I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7964 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out education programs 

and peer support programs for family members and caregivers of veterans 

with mental health disorders. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 7, 2020 

Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself, Mr. CURTIS, and Mr. MCKINLEY) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 

education programs and peer support programs for family members and caregivers of veterans with mental 

health disorders. 

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 ‘‘Peer Support for Vet5 eran Families Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EDUCATION PROGRAM AND PEER SUPPORT PRO2 GRAM FOR FAMILY MEMBERS AND CARE3 GIVERS OF VETERANS WITH MENTAL 

4 HEALTH DISORDERS. 

5 (a) PROGRAMS.—Not later than 270 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet7 erans Affairs shall establish an education program (in this 

8 section referred to as the ‘‘education program’’) and a 

9 peer support program (in this section referred to as the 

10 ‘‘peer support program’’) for the education and training 

11 of family members and caregivers of eligible veterans with 

12 mental health disorders. 

13 (b) EDUCATION PROGRAM.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the education pro15 gram, the Secretary shall provide a course of edu16 cation to family members and caregivers of eligible 

17 veterans on matters relating to coping with mental 

18 health disorders in veterans. 

19 (2) DURATION.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The education program 

21 shall be carried out during the four-year period 

22 beginning on the date of the commencement of 

23 the education program. 

24 (B) AUTHORITY FOR EXTENSION.—The 

25 Secretary may extend the duration of the edu26 cation program for an additional four years. 


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1 (3) LOCATIONS.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as required by 

3 subparagraph (D), the Secretary shall carry out 

4 the education program at the following facilities 

5 of the Department of Veterans Affairs: 

6 (i) Not less than 10 medical centers of 

7 the Department. 

8 (ii) Not less than 10 clinics of the De9 partment. 

10 (iii) Not less than 10 Vet Centers (as 

11 defined in section 1712A(h) of title 38, 

12 United States Code). 

13 (B) SOLICITATION OF APPLICATIONS.—In 

14 selecting locations for the education program, 

15 the Secretary shall solicit applications from eli16 gible facilities of the Department that are inter17 ested in carrying out the education program. 

18 (C) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting loca19 tions for the education program, the Secretary 

20 shall consider the feasibility and advisability of 

21 selecting locations in the following areas: 

22 (i) Rural areas. 

23 (ii) Areas that are not in close prox24 imity to an active duty installation. 


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1 (iii) Areas in different geographic lo2 cations. 

3 (D) EXPANSION OF LOCATIONS.—Not later 

4 than two years after the date of the commence5 ment of the education program, the Secretary 

6 shall expand the number of facilities at which 

7 the Secretary is carrying out the education pro8 gram to include the following: 

9 (i) Not less than 10 additional med10 ical centers of the Department. 

11 (ii) Not less than 10 additional clinics 

12 of the Department. 

13 (iii) Not less than 10 additional Vet 

14 Centers. 

15 (4) CONTRACTS.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 

17 education program, the Secretary shall enter 

18 into contracts with qualified entities described 

19 in subparagraph (B) to offer the course of edu20 cation described in paragraph (5) to family 

21 members and caregivers of eligible veterans and 

22 covered veterans. 

23 (B) QUALIFIED ENTITY DESCRIBED.—A 

24 qualified entity described in this subparagraph 

25 is a non-profit entity with experience in mental 


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1 health education and outreach, including work 

2 with children, teens, and young adults, that— 

3 (i) uses high quality, relevant, and 

4 age-appropriate information in educational 

5 programming, materials, and coursework, 

6 including such programming, materials, 

7 and coursework for children, teens, and 

8 young adults; and 

9 (ii) works with agencies, departments, 

10 nonprofit mental health organizations, 

11 early childhood educators, and mental 

12 health providers to develop educational 

13 programming, materials, and coursework. 

14 (C) PRIORITY.—In entering into contracts 

15 under this paragraph, the Secretary shall give 

16 priority to qualified entities that have dem17 onstrated cultural competence in serving mili18 tary and veteran populations, and, to the extent 

19 practicable, use internet technology for the de20 livery of course content in an effort to expand 

21 the availability of support services, especially in 

22 rural areas. 

23 (5) ELEMENTS.—The course of education de24 scribed in this paragraph shall consist of not less 


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1 than 10 weeks of education and shall include the fol2 lowing: 

3 (A) General education on different mental 

4 health disorders, including information to im5 prove understanding of the experiences of indi6 viduals suffering from those disorders. 

7 (B) Techniques for handling crisis situa8 tions and administering mental health first aid 

9 to individuals suffering from mental health dis10 orders. 

11 (C) Techniques for coping with the stress 

12 of living with someone with a mental health dis13 order. 

14 (D) Information on additional services 

15 available for family members and caregivers 

16 through the Department or community organi17 zations and providers related to mental health 

18 disorders. 

19 (E) Such other matters as the Secretary 

20 considers appropriate. 

21 (6) INSTRUCTORS.— 

22 (A) TRAINING.—Each instructor of the 

23 course of education described in paragraph (5) 

24 shall maintain a level of proficiency in the 

25 course of education as determined by the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:49 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7964.IH H7964

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1 retary, and shall submit proof of that level of 

2 proficiency to the Secretary at such time and in 

3 such manner as the Secretary determines ap4 propriate. 

5 (B) INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE COMPLETED

6 THE COURSE AS INSTRUCTORS.—Commencing 

7 as of the date that is two years after the date 

8 of the commencement of the education pro9 gram, any individual who has successfully com10 pleted the course of education described in 

11 paragraph (5) and has successfully completed 

12 such additional training as is required for in13 structors pursuant to subparagraph (A) may 

14 act as an instructor in the course of education. 

15 (c) PEER SUPPORT PROGRAM.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the peer support pro17 gram, the Secretary shall provide peer support to 

18 family members and caregivers of eligible veterans 

19 on matters relating to coping with mental health dis20 orders in veterans. 

21 (2) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall provide 

22 peer support under the peer support program at 

23 each location at which the Secretary provides edu24 cation under the education program. 


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1 (3) ELEMENTS.—Peer support under the peer 

2 support program shall consist of meetings in group 

3 settings between a peer support coordinator under 

4 paragraph (4) and family members and caregivers of 

5 eligible veterans on matters relating to coping with 

6 mental health disorders in veterans. At each loca7 tion, those meetings shall be conducted not less 

8 often than twice each calendar quarter. 

9 (4) PEER SUPPORT COORDINATOR.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

11 through the director of each participating facil12 ity, may select an individual who has success13 fully completed the course of education de14 scribed in subsection (b)(5) to serve as a peer 

15 support coordinator for each such facility to 

16 carry out the peer support program. 

17 (B) PROFICIENCY OF INSTRUCTORS.— 

18 Each peer support coordinator shall maintain a 

19 level of proficiency in peer support as deter20 mined by the Secretary, and shall submit proof 

21 of that level of proficiency to the Secretary at 

22 such time and in such manner as the Secretary 

23 determines appropriate. 

24 (d) SURVEYS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 

2 a comprehensive survey of the satisfaction of individ3 uals that have participated in the course of edu4 cation described in subsection (b)(5) and individuals 

5 that have participated in the peer support program 

6 that includes the following: 

7 (A) The general satisfaction of those indi8 viduals with the education and assistance pro9 vided in the education program and the peer 

10 support program. 

11 (B) The perceived effectiveness of the edu12 cation program and the peer support program 

13 in providing education and assistance that is 

14 useful for those individuals. 

15 (C) The applicability of the education pro16 gram and the peer support program to the 

17 issues faced by those individuals. 

18 (D) Such other matters as the Secretary 

19 considers appropriate. 

20 (E) A representative sample of the infor21 mation required by subparagraphs (A) through 

22 (D) from each Veterans Integrated Service Net23 work that is participating in the education pro24 gram and the peer support program. 


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1 (2) COMPILATION OF INFORMATION.—The in2 formation compiled as a result of the surveys re3 quired by paragraph (1) shall be included in the an4 nual report required by subsection (e)(1). 

5 (e) REPORTS.— 

6 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

8 after the date of the commencement of the edu9 cation program and not later than September 

10 30 each year thereafter until 2024, the Sec11 retary shall submit to the Committee on Vet12 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

13 on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Represent14 atives a report on the education program and 

15 the peer support program. 

16 (B) ELEMENTS.—Each report submitted 

17 under subparagraph (A) shall include the fol18 lowing: 

19 (i) The number of individuals that 

20 participated in the course of education de21 scribed in subsection (b)(5) during the 

22 year preceding the submission of the re23 port. 

24 (ii) The number of individuals that 

25 participated in the peer support program 


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1 during the year preceding the submission 

2 of the report. 

3 (iii) A detailed analysis of the surveys 

4 conducted under subsection (d) with re5 spect to the individuals described in clause 

6 (i) and (ii). 

7 (iv) The degree to which veterans and 

8 family members and caregivers of veterans 

9 are aware of the eligibility requirements 

10 for enrollment in the education program 

11 and the peer support program. 

12 (v) Any plans for expansion of the 

13 education program and the peer support 

14 program. 

15 (vi) The interim findings and conclu16 sions of the Secretary with respect to the 

17 success of the education program and the 

18 peer support program. 

19 (2) FINAL REPORT.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

21 after the completion of the education program, 

22 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 

23 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com24 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

25 Representatives a report on the feasibility and 


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1 advisability of continuing the education pro2 gram and the peer support program. 

3 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report submitted 

4 under subparagraph (A) shall include the fol5 lowing: 

6 (i) A detailed analysis of the surveys 

7 conducted under subsection (d). 

8 (ii) The feasibility and advisability of 

9 continuing the education program without 

10 entering into contracts for the course of 

11 education described in subsection (b)(5) 

12 and instead using peer support coordina13 tors selected under subsection (c)(4) as in14 structors of the course of education. 

15 (iii) The feasibility and advisability of 

16 expanding the education program and the 

17 peer support program. 

18 (f) PERMISSION REQUIRED.—A caregiver or family 

19 caregiver may not participate in the education program 

20 or the peer support program without the permission of the 

21 eligible veteran for whom the caregiver or family caregiver 

22 provides care. 

23 (g) MONITORING OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall 

24 select mental health care providers of the Department to 

25 monitor the progress of the instruction provided under the 


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1 education program and to monitor the progress of the peer 

2 support program. Such mental health care providers shall 

3 carry out such monitoring by meeting not less than quar4 terly with— 

5 (1) instructors of the course of education de6 scribed in subsection (b)(5); and 

7 (2) peer support coordinators under subsection 

8 (c)(4). 

9 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) The term ‘‘eligible veteran’’ means a vet11 eran who is enrolled in the health care system estab12 lished under section 1705(a) of title 38, United 

13 States Code. 

14 (2) The terms ‘‘caregiver’’ and ‘‘family mem15 ber’’ have the meaning given those terms in section 

16 1720G(d) of title 38, United States Code. 

Æ 


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