Lethal Means Safety Training Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1277 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to update the Lethal Means Safety and Suicide Prevention training course of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 21, 2021 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to update the Lethal Means Safety and Suicide Prevention training course of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lethal Means Safety 4 Training Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SUICIDE RISK MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTION 6 AND LETHAL MEANS TRAINING. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1277.IS S1277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1277 IS (1) INITIAL UPDATE.—Not later than 180 days 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 2 retary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with indi- 3 viduals and entities described in subsection (c), shall 4 update the Lethal Means Safety and Suicide Preven- 5 tion training course of the Department of Veterans 6 Affairs to ensure that it is culturally appropriate 7 and uses best practices identified by appropriate 8 subject matter experts. 9 (2) SUBSEQUENT UPDATES.—Not less fre- 10 quently than once each year, the Secretary shall up- 11 date the training course described in paragraph (1) 12 as appropriate, taking into consideration best prac- 13 tices, and publish a report on the internet website of 14 the Department that includes the percentage of indi- 15 viduals in each category described in paragraphs (2), 16 (3), and (4) of subsection (b) who completed such 17 training during the year covered by the report. 18 (b) TRAINING.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require 20 each employee described in paragraph (2) to take 21 the most recently updated version of the training 22 course described in subsection (a)(1)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1277.IS S1277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1277 IS (A) not later than 90 days after the date 1 such employee is initially hired by the Depart- 2 ment; and 3 (B) at least once every year thereafter. 4 (2) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—An employee de- 5 scribed in this paragraph is any of the following: 6 (A) An employee of the Veterans Health 7 Administration or Veterans Benefits Adminis- 8 tration who regularly interacts with veterans in 9 the course of performing the responsibilities of 10 the employee. 11 (B) A compensation and pension examiner, 12 including an employee of a contractor of the 13 Department who performs compensation and 14 pension examinations. 15 (C) An employee of a Vet Center or voca- 16 tional rehabilitation facility. 17 (3) COMMUNITY CARE PROVIDERS.—As a condi- 18 tion of furnishing care through a non-Department 19 provider under section 1703 of title 38, United 20 States Code, the Secretary shall require any em- 21 ployee of such provider who provides such care to 22 take the most recently updated version of the train- 23 ing course described in subsection (a)(1)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1277.IS S1277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1277 IS (A) not later than 90 days after the date 1 on which the Secretary first agrees to furnish 2 any such care through such provider; and 3 (B) at least once every year thereafter. 4 (4) CAREGIVERS.—As a condition of providing 5 support to a caregiver under section 1720G of title 6 38, United States Code, the Secretary shall require 7 the caregiver to take the most recently updated 8 version of the training course described in subsection 9 (a)— 10 (A) not later than 90 days after the date 11 on which the caregiver first receives support 12 under such section; and 13 (B) at least once every year thereafter. 14 (c) INDIVIDUALS AND ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—The 15 individuals and entities described in this subsection are 16 the following: 17 (1) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 18 ices, in consultation with the Director of the Na- 19 tional Institute of Mental Health, the Administrator 20 of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 21 Administration, and the heads of such other Federal 22 agencies as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs con- 23 siders appropriate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1277.IS S1277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1277 IS (2) Experts in the assessment, treatment, and 1 management of individuals at risk for suicide. 2 (3) Such professional associations as the Sec- 3 retary of Veterans Affairs considers appropriate. 4 (4) Federal firearms license dealers and in- 5 structors. 6 (5) Experts in lethal means safety counseling 7 practice and education. 8 (6) Mental Illness Research, Education, and 9 Clinical Centers of the Department of Veterans Af- 10 fairs. 11 (7) Veterans service organizations. 12 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall 13 make the training course described in subsection (a) pub- 14 licly available on an internet website of the Department. 15 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 (1) VET CENTER.—The term ‘‘Vet Center’’ has 17 the meaning given that term in section 1712A(h) of 18 title 38, United States Code. 19 (2) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION.—The 20 term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ means an orga- 21 nization recognized by the Secretary of Veterans Af- 22 fairs for the representation of veterans under section 23 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1277.IS S1277 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS