II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 544 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to designate one week each 

year as ‘‘Buddy Check Week’’ for the purpose of outreach and education 

concerning peer wellness checks for veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2 (legislative day, MARCH 1), 2021 

Ms. ERNST (for herself, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. BENNET, Ms. CANTWELL, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Mr. COONS, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. COTTON, Mrs. BLACKBURN, 

Mr. BARRASSO, and Ms. ROSEN) 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 designate 

one week each year as ‘‘Buddy Check Week’’ for the 

purpose of outreach and education concerning peer 

wellness checks for 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. DESIGNATION OF BUDDY CHECK WEEK BY SEC4 RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

6 shall designate one week each year to organize outreach 

7 events and educate veterans on how to conduct peer 


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1 wellness checks, which shall be known as ‘‘Buddy Check 

2 Week’’. 

3 (b) EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—During Buddy Check Week, 

5 the Secretary, in consultation with organizations 

6 that represent veterans, nonprofits that serve vet7 erans, mental health experts, members of the Armed 

8 Forces, and such other entities and individuals as 

9 the Secretary considers appropriate, shall collaborate 

10 with organizations that represent veterans to provide 

11 educational opportunities for veterans to learn how 

12 to conduct peer wellness checks. 

13 (2) TRAINING MATTERS.—As part of the edu14 cational opportunities provided under paragraph (1), 

15 the Secretary shall provide the following: 

16 (A) A script for veterans to use to conduct 

17 peer wellness checks that includes information 

18 on appropriate referrals to resources veterans 

19 might need. 

20 (B) Online and in-person training, as ap21 propriate, on how to conduct a peer wellness 

22 check. 

23 (C) Opportunities for members of organi24 zations that represent veterans to learn how to 


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1 train individuals to conduct peer wellness 

2 checks. 

3 (D) Training for veterans participating in 

4 Buddy Check Week on how to transfer a phone 

5 call directly to the Veterans Crisis Line. 

6 (E) Resiliency training for veterans partici7 pating in Buddy Check Week on handling a vet8 eran in crisis. 

9 (3) ONLINE MATERIALS.—All training materials 

10 provided under the educational opportunities under 

11 paragraph (1) shall be made publicly available on a 

12 website of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

13 (c) OUTREACH.—The Secretary, in collaboration with 

14 organizations that represent veterans, may conduct out15 reach regarding educational opportunities under sub16 section (b) at— 

17 (1) public events where many veterans are ex18 pected to congregate; 

19 (2) meetings of organizations that represent 

20 veterans; 

21 (3) facilities of the Department; and 

22 (4) such other locations as the Secretary, in col23 laboration with organizations that represent vet24 erans, considers appropriate. 

25 (d) VETERANS CRISIS LINE PLAN.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure 

2 that a plan exists for handling the potential increase 

3 in the number of calls into the Veterans Crisis Line 

4 that may occur during Buddy Check Week. 

5 (2) SUBMITTAL OF PLAN.—The head of the 

6 Veterans Crisis Line shall submit to the Secretary a 

7 plan for how to handle excess calls during Buddy 

8 Check Week, which may include the following: 

9 (A) Additional hours for staff. 

10 (B) The use of a backup call center. 

11 (C) Any other plan to ensure that calls 

12 from veterans in crisis are being answered in a 

13 timely manner by an individual trained at the 

14 same level as a Veterans Crisis Line responder. 

15 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) ORGANIZATION THAT REPRESENTS VET17 ERANS.—The term ‘‘organization that represents 

18 veterans’’ means an organization recognized by the 

19 Secretary for the representation of veterans under 

20 section 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 

21 (2) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

22 meaning given that term in section 101 of such title. 

23 (3) VETERANS CRISIS LINE.—The term ‘‘Vet24 erans Crisis Line’’ means the toll-free hotline for 


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1 veterans provided by the Secretary under section 

2 1720F(h) of such title. 

Æ 


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