Protection and Advocacy for Veterans Act of 2016

Summary: Protection and Advocacy for Veterans Act of 2016 This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a five-year grant program to improve the monitoring of VA mental health and substance abuse treatment programs.  The VA shall award grants to four protection and advocacy systems under which each recipient shall investigate and monitor VA facilities care and treatment of veterans with mental illness or substance abuse issues. Criteria for selecting recipients shall include whether the state in which the protection and advocacy system operates has low mental health, performance, and access scores.  During each year in which a protection and advocacy system carries out a demonstration project, the VA shall award a joint grant to a national organization with extensive knowledge of the protection and advocacy system and a veterans service organization to: (1) coordinate training and technical assistance, and (2) provide for related data collection, reporting, and analysis.  &quot;Protection and advocacy system&quot; means the state-established system to protect and advocate the rights of persons with developmental disabilities.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protection and Advocacy for Veterans 
Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE MONITORING OF MENTAL 
              HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT PROGRAMS OF 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) Establishment.--Commencing not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall establish a grant program to improve the monitoring of mental 
health and substance abuse treatment programs of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.
    (b) Grants.--
            (1) Main grant.--
                    (A) Award.--In carrying out subsection (a), the 
                Secretary shall award grants to four protection and 
                advocacy systems under which each protection and 
                advocacy system shall carry out a demonstration project 
                to investigate and monitor the care and treatment of 
                veterans provided under chapter 17 of title 38, United 
                States Code, for mental illness or substance abuse 
                issues at medical facilities of the Department.
                    (B) Minimum amount.--Each grant awarded under 
                subparagraph (A) to a protection and advocacy system 
                shall be in an amount that is not less than $105,000 
                for each year that the protection and advocacy system 
                carries out a demonstration project described in such 
                subparagraph under the grant program.
            (2) Collaboration grant.--
                    (A) Award.--During each year in which a protection 
                and advocacy system carries out a demonstration project 
                under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary shall award a 
                joint grant to a national organization with extensive 
                knowledge of the protection and advocacy system and a 
                veterans service organization in the amount of $80,000.
                    (B) Collaboration.--Each national organization and 
                veterans service organization that is awarded a joint 
                grant under subparagraph (A) shall use the amount of 
                the grant to facilitate the collaboration between the 
                national organization and the veterans service 
                organization to--
                            (i) coordinate training and technical 
                        assistance for the protection and advocacy 
                        systems awarded grants under paragraph (1)(A); 
                        and
                            (ii) provide for data collection, 
                        reporting, and analysis in carrying out such 
                        paragraph.
            (3) Authority.--In carrying out a demonstration project 
        under paragraph (1)(A), a protection and advocacy system shall 
        have the authorities specified in section 105(a) of the 
        Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 10805(a)) with respect to medical facilities of the 
        Department.
    (c) Selection.--In selecting the four protection and advocacy 
systems to receive grants under subsection (b)(1)(A), the Secretary 
shall consider the following criteria:
            (1) Whether the protection and advocacy system has 
        demonstrated monitoring and investigation experience, along 
        with knowledge of the issues facing veterans with disabilities.
            (2) Whether the State in which the protection and advocacy 
        system operates--
                    (A) has low aggregated scores in the domains of 
                mental health, performance, and access as rated by the 
                Strategic Analytics Improvement and Learning database 
                system (commonly referred to as ``SAIL''); and
                    (B) to the extent practicable, is representative of 
                both urban and rural States.
    (d) Reports.--The Secretary shall ensure that each protection and 
advocacy system participating in the grant program submits to the 
Secretary reports developed by the protection and advocacy system 
relating to investigations or monitoring conducted pursuant to 
subsection (b)(1)(A). The Secretary shall designate an office of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs to receive each such report.
    (e) Duration; Termination.--
            (1) Duration.--The Secretary shall carry out the grant 
        program established under subsection (a) for a period of five 
        years beginning on the date of commencement of the grant 
        program.
            (2) Termination of demonstration projects.--The Secretary 
        may terminate a demonstration project under subsection 
        (b)(1)(A) before the end of the five-year period described in 
        paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines there is good cause 
        for such termination. If the Secretary carries out such a 
        termination, the Secretary shall award grants under such 
        subsection to a new protection and advocacy system for the 
        remaining duration of the grant program.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the grant program under 
subsection (a) $500,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021.
    (g) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``protection and advocacy system'' has the 
        meaning given the term ``eligible system'' in section 102(2) of 
        the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 10802(2)).
            (2) The term ``State'' means each of the several States, 
        territories, and possessions of the United States, the District 
        of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
            (3) The term ``veterans service organization'' means any 
        organization recognized by the Secretary for the representation 
        of veterans under section 5902 of title 38, United States Code.