# Safe to Tell Act of 2022

This bill creates a federal grant program to help states set up anonymous tip lines where students, staff, and community members can report school safety threats without revealing their identity. The goal is to catch potential dangers—like threats of violence, weapons, or other criminal activity—before they happen, while protecting people who come forward from retaliation or exposure.

Here's how it would work in practice: A state would need to pass its own law creating an anonymous reporting system with multiple ways to report (a phone hotline, a mobile app, and a website). Someone could call, text, or submit information online about a concerning situation at school—say, overhearing a student talking about bringing a weapon or seeing suspicious behavior—and the system would pass that information to police and school officials without revealing who reported it. The person's identity would be kept confidential even from the law enforcement officers and program staff handling the report, unless the person voluntarily chooses to identify themselves.

The federal government would offer up to $25 million per year (from 2023 through 2027) to states that create these programs. The money could be used to set up the infrastructure, train dispatchers and school staff on how to respond to reports, and run the hotlines 24/7. The bill also requires these programs to have safeguards—like preventing abuse of the system and ensuring that if someone's identity accidentally becomes known, it stays protected and isn't shared further.

This affects students, parents, school employees, and anyone in a community who might have information about a potential threat. The idea is to give people a safe way to report concerns without fear of being identified or facing consequences, while giving schools and law enforcement a tool to identify and prevent dangerous situations before they escalate.

Safe to Tell Act of 2022

McMorris Rodgers, Cathy

Safe to Tell Act of 2022 This bill authorizes the Department of Justice to make grants to states for establishing anonymous school threat reporting programs.