S. 4514Senate119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act of 2026

AI-Generated Summary

Updated May 19, 2026 at 3:12 AM UTC

The Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act of 2026 creates a federal grant program to help federal, state, and local prisons and jails provide mental‑health screenings and referrals for corrections officers. It directs the Attorney General to fund states, localities, and the Bureau of Prisons to develop screening surveys, hire liaison staff, and set up outreach teams that connect officers with mental‑health providers. The law also establishes an advisory board to oversee the grants and includes protections so officers seeking treatment are not penalized at work.

Key Provisions

The Attorney General must set up a grant program for states and localities to fund mental‑health screening surveys and referrals for corrections officers at eligible detention centers.
Grant recipients must develop or adopt a screening survey, hire a mental‑health liaison, and create an outreach team of providers and detention‑center staff to handle referrals.
The Bureau of Prisons must create a similar screening and outreach program for its own officers and submit an implementation plan to the advisory board.
An advisory board is created to manage the grant program, evaluate state/local plans, provide technical assistance, and enforce compliance.
A safe‑harbor provision protects officers who seek mental‑health treatment from adverse employment actions, such as fitness‑for‑duty evaluations.
Funding is authorized at $50 million for FY2026, increasing by $5 million each year through FY2030, with most of the money earmarked for the grant program and a small portion for the advisory board.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

May 13, 2026

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

May 13, 2026

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

May 13, 2026

Floor Debate

2 members

What members said about S. 4514 on the floor

2 Democrats

Sen. Tammy DuckworthD-IL · May 13, 2026

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act of 2026. This critical legislation honors the memory of an Illinoisan who should still be with us today by taking action to address a crisis unfolding inside our Federal, State and local correctional facilities in Illinois and across the country.

Blake Schwarz was a corrections officer at the Federal Correctional Institution in Thomson, IL. He was proud of the work he did every day to keep his community and his colleagues safe. In 2023, Blake died by suicide, leaving behind his wife Michelle and never getting the chance to witness the wonderful smile of his soon-to-be-born daughter. I am heartbroken that Michelle and her family must live with the aftermath of a loss that was preventable.

I had the privilege of sitting down with Michelle last year. She did not come to my office looking for sympathy. She came to make sure that Blake was not just a statistic. She came to make sure no other family in this country has to endure what hers has endured. The legislation I am introducing today is the direct result of her advocacy, the advocacy of Blake's colleagues at FCI Thomson, and the advocacy of law enforcement professionals across our country who refuse to let their colleagues feel abandoned to take on the struggles of mental health alone.

We ask our law enforcement officers to do a job that few Americans understand and even fewer are willing to do themselves. The job is extremely difficult and physically and mentally demanding. Corrections officers in this country die by suicide at a rate estimated to be as much as seven times higher than the rate for the general population. More than one in three corrections officers live with post-traumatic stress disorder, and far too often, corrections officers struggle with their mental health alone because of a culture that stigmatizes any perception of weakness and a fear that they will lose their job if they do seek treatment. This fear and stigma keep people silent.

The Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act gives corrections officers, who risk their lives every day, access to the mental health care they deserve that aids their critical work and prevents tragedies. With my legislation, corrections officers will have readily accessible mental health care both on and off duty. It also confronts the fear and stigma that keep officers silent by guaranteeing that an officer's badge will never be on the line because that public safety officer sought appropriate care for a mental health issue.

Blake Schwarz is gone, and nothing we do here will bring him back. But it is my honor and privilege to introduce this legislation to ensure that his name is attached not to another statistic but to a law that saves lives. I commend Michelle and all the dedicated men and women of FCI Thomson for their bravery, hard work, and steadfast advocacy. I urge every one of my colleagues to take Blake's story as a painful reminder that we must do better for our corrections officers and prevent future tragedies.

Sen. Richard J. DurbinD-IL · May 13, 2026

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued May 13, 2026

119th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 4514

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 13, 2026

Ms. Duckworth introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide funding to the Bureau of Prisons, States, and localities to carry out mental health screenings and provide referrals to mental health care providers for certain corrections officers.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Corrections Officer Blake Schwarz Suicide Prevention Act of 2026.

Definitions

In this Act:

(1)

Advisory Board

The term Advisory Board means the Advisory Board established pursuant to section 5(a).

(2)

Corrections officer

The term corrections officer means an officer or employee—

(A)

of any detention facility, including a prison or jail, operated by, or under contract with, a Federal agency; and

(B)

the job responsibilities of whom include providing for the custody of incarcerated individuals.

(3)

Eligible detention center

The term eligible detention center means—

(A)

any prison or jail administered by the Bureau of Prisons or a State; and

(B)

any jail administered by a State or locality.

(4)

Jail; prison

The terms jail and prison have the meanings given those terms in section 10 of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (34 U.S.C. 30309).

(5)

Jail or prison administrator

The term jail or prison administrator means an individual who has been appointed to a supervisory position in a Federal, State, or local jail or prison by the Federal Government, a State, or a locality.

(6)

Law enforcement officer

The term law enforcement officer means an officer of an entity administered by the Federal Government, a State, or locality that exists primarily to prevent and detect crime and enforce criminal laws.

(7)

Locality

The term locality means any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State.

(8)

Mental health care center

The term mental health care center means a facility, such as a hospital or private clinic, at which not less than 1 mental health care provider offers mental health services.

(9)

Mental health care provider

The term mental health care provider means—

(A)

a fully licensed professional or group of professionals who—

(i)

diagnoses mental health conditions;

(ii)

provides mental health treatment; and

(iii)

operates near an eligible detention center; and

(B)

includes a professional or group described in subparagraph (A) that provides mental health services at a hospital or private clinic.

(10)

Mental health screening survey

The term mental health screening survey means a mental health screening survey developed and administered by a State or locality pursuant to section 3(d)(1).

(11)

Mental illness

The term mental illness means a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder that—

(A)

results in serious functional impairment; and

(B)

substantially interferes with or limits major life activities.

(12)

State

The term State means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Grant program

(a)

Establishment

Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a grant program to award grants to States and localities to—

(1)

implement and administer mental health screenings to corrections officers at eligible detention centers; and

(2)

as applicable, refer corrections officers described in paragraph (1) to mental health care providers.

(b)

Application

(1)

In general

A State or locality seeking a grant under this section shall submit to the Attorney General an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Attorney General may reasonably require.

(2)

Contents

A State or locality submitting an application under paragraph (1) shall include in the application—

(A)

a description of and a plan for the use of amounts from a grant under this section, as described in subsection (c); and

(B)

an assurance that the State or locality will hire a mental health liaison staff member to coordinate among—

(i)

eligible detention centers;

(ii)

mental health providers;

(iii)

the Advisory Board; and

(iv)

the outreach team of the State or locality established pursuant to subsection (e).

(c)

Eligible projects

A State or locality receiving a grant under this section may use amounts from the grant only for the following:

(1)

To develop and administer the mental health screening survey.

(2)

To develop any technology necessary for an eligible detention center to provide the mental health screening survey.

(3)

To hire any staff necessary for an eligible detention center to provide the mental health screening survey.

(4)

To establish an outreach team pursuant to subsection (e).

(5)

To pay the salaries or overtime pay of members of the mental health outreach team established pursuant to subsection (e), including by providing direct funding to an eligible detention center to compensate staff members of the mental health outreach team.

(d)

Brief mental health screening survey

(1)

In general

A State or locality receiving a grant under this section shall develop or adopt a mental health screening survey, and administer a mental health screening survey, that—

(A)

is for corrections officers of eligible detention centers;

(B)

may be based on the questions and content of—

(i)

the standard mental health screening of the Employee Assistance Program of the Federal Bureau of Prisons; or

(ii)

the initial mental health screening standard of the Bureau of Prisons;

(C)

seeks to identify mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression;

(D)

asks an individual about—

(i)

the symptoms of mental illness the individual may be experiencing or has experienced; and

(ii)

any prior use of mental health-related medications or inpatient care;

(E)

identifies the place of residence of an individual;

(F)

is administered by a trained staff member at the applicable eligible detention center to all corrections officers; and

(G)

is anonymous and confidential.

(2)

Referral

(A)

Notification

If the responses of a correctional officer to the mental health screening survey indicate mental illness, the trained staff member administering the survey shall immediately notify the applicable mental health outreach team established pursuant to subsection (e).

(B)

Action by outreach team

Upon receiving a notification of a correctional officer with a potential mental illness under subparagraph (A), the applicable mental health outreach team established pursuant to subsection (e) shall—

(i)

refer the correctional officer to a local mental health care provider for—

(I)

further assessment and outreach; and

(II)

if necessary, admission to a mental health care center; and

(ii)

support the correctional officer in re-establishing ties with a mental health provider.

(e)

Outreach team

A State or locality receiving a grant under this section shall establish a mental health outreach team composed of—

(1)

mental health care providers;

(2)

if applicable, staff from an eligible detention center; and

(3)

a mental health liaison staff member that oversees the mental health outreach team.

Bureau of prisons

Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons shall—

(1)

establish a program to develop and administer mental health surveys meeting the requirement of mental health screening surveys described in section 2(d)(1) to corrections officers of the Bureau of Prisons;

(2)

establish and maintain an outreach team meeting the requirements of a mental health outreach team under section 2(e) to refer corrections officers to mental health care providers, as appropriate; and

(3)

submit to the Advisory Board a plan for the implementation of the program described in paragraph (1).

Advisory board on program implementation

(a)

Establishment

(1)

In general

Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish an Advisory Board to manage and administer the grant program under section 3.

(2)

Duties

The Advisory Board shall have responsibility for the following:

(A)

Evaluating and approving the plans submitted by a State or locality under section 3(b)(2)(A).

(B)

Ensuring that amounts from a grant under section 3 are used in accordance with section 3(c).

(C)

Monitoring plans submitted by the Bureau of Prisons in accordance with section 4(3) and advise the Attorney General on compliance to ensure that the Bureau of Prisons uses amounts appropriated to the Bureau of Prisons to carry out section 4.

(D)

Providing technical assistance to a State or locality to help with the implementation and administration of mental health screening and referral programs established by States and localities receiving a grant under section 3.

(E)

Creating a working group of mental health care providers, jail or prison administrators, law enforcement officers, and operators of existing mental health screening and referral programs to share best practices on how to create and implement mental health screening and referral programs that have the largest impact on reducing crime rates and improving employment and wage rates for individuals released from prison or jail.

(F)

Working in coordination with mental health outreach teams established pursuant to section 3(e) to ensure that the grant program under section 3 operates in accordance with that section.

(G)

Determining whether a State or locality receiving a grant under section 3 is not complying with the requirements of that section.

(H)

Mandating necessary changes for States and localities not complying with the requirements of section 3 and reducing grant funding to those States and localities if the States and localities do not make those changes.

(b)

Technical assistance

The Advisory Board shall—

(1)

provide technical assistance to—

(A)

the States and localities receiving a grant under section 3 in carrying out the requirements of the grant; and

(B)

the Director of the Bureau of Prisons in carrying out the requirements under section 4; and

(2)

identify evidence-backed models for the administration of mental health screening and referral programs that the Bureau of Prisons, States, and localities can look to when designing their own programs.

(c)

Membership

(1)

In general

The Attorney General shall appoint members to serve on the Advisory Board who have expertise in—

(A)

designing and administering employee mental health screenings and providing mental health referrals for employees;

(B)

mental health care within prisons or jails; or

(C)

mental health program evaluation using rigorous experimental and quasi-experimental statistical methods.

(2)

Number of members

The Attorney General—

(A)

shall appoint to the Advisory Board not less than 3 members; and

(B)

in addition to the members required under subparagraph (A), may appoint to the Advisory Board as many members as the Attorney General determines appropriate.

Safe harbor

A State or locality receiving a grant under section 3 and the Director of the Bureau of Prisons shall ensure that, with respect to a corrections officer experiencing a mental health issue, the corrections officer—

(1)

does not suffer an adverse employment outcome, including a fitness for duty evaluation as a result of the mental health issue while the corrections officer is seeking and receiving treatment for the mental health issue; and

(2)

determines the proper course of treatment in conjunction with the mental health care provider of the of the corrections officer.

Funding

(a)

Authorization

There is authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General to carry out this Act—

(1)

$50,000,000 for fiscal year 2026;

(2)

$55,000,000 for fiscal year 2027;

(3)

$60,000,000 for fiscal year 2028;

(4)

$65,000,000 for fiscal year 2029; and

(5)

$70,000,000 for fiscal year 2030.

(b)

Distribution of funds

Of the amounts made available pursuant to subsection (a), the Attorney General shall use—

(1)

90 percent to carry out sections 3 and 4, of which—

(A)

20 percent shall be for the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to carry out section 4;

(B)

20 percent shall be for grants to States under section 3; and

(C)

50 percent shall be for grants to localities under section 3;

(2)

5 percent for the Advisory Board to carry out section 5(a)(2); and

(3)

5 percent for the Advisory Board to carry out section 5(b).