Commitment to Veteran Support and Outreach Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 3020 To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts with States or to award grants to States to promote health and wellness, prevent suicide, and improve outreach to veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 11, 2019 Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. TESTER, and Mr. DAINES) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts with States or to award grants to States to promote health and wellness, prevent suicide, and improve out- reach to 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. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commitment to Vet- 4 eran Support and Outreach Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3020.IS S3020 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 3020 IS SEC. 2. AUTHORITY FOR SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF- 1 FAIRS TO AWARD CONTRACTS AND GRANTS 2 TO STATES TO PROMOTE HEALTH AND 3 WELLNESS, PREVENT SUICIDE, AND IMPROVE 4 OUTREACH TO VETERANS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 63 of title 38, United 6 States Code, is amended— 7 (1) by redesignating sections 6307 and 6308 8 and sections 6308 and 6309, respectively; and 9 (2) by inserting after section 6306 the following 10 new section 6307: 11 ‘‘§ 6307. Contracts and grants to promote health and 12 wellness, prevent suicide, and improve 13 outreach to veterans 14 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 15 provide for assistance by the Secretary to States to carry 16 out programs that promote health and wellness, strength- 17 en the coordination, implementation, and evaluation of 18 comprehensive veteran suicide prevention programs, and 19 offer a high probability of improving outreach and assist- 20 ance to veterans and the spouses, children, and parents 21 of veterans, to ensure that such individuals are fully in- 22 formed about, and assisted in applying for, any veterans 23 and veterans-related benefits and programs (including 24 State veterans programs) for which they may be eligible. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3020.IS S3020 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 3020 IS ‘‘(b) CONTRACTS.—(1) The Secretary may enter into 1 a contract with a State in order to carry out, coordinate, 2 improve, or otherwise enhance health and wellness pro- 3 grams, comprehensive veteran suicide prevention pro- 4 grams, and outreach by the Department and the State (in- 5 cluding outreach with respect to a State, county, or other 6 local veterans program). 7 ‘‘(2) As a condition of entering into a contract with 8 a State under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall require 9 the State to submit to the Secretary a detailed plan for 10 the use of any funds provided to the State pursuant to 11 the contract and to meet the outcome measures developed 12 by the Secretary under subsection (c)(4). 13 ‘‘(3) Each contract entered into with a State under 14 this subsection to carry out an activity shall include a re- 15 quirement that the State carry out the activity through— 16 ‘‘(A) the county veterans service officers of the 17 State; or 18 ‘‘(B) if a county veterans service officer does 19 not exist in the State or exists only in portions of 20 the State, an appropriate State, local, or tribal enti- 21 ty as determined by the Secretary. 22 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.—(1) The Secretary may award a grant 23 to a State to be used— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3020.IS S3020 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 3020 IS ‘‘(A) to carry out, coordinate, improve, or oth- 1 erwise enhance— 2 ‘‘(i) health and wellness programs; 3 ‘‘(ii) comprehensive veteran suicide preven- 4 tion programs; 5 ‘‘(iii) outreach activities; or 6 ‘‘(iv) activities to assist in the development 7 and submittal of claims for veterans and vet- 8 erans-related benefits; or 9 ‘‘(B) to increase the number of county veterans 10 service officers serving in the State by hiring new, 11 additional county veterans service officers. 12 ‘‘(2) A State that receives a grant under this sub- 13 section to carry out an activity described in paragraph 14 (1)(A) shall carry out the activity through— 15 ‘‘(A) a county veterans service officer of the 16 State; or 17 ‘‘(B) if a county veterans service officer does 18 not exist in the State or exists only in portions of 19 the State, an appropriate State, local, or tribal enti- 20 ty as determined by the Secretary. 21 ‘‘(3)(A) To be eligible for a grant under this sub- 22 section, a State shall submit to the Secretary an applica- 23 tion therefor at such time, in such manner, and containing 24 such information as the Secretary may require. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3020.IS S3020 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 3020 IS ‘‘(B) Each application submitted under subparagraph 1 (A) shall include the following: 2 ‘‘(i) A detailed plan for the use of the grant. 3 ‘‘(ii) A description of the programs through 4 which the State will meet the outcome measures de- 5 veloped by the Secretary under paragraph (4). 6 ‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary shall develop and provide to 7 the recipient of a grant under this subsection written guid- 8 ance on outcome measures, policies of the Department, 9 and procedures for applying for grants under this section. 10 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall review the performance of 11 each State that receives a grant under this section and 12 shall make information regarding such performance pub- 13 licly available. 14 ‘‘(C) In the case of a State that is a recipient of a 15 grant under this subsection that does not meet the out- 16 come measures developed by the Secretary, the Secretary 17 shall require the State to submit a remediation plan under 18 which the State shall describe how and when it plans to 19 meet such outcome measures. The Secretary must approve 20 such plan before the Secretary may award a subsequent 21 grant to that State under this subsection. 22 ‘‘(5) A grant under this subsection— 23 ‘‘(A) shall be used— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3020.IS S3020 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 3020 IS ‘‘(i) to expand existing programs, activi- 1 ties, and services; 2 ‘‘(ii) to hire new, additional county vet- 3 erans service officers; or 4 ‘‘(iii) for travel and transportation to fa- 5 cilitate carrying out clause (i) or (ii); and 6 ‘‘(B) shall be used to supplement and not sup- 7 plant State and local funding that is otherwise avail- 8 able. 9 ‘‘(6) A grant under this subsection may be used to 10 provide education and training, including on-the-job train- 11 ing, for State, county, local, and tribal government em- 12 ployees who provide (or when trained will provide) vet- 13 erans outreach services in order for those employees to 14 obtain accreditation in accordance with procedures ap- 15 proved by the Secretary and, for employees so accredited, 16 for purposes of continuing education. 17 ‘‘(7) A grant awarded under paragraph (1)(A) may 18 be used to carry out, coordinate, improve, or otherwise en- 19 hance an activity carried out pursuant to a contract en- 20 tered into under subsection (b). 21 ‘‘(d) COUNTY VETERANS SERVICE OFFICER DE- 22 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘county veterans service 23 officer’ includes— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3020.IS S3020 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 3020 IS ‘‘(1) a local equivalent veterans service officer; 1 and 2 ‘‘(2) a tribal veterans service officer or tribal 3 veteran representative. 4 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.—(1) Amounts for the activities of the 5 Department under this section shall be budgeted and ap- 6 propriated through a separate appropriation account. 7 ‘‘(2) In the budget justification materials submitted 8 to Congress in support of the Department budget for any 9 fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the President 10 under section 1105(a) of title 31), the Secretary shall in- 11 clude a separate statement of the amount requested to be 12 appropriated for that fiscal year for the account specified 13 in paragraph (1). 14 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 15 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for each 16 of fiscal years 2020 through 2024, $50,000,000 to carry 17 out this section.’’. 18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 19 at the beginning of chapter 63 of such title is amended 20 by striking the items relating to sections 6307 and 6308 21 and inserting the following new items: 22 ‘‘6307. Contracts and grants to promote health and wellness, prevent suicide, and improve outreach to veterans. ‘‘6308. Outreach for eligible dependents. ‘‘6309. Biennial report to Congress.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Dec 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3020.IS S3020 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS