for fiscal years 2027–2031.

What is unclear#

  • The bill does not define “crisis management services” or explain which training programs would qualify.
  • It does not specify how the Secretary must measure “need,” how often data must be published, or how the data should be used.
  • It does not set application rules, award criteria, timelines, or appeals for fellowships or grants.
  • It does not say how the new training areas relate to current program rules. The Public Health Service Act provisions being amended were not supplied, so current eligibility and program details could not be verified.
  • The bill does not state when its requirements would take effect. Passage is uncertain.

Case for#

  • The bill appears intended to address gaps between the availability of crisis services and the need for them by requiring public data.
  • A possible argument for the training changes is that crisis services may need workers from several behavioral health fields and training settings.
  • Separate funding authorizations for crisis-related fellowships and workforce development could make more training support available if Congress provides the funds.

Case against#

  • The data requirement does not explain how need will be measured, so the resulting comparisons may not show whether services are adequate.
  • The bill authorizes funding but does not guarantee that Congress will provide it or that any particular program will receive an award.
  • It does not set award rules or require reporting on whether the added training improves workforce capacity or crisis-service access.
  • The bill expands training eligibility, but does not directly ensure that trainees will work in crisis services or that communities will gain services.