VA Suicide Prevention Services Accountability Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5030 To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to take certain actions regarding suicides by veterans and mental health care furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 8, 2019 Mr. WATKINS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to take certain actions regarding suicides by veterans and mental health care furnished by the Secretary of Vet- erans Affairs. 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 ‘‘VA Suicide Prevention 4 Services Accountability Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5030.IH H5030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5030 IH SEC. 2. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON MANAGE- 1 MENT BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF- 2 FAIRS OF VETERANS AT HIGH RISK FOR SUI- 3 CIDE. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 6 General of the United States shall submit to the Commit- 7 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep- 8 resentatives a report on the efforts of the Secretary to 9 manage veterans at high risk for suicide. 10 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 11 shall include the following: 12 (1) An assessment of suicide prevention prac- 13 tices and initiatives available from the Department 14 and through community partnerships. 15 (2) A description of how the Department identi- 16 fies veterans as high risk for suicide, with particular 17 consideration to the efficacy of inputs into the Re- 18 covery Engagement and Coordination for Health— 19 Veterans Enhanced Treatment (commonly referred 20 to as ‘‘REACH VET’’) program of the Department, 21 including an assessment of the efficacy of such iden- 22 tifications disaggregated by age, gender, and, to the 23 extent practicable, Veterans Integrated Service Net- 24 work, and medical center of the Department. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5030.IH H5030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5030 IH (3) A description of how the Department inter- 1 venes when a veteran is identified as high risk, in- 2 cluding an assessment of the efficacy of such inter- 3 ventions disaggregated by age, gender, and, to the 4 extent practicable, Veterans Integrated Service Net- 5 work, and medical center of the Department. 6 (4) A description of how the Department mon- 7 itors veterans who have been identified as high risk, 8 including an assessment of the efficacy of such mon- 9 itoring and any follow-ups disaggregated by age, 10 gender, and, to the extent practicable, Veterans In- 11 tegrated Service Network, and medical center of the 12 Department. 13 (5) A review of staffing levels of suicide preven- 14 tion coordinators across the Veterans Health Admin- 15 istration. 16 (6) A review of the resources and programming 17 offered to family members and friends of veterans 18 who have a mental health condition in order to as- 19 sist that veteran in treatment and recovery. 20 (7) An assessment of such other areas the 21 Comptroller General determines appropriate. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5030.IH H5030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5030 IH SEC. 3. COMPTROLLER GENERAL MANAGEMENT REVIEW 1 OF MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE PREVEN- 2 TION SERVICES OF DEPARTMENT OF VET- 3 ERANS AFFAIRS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than three years after 5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 6 General of the United States shall submit to the Commit- 7 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep- 8 resentatives a management review of the mental health 9 and suicide prevention services provided by the Secretary. 10 (b) ELEMENTS.—The management review under sub- 11 section (a) shall include the following: 12 (1) An assessment of the infrastructure under 13 the control of or available to the Office of Mental 14 Health and Suicide Prevention of the Department. 15 (2) A description of the management and orga- 16 nizational structure of the Office of Mental Health 17 and Suicide Prevention, including roles and respon- 18 sibilities for each position. 19 (3) A review of the operational policies and 20 processes of the Office of Mental Health and Suicide 21 Prevention, including an assessment of how effec- 22 tively these policies and processes are implemented. 23 (4) An assessment of the staffing levels at the 24 Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5030.IH H5030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5030 IH disaggregated by type of position, and including the 1 location of any staffing deficiencies. 2 (5) An assessment of the Nurse Advice Line 3 pilot program conducted by the Department. 4 (6) An assessment of recruitment initiatives for 5 mental health professionals of the Department, in- 6 cluding any special emphasis on rural areas. 7 (7) An assessment of strategic planning con- 8 ducted by the Office of Mental Health and Suicide 9 Prevention. 10 (8) An assessment of the communication, and 11 the effectiveness of such communication— 12 (A) within the central office of the Office 13 of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention; 14 (B) between that central office and the 15 Central Office of the Department; 16 (C) between that central office and local 17 facilities and offices, including networks and 18 medical centers; and 19 (D) between that central office and com- 20 munity partners of the Department, including 21 first responders, community support groups, 22 and health care industry partners. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5030.IH H5030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5030 IH (9) An assessment of how effectively the Sec- 1 retary and the Secretary of Defense coordinate men- 2 tal health and suicide prevention efforts. 3 (10) An assessment of such other areas the 4 Comptroller General determines appropriate. 5 SEC. 4. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON EFFORTS OF 6 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO IN- 7 TEGRATE MENTAL HEALTH CARE INTO PRI- 8 MARY CARE CLINICS. 9 (a) INITIAL REPORT.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years 11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 12 Comptroller General of the United States shall sub- 13 mit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the 14 Senate and House of Representatives a report on the 15 efforts of the Secretary to integrate mental health 16 care into primary care clinics of the Department. 17 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report under this sub- 18 section shall include the following: 19 (A) An assessment of the efforts of the 20 Secretary to integrate mental health care into 21 primary care clinics of the Department. 22 (B) An assessment of the effectiveness of 23 such efforts. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5030.IH H5030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5030 IH (C) A description of how care is coordi- 1 nated by the Department between specialty 2 mental health care and primary care, including 3 a description of the following: 4 (i) How documents and patient infor- 5 mation are transferred and the effective- 6 ness of those transfers. 7 (ii) How care is coordinated when vet- 8 erans must travel to different facilities of 9 the Department. 10 (iii) How a veteran is reintegrated 11 into primary care after receiving in-patient 12 mental health care. 13 (D) An assessment of how the integration 14 of mental health care into primary care clinics 15 is implemented at different facilities of the De- 16 partment. 17 (E) An assessment of such other areas the 18 Comptroller General determines appropriate. 19 (b) COMMUNITY CARE INTEGRATION REPORT.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years 21 after the date on which the Comptroller General 22 submits the report under subsection (a), the Comp- 23 troller General shall submit to the Committees on 24 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5030.IH H5030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5030 IH resentatives a report on the efforts of the Secretary 1 to integrate community-based mental health care 2 into the Veterans Health Administration. 3 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report under this sub- 4 section shall include the following: 5 (A) An assessment of the efforts of the 6 Secretary to integrate community-based mental 7 health care into the Veterans Health Adminis- 8 tration. 9 (B) An assessment of the effectiveness of 10 such efforts. 11 (C) A description of how care is coordi- 12 nated between providers of community-based 13 mental health care and the Veterans Health 14 Administration, including a description of how 15 documents and patient information are trans- 16 ferred and the effectiveness of those transfers 17 between— 18 (i) the Veterans Health Administra- 19 tion and providers of community-based 20 mental health care; and 21 (ii) providers of community-based 22 mental health care and the Veterans 23 Health Administration. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5030.IH H5030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5030 IH (D) An assessment of the extent to which 1 the coordination of community-based mental 2 health care varies by facilities of the Depart- 3 ment. 4 (E) An assessment of the extent to which 5 military cultural competency of community- 6 based mental health care providers are consid- 7 ered in providing mental health care to vet- 8 erans. 9 (F) An assessment of such other areas as 10 the Comptroller General considers appropriate 11 to study. 12 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 13 In this Act: 14 (1) The term ‘‘community-based mental health 15 care’’ means mental health care paid for by the Sec- 16 retary but provided by a non-Department health 17 care provider at a non-Department facility, including 18 care furnished under section 1703 of title 38, United 19 States Code. 20 (2) The term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart- 21 ment of Veterans Affairs. 22 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 23 of Veterans Affairs. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5030.IH H5030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS