I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5030 

To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to take certain 

actions regarding suicides by veterans and mental health care furnished 

by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 8, 2019 

Mr. WATKINS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to 

take certain actions regarding suicides by veterans and 

mental health care furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Suicide Prevention 

5 Services Accountability Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON MANAGE2 MENT BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF3 FAIRS OF VETERANS AT HIGH RISK FOR SUI4 CIDE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

7 General of the United States shall submit to the Commit8 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep9 resentatives a report on the efforts of the Secretary to 

10 manage veterans at high risk for suicide. 

11 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 

12 shall include the following: 

13 (1) An assessment of suicide prevention prac14 tices and initiatives available from the Department 

15 and through community partnerships. 

16 (2) A description of how the Department identi17 fies veterans as high risk for suicide, with particular 

18 consideration to the efficacy of inputs into the Re19 covery Engagement and Coordination for Health— 

20 Veterans Enhanced Treatment (commonly referred 

21 to as ‘‘REACH VET’’) program of the Department, 

22 including an assessment of the efficacy of such iden23 tifications disaggregated by age, gender, and, to the 

24 extent practicable, Veterans Integrated Service Net25 work, and medical center of the Department. 


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1 (3) A description of how the Department inter2 venes when a veteran is identified as high risk, in3 cluding an assessment of the efficacy of such inter4 ventions disaggregated by age, gender, and, to the 

5 extent practicable, Veterans Integrated Service Net6 work, and medical center of the Department. 

7 (4) A description of how the Department mon8 itors veterans who have been identified as high risk, 

9 including an assessment of the efficacy of such mon10 itoring and any follow-ups disaggregated by age, 

11 gender, and, to the extent practicable, Veterans In12 tegrated Service Network, and medical center of the 

13 Department. 

14 (5) A review of staffing levels of suicide preven15 tion coordinators across the Veterans Health Admin16 istration. 

17 (6) A review of the resources and programming 

18 offered to family members and friends of veterans 

19 who have a mental health condition in order to as20 sist that veteran in treatment and recovery. 

21 (7) An assessment of such other areas the 

22 Comptroller General determines appropriate. 


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1 SEC. 3. COMPTROLLER GENERAL MANAGEMENT REVIEW 

2 OF MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE PREVEN3 TION SERVICES OF DEPARTMENT OF VET4 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than three years after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

7 General of the United States shall submit to the Commit8 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep9 resentatives a management review of the mental health 

10 and suicide prevention services provided by the Secretary. 

11 (b) ELEMENTS.—The management review under sub12 section (a) shall include the following: 

13 (1) An assessment of the infrastructure under 

14 the control of or available to the Office of Mental 

15 Health and Suicide Prevention of the Department. 

16 (2) A description of the management and orga17 nizational structure of the Office of Mental Health 

18 and Suicide Prevention, including roles and respon19 sibilities for each position. 

20 (3) A review of the operational policies and 

21 processes of the Office of Mental Health and Suicide 

22 Prevention, including an assessment of how effec23 tively these policies and processes are implemented. 

24 (4) An assessment of the staffing levels at the 

25 Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, 


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1 disaggregated by type of position, and including the 

2 location of any staffing deficiencies. 

3 (5) An assessment of the Nurse Advice Line 

4 pilot program conducted by the Department. 

5 (6) An assessment of recruitment initiatives for 

6 mental health professionals of the Department, in7 cluding any special emphasis on rural areas. 

8 (7) An assessment of strategic planning con9 ducted by the Office of Mental Health and Suicide 

10 Prevention. 

11 (8) An assessment of the communication, and 

12 the effectiveness of such communication— 

13 (A) within the central office of the Office 

14 of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention; 

15 (B) between that central office and the 

16 Central Office of the Department; 

17 (C) between that central office and local 

18 facilities and offices, including networks and 

19 medical centers; and 

20 (D) between that central office and com21 munity partners of the Department, including 

22 first responders, community support groups, 

23 and health care industry partners. 


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1 (9) An assessment of how effectively the Sec2 retary and the Secretary of Defense coordinate men3 tal health and suicide prevention efforts. 

4 (10) An assessment of such other areas the 

5 Comptroller General determines appropriate. 

6 SEC. 4. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON EFFORTS OF 

7 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO IN8 TEGRATE MENTAL HEALTH CARE INTO PRI9 MARY CARE CLINICS. 

10 (a) INITIAL REPORT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

13 Comptroller General of the United States shall sub14 mit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

15 Senate and House of Representatives a report on the 

16 efforts of the Secretary to integrate mental health 

17 care into primary care clinics of the Department. 

18 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report under this sub19 section shall include the following: 

20 (A) An assessment of the efforts of the 

21 Secretary to integrate mental health care into 

22 primary care clinics of the Department. 

23 (B) An assessment of the effectiveness of 

24 such efforts. 


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1 (C) A description of how care is coordi2 nated by the Department between specialty 

3 mental health care and primary care, including 

4 a description of the following: 

5 (i) How documents and patient infor6 mation are transferred and the effective7 ness of those transfers. 

8 (ii) How care is coordinated when vet9 erans must travel to different facilities of 

10 the Department. 

11 (iii) How a veteran is reintegrated 

12 into primary care after receiving in-patient 

13 mental health care. 

14 (D) An assessment of how the integration 

15 of mental health care into primary care clinics 

16 is implemented at different facilities of the De17 partment. 

18 (E) An assessment of such other areas the 

19 Comptroller General determines appropriate. 

20 (b) COMMUNITY CARE INTEGRATION REPORT.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years 

22 after the date on which the Comptroller General 

23 submits the report under subsection (a), the Comp24 troller General shall submit to the Committees on 

25 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of RepVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Nov 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5030.IH H5030

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1 resentatives a report on the efforts of the Secretary 

2 to integrate community-based mental health care 

3 into the Veterans Health Administration. 

4 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report under this sub5 section shall include the following: 

6 (A) An assessment of the efforts of the 

7 Secretary to integrate community-based mental 

8 health care into the Veterans Health Adminis9 tration. 

10 (B) An assessment of the effectiveness of 

11 such efforts. 

12 (C) A description of how care is coordi13 nated between providers of community-based 

14 mental health care and the Veterans Health 

15 Administration, including a description of how 

16 documents and patient information are trans17 ferred and the effectiveness of those transfers 

18 between— 

19 (i) the Veterans Health Administra20 tion and providers of community-based 

21 mental health care; and 

22 (ii) providers of community-based 

23 mental health care and the Veterans 

24 Health Administration. 


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1 (D) An assessment of the extent to which 

2 the coordination of community-based mental 

3 health care varies by facilities of the Depart4 ment. 

5 (E) An assessment of the extent to which 

6 military cultural competency of community7 based mental health care providers are consid8 ered in providing mental health care to vet9 erans. 

10 (F) An assessment of such other areas as 

11 the Comptroller General considers appropriate 

12 to study. 

13 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) The term ‘‘community-based mental health 

16 care’’ means mental health care paid for by the Sec17 retary but provided by a non-Department health 

18 care provider at a non-Department facility, including 

19 care furnished under section 1703 of title 38, United 

20 States Code. 

21 (2) The term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart22 ment of Veterans Affairs. 

23 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

24 of Veterans Affairs. 

Æ 


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