[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3195 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3195
To require the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs to review the records of former members of the Armed Forces who
die by suicide within one year of separation from the Armed Forces and
to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit a report on the
REACH VET program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 15, 2020
Mr. Cassidy (for himself and Mr. Tester) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs to review the records of former members of the Armed Forces who
die by suicide within one year of separation from the Armed Forces and
to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit a report on the
REACH VET program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Promoting Coordination for Veteran
Suicide Prevention Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. REVIEW OF RECORDS OF FORMER MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES WHO DIE
BY SUICIDE WITHIN ONE YEAR OF SEPARATION FROM THE ARMED
FORCES.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs shall jointly review the records of each former member
of the Armed Forces who died by suicide within one year of separation
from the Armed Forces during the five-year period preceding the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(b) Elements.--The review required by subsection (a) with respect
to a former member of the Armed Forces shall include consideration of
the following:
(1) If the Department of Defense had previously identified
the former member as being at risk for suicide and if that
identification had been communicated to the Department of
Veterans Affairs.
(2) What risk factors were present with respect to the
former member and how those risk factors correlated to the
circumstances of the death of the former member.
(3) If the former member was eligible to receive health
care services from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(4) If the former member received health care services,
including mental health care services, from a facility of the
Department of Veterans Affairs, including readjustment
counseling services, following separation from the Armed
Forces.
(5) If the former member had received a mental health
waiver during service in the Armed Forces.
(6) The employment status, housing status, marital status,
age, rank within the Armed Forces (such as enlisted or
officer), and branch of service within the Armed Forces of the
former member.
(7) If support services, specified by the type of service
(such as employment, mental health, etc.), were provided to the
former member during their period of separation from the Armed
Forces, disaggregated by--
(A) services furnished by the Department of
Defense, including through contracts;
(B) services furnished by the Department of
Veterans Affairs, including through contracts; and
(C) services not covered under subparagraph (A) or
(B).
(c) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to the
appropriate committees of Congress an aggregated report on the
results of the review conducted under subsection (a).
(2) Appropriate committees of congress defined.--In this
subsection, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(A) The Committee on Armed Services and the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) The Committee on Armed Services and the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of
Representatives.
SEC. 3. REPORT ON REACH VET PROGRAM OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit
to Congress a report on the REACH VET program.
(b) Elements.--The report required by subsection (a) shall include
the following:
(1) An assessment of the impact of the REACH VET program on
rates of suicide among veterans.
(2) An assessment of how limits within the REACH VET
program, such as caps on the number of veterans who may be
flagged as high risk, are adjusted for differing rates of
suicide across the country.
(3) A detailed explanation, with evidence, for why the
conditions included in the model used by the REACH VET program
were chosen, including an explanation as to why certain
conditions, such as bipolar disorder II, were not included even
though they show a similar rate of risk for suicide as other
conditions that were included.
(4) An assessment of the feasibility of incorporating
certain economic data held by the Veterans Benefits
Administration into the model used by the REACH VET program,
including financial data and employment status, which research
indicates may have an impact on risk for suicide.
(c) REACH VET Program Defined.--In this section, the term ``REACH
VET program'' means the Recovery Engagement and Coordination for
Health--Veterans Enhanced Treatment program of the Department of
Veterans Affairs.
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