1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Crisis Assistance and Resources in Emergencies for First Responders Act or the CARE for First Responders Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) According to the Department of Homeland Security, there are an estimated 4.6 million people serving as career and volunteer professionals in the United States within 5 primary response disciplines: law enforcement, fire and rescue services, emergency management, and public works. (2) First responders are usually the first on the scene to face challenging, dangerous, and draining situations. (3) First responders are also the first to reach out to disaster survivors and provide emotional and physical support to them. These duties, although essential to the entire community, are strenuous to first responders and with time put them at an increased risk of experiencing some mental health and substance use issues and conditions. (4) The combination of exposure to trauma, demanding schedules, and physically challenging roles puts first responders at an increased risk for mental health issues such as depression, post-traumatic dress disorder, stress, and suicidal behaviors. (5) According to a 2018 study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 30 percent of first responders develop behavioral health conditions including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, as compared with 20 percent in the general population. (6) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration finds that an estimated between 125 and 300 police officers die by suicide annually. (7) Data from the National Violent Death Reporting System indicates that first responders made up 1 percent of all suicides from 2015 to 2017. When broken down by response discipline, these first responder suicides occurred among law enforcement officers (58 percent), firefighters (21 percent), emergency medical services providers (18 percent) and public safety telecommunicators (2 percent). (8) According to the Firefighter Behavioral