Reach Every Veteran in Crisis Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 606 To improve oversight and evaluation of the mental health and suicide preven- tion media outreach campaigns of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. SULLIVAN, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To improve oversight and evaluation of the mental health and suicide prevention media outreach campaigns 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 ‘‘Reach Every Veteran 4 in Crisis Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. EVALUATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 6 AFFAIRS MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE PRE- 7 VENTION MEDIA OUTREACH CAMPAIGNS. 8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TARGETS.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S606.IS S606 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 606 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 1 Affairs shall establish targets to evaluate the effec- 2 tiveness of the mental health and suicide prevention 3 media outreach campaigns of the Department of 4 Veterans Affairs in raising awareness about mental 5 health and suicide prevention. 6 (2) USE OF METRICS.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The targets established 8 under paragraph (1) shall be based on metrics 9 specific to different media types as follows: 10 (i) Metrics relating to social media 11 shall include the following: 12 (I) Impressions. 13 (II) Reach. 14 (III) Engagement rate. 15 (IV) Such other metrics as the 16 Secretary considers necessary. 17 (ii) Metrics relating to television shall 18 include the following: 19 (I) Nielsen ratings. 20 (II) Such other metrics as the 21 Secretary considers necessary. 22 (iii) Metrics relating to email shall in- 23 clude the following: 24 (I) Open rate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S606.IS S606 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 606 IS (II) Response rate. 1 (III) Click rate. 2 (IV) Such other metrics as the 3 Secretary considers necessary. 4 (B) PERIODIC UPDATES.—The Secretary 5 shall periodically update the metrics under sub- 6 paragraph (A) as more accurate metrics become 7 available. 8 (3) CONSULTATION.—In establishing the tar- 9 gets under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall con- 10 sult with the following: 11 (A) Relevant stakeholders as determined 12 by the Secretary. 13 (B) Mental health and suicide prevention 14 experts. 15 (C) Such other persons as the Secretary 16 considers appropriate. 17 (b) REPORTS ON OUTREACH TARGETS AND 18 METRICS.— 19 (1) REPORT ON TARGETS AND METRICS.—Not 20 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 21 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Com- 22 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 23 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 24 Representatives a report detailing the targets estab- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S606.IS S606 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 606 IS lished under subsection (a)(1) to evaluate the effec- 1 tiveness of the mental health and suicide prevention 2 media outreach campaigns of the Department in 3 raising awareness about mental health and suicide 4 prevention, including the metrics on which such tar- 5 gets are based under subsection (a)(2). 6 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than one year 7 after the submittal of the report under paragraph 8 (1), and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall sub- 9 mit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 10 Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 11 the House of Representatives a report detailing— 12 (A) the progress of the Department in 13 meeting the targets established under sub- 14 section (a)(1); and 15 (B) a description of any action to be taken 16 by the Department to modify mental health and 17 suicide prevention media outreach campaigns if 18 those targets are not being met. 19 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF OVERSIGHT PROCESS FOR DE- 20 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MENTAL 21 HEALTH AND SUICIDE PREVENTION MEDIA 22 OUTREACH CAMPAIGNS. 23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF OVERSIGHT PROCESS.—Not 24 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S606.IS S606 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 606 IS Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a 1 process to oversee the mental health and suicide preven- 2 tion media outreach campaigns of the Department of Vet- 3 erans Affairs. 4 (b) COMPONENTS OF OVERSIGHT PROCESS.—The 5 process established under subsection (a) shall include a de- 6 lineation of the roles and responsibilities of officials in 7 leadership and contract oversight positions within the Of- 8 fice of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention of the Vet- 9 erans Health Administration, including during periods of 10 staff turnover or program changes. 11 SEC. 4. REPORT ON EXPENDITURES AND OBLIGATIONS OF 12 FUNDS OF THE OFFICE OF MENTAL HEALTH 13 AND SUICIDE PREVENTION. 14 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and semiannu- 16 ally thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall sub- 17 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 18 detailing the expenditures of and obligations of funds by 19 the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention of the 20 Veterans Health Administration during the period covered 21 by the report. 22 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 23 In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 24 mittees’’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S606.IS S606 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 606 IS (1) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the 1 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 2 (2) the Committee on Veterans Affairs and the 3 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep- 4 resentatives. 5 SEC. 5. CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS. 6 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that 7 each contract into which the Secretary enters to develop 8 mental health and suicide prevention outreach media in- 9 cludes a requirement that the contractor— 10 (1) track metrics used by the Secretary under 11 section 2(a)(2); and 12 (2) not less frequently than quarterly, report 13 such metrics to the Office of Mental Health and Sui- 14 cide Prevention of the Veterans Health Administra- 15 tion. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S606.IS S606 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS