Helping Heroes Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 622 To improve services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs for veteran families, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 2, 2023 Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. REED, Mrs. SHA- HEEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. KAINE, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To improve services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs for veteran families, 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 ‘‘Helping Heroes Act 4 of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 8 means the Department of Veterans Affairs. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S622.IS S622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 622 IS (2) DISABLED VETERAN.—The term ‘‘disabled 1 veteran’’ has the meaning given that term in section 2 4211 of title 38, United States Code. 3 (3) ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The term ‘‘eligible 4 child’’, with respect to an eligible veteran, means an 5 individual who— 6 (A) is a ward, child (including stepchild), 7 grandchild, or sibling (including stepsibling or 8 halfsibling) of the eligible veteran; and 9 (B) is less than 18 years of age. 10 (4) ELIGIBLE VETERAN.—The term ‘‘eligible 11 veteran’’ means a disabled veteran who has a serv- 12 ice-connected disability rated at 70 percent or more. 13 (5) FAMILY COORDINATOR.—The term ‘‘Family 14 Coordinator’’ means an individual placed at a med- 15 ical center of the Department pursuant to section 3. 16 (6) FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAM.—The term 17 ‘‘Family Support Program’’ means the program es- 18 tablished under section 4. 19 (7) NON-DEPARTMENT PROVIDER.—The term 20 ‘‘non-Department provider’’ means a public or non- 21 profit entity that is not an entity of the Department. 22 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 23 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S622.IS S622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 622 IS (9) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.—The term ‘‘sup- 1 portive services’’ means services that address the so- 2 cial, emotional, and mental health, career-readiness, 3 and other needs of eligible children, including— 4 (A) wellness services, including mental, 5 emotional, behavioral, and physical health and 6 nutritional counseling and assistance; 7 (B) peer-support programs for children; 8 (C) assistance completing college admission 9 and financial aid applications, including the 10 Free Application for Federal Student Aid de- 11 scribed in section 483(a) of the Higher Edu- 12 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1090), and accessing vet- 13 erans’ education benefits as defined under sec- 14 tion 480(c)(2) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087vv) 15 that eligible children may be eligible to receive; 16 (D) assistance with accessing workforce 17 development programs, including programs pro- 18 viding the activities authorized under section 19 129 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 20 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3164), and programs of 21 vocational rehabilitation services, including pro- 22 grams authorized under title I of the Rehabili- 23 tation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 720 et seq.); 24 (E) sports and recreation; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S622.IS S622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 622 IS (F) after-school care and summer learning 1 opportunities; 2 (G) dependent care, including home and 3 community-based services; 4 (H) other resources for low-income fami- 5 lies; 6 (I) assistance transitioning from active 7 duty in the Armed Forces to veteran status; 8 and 9 (J) any other services or activities the Sec- 10 retary considers appropriate to support the 11 needs of eligible children. 12 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR FAMILY COORDINATORS. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than three years after 14 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 15 shall— 16 (1) place at each medical center of the Depart- 17 ment not fewer than one Family Coordinator; and 18 (2) ensure adequate staffing and resources at 19 each such medical center to ensure Family Coordina- 20 tors are able to carry out their duties. 21 (b) FAMILY COORDINATORS.— 22 (1) EMPLOYMENT.—Each Family Coordinator 23 placed at a medical center of the Department under 24 subsection (a) shall be employed full-time by the De- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S622.IS S622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 622 IS partment as a Family Coordinator and shall have no 1 other duties in addition to the duties of a Family 2 Coordinator. 3 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—To qualify to be a 5 Family Coordinator under subsection (a), an in- 6 dividual shall— 7 (i) be a social worker licensed, reg- 8 istered, or certified in accordance with the 9 requirements of any State; and 10 (ii) have a graduate degree in social 11 work or a related field. 12 (B) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive 13 the qualifications required by subparagraph (A) 14 to permit individuals in other professions to 15 serve as Family Coordinators. 16 (3) DUTIES.—Each Family Coordinator shall— 17 (A) assess the needs of the families of vet- 18 erans using evidence-based strategies; 19 (B) build positive relationships with such 20 families; 21 (C) refer veterans to local, State, and Fed- 22 eral resources that support veterans and their 23 families; 24 (D) develop and maintain a list of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S622.IS S622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 622 IS (i) supportive services offered by the 1 medical center at which the Family Coordi- 2 nator is placed; and 3 (ii) supportive services offered at re- 4 duced or no cost by non-Department pro- 5 viders located in the catchment area of 6 such medical center; and 7 (E) develop and maintain on an internet 8 website a list of family resources that shall be 9 made available for all veterans in the catchment 10 area of such medical center who are enrolled in 11 the patient enrollment system of the Depart- 12 ment established and operated under section 13 1705(a) of title 38, United States Code. 14 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF FAMILY SUPPORT PROGRAM. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es- 17 tablish a program to be known as the Family Support Pro- 18 gram to provide and coordinate the provision of supportive 19 services to eligible veterans and eligible children. 20 (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF FAMILY SUPPORT PRO- 21 GRAM.—To carry out the Family Support Program, the 22 Secretary shall— 23 (1) provide supportive services through medical 24 centers of the Department; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S622.IS S622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 622 IS (2) collaborate with relevant Federal agencies 1 to provide supportive services; 2 (3) provide funding to non-Department pro- 3 viders pursuant to subsection (c); and 4 (4) engage in any other activities the Secretary 5 considers appropriate. 6 (c) FUNDING TO NON-DEPARTMENT PROVIDERS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter 8 into contracts and award grants to provide funding 9 to eligible non-Department providers to participate 10 in the Family Support Program. 11 (2) ELIGIBILITY.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es- 13 tablish and make publicly available the criteria 14 for a non-Department provider to be eligible to 15 participate in the Family Support Program. 16 (B) CRITERIA.—The criteria required by 17 subparagraph (A) shall include requirements for 18 a non-Department provider— 19 (i) to provide a description of— 20 (I) each supportive service pro- 21 posed to be provided to eligible chil- 22 dren; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S622.IS S622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 622 IS (II) the demonstrated record of 1 the non-Department provider in pro- 2 viding such supportive service; 3 (ii) to demonstrate the ability to serve 4 families of veterans in a manner that is 5 trauma-informed and culturally and lin- 6 guistically appropriate; and 7 (iii) to agree to oversight by the Sec- 8 retary regarding— 9 (I) the use of funds provided by 10 the Department under this subsection; 11 and 12 (II) the quality of supportive 13 services provided. 14 (3) NOTICE.—The Secretary shall promptly 15 provide to eligible non-Department providers selected 16 by the Secretary to participate in the Family Sup- 17 port Program notice of the award of funds under 18 this subsection to ensure such providers have suffi- 19 cient time to prepare to provide supportive services 20 under the Family Support Program. 21 (4) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Funds provided 22 under this subsection shall be used to provide sup- 23 portive services. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S622.IS S622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 622 IS (5) TRAINING.—For each non-Department pro- 1 vider selected by the Secretary to participant in the 2 Family Support Program, the Secretary shall offer 3 training and technical assistance regarding the plan- 4 ning, development, and provision of supportive serv- 5 ices under the Family Support Program. 6 (d) COORDINATION WITH OTHER DEPARTMENT OF 7 VETERANS AFFAIRS PROGRAMS.—The Secretary shall 8 share best practices with and facilitate referrals of eligible 9 veterans and their families, as appropriate, from the Fam- 10 ily Support Program to other programs of the Depart- 11 ment, such as the program of support services for care- 12 givers of veterans under section 1720G(b) of title 38, 13 United States Code. 14 (e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 15 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than one year 16 after the date of the commencement of the Family 17 Support Program, and annually thereafter, each 18 non-Department provider in receipt of funds under 19 the Family Support Program shall submit to the 20 Secretary a report describing the supportive services 21 carried out with such funds during the year covered 22 by such report. 23 (2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S622.IS S622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 622 IS (A) REPORT ON ADDITIONAL RE- 1 SOURCES.—Not later than 90 days after the 2 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 3 shall submit to Congress a report on the poten- 4 tial need for additional resources for family 5 members of eligible veterans other than eligible 6 children. 7 (B) REPORT ON PROGRESS.— 8 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one 9 year after the commencement of the Fam- 10 ily Support Program, the Secretary shall 11 submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Af- 12 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on 13 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep- 14 resentatives a report on the progress of the 15 Family Support Program. 16 (ii) CONTENTS.—The report required 17 by clause (i) shall include— 18 (I) the number of eligible vet- 19 erans and eligible children who re- 20 ceived supportive services under the 21 Family Support Program; 22 (II) the demographic data of eli- 23 gible veterans and family members, 24 including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S622.IS S622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 622 IS (aa) the relationship to the 1 eligible veteran; 2 (bb) age; 3 (cc) race; 4 (dd) ethnicity; 5 (ee) gender identity; 6 (ff) sexual orientation; 7 (gg) disability; and 8 (hh) English proficiency and 9 whether a language other than 10 English is spoken at home; 11 (III) a summary of the sup- 12 portive services carried out under the 13 Family Support Program and the 14 costs to the Department of such sup- 15 portive services; and 16 (IV) an assessment, measured by 17 a survey of participants, of whether 18 participation in the Family Support 19 Program resulted in positive outcomes 20 for eligible veterans and eligible chil- 21 dren. 22 SEC. 5. OUTREACH ON AVAILABILITY OF SERVICES. 23 The Secretary shall conduct an outreach program to 24 ensure eligible veterans who are enrolled in the patient en- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S622.IS S622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 622 IS rollment system of the Department established and oper- 1 ated under section 1705(a) of title 38, United States 2 Code, employees of the Department, and potential State, 3 local, and Federal entities are informed of the Family 4 Support Program and the availability of Family Coordina- 5 tors. 6 SEC. 6. TRANSITION ASSISTANCE. 7 Not later than one year after the date of the enact- 8 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall include information 9 regarding supportive services available for members of the 10 Armed Forces who are being separated from active duty 11 and their families, including mental health and other serv- 12 ices for children, in the transition assistance curriculum 13 offered by the Department. 14 SEC. 7. SURVEY. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 16 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter 17 for five years, the Secretary shall conduct a survey of dis- 18 abled veterans and their families to identify and better un- 19 derstand the needs of such disabled veterans and their 20 families. 21 (b) CONTENT.—The survey required under sub- 22 section (a) shall include questions with respect to— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:14 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S622.IS S622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 622 IS (1) the types and quality of support disabled 1 veterans receive from the children of such disabled 2 veterans; and 3 (2) the unmet needs of such children. 4 SEC. 8. NONDISCRIMINATION. 5 Programs or activities receiving funds under this Act 6 may not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national 7 origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, 8 disability status, or age. 9 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 10 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec- 11 retary such funds as may be necessary to carry out this 12 Act. 13 Æ VerDate Se [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]