I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8084 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to update the Lethal Means 

Safety and Suicide Prevention training course of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 21, 2020 

Ms. UNDERWOOD (for herself, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, and Miss RICE

of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to update the 

Lethal Means Safety and Suicide Prevention training 

course of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘Lethal Means Safety 

5 Training Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SUICIDE RISK MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTION 

7 AND LETHAL MEANS TRAINING. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (1) INITIAL UPDATE.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with enti4 ties described in subsection (c), shall update the Le5 thal Means Safety and Suicide Prevention training 

6 course of the Department of Veterans Affairs to en7 sure that it is culturally appropriate and uses best 

8 practices identified by appropriate subject matter ex9 perts. 

10 (2) SUBSEQUENT UPDATES.—Not less fre11 quently than once each year, the Secretary shall up12 date the training as appropriate, taking into consid13 eration best practices, and publish a report on the 

14 internet website of the Department that includes the 

15 percentage of individuals in each category described 

16 in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of subsection (b) who 

17 completed the training referred to in paragraph (1) 

18 during the year covered by the report. 

19 (b) TRAINING.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require 

21 each employee referred to in paragraph (2) to take 

22 the most recently updated version of the training 

23 course referred to in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) not later than 90 days after the date 

2 such person is initially hired by the Depart3 ment; and 

4 (B) at least once every year thereafter. 

5 (2) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—An employee de6 scribed in this paragraph is any of the following: 

7 (A) An employee of the Veterans Health 

8 Administration or Veterans Benefits Adminis9 tration who regularly interacts with veterans in 

10 the course of performing the employee’s respon11 sibilities. 

12 (B) A compensation and pension examiner, 

13 including an employee of a contractor of the 

14 Department who performs compensation and 

15 pension examinations. 

16 (C) An employee of a Veterans Center or 

17 vocational rehabilitation facility. 

18 (3) COMMUNITY CARE PROVIDERS.—As a condi19 tion of furnishing care through a non-Department 

20 provider under section 1703 of title 38, United 

21 States Code, the Secretary shall require any em22 ployee of such provider who provides such care to 

23 take the most recently updated version of the train24 ing course referred to in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) not later than 90 days after the date 

2 on which the Secretary first agrees to furnish 

3 any such care through such provider; and 

4 (B) at least once every year thereafter. 

5 (4) FAMILY CAREGIVERS.—As a condition of 

6 providing support to a family caregiver under section 

7 1720G of title 38, United States Code, the Secretary 

8 shall require the caregiver to take the most recently 

9 updated version of the training course referred to in 

10 subsection (a)— 

11 (A) not later than 90 days after the date 

12 on which the caregiver first receives support 

13 under such section; and 

14 (B) at least once every year thereafter. 

15 (c) ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—The entities described in 

16 the subsection are the following: 

17 (1) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv18 ices, in consultation with the Directors of the Na19 tional Institute of Mental Health, Substance Abuse 

20 and Mental Health Services Administration, and 

21 other appropriate Federal agencies. 

22 (2) Experts in the assessment, treatment, and 

23 management of individuals at risk for suicide. 

24 (3) Professional associations that the Secretary 

25 of Veterans Affairs determines are appropriate. 


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1 (4) Federal firearms license dealers and in2 structors. 

3 (5) Experts in lethal means safety counseling 

4 practice and education. 

5 (6) The Department of Veterans Affairs Mental 

6 Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Centers. 

7 (7) Veterans service organizations. 

8 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall 

9 make the training course referred to in subsection (a) pub10 licly available on an internet website of the Department. 

Æ 


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