Promoting Coordination for Veteran Suicide Prevention Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3195 To require the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to review the records of former members of the Armed Forces who die by suicide within one year of separation from the Armed Forces and to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit a report on the REACH VET program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 15, 2020 Mr. CASSIDY (for himself and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to review the records of former members of the Armed Forces who die by suicide within one year of separation from the Armed Forces and to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit a report on the REACH VET program. 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 ‘‘Promoting Coordina- 4 tion for Veteran Suicide Prevention Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3195.IS S3195 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3195 IS SEC. 2. REVIEW OF RECORDS OF FORMER MEMBERS OF 1 THE ARMED FORCES WHO DIE BY SUICIDE 2 WITHIN ONE YEAR OF SEPARATION FROM 3 THE ARMED FORCES. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense and the 5 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly review the 6 records of each former member of the Armed Forces who 7 died by suicide within one year of separation from the 8 Armed Forces during the five-year period preceding the 9 date of the enactment of this Act. 10 (b) ELEMENTS.—The review required by subsection 11 (a) with respect to a former member of the Armed Forces 12 shall include consideration of the following: 13 (1) If the Department of Defense had pre- 14 viously identified the former member as being at risk 15 for suicide and if that identification had been com- 16 municated to the Department of Veterans Affairs. 17 (2) What risk factors were present with respect 18 to the former member and how those risk factors 19 correlated to the circumstances of the death of the 20 former member. 21 (3) If the former member was eligible to receive 22 health care services from the Department of Vet- 23 erans Affairs. 24 (4) If the former member received health care 25 services, including mental health care services, from 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3195.IS S3195 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3195 IS a facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs, in- 1 cluding readjustment counseling services, following 2 separation from the Armed Forces. 3 (5) If the former member had received a mental 4 health waiver during service in the Armed Forces. 5 (6) The employment status, housing status, 6 marital status, age, rank within the Armed Forces 7 (such as enlisted or officer), and branch of service 8 within the Armed Forces of the former member. 9 (7) If support services, specified by the type of 10 service (such as employment, mental health, etc.), 11 were provided to the former member during their pe- 12 riod of separation from the Armed Forces, 13 disaggregated by— 14 (A) services furnished by the Department 15 of Defense, including through contracts; 16 (B) services furnished by the Department 17 of Veterans Affairs, including through con- 18 tracts; and 19 (C) services not covered under subpara- 20 graph (A) or (B). 21 (c) REPORT.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 24 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Af- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3195.IS S3195 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3195 IS fairs shall jointly submit to the appropriate commit- 1 tees of Congress an aggregated report on the results 2 of the review conducted under subsection (a). 3 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS 4 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appro- 5 priate committees of Congress’’ means— 6 (A) The Committee on Armed Services and 7 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen- 8 ate; and 9 (B) The Committee on Armed Services and 10 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 11 House of Representatives. 12 SEC. 3. REPORT ON REACH VET PROGRAM OF DEPART- 13 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet- 16 erans Affairs shall submit to Congress a report on the 17 REACH VET program. 18 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 19 (a) shall include the following: 20 (1) An assessment of the impact of the REACH 21 VET program on rates of suicide among veterans. 22 (2) An assessment of how limits within the 23 REACH VET program, such as caps on the number 24 of veterans who may be flagged as high risk, are ad- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3195.IS S3195 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3195 IS justed for differing rates of suicide across the coun- 1 try. 2 (3) A detailed explanation, with evidence, for 3 why the conditions included in the model used by the 4 REACH VET program were chosen, including an 5 explanation as to why certain conditions, such as bi- 6 polar disorder II, were not included even though 7 they show a similar rate of risk for suicide as other 8 conditions that were included. 9 (4) An assessment of the feasibility of incor- 10 porating certain economic data held by the Veterans 11 Benefits Administration into the model used by the 12 REACH VET program, including financial data and 13 employment status, which research indicates may 14 have an impact on risk for suicide. 15 (c) REACH VET PROGRAM DEFINED.—In this sec- 16 tion, the term ‘‘REACH VET program’’ means the Recov- 17 ery Engagement and Coordination for Health—Veterans 18 Enhanced Treatment program of the Department of Vet- 19 erans Affairs. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3195.IS S3195 rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS