American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans Mental Health Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8068 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make certain improvements relating to mental health and suicide prevention outreach to minority veterans and American Indian and Alaska Native veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 18, 2020 Ms. BROWNLEY of California (for herself, Mr. COLE, and Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make certain improvements relating to mental health and suicide pre- vention outreach to minority veterans and American In- dian and Alaska Native 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 ‘‘American Indian and 4 Alaska Native Veterans Mental Health Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8068.IH H8068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8068 IH SEC. 2. MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE PREVENTION OUT- 1 REACH TO MINORITY VETERANS AND AMER- 2 ICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE VET- 3 ERANS. 4 (a) STAFFING REQUIREMENT.—Beginning not later 5 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 6 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that each 7 medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs has 8 no fewer than one full-time employee whose responsibility 9 is serving as a minority veteran coordinator. 10 (b) TRAINING.—Not later than 180 days after the 11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con- 12 sultation with the Director of the Office of Mental Health 13 and Suicide Prevention of the Department of Veterans Af- 14 fairs, shall ensure that all minority veteran coordinators 15 receive training in delivery of culturally appropriate men- 16 tal health and suicide prevention services to American In- 17 dian and Alaska Native veterans, especially with respect 18 to the identified populations and tribes within the coordi- 19 nators’ catchment areas. 20 (c) COORDINATION WITH SUICIDE PREVENTION CO- 21 ORDINATORS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 22 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation 23 with the Director of the Office of Mental Health and Sui- 24 cide Prevention, shall ensure that the suicide prevention 25 coordinator and minority veteran coordinator of each med- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8068.IH H8068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8068 IH ical center of the Department have developed and dissemi- 1 nated to the director of the medical center a written plan 2 for conducting mental health and suicide prevention out- 3 reach to all tribes and urban Indian health organizations 4 within the catchment area of the medical center. Each 5 such plan shall include for each tribe covered by the 6 plan— 7 (1) contact information for tribal leadership 8 and the tribal health facility or Indian Health Serv- 9 ice facility serving that tribe; 10 (2) a schedule for and list of outreach plans 11 (including addressing any barriers to accessing De- 12 partment mental health care); and 13 (3) documentation of any conversation with 14 tribal leaders that may guide culturally appropriate 15 delivery of mental health care to American Indian or 16 Alaska Native veterans. 17 (d) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the en- 18 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 19 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 20 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep- 21 resentatives a report on outreach efforts to minority vet- 22 erans and American Indian and Alaska Native veterans. 23 Such report shall include each of the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8068.IH H8068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8068 IH (1) The number of minority veteran coordina- 1 tors within the Department. 2 (2) The number and percentage of minority vet- 3 eran coordinators who are women. 4 (3) The number and percentage of minority vet- 5 eran coordinators who are persons of color. 6 (4) The number and percentage of Department 7 medical centers with minority veteran coordinators. 8 (5) The number and percentage of Department 9 mental health providers who are enrolled members of 10 a federally recognized Indian tribe or self-identify as 11 Native American. 12 (6) The number and percentage of Department 13 mental health providers who speak a second lan- 14 guage. 15 (7) A review of the outreach plans developed 16 and submitted to all Department medical centers for 17 outreach to American Indian and Alaska Native vet- 18 erans. 19 (8) A review of mental health care provided an- 20 nually by the Department to American Indian and 21 Alaska Native veterans for the past three years, in- 22 cluding number of appointments, and an assessment 23 of any barriers to providing this care. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8068.IH H8068 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS