II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5181 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make certain improvements 

relating to mental health and suicide prevention outreach to minority 

veterans and American Indian and Alaska Native veterans, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 5, 2022 

Mr. TESTER (for himself and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make certain 

improvements relating to mental health and suicide prevention outreach to minority veterans and American Indian and Alaska Native 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 ‘‘American Indian and 

5 Alaska Native Veterans Mental Health Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE PREVENTION OUT2 REACH TO MINORITY VETERANS AND AMER3 ICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE VET4 ERANS. 

5 (a) STAFFING REQUIREMENT.—Beginning not later 

6 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

7 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that each 

8 medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs has 

9 not fewer than one full-time employee whose responsibility 

10 is serving as a minority veteran coordinator. 

11 (b) TRAINING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con13 sultation with the Director of the Indian Health Service 

14 and the Director of the Office of Mental Health and Sui15 cide Prevention of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 

16 shall ensure that all minority veteran coordinators receive 

17 training in delivery of mental health and suicide preven18 tion services culturally appropriate for American Indian 

19 and Alaska Native veterans, especially with respect to the 

20 populations and Indian Tribes identified within the 

21 catchment area served by each such coordinator. 

22 (c) COORDINATION WITH SUICIDE PREVENTION CO23 ORDINATORS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec26 retary, in consultation with the Director of the OfVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:50 Dec 06, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5181.IS S5181

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1 fice of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention of the 

2 Department, shall ensure that the suicide prevention 

3 coordinator and minority veteran coordinator of each 

4 medical center of the Department have developed 

5 and disseminated to the director of the medical cen6 ter a written plan for conducting mental health and 

7 suicide prevention outreach to all Indian Tribes and 

8 Urban Indian organizations within the catchment 

9 area of the medical center. 

10 (2) ELEMENTS OF PLAN.—Each plan required 

11 under paragraph (1) shall include for each Indian 

12 Tribe covered by the plan— 

13 (A) contact information for leadership of 

14 the Indian Tribe and the Tribal health facility 

15 or facility of the Indian Health Service serving 

16 the Indian Tribe; 

17 (B) a schedule for and list of outreach 

18 plans (including plans addressing any barriers 

19 to accessing mental health care from the De20 partment); 

21 (C) documentation of any conversation 

22 with leaders of the Indian Tribe that may guide 

23 culturally appropriate delivery of mental health 

24 care to American Indian or Alaska Native vet25 erans; 


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1 (D) documentation of any progress in in2 corporating traditional healing practices into 

3 mental health and suicide prevention protocols 

4 and options available for veterans who are 

5 members of such Indian Tribe; and 

6 (E) documentation of any coordination 

7 among the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 

8 Indian Health Service, Urban Indian organiza9 tions, and the Substance Abuse and Mental 

10 Health Services Administration of the Depart11 ment of Health and Human Services for the 

12 purpose of improving suicide prevention efforts 

13 tailored to veterans who are members of such 

14 Indian Tribe and the provision of culturally 

15 competent mental health care to such veterans. 

16 (d) REPORT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec19 retary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ 

20 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Vet21 erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a re22 port on outreach efforts to minority veterans and 

23 American Indian and Alaska Native veterans. 

24 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

25 paragraph (1) shall include each of the following: 


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1 (A) The number of minority veteran coor2 dinators within the Department of Veterans Af3 fairs. 

4 (B) The number and percentage of minor5 ity veteran coordinators who are women. 

6 (C) The number and percentage of minor7 ity veteran coordinators who are persons of 

8 color. 

9 (D) The number and percentage of medical 

10 centers of the Department with a minority vet11 eran coordinator. 

12 (E) The number and percentage of mental 

13 health providers of the Department who are en14 rolled members of an Indian Tribe or self-iden15 tify as Native American. 

16 (F) The number and percentage of mental 

17 health providers of the Department who speak 

18 a second language. 

19 (G) A review of the outreach plans devel20 oped and submitted to all medical centers of the 

21 Department for outreach to American Indian 

22 and Alaska Native veterans. 

23 (H) An annual review of mental health 

24 care provided by the Department to American 

25 Indian and Alaska Native veterans during the 


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1 three-year period preceding the date of the re2 port, including the number of appointments for 

3 such care and an assessment of any barriers to 

4 providing such care. 

5 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

7 has the meaning given that term in section 4(e) of 

8 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist9 ance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(e)). 

10 (2) URBAN INDIAN ORGANIZATION.—The term 

11 ‘‘Urban Indian organization’’ has the meaning given 

12 that term in section 4 of the Indian Health Care Im13 provement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603). 

Æ 


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