II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 425

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the establishment in

the Department of Veterans Affairs of mental illness research, education,

and clinical centers, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 15 (legislative day, JANUARY 30), 1995

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. DORNAN,

and Mr. WELLSTONE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice

and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the establishment in the Department of Veterans Affairs of mental illness research, education, and clinical centers, 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. MENTAL ILLNESS RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND

4 CLINICAL CENTERS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 73 of

6 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the

7 end the following:
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1 ‘‘§ 7319. Mental illness research, education, and clini2 cal centers

3 ‘‘(a) The purpose of this section is to improve the

4 provision of health-care services and related counseling

5 services to eligible veterans suffering from mental illness,

6 especially mental illness related to service-related condi7 tions, through research (including research on improving

8 mental health service facilities of the Department and on

9 improving the delivery of mental health services by the De10 partment), education and training of personnel, and the

11 development of improved models and systems for the fur12 nishing of mental health services by the Department.

13 ‘‘(b)(1) In order to carry out the purpose of this sec14 tion, the Secretary, upon the recommendation of the

15 Under Secretary for Health and pursuant to the provi16 sions of this subsection, shall—

17 ‘‘(A) designate not more than five health-care

18 facilities of the Department as the locations for a

19 center of research on mental health services, on the

20 use by the Department of specific models for fur21 nishing such services, on education and training, and

22 on the development and implementation of innova23 tive clinical activities and systems of care with re24 spect to the delivery of such services by the Depart25 ment; and
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1 ‘‘(B) subject to the appropriation of funds for

2 such purpose, establish and operate such centers at

3 such locations in accordance with this section.

4 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall designate at least one facil5 ity under paragraph (1) not later than January 1, 1996.

6 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall, upon the recommendation

7 of the Under Secretary for Health, ensure that the facili8 ties designated for centers under paragraph (1) are lo9 cated in various geographic regions.

10 ‘‘(4) The Secretary may not designate any health11 care facility as a location for a center under paragraph

12 (1) unless—

13 ‘‘(A) the peer review panel established under

14 paragraph (5) has determined under that paragraph

15 that the proposal submitted by such facility as a lo16 cation for a new center under this subsection is

17 among those proposals which have met the highest

18 competitive standards of scientific and clinical merit;

19 and

20 ‘‘(B) the Secretary, upon the recommendation

21 of the Under Secretary for Health, determines that

22 the facility has developed (or may reasonably be an23 ticipated to develop)—

24 ‘‘(i) an arrangement with an accredited

25 medical school which provides education and
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1 training in psychiatry and with which the facil2 ity is affiliated under which arrangement resi3 dents receive education and training in psychia4 try through regular rotation through the facility

5 so as to provide such residents with training in

6 the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness;

7 ‘‘(ii) an arrangement with an accredited

8 graduate school of psychology under which ar9 rangement students receive education and train10 ing in clinical, counseling, or professional psy11 chology through regular rotation through the

12 facility so as to provide such students with

13 training in the diagnosis and treatment of men14 tal illness;

15 ‘‘(iii) an arrangement under which nursing,

16 social work, or allied health personnel receive

17 training and education in mental health care

18 through regular rotation through the facility;

19 ‘‘(iv) the ability to attract scientists who

20 have demonstrated creativity and achievement

21 in research—

22 ‘‘(I) into the evaluation of innovative

23 approaches to the design of mental health

24 services; or
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1 ‘‘(II) into the causes, prevention, and

2 treatment of mental illness;

3 ‘‘(v) a policymaking advisory committee

4 composed of appropriate mental health-care and

5 research personnel of the facility and of the af6 filiated school or schools to advise the directors

7 of the facility and the center on policy matters

8 pertaining to the activities of the center during

9 the period of the operation of the center; and

10 ‘‘(vi) the capability to evaluate effectively

11 the activities of the center, including activities

12 relating to the evaluation of specific efforts to

13 improve the quality and effectiveness of mental

14 health services provided by the Department at

15 or through individual facilities.

16 ‘‘(5)(A) In order to provide advice to assist the Under

17 Secretary for Health and the Secretary to carry out their

18 responsibilities under this section, the official within the

19 Central Office of the Veterans Health Administration re20 sponsible for mental health and behavioral sciences mat21 ters shall establish a panel to assess the scientific and clin22 ical merit of proposals that are submitted to the Secretary

23 for the establishment of new centers under this subsection.

24 ‘‘(B) The membership of the panel shall consist of

25 experts in the fields of mental health research, education
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1 and training, and clinical care. Members of the panel shall

2 serve as consultants to the Department for a period of

3 no longer than six months.

4 ‘‘(C) The panel shall review each proposal submitted

5 to the panel by the official referred to in subparagraph

6 (A) and shall submit its views on the relative scientific

7 and clinical merit of each such proposal to that official.

8 ‘‘(D) The panel shall not be subject to the Federal

9 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).

10 ‘‘(c) Clinical and scientific investigation activities at

11 each center may compete for the award of funding from

12 amounts appropriated for the Department of Veterans Af13 fairs medical and prosthetics research account and shall

14 receive priority in the award of funding from such account

15 insofar as funds are awarded to projects and activities re16 lating to mental illness.

17 ‘‘(d) The Under Secretary for Health shall ensure

18 that at least three centers designated under subsection

19 (b)(1)(A) emphasize research into means of improving the

20 quality of care for veterans suffering from mental illness

21 through the development of community-based alternatives

22 to institutional treatment for such illness.

23 ‘‘(e) The Under Secretary for Health shall ensure

24 that useful information produced by the research, edu25 cation and training, and clinical activities of the centers
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1 established under subsection (b)(1) is disseminated

2 throughout the Veterans Health Administration through

3 publications and through programs of continuing medical

4 and related education provided through regional medical

5 education centers under subchapter VI of chapter 74 of

6 this title and through other means.

7 ‘‘(f) The official within the Central Office of the Vet8 erans Health Administration responsible for mental health

9 and behavioral sciences matters shall be responsible for

10 supervising the operation of the centers established pursu11 ant to subsection (b)(1).

12 ‘‘(g)(1) There are authorized to be appropriated for

13 the Department of Veterans Affairs for the basic support

14 of the research and education and training activities of

15 the centers established pursuant to subsection (b)(1) the

16 following:

17 ‘‘(A) $3,125,000 for fiscal year 1996.

18 ‘‘(B) $6,250,000 for each of fiscal years 1997

19 through 1999.

20 ‘‘(2) In addition to the funds available under the au21 thorization of appropriations in paragraph (1), the Under

22 Secretary for Health shall allocate to such centers from

23 other funds appropriated generally for the Department of

24 Veterans Affairs medical care account and the Depart25 ment of Veterans Affairs medical and prosthetics research
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1 account such amounts as the Under Secretary for Health

2 determines appropriate in order to carry out the purposes

3 of this section.’’.

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

5 at the beginning of chapter 73 of such title is amended

6 by adding at the end of the matter relating to subchapter

7 II the following:

‘‘7319. Mental illness research, education, and clinical centers.’’.

8 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than February 1 of each of

9 1997, 1998, and 1999, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs

10 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of

11 the Senate and House of Representatives a report on the

12 status and activities during the previous fiscal year of the

13 mental illness, research, education, and clinical centers es14 tablished pursuant to section 7319 of title 38, United

15 States Code (as added by subsection (a)). Each such re16 port shall contain the following:

17 (1) A description of—

18 (A) the activities carried out at each center

19 and the funding provided for such activities;

20 (B) the advances made at each center in

21 research, education and training, and clinical

22 activities relating to mental illness in veterans;

23 and

24 (C) the actions taken by the Under Sec25 retary for Health pursuant to subsection (d) of
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1 such section (as so added) to disseminate useful

2 information derived from such activities

3 throughout the Veterans Health Administra4 tion.

5 (2) The Secretary’s evaluations of the effective6 ness of the centers in fulfilling the purposes of the

7 centers.

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