VA Peer Specialists Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8130 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct an assessment of the capacity of peer specialists of the Department of Veterans Affairs who are women, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 28, 2020 Miss RICE of New York (for herself and Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct an assessment of the capacity of peer specialists of the Department of Veterans Affairs who are women, 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 ‘‘VA Peer Specialists 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8130.IH H8130 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8130 IH SEC. 2. STAFFING IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR PEER SPE- 1 CIALISTS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF- 2 FAIRS WHO ARE WOMEN. 3 (a) ASSESSMENT OF CAPACITY.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 6 of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the Inspec- 7 tor General of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 8 shall commence an assessment of the capacity of 9 peer specialists of the Department of Veterans Af- 10 fairs who are women. 11 (2) ELEMENTS.—The assessment required by 12 paragraph (1) shall include an assessment of the fol- 13 lowing: 14 (A) The geographical distribution of peer 15 specialists of the Department who are women. 16 (B) The geographical distribution of 17 women veterans. 18 (C) The number and proportion of women 19 peer specialists who specialize in peer coun- 20 seling on mental health or suicide prevention. 21 (D) The number and proportion of women 22 peer specialists who specialize in peer coun- 23 seling on non-mental health related matters. 24 (E) A description of the duties and respon- 25 sibilities of women peer specialists, including 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8130.IH H8130 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8130 IH number of hours worked per week, to better de- 1 fine, delineate, and standardize qualifications, 2 performance goals, performance duties, and 3 performance outcomes for peer specialists and 4 their managers. 5 (F) Department funds and other resources 6 dedicated to supporting the work of women peer 7 specialists. 8 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the as- 9 sessment required by subsection (a) has commenced, the 10 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Af- 11 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af- 12 fairs of the House of Representatives a report detailing 13 the findings of the assessment, including the ratio of how 14 many hours were worked by women peer specialists rel- 15 ative to the population of women veterans at each Depart- 16 ment medical center. 17 (c) STAFFING IMPROVEMENT PLAN.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 19 after submitting the report under subsection (b), the 20 Secretary, in consultation with the Inspector Gen- 21 eral, shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Af- 22 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ 23 Affairs of the House of Representatives a plan, 24 based on the results of the assessment required by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8130.IH H8130 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8130 IH subsection (a), to hire additional qualified peer spe- 1 cialists who are women, with special consideration 2 for areas that lack peer specialists who are women. 3 (2) ELEMENTS.—The peer specialist positions 4 included in the plan required by paragraph (1)— 5 (A) shall be non-volunteer, paid positions; 6 and 7 (B) may be part-time positions. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Sep 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8130.IH H8130 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS