Daniel J. Harvey Jr. and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4900 To require a pilot program on activities under the Transition Assistance Program for a reduction in suicide among veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 16, 2020 Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. ERNST, and Mr. WHITE- HOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To require a pilot program on activities under the Transition Assistance Program for a reduction in suicide among 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‘‘Daniel J. Harvey Jr. 4 and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition 5 to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:24 Nov 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4900.IS S4900 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4900 IS SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON ACTIVITIES UNDER THE TRAN- 1 SITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR A REDUC- 2 TION IN SUICIDE AMONG VETERANS. 3 (a) PILOT PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary of 4 Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly 5 carry out a pilot program to assess the feasibility and ad- 6 visability of providing the module described in subsection 7 (b) and the services described in subsection (c) as part 8 of the Transition Assistance Program for members of the 9 Armed Forces participating in the Transition Assistance 10 Program as a means of reducing the incidence of suicide 11 among veterans. 12 (b) MODULE.—The module described in this sub- 13 section is a 3-hour module under the Transition Assist- 14 ance Program for each member participating in the pilot 15 program that includes the following: 16 (1) An in-person meeting between the member’s 17 cohort and a social worker in which the social work- 18 er— 19 (A) counsels the cohort on specific poten- 20 tial risks confronting members after discharge 21 or release from the Armed Forces, including 22 loss of community or a support system, isola- 23 tion from family, friends, or society, identity 24 crisis in the transition from military to civilian 25 life, vulnerability viewed as a weakness, need 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:24 Nov 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4900.IS S4900 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4900 IS for empathy, self-medication and addiction, im- 1 portance of sleep and exercise, homelessness, 2 and reasons why veterans attempt and complete 3 suicide; 4 (B) counsels members of the cohort who 5 have been diagnosed with physical, psycho- 6 logical, or neurological issues, such as Post- 7 Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic 8 Brain Injury (TBI), Adverse Childhood Experi- 9 ences (ACE), depression, and bipolar disorder, 10 on— 11 (i) the potential risks for such mem- 12 bers after discharge or release from such 13 issues; and 14 (ii) the resources and treatment op- 15 tions afforded to members for such issues 16 through the Department of Veterans Af- 17 fairs, the Department of Defense, and non- 18 profit organizations; 19 (C) counsels the cohort about the resources 20 afforded to victims of Military Sexual Trauma 21 (MST) through the Department of Veterans Af- 22 fairs; and 23 (D) counsels the cohort about the five 24 stages of grieving, the manner in which mem- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:24 Nov 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4900.IS S4900 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4900 IS bers might experience grieving during the tran- 1 sition from military to civilian life, and the re- 2 sources afforded to them for grieving through 3 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 4 (2) The provision to each cohort member of 5 contact information for a counseling or other appro- 6 priate facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs 7 in the locality in which such member intends to re- 8 side after discharge or release. 9 (3) The submittal by cohort members to the 10 Department of Veterans Affairs (including both the 11 Veterans Health Administration and the Veterans 12 Benefits Administration) of member medical records 13 in connection with service in the Armed Forces, 14 whether or not such members intends to file a claim 15 with the Department for benefits with respect to any 16 service-connected disability. 17 (c) SERVICES.—The services described in this sub- 18 section in connection with the Transition Assistance Pro- 19 gram for each member participating in the pilot program 20 are the following: 21 (1) Not later than 90 days after the discharge 22 or release of the member, a contact of the member 23 by a social worker or behavioral health coordinator 24 from the Department of Veterans Affairs to schedule 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:24 Nov 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4900.IS S4900 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4900 IS a follow-up appointment with a social worker or be- 1 havioral health provider at the facility applicable to 2 the member under subsection (b)(2), which such ap- 3 pointment to occur not later than 90 days after such 4 contact. 5 (2) During the appointment scheduled pursuant 6 to paragraph (1)— 7 (A) an assessment of the member to deter- 8 mine the member’s experiences with events dur- 9 ing military service that could lead, whether in- 10 dividually or cumulatively, to physical, psycho- 11 logical, or neurological issues, including issues 12 described in subsection (b)(1)(B); and 13 (B) the development of a medical treat- 14 ment plan for the member, including treatment 15 for issues identified pursuant to the assessment 16 under subparagraph (A). 17 (d) LOCATIONS.—The pilot program shall be carried 18 out at not fewer than 10 Transition Assistance Centers 19 of the Department of Defense that serve at least 300 20 members annually, which centers shall be jointly selected 21 by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 22 Affairs for purposes of the pilot program. The centers so 23 selected shall, to the extent practicable, be centers that, 24 whether individually or in aggregate, serve all the Armed 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:24 Nov 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4900.IS S4900 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4900 IS Forces and both the regular and reserve components of 1 the Armed Forces. 2 (e) SELECTION AND COMMENCEMENT.—The Sec- 3 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 4 shall jointly select the locations of the pilot program under 5 subsection (d), and commence carrying out activities 6 under the pilot program, by not later than 120 days after 7 the date of the enactment of this Act. 8 (f) DURATION.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The duration of the pilot 10 program shall be five years. 11 (2) CONTINUATION.—If the Secretary of De- 12 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs rec- 13 ommend in the report under subsection (g) that the 14 pilot program be extended beyond the date otherwise 15 provided by paragraph (1), the Secretaries may 16 jointly continue the pilot program for such period 17 beyond such date as the Secretaries jointly consider 18 appropriate. 19 (g) REPORTS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 22 every 180 days thereafter during the duration of the 23 pilot program, the Secretary of Defense and the Sec- 24 retary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:24 Nov 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4900.IS S4900 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4900 IS Congress a report on the activities under the pilot 1 program. 2 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report on the pilot pro- 3 gram under this subsection shall include the fol- 4 lowing: 5 (A) A description of the members who par- 6 ticipated in the pilot program during the 180- 7 day period ending on the date of such report, 8 broken out by the following: 9 (i) Sex. 10 (ii) Branch of the Armed Forces in 11 which served. 12 (iii) Diagnosis of, or other symptoms 13 consistent with, Military Sexual Trauma 14 (MST), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 15 (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), 16 depression, or bipolar disorder in connec- 17 tion with military service. 18 (B) A description of the activities under 19 the pilot program during such period. 20 (C) An assessment of the benefits of the 21 activities under the pilot program during such 22 period to veterans and family members of vet- 23 erans. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:24 Nov 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4900.IS S4900 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4900 IS (D) An assessment whether the activities 1 under the pilot program as of the date of such 2 report have reduced the incidence of suicide 3 among members who participated in the pilot 4 program, within one year of discharge or re- 5 lease from the Armed Forces. 6 (E) Such recommendations as the Sec- 7 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 8 Affairs jointly consider appropriate regarding 9 expansion of the pilot program, extension of the 10 pilot program, or both. 11 (h) TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM DEFINED.— 12 In this section, the term ‘‘Transition Assistance Program’’ 13 means the program of assistance and other transitional 14 services carried out pursuant to section 1144 of title 10, 15 United States Code. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:24 Nov 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4900.IS S4900 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS