II 

116TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 4900 

To require a pilot program on activities under the Transition Assistance 

Program for a reduction in suicide among veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2020 

Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. ERNST, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require a pilot program on activities under the Transition 

Assistance Program for a reduction in suicide among 

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‘‘Daniel J. Harvey Jr. 

5 and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition 

6 to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON ACTIVITIES UNDER THE TRAN2 SITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR A REDUC3 TION IN SUICIDE AMONG VETERANS. 

4 (a) PILOT PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary of 

5 Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly 

6 carry out a pilot program to assess the feasibility and ad7 visability of providing the module described in subsection 

8 (b) and the services described in subsection (c) as part 

9 of the Transition Assistance Program for members of the 

10 Armed Forces participating in the Transition Assistance 

11 Program as a means of reducing the incidence of suicide 

12 among veterans. 

13 (b) MODULE.—The module described in this sub14 section is a 3-hour module under the Transition Assist15 ance Program for each member participating in the pilot 

16 program that includes the following: 

17 (1) An in-person meeting between the member’s 

18 cohort and a social worker in which the social work19 er— 

20 (A) counsels the cohort on specific poten21 tial risks confronting members after discharge 

22 or release from the Armed Forces, including 

23 loss of community or a support system, isola24 tion from family, friends, or society, identity 

25 crisis in the transition from military to civilian 

26 life, vulnerability viewed as a weakness, need 


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1 for empathy, self-medication and addiction, im2 portance of sleep and exercise, homelessness, 

3 and reasons why veterans attempt and complete 

4 suicide; 

5 (B) counsels members of the cohort who 

6 have been diagnosed with physical, psycho7 logical, or neurological issues, such as Post8 Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic 

9 Brain Injury (TBI), Adverse Childhood Experi10 ences (ACE), depression, and bipolar disorder, 

11 on— 

12 (i) the potential risks for such mem13 bers after discharge or release from such 

14 issues; and 

15 (ii) the resources and treatment op16 tions afforded to members for such issues 

17 through the Department of Veterans Af18 fairs, the Department of Defense, and non19 profit organizations; 

20 (C) counsels the cohort about the resources 

21 afforded to victims of Military Sexual Trauma 

22 (MST) through the Department of Veterans Af23 fairs; and 

24 (D) counsels the cohort about the five 

25 stages of grieving, the manner in which memVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:24 Nov 25, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4900.IS S4900

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1 bers might experience grieving during the tran2 sition from military to civilian life, and the re3 sources afforded to them for grieving through 

4 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

5 (2) The provision to each cohort member of 

6 contact information for a counseling or other appro7 priate facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

8 in the locality in which such member intends to re9 side after discharge or release. 

10 (3) The submittal by cohort members to the 

11 Department of Veterans Affairs (including both the 

12 Veterans Health Administration and the Veterans 

13 Benefits Administration) of member medical records 

14 in connection with service in the Armed Forces, 

15 whether or not such members intends to file a claim 

16 with the Department for benefits with respect to any 

17 service-connected disability. 

18 (c) SERVICES.—The services described in this sub19 section in connection with the Transition Assistance Pro20 gram for each member participating in the pilot program 

21 are the following: 

22 (1) Not later than 90 days after the discharge 

23 or release of the member, a contact of the member 

24 by a social worker or behavioral health coordinator 

25 from the Department of Veterans Affairs to schedule 


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1 a follow-up appointment with a social worker or be2 havioral health provider at the facility applicable to 

3 the member under subsection (b)(2), which such ap4 pointment to occur not later than 90 days after such 

5 contact. 

6 (2) During the appointment scheduled pursuant 

7 to paragraph (1)— 

8 (A) an assessment of the member to deter9 mine the member’s experiences with events dur10 ing military service that could lead, whether in11 dividually or cumulatively, to physical, psycho12 logical, or neurological issues, including issues 

13 described in subsection (b)(1)(B); and 

14 (B) the development of a medical treat15 ment plan for the member, including treatment 

16 for issues identified pursuant to the assessment 

17 under subparagraph (A). 

18 (d) LOCATIONS.—The pilot program shall be carried 

19 out at not fewer than 10 Transition Assistance Centers 

20 of the Department of Defense that serve at least 300 

21 members annually, which centers shall be jointly selected 

22 by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 

23 Affairs for purposes of the pilot program. The centers so 

24 selected shall, to the extent practicable, be centers that, 

25 whether individually or in aggregate, serve all the Armed 


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1 Forces and both the regular and reserve components of 

2 the Armed Forces. 

3 (e) SELECTION AND COMMENCEMENT.—The Sec4 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

5 shall jointly select the locations of the pilot program under 

6 subsection (d), and commence carrying out activities 

7 under the pilot program, by not later than 120 days after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

9 (f) DURATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The duration of the pilot 

11 program shall be five years. 

12 (2) CONTINUATION.—If the Secretary of De13 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs rec14 ommend in the report under subsection (g) that the 

15 pilot program be extended beyond the date otherwise 

16 provided by paragraph (1), the Secretaries may 

17 jointly continue the pilot program for such period 

18 beyond such date as the Secretaries jointly consider 

19 appropriate. 

20 (g) REPORTS.— 

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

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

23 every 180 days thereafter during the duration of the 

24 pilot program, the Secretary of Defense and the Sec25 retary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to 


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1 Congress a report on the activities under the pilot 

2 program. 

3 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report on the pilot pro4 gram under this subsection shall include the fol5 lowing: 

6 (A) A description of the members who par7 ticipated in the pilot program during the 180- 

8 day period ending on the date of such report, 

9 broken out by the following: 

10 (i) Sex. 

11 (ii) Branch of the Armed Forces in 

12 which served. 

13 (iii) Diagnosis of, or other symptoms 

14 consistent with, Military Sexual Trauma 

15 (MST), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 

16 (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), 

17 depression, or bipolar disorder in connec18 tion with military service. 

19 (B) A description of the activities under 

20 the pilot program during such period. 

21 (C) An assessment of the benefits of the 

22 activities under the pilot program during such 

23 period to veterans and family members of vet24 erans. 


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1 (D) An assessment whether the activities 

2 under the pilot program as of the date of such 

3 report have reduced the incidence of suicide 

4 among members who participated in the pilot 

5 program, within one year of discharge or re6 lease from the Armed Forces. 

7 (E) Such recommendations as the Sec8 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 

9 Affairs jointly consider appropriate regarding 

10 expansion of the pilot program, extension of the 

11 pilot program, or both. 

12 (h) TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM DEFINED.— 

13 In this section, the term ‘‘Transition Assistance Program’’ 

14 means the program of assistance and other transitional 

15 services carried out pursuant to section 1144 of title 10, 

16 United States Code. 

Æ 


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