II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1014 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make grants to eligible organizations to provide service dogs to veterans with severe post-traumatic 

stress disorder, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2017 

Mrs. FISCHER (for herself and Mr. BOOKER) 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 grants 

to eligible organizations to provide service dogs to veterans with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, 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 ‘‘Puppies Assisting 

5 Wounded Servicemembers Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘PAWS 

6 Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) According to the analysis of veteran suicide 

5 published by the Department of Veterans Affairs in 

6 August 2016 and titled ‘‘Suicide Among Veterans 

7 and Other Americans’’— 

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 the Veterans Health Administration with men16 tal health conditions or substance use disorders 

17 has increased from approximately 27 percent in 

18 2001 to more than 40 percent in 2014; and 

19 (D) overall, suicide rates are highest 

20 among patients with mental health and sub21 stance use disorder diagnoses who are in treat22 ment and lower among those who received a 

23 mental health diagnosis but were not at risk 

24 enough to require enhanced care from a mental 

25 health provider. 


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1 (2) Pairing a service dog with a veteran costs 

2 approximately $25,000, including with respect to 

3 training of the service dog as well as training of the 

4 veteran with the service dog. 

5 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con6 gress that the Department of Veterans Affairs must be 

7 more effective in its approach to reducing the burden of 

8 veteran suicide connected to mental health disorders, in9 cluding post-traumatic stress disorder, and a pilot pro10 gram and study to assess the benefits of pairing service 

11 dogs with veterans suffering from mental health disorders 

12 would allow the Department to better determine the effi13 cacy of using service dogs as a nontraditional therapy to 

14 ensure the well-being of veterans. 

15 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PILOT PRO16 GRAM TO AWARD GRANTS FOR THE PROVI17 SION OF SERVICE DOGS TO CERTAIN VET18 ERANS WITH SEVERE POST-TRAUMATIC 

19 STRESS DISORDER. 

20 (a) GRANTS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

21 shall carry out a pilot program under which the Secretary 

22 awards a grant in the amount of $25,000 to eligible orga23 nizations for each eligible veteran referred to that organi24 zation for a service dog pairing. 

25 (b) BENEFITS PROVIDED.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An organization that re2 ceives a grant under subsection (a) shall provide the 

3 following for each service dog and veteran partici4 pating in the pilot program: 

5 (A) Coverage of a commercially available 

6 veterinary health insurance policy to maintain 

7 the health of the dog and keep the dog func8 tioning in the prescribed role for the life of the 

9 dog. 

10 (B) Hardware, or repairs or replacements 

11 for hardware, that are clinically determined to 

12 be required by the dog to perform the tasks 

13 necessary to assist the veteran with the diag14 nosed disorder of the veteran. 

15 (C) Payments for travel expenses for the 

16 veteran to obtain the dog, calculated in the 

17 same manner as similar travel expenses pro18 vided pursuant to section 111 of title 38, 

19 United States Code. 

20 (2) OTHER TRAVEL EXPENSES.—If a veteran is 

21 required to replace a service dog provided pursuant 

22 to a grant under this section, the Secretary shall pay 

23 for the travel expenses described in paragraph 

24 (1)(C) required to obtain a new service dog pursuant 

25 to subsection (c)(3), regardless of any other benefits 


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1 the veteran is receiving for the first service dog 

2 under this section. 

3 (c) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.—To be eligible to re4 ceive a grant under this section, an organization shall— 

5 (1) be a nonprofit organization that provides 

6 trained service dogs— 

7 (A) that— 

8 (i) is certified by Assistance Dogs 

9 International; 

10 (ii) on average, provides one-on-one 

11 training for each service dog and recipient 

12 for 30 hours or more during a period of 90 

13 days or more; 

14 (iii) provides a wellness verification 

15 from a licensed veterinarian for each serv16 ice dog; 

17 (iv) provides an in-house residential 

18 facility, or other accommodations nearby, 

19 in which service dog recipients stay for a 

20 minimum of 10 days while receiving not 

21 less than 30 hours of training with their 

22 new service dog; 

23 (v) ensures all service dogs pass the 

24 American Kennel Club Community Canine 

25 test and the Assistance Dogs International 


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1 Public Access Test prior to permanent 

2 placement with a recipient; and 

3 (vi) provides follow-up support service 

4 for the life of the service dog, to include a 

5 contact plan between the veteran and orga6 nization to allow— 

7 (I) the veteran to reach out for 

8 and receive adequate help with the 

9 service dog; and 

10 (II) the organization to commu11 nicate with the veteran to ensure that 

12 the service dog is receiving proper 

13 care; or 

14 (B) that meets the service dog agency 

15 standards established by the Association of 

16 Service Dog Providers for Military Veterans 

17 that cater to the unique needs of veterans with 

18 post-traumatic stress disorder; 

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

20 grant amount to guarantee the benefits listed under 

21 subsection (b)(1); 

22 (3) agree to reaccept or replace a service dog 

23 provided by the organization to a veteran, if nec24 essary, as determined by the veteran and the organi25 zation; and 


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1 (4) submit to the Secretary an application con2 taining such information, certification, and assur3 ances as the Secretary may require. 

4 (d) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.— 

5 (1) APPROVAL AND REFERRAL.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Vet7 erans Affairs shall review and approve veterans 

8 eligible to participate under this section and 

9 shall refer approved veterans to eligible organi10 zations. 

11 (B) APPROVAL DETERMINATION.—The pe12 riod beginning on the date on which a veteran 

13 applies to participate under this section and the 

14 date on which the Secretary makes an approval 

15 determination may not exceed 90 days. 

16 (2) INITIAL ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this 

17 section, an eligible veteran is a veteran— 

18 (A) who is enrolled in the system of annual 

19 patient enrollment of the Department of Vet20 erans Affairs established and operated under 

21 section 1705 of title 38, United States Code; 

22 (B) who has been treated and has com23 pleted an established evidence-based treatment 

24 for post-traumatic stress disorder yet remains 

25 diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder 


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1 by a qualified health care provider as rated on 

2 the post-traumatic stress disorder checklist 

3 (PCL–5); 

4 (C) with respect to whom the health care 

5 provider or clinical team of the Department of 

6 Veterans Affairs that is treating the veteran for 

7 such disorder determines based upon medical 

8 judgment that the veteran may potentially ben9 efit from a service dog; and 

10 (D) who agrees to successfully complete 

11 training provided by an eligible organization 

12 pursuant to subsection (c). 

13 (3) ONGOING ELIGIBILITY.—To remain eligible 

14 to participate in the pilot program under this sec15 tion, a veteran shall see the health care provider or 

16 clinical team of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

17 treating the veteran for post-traumatic stress dis18 order at least once every 180 days to determine, 

19 based on a clinical evaluation of efficacy, whether 

20 the veteran continues to benefit from a service dog. 

21 (4) OTHER CASES.—If at any point the veteran 

22 is no longer able or willing to care for the service 

23 dog, the veteran and the organization that provided 

24 the service dog to the veteran shall determine the 


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1 appropriate recourse to ensure the safety of both the 

2 veteran and the service dog. 

3 (e) RELATIONSHIP TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

4 AFFAIRS BENEFITS.—The provision of a service dog to 

5 a veteran under this section is in addition to any other 

6 hospital care or medical service furnished by the Depart7 ment for that veteran for post-traumatic stress disorder, 

8 and an improvement in symptoms as a result of the provi9 sion of a service dog shall not affect the eligibility of the 

10 veteran for any other benefit under the laws administered 

11 by the Secretary. 

12 (f) METRICS.—In carrying out this section, the Sec13 retary shall— 

14 (1) develop metrics and other appropriate 

15 means to measure, with respect to veterans partici16 pating in the pilot program, the improvement in psy17 chosocial function and therapeutic compliance of 

18 such veterans and changes with respect to the de19 pendence on prescription narcotics and psychotropic 

20 medication of such veterans; and 

21 (2) establish processes to document and track 

22 the progress of such veterans under the pilot pro23 gram in terms of the benefits and improvements 

24 noted as a result of the pilot program. 


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1 (g) COMPTROLLER GENERAL BRIEFING AND RE2 PORT.— 

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

4 the date on which the Secretary commences the pilot 

5 program under subsection (a), the Comptroller Gen6 eral of the United States shall provide to the Com7 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 

8 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

9 Representatives a briefing on the methodology estab10 lished for the pilot program. 

11 (2) REPORT.— 

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

13 days after the date on which the pilot program 

14 terminates, the Comptroller General shall sub15 mit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

16 the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af17 fairs of the House of Representatives a report 

18 on the pilot program. 

19 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required 

20 under subparagraph (A) shall include an eval21 uation of the approach and methodology used 

22 for the pilot program with respect to— 

23 (i) helping veterans with severe post24 traumatic stress disorder return to civilian 

25 life; 


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1 (ii) relevant metrics, such as reduction 

2 in scores under the post-traumatic stress 

3 disorder checklist (PCL–5), improvement 

4 in psychosocial function, and therapeutic 

5 compliance; and 

6 (iii) reducing the dependence of par7 ticipants in the pilot program on prescrip8 tion narcotics and psychotropic medication. 

9 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated for the period of fiscal year 

11 2018 through fiscal year 2023, $10,000,000 to carry out 

12 the pilot program under this section. 

13 (i) OFFSET.—The amounts otherwise authorized to 

14 be appropriated for the Office of Human Resources and 

15 Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs for 

16 the period of fiscal year 2018 through fiscal year 2023 

17 shall be reduced by $10,000,000. 

18 (j) TERMINATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The authority to carry out 

20 the pilot program under this section shall terminate 

21 on the date that is five years after the date of the 

22 enactment of this Act. 

23 (2) POSSESSION OF SERVICE DOG.—An eligible 

24 veteran in possession of a service dog furnished 

25 under the pilot program as of the termination of the 


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1 pilot program may keep the service dog after the 

2 termination of the pilot program for the life of the 

3 dog. 

Æ 


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