PAWS Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2949 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make grants to eligible organi- zations to provide service dogs to veterans with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Mrs. FISCHER (for herself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. TILLIS, Ms. MCSALLY, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make grants to eligible organizations to provide service dogs to vet- erans with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, 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 ‘‘Puppies Assisting 4 Wounded Servicemembers Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘PAWS 5 Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2949.IS S2949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2949 IS SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 2 ings: 3 (1) According to the analyses of veteran suicide 4 published by the Department of Veterans Affairs in 5 August 2016 entitled ‘‘Suicide Among Veterans and 6 Other Americans’’ and in June 2018 entitled ‘‘VA 7 National Suicide Date Report’’— 8 (A) an average of 20 veterans died by sui- 9 cide each day in 2014; 10 (B) mental health disorders, including 11 major depression and other mood disorders, 12 have been associated with increased risk for sui- 13 cide; 14 (C) since 2001, the proportion of users of 15 the Veterans Health Administration with men- 16 tal health conditions or substance use disorders 17 has increased from approximately 27 percent in 18 2001 to more than 40 percent in 2014; and 19 (D) overall, suicide rates are highest 20 among patients with mental health and sub- 21 stance use disorder diagnoses who are in treat- 22 ment and lower among those who received a 23 mental health diagnosis but were not at risk 24 enough to require enhanced care from a mental 25 health provider. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2949.IS S2949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2949 IS (2) Pairing a service dog with a veteran costs 1 approximately $25,000, including with respect to 2 training of the service dog as well as training of the 3 veteran with the service dog. 4 (3) New, rigorous scientific research provides 5 persuasive weight to the growing anecdotal evidence 6 that service dogs ameliorate the symptoms associ- 7 ated with post-traumatic stress disorder, and in par- 8 ticular, help prevent veteran suicide. 9 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 10 gress that the Department of Veterans Affairs must be 11 more effective in its approach to reducing the burden of 12 veteran suicide connected to mental health disorders, in- 13 cluding post-traumatic stress disorder, and a program and 14 study to assess the benefits of pairing service dogs with 15 veterans suffering from mental health disorders would 16 allow the Department to better determine the efficacy of 17 using service dogs as a nontraditional therapy to ensure 18 the well-being of veterans. 19 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PROGRAM TO 20 AWARD GRANTS FOR THE PROVISION OF 21 SERVICE DOGS TO CERTAIN VETERANS WITH 22 SEVERE POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DIS- 23 ORDER. 24 (a) GRANTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2949.IS S2949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2949 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 1 Affairs shall carry out a program under which the 2 Secretary awards grants to eligible organizations for 3 eligible veterans referred to that organization for a 4 service dog pairing. 5 (2) LIMITATION.—The amount of the grant for 6 each eligible veteran referred to an eligible organiza- 7 tion under paragraph (1) shall not to exceed 8 $25,000. 9 (b) BENEFITS PROVIDED.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—An organization that re- 11 ceives a grant under subsection (a) shall provide the 12 following for each service dog and veteran partici- 13 pating in the program: 14 (A) Coverage of a commercially available 15 veterinary health insurance policy to maintain 16 the health of the dog and keep the dog func- 17 tioning in the prescribed role for the life of the 18 dog. 19 (B) Hardware, or repairs or replacements 20 for hardware, that are clinically determined to 21 be required by the dog to perform the tasks 22 necessary to assist the veteran with the diag- 23 nosed disorder of the veteran. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2949.IS S2949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2949 IS (C) Payments for travel expenses for the 1 veteran to obtain the dog, calculated in the 2 same manner as similar travel expenses pro- 3 vided pursuant to section 111 of title 38, 4 United States Code. 5 (2) OTHER TRAVEL EXPENSES.—If a veteran is 6 required to replace a service dog provided pursuant 7 to a grant under this section, the Secretary shall pay 8 for the travel expenses described in paragraph 9 (1)(C) required to obtain a new service dog pursuant 10 to subsection (c)(3), regardless of any other benefits 11 the veteran is receiving for the first service dog 12 under this section. 13 (c) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.—To be eligible to re- 14 ceive a grant under this section, an organization shall— 15 (1) be a nonprofit organization that— 16 (A) provides service dogs to veterans with 17 post-traumatic stress disorder; 18 (B) meets the publicly available national 19 standards for service dog providers as set forth 20 by the Association of Service Dog Providers for 21 Military Veterans; and 22 (C) has expertise in the unique needs of 23 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2949.IS S2949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2949 IS (2) agree to cover all costs in excess of the 1 grant amount to guarantee the benefits listed under 2 subsection (b)(1); 3 (3) agree to reaccept or replace a service dog 4 provided by the organization to a veteran, if nec- 5 essary, as determined by the veteran and the organi- 6 zation; and 7 (4) submit to the Secretary an application con- 8 taining such information, certification, and assur- 9 ances as the Secretary may require. 10 (d) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.— 11 (1) APPROVAL AND REFERRAL.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Vet- 13 erans Affairs shall review and approve veterans 14 eligible to participate under this section and 15 shall refer approved veterans to eligible organi- 16 zations. 17 (B) APPROVAL DETERMINATION.—The pe- 18 riod beginning on the date on which a veteran 19 applies to participate under this section and the 20 date on which the Secretary makes an approval 21 determination may not exceed 90 days. 22 (2) INITIAL ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this 23 section, an eligible veteran is a veteran— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2949.IS S2949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2949 IS (A) who is enrolled in the system of annual 1 patient enrollment of the Department of Vet- 2 erans Affairs established and operated under 3 section 1705 of title 38, United States Code; 4 (B) who has been treated and has com- 5 pleted an established evidence-based treatment 6 for post-traumatic stress disorder yet remains 7 diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder 8 by a qualified health care provider as rated on 9 the post-traumatic stress disorder checklist 10 (PCL–5); 11 (C) with respect to whom the health care 12 provider or clinical team of the Department of 13 Veterans Affairs that is treating the veteran for 14 such disorder determines based upon medical 15 judgment that the veteran may potentially ben- 16 efit from a service dog; and 17 (D) who agrees to successfully complete 18 training provided by an eligible organization 19 pursuant to subsection (c). 20 (3) ONGOING ELIGIBILITY.—To remain eligible 21 to participate in the program under this section, a 22 veteran shall see the health care provider or clinical 23 team of the Department of Veterans Affairs treating 24 the veteran for post-traumatic stress disorder at 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2949.IS S2949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2949 IS least once every 180 days to determine, based on a 1 clinical evaluation of efficacy, whether the veteran 2 continues to benefit from a service dog. 3 (4) OTHER CASES.—If at any point the veteran 4 is no longer able or willing to care for the service 5 dog, the veteran and the organization that provided 6 the service dog to the veteran shall determine the 7 appropriate recourse to ensure the safety of both the 8 veteran and the service dog. 9 (e) POSSESSION OF SERVICE DOG.—Except if deter- 10 mined otherwise under subsection (d)(4), an eligible vet- 11 eran in possession of a service dog furnished under the 12 program may elect to keep the service dog for the life of 13 the dog, regardless of the continued participation of the 14 veteran in the program. 15 (f) RELATIONSHIP TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 16 AFFAIRS BENEFITS.—The provision of a service dog to 17 a veteran under this section is in addition to any other 18 hospital care or medical service furnished by the Depart- 19 ment for that veteran for post-traumatic stress disorder, 20 and an improvement in symptoms as a result of the provi- 21 sion of a service dog shall not affect the eligibility of the 22 veteran for any other benefit under the laws administered 23 by the Secretary. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2949.IS S2949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2949 IS (g) METRICS.—In carrying out this section, the Sec- 1 retary shall— 2 (1) develop metrics and other appropriate 3 means to measure, with respect to veterans partici- 4 pating in the program, the improvement in psycho- 5 social function and therapeutic compliance of such 6 veterans and changes with respect to the dependence 7 on prescription narcotics and psychotropic medica- 8 tion of such veterans; and 9 (2) establish processes to document and track 10 the progress of such veterans under the program in 11 terms of the benefits and improvements noted as a 12 result of the program. 13 (h) COMPTROLLER GENERAL BRIEFING AND RE- 14 PORT.— 15 (1) BRIEFING.—Not later than one year after 16 the date on which the Secretary commences the pro- 17 gram under subsection (a), the Comptroller General 18 of the United States shall provide to the Committee 19 on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com- 20 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep- 21 resentatives a briefing on the methodology estab- 22 lished for the program. 23 (2) REPORT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2949.IS S2949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2949 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 1 after providing the briefing under paragraph 2 (1), the Comptroller General shall submit to the 3 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 4 and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 5 House of Representatives a report on the pro- 6 gram. 7 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required 8 under subparagraph (A) shall include an eval- 9 uation of the approach and methodology used 10 for the program with respect to— 11 (i) helping veterans with severe post- 12 traumatic stress disorder return to civilian 13 life; 14 (ii) relevant metrics, such as reduction 15 in scores under the post-traumatic stress 16 disorder checklist (PCL–5), improvement 17 in psychosocial function, and therapeutic 18 compliance; and 19 (iii) reducing the dependence of par- 20 ticipants in the program on prescription 21 narcotics and psychotropic medication. 22 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 23 authorized to be appropriated for the period of fiscal year 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2949.IS S2949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2949 IS 2020 through fiscal year 2022, $10,000,000 to carry out 1 the program under this section. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:32 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2949.IS S2949 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS