II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 613 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program 

on dog training therapy and to amend title 38, United States Code, 

to authorize the Secretary to provide service dogs to veterans with mental 

illnesses who do not have mobility impairments. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2021 

Mr. TILLIS (for himself, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. CRAMER, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) 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 carry out 

a pilot program on dog training therapy and to amend 

title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary 

to provide service dogs to veterans with mental illnesses 

who do not have mobility impairments. 

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 ‘‘Puppies Assisting 

5 Wounded Servicemembers for Veterans Therapy Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) According to the analyses of veteran suicide 

4 published by the Department of Veterans Affairs in 

5 August 2016 and titled ‘‘Suicide Among Veterans 

6 and Other Americans’’ and in June 2018 and titled 

7 ‘‘VA National Suicide Date Report’’— 

8 (A) an average of 20 veterans died by sui9 cide each day in 2014; 

10 (B) mental health disorders, including 

11 major depression and other mood disorders, 

12 have been associated with increased risk for sui13 cide; 

14 (C) since 2001, the proportion of users of 

15 health care from the Veterans Health Adminis16 tration with mental health conditions or sub17 stance use disorders has increased from ap18 proximately 27 percent in 2001 to more than 

19 40 percent in 2014; and 

20 (D) overall, suicide rates are highest 

21 among patients with mental health and sub22 stance use disorder diagnoses who are in treat23 ment and lower among those who received a 

24 mental health diagnosis but were not at risk 

25 enough to require enhanced care from a mental 

26 health provider. 


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1 (2) The Department of Veterans Affairs must 

2 be more effective in its approach to reducing the 

3 burden of veteran suicide connected to mental health 

4 disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder 

5 (in this section referred to as ‘‘PTSD’’), and new, 

6 rigorous scientific research provides persuasive 

7 weight to the growing anecdotal evidence that serv8 ice dogs ameliorate the symptoms associated with 

9 PTSD, and in particular, help prevent veteran sui10 cide. 

11 (3) Several organizations have proven track 

12 records of training service dogs for veterans with se13 vere PTSD and dramatically improving the quality 

14 of life, ability to re-enter society, and, most impor15 tantly, the chances of survival of those veterans. 

16 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PILOT PRO17 GRAM ON DOG TRAINING THERAPY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Commencing not later than 120 

19 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec20 retary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a pilot program 

21 under which the Secretary shall make grants to one or 

22 more appropriate non-government entities for the purpose 

23 of assessing the effectiveness of addressing post-deploy24 ment mental health and the symptoms of post-traumatic 

25 stress disorder (in this section referred to as ‘‘PTSD’’) 


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1 through a therapeutic medium of training service dogs for 

2 veterans with disabilities. 

3 (b) DURATION OF PILOT PROGRAM.—The pilot pro4 gram required by subsection (a) shall be carried out dur5 ing the five-year period beginning on the date of the com6 mencement of the pilot program. 

7 (c) CONDITIONS ON RECEIPT OF GRANTS.—As a con8 dition of receiving a grant under this section, a non-gov9 ernment entity shall— 

10 (1) submit to the Secretary certification that 

11 the entity is an organization described in section 

12 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

13 is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of 

14 such code that— 

15 (A) provides service dogs to veterans with 

16 PTSD; and 

17 (B) is accredited by, or adheres to stand18 ards comparable to those of, an accrediting or19 ganization with demonstrated experience, na20 tional scope, and recognized leadership and ex21 pertise in the training of service dogs and edu22 cation in the use of service dogs; 

23 (2) agree to cover all costs in excess of the 

24 grant amount; 


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1 (3) agree to reaccept or replace the service dog 

2 the entity provided to a veteran, if necessary, as de3 termined by the entity and the veteran; 

4 (4) provide a wellness certification from a li5 censed veterinarian for any dog participating in the 

6 pilot program under this section; 

7 (5) employ at least one person with clinical ex8 perience related to mental health; 

9 (6) ensure that veterans participating in the 

10 pilot program receive training from certified service 

11 dog training instructors for a period of time deter12 mined appropriate by the entity and the Secretary, 

13 including service skills to address or alleviate symp14 toms unique to the needs of veterans; 

15 (7) agree to provide— 

16 (A) lectures on service dog training meth17 odologies; and 

18 (B) practical hands-on training and groom19 ing of service dogs; 

20 (8) agree that in hiring service dog training in21 structors to carry out training under the pilot pro22 gram, the entity will give a preference to veterans 

23 who have successfully graduated from PTSD or 

24 other residential treatment program and who have 


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1 received adequate certification in service dog train2 ing; 

3 (9) agree not to use shock collars or prong col4 lars as training tools and to use positive reinforce5 ment training; 

6 (10) agree that upon the conclusion of training 

7 provided using the grant funds— 

8 (A) the veteran who received the training 

9 will keep the dog unless the veteran and the 

10 health care provider of the veteran decide it is 

11 not in the best interest of the veteran; 

12 (B) if the veteran does not opt to own the 

13 dog, the entity will be responsible for caring for 

14 and appropriately placing the dog; 

15 (C) the Department of Veterans Affairs 

16 will have no additional responsibility to provide 

17 for any benefits under this section; and 

18 (D) the Department of Veterans Affairs 

19 will have no liability with respect to the dog; 

20 (11) provide follow-up support service for the 

21 life of the dog, including a contact plan between the 

22 veteran and the entity to allow the veteran to reach 

23 out for and receive adequate help with the service 

24 dog and the entity to communicate with the veteran 


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1 to ensure the service dog is being properly cared for; 

2 and 

3 (12) submit to the Secretary an application 

4 containing such information, certification, and assur5 ances as the Secretary may require. 

6 (d) VETERAN ELIGIBILITY.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—A veteran is eligible to par8 ticipate in the pilot program under this section if the 

9 veteran— 

10 (A) is enrolled in the patient enrollment 

11 system of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

12 under section 1705 of title 38, United States 

13 Code; 

14 (B) has been recommended to participate 

15 in the pilot program by a qualified health care 

16 provider or clinical team based on the medical 

17 judgment that the veteran may potentially ben18 efit from participating; and 

19 (C) agrees to successfully complete train20 ing provided by a non-government entity in re21 ceipt of a grant under this section. 

22 (2) RELATIONSHIP TO PARTICIPATION IN

23 OTHER PROGRAM.—Veterans may participate in the 

24 pilot program under this section in conjunction with 


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1 the compensated work therapy program of the De2 partment of Veterans Affairs. 

3 (3) CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.— 

4 To remain eligible to participate in the pilot pro5 gram under this section, a veteran shall see the 

6 health care provider or clinical team of the Depart7 ment of Veterans Affairs treating the veteran for 

8 PTSD not less frequently than once every six 

9 months to determine, based on a clinical evaluation 

10 of efficacy, whether the veteran continues to benefit 

11 from the pilot program. 

12 (e) COLLECTION OF DATA.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot 

14 program under this section, the Secretary shall— 

15 (A) develop metrics and other appropriate 

16 means to measure, with respect to veterans par17 ticipation in the pilot program, the improve18 ment in psychosocial function and therapeutic 

19 compliance of such veterans and changes with 

20 respect to the dependence of such veterans on 

21 prescription narcotics and psychotropic medica22 tion; and 

23 (B) establish processes to document and 

24 track the progress of such veterans under the 

25 pilot program in terms of the benefits and imVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:43 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S613.IS S613

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1 provements noted as a result of the pilot pro2 gram. 

3 (2) CONTINUED COLLECTION.—The Secretary 

4 shall continue to collect data under paragraph (1) 

5 for each veteran who has continued with the dog he 

6 or she has personally trained under the pilot pro7 gram under this section for a five-year period fol8 lowing the date on which the veteran decides to keep 

9 the dog. 

10 (f) GAO BRIEFING AND REPORT.— 

11 (1) BRIEFING.—Not later than one year after 

12 the date of the commencement of the pilot program 

13 under this section, the Comptroller General of the 

14 United States shall brief the Committee on Vet15 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

16 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives on 

17 the methodology established for the pilot program. 

18 (2) REPORT.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 

20 days after the date on which the pilot program 

21 under this section terminates, the Comptroller 

22 General shall submit to the Committee on Vet23 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

24 on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Represent25 atives a report on the pilot program. 


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1 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required by 

2 subparagraph (A) shall include an evaluation of 

3 the approach and methodology used for the 

4 pilot program under this section with respect 

5 to— 

6 (i) helping veterans with severe PTSD 

7 return to civilian life; 

8 (ii) relevant metrics, including reduc9 tion in scores under the PTSD checklist 

10 (PCL–5), improvement in psychosocial 

11 function, and therapeutic compliance; and 

12 (iii) reducing the dependence of par13 ticipants in the pilot program on prescrip14 tion narcotics and psychotropic medication. 

15 (g) SERVICE DOG TRAINING INSTRUCTOR DE16 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘service dog training 

17 instructor’’ means an instructor who provides the direct 

18 training of veterans with PTSD and other post-deploy19 ment issues in the art and science of service dog training 

20 and handling. 


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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

2 TO PROVIDE SERVICE DOGS TO VETERANS 

3 WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES WHO DO NOT HAVE 

4 MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS. 

5 Section 1714 of title 38, United States Code, is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following new sub7 section: 

8 ‘‘(e) The Secretary may provide a service dog to a 

9 veteran under subsection (c)(3) regardless of whether the 

10 veteran has a mobility impairment.’’. 

Æ 


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