I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5516 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to enter into contracts with States or to award grants to States 

to promote health and wellness, prevent suicide, and improve outreach 

to veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. LEVIN of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts 

with States or to award grants to States to promote 

health and wellness, prevent suicide, and improve outreach to veterans, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Commitment to Vet5 eran Support and Outreach Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY FOR SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF2 FAIRS TO AWARD CONTRACTS AND GRANTS 

3 TO STATES TO PROMOTE HEALTH AND 

4 WELLNESS, PREVENT SUICIDE, AND IMPROVE 

5 OUTREACH TO VETERANS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 63 of title 38, United 

7 States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating sections 6307 and 6308 

9 and sections 6308 and 6309, respectively; and 

10 (2) by inserting after section 6306 the following 

11 new section 6307: 

12 ‘‘§ 6307. Contracts and grants to promote health and 

13 wellness, prevent suicide, and improve 

14 outreach to veterans 

15 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 

16 provide for assistance by the Secretary to States to carry 

17 out programs that promote health and wellness, strength18 en the coordination, implementation, and evaluation of 

19 comprehensive veteran suicide prevention programs, and 

20 offer a high probability of improving outreach and assist21 ance to veterans and the spouses, children, and parents 

22 of veterans, to ensure that such individuals are fully in23 formed about, and assisted in applying for, any veterans 

24 and veterans-related benefits and programs (including 

25 State veterans programs) for which they may be eligible. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CONTRACTS.—(1) The Secretary may enter into 

2 a contract with a State in order to carry out, coordinate, 

3 improve, or otherwise enhance health and wellness pro4 grams, comprehensive veteran suicide prevention pro5 grams, and outreach by the Department and the State (in6 cluding outreach with respect to a State, county, or other 

7 local veterans program). 

8 ‘‘(2) As a condition of entering into a contract with 

9 a State under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall require 

10 the State to submit to the Secretary a detailed plan for 

11 the use of any funds provided to the State pursuant to 

12 the contract and to meet the outcome measures developed 

13 by the Secretary under subsection (c)(4). 

14 ‘‘(3) Each contract entered into with a State under 

15 this subsection to carry out an activity shall include a re16 quirement that the State carry out the activity through— 

17 ‘‘(A) the county veterans service officers of the 

18 State; or 

19 ‘‘(B) if a county veterans service officer does 

20 not exist in the State or exists only in portions of 

21 the State, an appropriate State, local, or tribal enti22 ty as determined by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.—(1) The Secretary may award a grant 

24 to a State to be used— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to carry out, coordinate, improve, or oth2 erwise enhance— 

3 ‘‘(i) health and wellness programs; 

4 ‘‘(ii) comprehensive veteran suicide preven5 tion programs; 

6 ‘‘(iii) outreach activities; or 

7 ‘‘(iv) activities to assist in the development 

8 and submittal of claims for veterans and vet9 erans-related benefits; or 

10 ‘‘(B) to increase the number of county veterans 

11 service officers serving in the State by hiring new, 

12 additional county veterans service officers. 

13 ‘‘(2) A State that receives a grant under this sub14 section to carry out an activity described in paragraph 

15 (1)(A) shall carry out the activity through— 

16 ‘‘(A) a county veterans service officer of the 

17 State; or 

18 ‘‘(B) if a county veterans service officer does 

19 not exist in the State or exists only in portions of 

20 the State, an appropriate State, local, or tribal enti21 ty as determined by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(3)(A) To be eligible for a grant under this sub23 section, a State shall submit to the Secretary an applica24 tion therefor at such time, in such manner, and containing 

25 such information as the Secretary may require. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Each application submitted under subparagraph 

2 (A) shall include the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) A detailed plan for the use of the grant. 

4 ‘‘(ii) A description of the programs through 

5 which the State will meet the outcome measures de6 veloped by the Secretary under paragraph (4). 

7 ‘‘(4)(A) The Secretary shall develop and provide to 

8 the recipient of a grant under this subsection written guid9 ance on outcome measures, policies of the Department, 

10 and procedures for applying for grants under this section. 

11 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall review the performance of 

12 each State that receives a grant under this section and 

13 shall make information regarding such performance pub14 licly available. 

15 ‘‘(C) In the case of a State that is a recipient of a 

16 grant under this subsection that does not meet the out17 come measures developed by the Secretary, the Secretary 

18 shall require the State to submit a remediation plan under 

19 which the State shall describe how and when it plans to 

20 meet such outcome measures. The Secretary must approve 

21 such plan before the Secretary may award a subsequent 

22 grant to that State under this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(5) A grant under this subsection— 

24 ‘‘(A) shall be used— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to expand existing programs, activi2 ties, and services; 

3 ‘‘(ii) to hire new, additional county vet4 erans service officers; or 

5 ‘‘(iii) for travel and transportation to fa6 cilitate carrying out clause (i) or (ii); and 

7 ‘‘(B) shall be used to supplement and not sup8 plant State and local funding that is otherwise avail9 able. 

10 ‘‘(6) A grant under this subsection may be used to 

11 provide education and training, including on-the-job train12 ing, for State, county, local, and tribal government em13 ployees who provide (or when trained will provide) vet14 erans outreach services in order for those employees to 

15 obtain accreditation in accordance with procedures ap16 proved by the Secretary and, for employees so accredited, 

17 for purposes of continuing education. 

18 ‘‘(7) A grant awarded under paragraph (1)(A) may 

19 be used to carry out, coordinate, improve, or otherwise en20 hance an activity carried out pursuant to a contract en21 tered into under subsection (b). 

22 ‘‘(d) COUNTY VETERANS SERVICE OFFICER DE23 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘county veterans service 

24 officer’ includes— 


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1 ‘‘(1) a local equivalent veterans service officer; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(2) a tribal veterans service officer or tribal 

4 veteran representative. 

5 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.—(1) Amounts for the activities of the 

6 Department under this section shall be budgeted and ap7 propriated through a separate appropriation account. 

8 ‘‘(2) In the budget justification materials submitted 

9 to Congress in support of the Department budget for any 

10 fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the President 

11 under section 1105(a) of title 31), the Secretary shall in12 clude a separate statement of the amount requested to be 

13 appropriated for that fiscal year for the account specified 

14 in paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for each 

17 of fiscal years 2020 through 2024, $50,000,000 to carry 

18 out this section.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

20 at the beginning of chapter 63 of such title is amended 

21 by striking the items relating to sections 6307 and 6308 

22 and inserting the following new items: 

‘‘6307. Contracts and grants to promote health and wellness, prevent suicide, 

and improve outreach to veterans. 

‘‘6308. Outreach for eligible dependents. 

‘‘6309. Biennial report to Congress.’’. 

Æ 


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