To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to designate a week as "Buddy Check Week" for the purpose of outreach and education concerning peer wellness checks for veterans, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2898 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to designate a week as ‘‘Buddy Check Week’’ for the purpose of outreach and education concerning peer wellness checks for veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2019 Ms. JACKSON LEE (for herself, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. KATKO, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. LEWIS, and Mr. BANKS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to designate a week as ‘‘Buddy Check Week’’ for the purpose of outreach and education concerning peer wellness checks for 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. DESIGNATION OF BUDDY CHECK WEEK BY DE- 3 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 5 shall designate one week per year to organize outreach 6 events and educate veterans on how to conduct peer 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Jun 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2898.IH H2898 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2898 IH wellness checks, which shall be known as ‘‘Buddy Check 1 Week’’. 2 (b) EVENTS AND EDUCATION.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—During Buddy Check Week, 4 the Secretary, in consultation with organizations 5 that represent veterans, non-profits that serve vet- 6 erans, mental health experts, members of the Armed 7 Forces, and such other entities and individuals as 8 the Secretary considers appropriate, shall collaborate 9 with organizations that represent veterans to provide 10 educational opportunities for veterans to learn how 11 to conduct peer wellness checks. 12 (2) TRAINING MATTERS.—As part of the edu- 13 cational opportunities provided under paragraph (1), 14 the Secretary shall provide the following: 15 (A) A script for veterans to use to conduct 16 peer wellness checks that includes information 17 on appropriate referrals to resources veterans 18 might need. 19 (B) Online and in-person training, as ap- 20 propriate, on how to conduct a peer wellness 21 check. 22 (C) Opportunities for members of organi- 23 zations that represent veterans to learn how to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Jun 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2898.IH H2898 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2898 IH train individuals to conduct peer wellness 1 checks. 2 (D) Training for veterans participating in 3 Buddy Check Week on how to transfer a phone 4 call directly to the Veterans Crisis Line. 5 (E) Resiliency training for veterans partici- 6 pating in Buddy Check Week on handling a vet- 7 eran in crisis. 8 (3) ONLINE MATERIALS.—All training materials 9 provided under the educational opportunities under 10 paragraph (1) shall be made available on a website 11 of the Department. 12 (c) OUTREACH.—The Secretary, in collaboration with 13 organizations that represent veterans, may conduct out- 14 reach regarding educational opportunities under sub- 15 section (b) at— 16 (1) public events where many veterans are ex- 17 pected to congregate; 18 (2) meetings of organizations that represent 19 veterans; 20 (3) facilities of the Department of Veterans Af- 21 fairs; and 22 (4) such other locations as the Secretary, in col- 23 laboration with organizations that represent vet- 24 erans, considers appropriate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Jun 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2898.IH H2898 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2898 IH (d) VETERANS CRISIS LINE PLAN.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 2 that the Veterans Crisis Line has a plan for han- 3 dling the potential increase of calls that may occur 4 during Buddy Check Week. 5 (2) SUBMITTAL OF PLAN.—The head of the 6 Veterans Crisis Line shall submit to the Secretary a 7 plan for how to handle excess calls during Buddy 8 Check Week, which may include the following: 9 (A) Additional hours for staff. 10 (B) The use of a backup call center. 11 (C) Any other plan to ensure that calls 12 from veterans in crisis are being answered in a 13 timely manner by an individual trained at the 14 same level as a Veterans Crisis Line responder. 15 (e) VETERANS CRISIS LINE DEFINED.—In this sec- 16 tion, the term ‘‘Veterans Crisis Line’’ means the toll-free 17 hotline for veterans established under section 1720F(h) of 18 title 38, United States Code. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Jun 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2898.IH H2898 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS