A bill to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to designate one week each year as "Buddy Check Week" for the purpose of outreach and education concerning peer wellness checks for veterans, and for other purposes.

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4657 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to designate one week each year as ‘‘Buddy Check Week’’ for the purpose of outreach and education concerning peer wellness checks for veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 Ms. ERNST (for herself, Mr. JONES, and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Vet- erans’ Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to designate one week each year as ‘‘Buddy Check Week’’ for the purpose of outreach and education concerning peer wellness checks for 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. DESIGNATION OF BUDDY CHECK WEEK BY SEC- 3 RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 5 shall designate one week each year to organize outreach 6 events and educate veterans on how to conduct peer 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Oct 11, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4657.IS S4657 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4657 IS wellness checks, which shall be known as ‘‘Buddy Check 1 Week’’. 2 (b) EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—During Buddy Check Week, 4 the Secretary, in consultation with organizations 5 that represent veterans, nonprofits that serve vet- 6 erans, mental health experts, members of the Armed 7 Forces, and such other entities and individuals as 8 the Secretary considers appropriate, shall collaborate 9 with organizations that represent veterans to provide 10 educational opportunities for veterans to learn how 11 to conduct peer wellness checks. 12 (2) TRAINING MATTERS.—As part of the edu- 13 cational opportunities provided under paragraph (1), 14 the Secretary shall provide the following: 15 (A) A script for veterans to use to conduct 16 peer wellness checks that includes information 17 on appropriate referrals to resources veterans 18 might need. 19 (B) Online and in-person training, as ap- 20 propriate, on how to conduct a peer wellness 21 check. 22 (C) Opportunities for members of organi- 23 zations that represent veterans to learn how to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4657.IS S4657 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4657 IS train individuals to conduct peer wellness 1 checks. 2 (D) Training for veterans participating in 3 Buddy Check Week on how to transfer a phone 4 call directly to the Veterans Crisis Line. 5 (E) Resiliency training for veterans partici- 6 pating in Buddy Check Week on handling a vet- 7 eran in crisis. 8 (3) ONLINE MATERIALS.—All training materials 9 provided under the educational opportunities under 10 paragraph (1) shall be made publicly available on a 11 website of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 12 (c) OUTREACH.—The Secretary, in collaboration with 13 organizations that represent veterans, may conduct out- 14 reach regarding educational opportunities under sub- 15 section (b) at— 16 (1) public events where many veterans are ex- 17 pected to congregate; 18 (2) meetings of organizations that represent 19 veterans; 20 (3) facilities of the Department; and 21 (4) such other locations as the Secretary, in col- 22 laboration with organizations that represent vet- 23 erans, considers appropriate. 24 (d) VETERANS CRISIS LINE PLAN.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4657.IS S4657 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4657 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 1 that a plan exists for handling the potential increase 2 in the number of calls into the Veterans Crisis Line 3 that may occur during Buddy Check Week. 4 (2) SUBMITTAL OF PLAN.—The head of the 5 Veterans Crisis Line shall submit to the Secretary a 6 plan for how to handle excess calls during Buddy 7 Check Week, which may include the following: 8 (A) Additional hours for staff. 9 (B) The use of a backup call center. 10 (C) Any other plan to ensure that calls 11 from veterans in crisis are being answered in a 12 timely manner by an individual trained at the 13 same level as a Veterans Crisis Line responder. 14 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) ORGANIZATION THAT REPRESENTS VET- 16 ERANS.—The term ‘‘organization that represents 17 veterans’’ means an organization recognized by the 18 Secretary for the representation of veterans under 19 section 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 20 (2) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 21 meaning given that term in section 101 of such title. 22 (3) VETERANS CRISIS LINE.—The term ‘‘Vet- 23 erans Crisis Line’’ means the toll-free hotline for 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4657.IS S4657 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4657 IS veterans provided by the Secretary under section 1 1720F(h) of such title. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Oct 10, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4657.IS S4657 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS