II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1906 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide financial assistance to eligible entities to provide and coordinate the provision of suicide prevention services for veterans at risk of suicide and veteran families through the award of grants to such entities, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 19, 2019 Mr. BOOZMAN (for himself, Mr. WARNER, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. ROUNDS, and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide finan- cial assistance to eligible entities to provide and coordi- nate the provision of suicide prevention services for vet- erans at risk of suicide and veteran families through the award of grants to such entities, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Improve Well-Being 4 for Veterans Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1906 IS SEC. 2. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN ENTITIES TO 1 PROVIDE AND COORDINATE THE PROVISION 2 OF SUICIDE PREVENTION SERVICES FOR 3 VETERANS AT RISK OF SUICIDE AND VET- 4 ERAN FAMILIES. 5 (a) DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The 6 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide financial as- 7 sistance to eligible entities approved under this section 8 through the award of grants to such entities to provide 9 and coordinate the provision services to veterans and vet- 10 eran families to reduce the risk of suicide. 11 (b) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award a 13 grant to each eligible entity for which the Secretary 14 has approved an application under subsection (e) to 15 provide or coordinate the provision of suicide preven- 16 tion services under this section. 17 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS, INTERVALS OF PAYMENT, 18 AND MATCHING FUNDS.—In accordance with the 19 services being provided under a grant under this sec- 20 tion and the duration of those services, the Secretary 21 may establish— 22 (A) a maximum amount to be awarded 23 under the grant; 24 (B) intervals of payment for the adminis- 25 tration of the grant; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1906 IS (C) a requirement for the recipient of the 1 grant to provide matching funds in a specified 2 percentage. 3 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND 4 PREFERENCE.— 5 (1) DISTRIBUTION.— 6 (A) GEOGRAPHIC.—The Secretary shall 7 ensure that, to the extent practicable and in 8 compliance with subparagraph (B), financial as- 9 sistance under this section is equitably distrib- 10 uted across geographic regions, including rural 11 communities and Tribal land. 12 (B) AREAS WITH NEED.—The Secretary 13 shall ensure that, to the extent practicable, fi- 14 nancial assistance under this section is distrib- 15 uted— 16 (i) to provide services in areas of the 17 United States that have experienced high 18 rates or a high burden of veteran suicide; 19 and 20 (ii) to eligible entities that can assist 21 veterans at risk of suicide that are not cur- 22 rently receiving health care furnished by 23 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1906 IS (2) PREFERENCE.—The Secretary shall give 1 preference in the provision of financial assistance 2 under this section to eligible entities providing or co- 3 ordinating, or who have demonstrated the ability to 4 provide or coordinate, suicide prevention services or 5 other services that improve the quality of life of vet- 6 erans and their families and reduce the factors that 7 contribute to veteran suicide. 8 (d) REQUIREMENTS FOR RECEIPTS OF FINANCIAL 9 ASSISTANCE.— 10 (1) NOTIFICATION THAT SERVICES ARE FROM 11 DEPARTMENT.—Each entity receiving financial as- 12 sistance under this section to provide suicide preven- 13 tion services to veterans at risk of suicide and vet- 14 eran families shall notify the recipients of such serv- 15 ices that such services are being paid for, in whole 16 or in part, by the Department. 17 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN WITH BENE- 18 FICIARIES.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—If an entity receiving 20 financial assistance under this section provides 21 temporary cash assistance under subsection 22 (k)(5)(K), the entity shall develop a plan to en- 23 sure that any beneficiary of such temporary 24 cash assistance is self-sustaining at the end of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1906 IS the period of eligibility for such temporary cash 1 assistance. 2 (B) CONSULTATION WITH BENEFICIARY.— 3 Any plan developed under subparagraph (A) 4 with respect to a beneficiary shall be developed 5 in consultation with the beneficiary. 6 (3) REPORTS.—The Secretary— 7 (A) shall require each entity receiving fi- 8 nancial assistance under this section to submit 9 to the Secretary an annual report that describes 10 the projects carried out with such financial as- 11 sistance during the year covered by the report; 12 (B) shall specify to each such entity the 13 evaluation criteria and data and information, 14 which shall include a mental health measure- 15 ment of each veteran served, to be submitted in 16 such report; and 17 (C) may require such entities to submit to 18 the Secretary such additional reports as the 19 Secretary considers appropriate. 20 (e) APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity seeking fi- 22 nancial assistance under this section shall submit to 23 the Secretary an application therefor in such form, 24 in such manner, and containing such commitments 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1906 IS and information as the Secretary considers nec- 1 essary to carry out this section. 2 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each applica- 3 tion submitted by an eligible entity under paragraph 4 (1) shall contain the following: 5 (A) A description of the suicide prevention 6 services proposed to be provided by the eligible 7 entity and the identified need for those services. 8 (B) A detailed plan describing how the eli- 9 gible entity proposes to coordinate and deliver 10 suicide prevention services to veterans not cur- 11 rently receiving care furnished by the Depart- 12 ment, including— 13 (i) an identification of the community 14 partners with which the eligible entity pro- 15 poses to work in delivering such services; 16 (ii) a description of the arrangements 17 currently in place between the eligible enti- 18 ty and such partners; and 19 (iii) an identification of how long such 20 arrangements have been in place. 21 (C) A description of the types of veterans 22 at risk of suicide and veteran families proposed 23 to be provided suicide prevention services. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1906 IS (D) An estimate of the number of veterans 1 at risk of suicide and veteran families proposed 2 to be provided suicide prevention services and 3 the basis for such estimate, including the per- 4 centage of those veterans who are not currently 5 receiving care furnished by the Department. 6 (E) Evidence of the experience of the eligi- 7 ble entity (and the proposed partners of the en- 8 tity) in providing suicide prevention services to 9 individuals at risk of suicide, particularly to vet- 10 erans at risk of suicide and veteran families. 11 (F) A description of the managerial and 12 technological capacity of the eligible entity— 13 (i) to coordinate the provision of sui- 14 cide prevention services with the provision 15 of other services; 16 (ii) to assess continuously the needs of 17 veterans at risk of suicide and veteran 18 families for suicide prevention services; 19 (iii) to coordinate the provision of sui- 20 cide prevention services with the services of 21 the Department for which the beneficiaries 22 are eligible; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1906 IS (iv) to tailor suicide prevention serv- 1 ices to the needs of veterans at risk of sui- 2 cide and veteran families; 3 (v) to continuously seek new sources 4 of assistance to ensure the continuity of 5 suicide prevention services for veterans at 6 risk of suicide and veteran families as long 7 as the veteran is determined to be at risk 8 of suicide; and 9 (vi) to measure, over a long-term pe- 10 riod, the improved mental resiliency and 11 mental outlook of the veteran served. 12 (G) Such additional application criteria as 13 the Secretary considers appropriate. 14 (f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 16 training and technical assistance to eligible entities 17 in receipt of financial assistance under this section 18 regarding— 19 (A) the data required to be collected and 20 shared with the Department; 21 (B) the means of data collection and shar- 22 ing; 23 (C) familiarization with and appropriate 24 use of any tool to be used to measure the effec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1906 IS tiveness of the use of the financial assistance 1 provided; and 2 (D) the requirements for reporting under 3 subsection (d)(3) on services provided via such 4 financial assistance. 5 (2) PROVISION OF TRAINING AND TECHNICAL 6 ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may provide the train- 7 ing and technical assistance described in paragraph 8 (1) directly or through grants or contracts with ap- 9 propriate public or nonprofit entities. 10 (g) ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.— 11 (1) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary, in 12 consultation with entities specified in paragraph (3), 13 shall establish criteria for the selection of eligible en- 14 tities that have submitted applications under sub- 15 section (e). 16 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF MEASURES AND 17 METRICS.—The Secretary shall develop, in consulta- 18 tion with entities specified in paragraph (3), the fol- 19 lowing: 20 (A) A framework for collecting and sharing 21 information about entities in receipt of financial 22 assistance under this section for purposes of 23 improving the discovery of services available for 24 veterans at risk of suicide and veteran families, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1906 IS set forth by service type, locality, and eligibility 1 criteria. 2 (B) The measures to be used by each enti- 3 ty in receipt of financial assistance under this 4 section to determine the effectiveness of the 5 programming being provided by such entity in 6 improving mental resiliency and mental outlook 7 of veterans at risk of suicide and veteran fami- 8 lies. 9 (C) Metrics for measuring the effectiveness 10 of the provision of financial assistance under 11 this section. 12 (3) COORDINATION.—In developing a plan for 13 the design and implementation of the provision of fi- 14 nancial assistance under this section, including cri- 15 teria for the award of grants, the Secretary shall 16 consult with the following: 17 (A) Veterans service organizations. 18 (B) National organizations representing 19 potential community partners of eligible entities 20 in providing supportive services to address the 21 needs of veterans at risk of suicide and their 22 families, including national organizations that— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 1906 IS (i) advocate for the needs of individ- 1 uals with or at risk of behavioral health 2 conditions; 3 (ii) represent mayors; 4 (iii) represent first responders; or 5 (iv) represent chiefs of police and 6 sheriffs. 7 (C) Organizations with which the Depart- 8 ment has a current memoranda of agreement or 9 understanding related to mental health or sui- 10 cide prevention. 11 (D) State departments of veterans affairs. 12 (E) National organizations representing 13 members of the reserve components of the 14 Armed Forces. 15 (F) Vet Centers. 16 (G) Organizations with experience in cre- 17 ating measurement tools for purposes of deter- 18 mining programmatic effectiveness. 19 (H) Such other organizations as the Sec- 20 retary considers appropriate. 21 (4) REPORT ON GRANT CRITERIA.—Before noti- 22 fying eligible entities of the availability of funding 23 under this section, the Secretary shall submit to 24 Congress a report containing— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 1906 IS (A) criteria for the award of a grant under 1 this section; 2 (B) the tool to be used by the Department 3 to measure the effectiveness of the use of finan- 4 cial assistance provided under this section; and 5 (C) a framework for the sharing of infor- 6 mation about entities in receipt of financial as- 7 sistance under this section. 8 (h) INFORMATION ON POTENTIAL BENEFICIARIES.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make 10 available to recipients of financial assistance under 11 this section certain information regarding potential 12 beneficiaries of services for which such financial as- 13 sistance is provided. 14 (2) INFORMATION INCLUDED.—The information 15 made available under paragraph (1) with respect to 16 potential beneficiaries may include the following: 17 (A) Confirmation of the status of a poten- 18 tial beneficiary as a veteran. 19 (B) Confirmation of whether a potential 20 beneficiary is currently receiving care furnished 21 by the Department or has recently received 22 such care. 23 (i) DURATION.—The authority of the Secretary to 24 provide financial assistance under this section shall termi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jun 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1906.IS S1906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 1906 IS nate on the date that is three years after the date [Text truncated for display. 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