117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 544 

AN ACT 

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, 
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†S 544 ES

1 SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF BUDDY CHECK WEEK BY SEC2 RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

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

4 shall designate one week each year to organize outreach 

5 events and educate veterans on how to conduct peer 

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

7 Week’’. 

8 (b) EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.— 

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

10 the Secretary, in consultation with organizations 

11 that represent veterans, nonprofits that serve vet12 erans, mental health experts, members of the Armed 

13 Forces, and such other entities and individuals as 

14 the Secretary considers appropriate, shall collaborate 

15 with organizations that represent veterans to provide 

16 educational opportunities for veterans to learn how 

17 to conduct peer wellness checks. 

18 (2) TRAINING MATTERS.—As part of the edu19 cational opportunities provided under paragraph (1), 

20 the Secretary shall provide the following: 

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

22 peer wellness checks that includes information 

23 on appropriate referrals to resources veterans 

24 might need. 
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1 (B) Online and in-person training, as ap2 propriate, on how to conduct a peer wellness 

3 check. 

4 (C) Opportunities for members of organi5 zations that represent veterans to learn how to 

6 train individuals to conduct peer wellness 

7 checks. 

8 (D) Training for veterans participating in 

9 Buddy Check Week on how to transfer a phone 

10 call directly to the Veterans Crisis Line. 

11 (E) Resiliency training for veterans partici12 pating in Buddy Check Week on handling a vet13 eran in crisis. 

14 (3) ONLINE MATERIALS.—All training materials 

15 provided under the educational opportunities under 

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

17 website of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

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

19 organizations that represent veterans, may conduct out20 reach regarding educational opportunities under sub21 section (b) at— 

22 (1) public events where many veterans are ex23 pected to congregate; 

24 (2) meetings of organizations that represent 

25 veterans; 
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1 (3) facilities of the Department; and 

2 (4) such other locations as the Secretary, in col3 laboration with organizations that represent vet4 erans, considers appropriate. 

5 (d) VETERANS CRISIS LINE PLAN.— 

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

7 that a plan exists for handling the potential increase 

8 in the number of calls into the Veterans Crisis Line 

9 that may occur during Buddy Check Week. 

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

11 Veterans Crisis Line shall submit to the Secretary a 

12 plan for how to handle excess calls during Buddy 

13 Check Week, which may include the following: 

14 (A) Additional hours for staff. 

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

16 (C) Any other plan to ensure that calls 

17 from veterans in crisis are being answered in a 

18 timely manner by an individual trained at the 

19 same level as a Veterans Crisis Line responder. 

20 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) ORGANIZATION THAT REPRESENTS VET22 ERANS.—The term ‘‘organization that represents 

23 veterans’’ means an organization recognized by the 

24 Secretary for the representation of veterans under 

25 section 5902 of title 38, United States Code. 
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1 (2) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

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

3 (3) VETERANS CRISIS LINE.—The term ‘‘Vet4 erans Crisis Line’’ means the toll-free hotline for 

5 veterans provided by the Secretary under section 

6 1720F(h) of such title. 

Passed the Senate October 7, 2021. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 544 

AN ACT 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to desfor other purposes. concerning peer wellness checks for veterans, and Week’’ for the purpose of outreach and education ignate one week each year as ‘‘Buddy Check