Daniel J. Harvey Jr. and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2778 To require a pilot program on activities under the Transition Assistance Program for a reduction in suicide among veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 22, 2021 Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio (for himself, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, and Ms. JACOBS of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require a pilot program on activities under the Transition Assistance Program for a reduction in suicide among veterans, 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 ‘‘Daniel J. Harvey Jr. 4 and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition 5 to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2778.IH H2778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2778 IH SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON ACTIVITIES UNDER THE TRAN- 1 SITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR A REDUC- 2 TION IN SUICIDE AMONG VETERANS. 3 (a) PILOT PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary of 4 Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly 5 carry out a pilot program to assess the feasibility and ad- 6 visability of providing the module described in subsection 7 (b) and the services described in subsection (c) as part 8 of the Transition Assistance Program for members of the 9 Armed Forces participating in the Transition Assistance 10 Program as a means of reducing the incidence of suicide 11 among veterans. 12 (b) MODULE.—The module described in this sub- 13 section is a three-hour module under the Transition As- 14 sistance Program for each member of the Armed Forces 15 participating in the pilot program that includes the fol- 16 lowing: 17 (1) An in-person meeting between the cohort of 18 the member and a social worker in which the social 19 worker— 20 (A) counsels the cohort on specific poten- 21 tial risks confronting members after discharge 22 or release from the Armed Forces, including 23 loss of community or a support system, isola- 24 tion from family, friends, or society, identity 25 crisis in the transition from military to civilian 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2778.IH H2778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2778 IH life, vulnerability viewed as a weakness, need 1 for empathy, self-medication and addiction, im- 2 portance of sleep and exercise, homelessness, 3 and reasons why veterans attempt and complete 4 suicide; 5 (B) counsels members of the cohort who 6 have been diagnosed with physical, psycho- 7 logical, or neurological issues, such as post- 8 traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain in- 9 jury, adverse childhood experiences, depression, 10 and bipolar disorder, on— 11 (i) the potential risks for such mem- 12 bers from such issues after discharge or 13 release; and 14 (ii) the resources and treatment op- 15 tions afforded to members for such issues 16 through the Department of Veterans Af- 17 fairs, the Department of Defense, and non- 18 profit organizations; 19 (C) counsels the cohort about the resources 20 afforded to victims of military sexual trauma 21 through the Department of Veterans Affairs; 22 and 23 (D) counsels the cohort about the five 24 stages of grieving, the manner in which mem- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2778.IH H2778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2778 IH bers might experience grieving during the tran- 1 sition from military to civilian life, and the re- 2 sources afforded to them for grieving through 3 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 4 (2) The provision to each cohort member of 5 contact information for a counseling or other appro- 6 priate facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs 7 in the locality in which such member intends to re- 8 side after discharge or release. 9 (3) The submittal by cohort members to the 10 Department of Veterans Affairs (including both the 11 Veterans Health Administration and the Veterans 12 Benefits Administration) of their medical records in 13 connection with service in the Armed Forces, wheth- 14 er or not such members intend to file a claim with 15 the Department for benefits with respect to any 16 service-connected disability. 17 (c) SERVICES.—The services described in this sub- 18 section in connection with the Transition Assistance Pro- 19 gram for each member of the Armed Forces participating 20 in the pilot program are the following: 21 (1) Not later than 90 days after the discharge 22 or release of the member from the Armed Forces, a 23 contact of the member by a social worker or behav- 24 ioral health coordinator from the Department of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2778.IH H2778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2778 IH Veterans Affairs to schedule a follow-up appoint- 1 ment with a social worker or behavioral health pro- 2 vider at the facility applicable to the member under 3 subsection (b)(2) to occur not later than 90 days 4 after such contact. 5 (2) During the appointment scheduled pursuant 6 to paragraph (1)— 7 (A) an assessment of the member to deter- 8 mine the experiences of the member with events 9 during service in the Armed Forces that could 10 lead, whether individually or cumulatively, to 11 physical, psychological, or neurological issues, 12 including issues described in subsection 13 (b)(1)(B); and 14 (B) the development of a medical treat- 15 ment plan for the member, including treatment 16 for issues identified pursuant to the assessment 17 under subparagraph (A). 18 (d) LOCATIONS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The pilot program shall be 20 carried out at not fewer than 10 Transition Assist- 21 ance Centers of the Department of Defense that 22 serve not fewer than 300 members of the Armed 23 Forces annually that are jointly selected by the Sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2778.IH H2778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2778 IH retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Af- 1 fairs for purposes of the pilot program. 2 (2) MEMBERS SERVED.—The centers selected 3 under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent practicable, 4 be centers that, whether individually or in aggregate, 5 serve all the Armed Forces and both the regular and 6 reserve components of the Armed Forces. 7 (e) SELECTION AND COMMENCEMENT.—The Sec- 8 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 9 shall jointly select the locations of the pilot program under 10 subsection (d)(1) and commence carrying out activities 11 under the pilot program by not later than 120 days after 12 the date of the enactment of this Act. 13 (f) DURATION.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The duration of the pilot 15 program shall be five years. 16 (2) CONTINUATION.—If the Secretary of De- 17 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs rec- 18 ommend in the report under subsection (g) that the 19 pilot program be extended beyond the date otherwise 20 provided by paragraph (1), the Secretaries may 21 jointly continue the pilot program for such period 22 beyond such date as the Secretaries jointly consider 23 appropriate. 24 (g) REPORTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2778.IH H2778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2778 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 2 every 180 days thereafter during the duration of the 3 pilot program, the Secretary of Defense and the Sec- 4 retary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to 5 Congress a report on the activities under the pilot 6 program. 7 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by para- 8 graph (1) shall include the following: 9 (A) A description of the members of the 10 Armed Forces who participated in the pilot pro- 11 gram during the 180-day period ending on the 12 date of such report, broken out by the fol- 13 lowing: 14 (i) Sex. 15 (ii) Branch of the Armed Forces in 16 which served. 17 (iii) Diagnosis of, or other symptoms 18 consistent with, military sexual trauma, 19 post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic 20 brain injury, depression, or bipolar dis- 21 order in connection with service in the 22 Armed Forces. 23 (B) A description of the activities under 24 the pilot program during such period. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2778.IH H2778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2778 IH (C) An assessment of the benefits of the 1 activities under the pilot program during such 2 period to veterans and family members of vet- 3 erans. 4 (D) An assessment whether the activities 5 under the pilot program as of the date of such 6 report have reduced the incidence of suicide 7 among members who participated in the pilot 8 program within one year of discharge or release 9 from the Armed Forces. 10 (E) Such recommendations as the Sec- 11 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 12 Affairs jointly consider appropriate regarding 13 expansion of the pilot program, extension of the 14 pilot program, or both. 15 (h) TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM DEFINED.— 16 In this section, the term ‘‘Transition Assistance Program’’ 17 means the program of assistance and other transitional 18 services carried out pursuant to section 1144 of title 10, 19 United States Code. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2778.IH H2778 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS