I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5556 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct an analysis of the 

need for women-specific programs that treat and rehabilitate women 

veterans with drug and alcohol dependency and to carry out a pilot 

program regarding such programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2020 

Ms. BROWNLEY of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct an 

analysis of the need for women-specific programs that 

treat and rehabilitate women veterans with drug and 

alcohol dependency and to carry out a pilot program 

regarding such programs. 

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 ‘‘Women Veterans Transi5 tional Residence Utilizing Support and Treatment Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘Women Veterans TRUST Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Substance use problems are a significant 

4 problem among veterans and can negatively impact 

5 a veteran’s health and quality of life. 

6 (2) Veterans can turn to alcohol or drugs in an 

7 attempt to relieve stress or the symptoms of mental 

8 health disorders. 

9 (3) Rates of substance use disorder among 

10 women veterans range from three to 16 percent of 

11 the population. 

12 (4) Women veterans face a unique set of chal13 lenges associated with their military service that can 

14 lead to substance abuse. 

15 (5) Women veterans aged 35 and older were 

16 found to have higher rates of substance-use dis17 orders than their non-veteran counterparts. 

18 (6) Studies indicate women veterans are twice 

19 as likely as men veterans to develop posttraumatic 

20 stress disorder, twice as likely to have serious psy21 chological distress, and approximately one out of 

22 four women veterans reports military sexual trauma. 

23 (7) Studies indicate that women veterans with 

24 a substance-use disorder diagnosis have higher rates 

25 of suicide than their non-veteran peers, and women 


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1 veterans are more than twice as likely to die by sui2 cide than non-veteran women. 

3 (8) Health services that are women-specific can 

4 be important to effective care, and women veterans 

5 consider the availability of women-specific care as 

6 extremely important. 

7 (9) While the Secretary of Veterans Affairs pro8 vides women veterans with substance use treatment 

9 through a number of programs, the Women Vet10 erans’ Therapeutic Transitional Residence Program 

11 is a model for providing treatment and rehabilitative 

12 services to women veterans with drug and alcohol 

13 dependency, and it is critical that the Secretary 

14 identifies the need for, and feasibility of, similar pro15 grams throughout the health care system of the De16 partment. 

17 SEC. 3. WOMEN-SPECIFIC DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPEND18 ENCY TREATMENT AND REHABILITATIVE 

19 PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN VETERANS. 

20 (a) ANALYSIS.— 

21 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec23 retary of Veterans Affairs shall conduct a nation24 wide analysis of the need for women-specific pro25 grams of the Department of Veterans Affairs that 


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1 treat and rehabilitate women veterans with drug and 

2 alcohol dependency. Such analysis shall include the 

3 following: 

4 (A) With respect to each of the three years 

5 preceding the date of the analysis, the annual 

6 number of women veterans who have been 

7 treated and rehabilitated for drug and alcohol 

8 dependency at each medical center of the De9 partment of Veterans Affairs. 

10 (B) Information on all non-Department 

11 women-specific programs to which the Secretary 

12 refers women veterans for treatment and reha13 bilitation of drug and alcohol dependency, in14 cluding, for each such program, the name of the 

15 entity carrying out the program, the location of 

16 the program, and the number of women vet17 erans referred by the Secretary served annually 

18 by the program. 

19 (C) An analysis of the effectiveness of pro20 grams of the Department and non-Department 

21 programs to treat and rehabilitate women vet22 erans with drug and alcohol dependency, 

23 disaggregated by single-sex versus coed pro24 grams. 


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1 (D) An analysis of all information the Sec2 retary maintains on the satisfaction of women 

3 veterans with programs of the Department and 

4 non-Department programs to treat and rehabili5 tate women veterans with drug and alcohol de6 pendency, disaggregated by single-sex versus 

7 coed programs. 

8 (E) An assessment of the demand and 

9 need for women-specific programs to treat and 

10 rehabilitate women veterans with drug and alco11 hol dependency, disaggregated by Veterans In12 tegrated Service Network and medical center of 

13 the Department. 

14 (F) Proposed locations for implementing 

15 the pilot program under subsection (b). 

16 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

18 of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees 

19 on Veterans’ Affairs and Appropriations of the 

20 House of Representatives and the Senate a report 

21 containing the analysis under paragraph (1). 

22 (b) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

23 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than one year 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec25 retary shall carry out a women-specific pilot proVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Jan 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5556.IH H5556

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1 gram to treat and rehabilitate women veterans with 

2 drug and alcohol dependency. The Secretary shall 

3 develop such pilot program based on the findings of 

4 the analysis conducted under subsection (a). 

5 (2) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall select not 

6 fewer than three Veterans Integrated Service Net7 works in which to carry out the pilot program. 

8 (3) TERMINATION.—The authority to carry out 

9 a pilot program under this section shall terminate on 

10 the date that is five years after the date of the en11 actment of this Act. 

12 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

13 the date on which the pilot program under para14 graph (1) is completed, the Secretary shall submit to 

15 Committees on Veterans’ Affairs and Appropriations 

16 of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 

17 report on the pilot program, including— 

18 (A) the findings and conclusions of the 

19 Secretary regarding the pilot program; and 

20 (B) such recommendations of the Sec21 retary regarding the continuation or expansion 

22 of the pilot program as the Secretary considers 

23 appropriate. 

Æ 


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