I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1942 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the mental health assessments provided to members of the Armed Forces deployed in support 

of a contingency operation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2011 

Mr. CARSON of Indiana (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. BACA, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. STARK) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the 

mental health assessments provided to members of the 

Armed Forces deployed in support of a contingency operation. 

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 ‘‘Service Members Men5 tal Health Screening Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS FOR MEMBERS OF 

2 THE ARMED FORCES DEPLOYED IN SUPPORT 

3 OF A CONTINGENCY OPERATION. 

4 (a) MENTAL HEALTH EXAMINATIONS DURING A DE5 PLOYMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 55 of title 10, 

7 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

8 section 1074l the following new section: 

9 ‘‘§ 1074m. Mental health assessments for members of 

10 the armed forces deployed in support of a 

11 contingency operation 

12 ‘‘(a) MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS.—(1) The Sec13 retary of Defense shall provide a person-to-person mental 

14 health assessment for each member of the armed forces 

15 who is deployed in support of a contingency operation as 

16 follows: 

17 ‘‘(A) Once during the period beginning 60 days 

18 before the date of the deployment. 

19 ‘‘(B) Once during each 180-day period in which 

20 the member is so deployed. 

21 ‘‘(C) Once during the period beginning 90 days 

22 after the date of redeployment from the contingency 

23 operation and ending 180 days after such redeploy24 ment date. 

25 ‘‘(D) Subject to subsection (d), not later than 

26 once during each of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the period beginning 180 days after 

2 the date of redeployment from the contingency 

3 operation and ending one year after such rede4 ployment date; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the period beginning one year after 

6 such redeployment date and ending two years 

7 after such redeployment date; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) the period beginning two years after 

9 such redeployment date and ending three years 

10 after such redeployment date. 

11 ‘‘(2) A mental health assessment is not required for 

12 a member of the armed forces under subparagraphs (C) 

13 and (D) of paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines 

14 that— 

15 ‘‘(A) the member was not subjected or exposed 

16 to operational risk factors during deployment in the 

17 contingency operation concerned; or 

18 ‘‘(B) providing such assessment to the member 

19 during the time periods under such subparagraphs 

20 would remove the member from forward deployment 

21 or put members or operational objectives at risk. 

22 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the mental health 

23 assessments provided pursuant to this section shall be to 

24 identify post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain in25 jury, suicidal tendencies, and other behavioral health conVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:35 May 27, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1942.IH H1942

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1 ditions identified among members of the armed forces de2 scribed in subsection (a) in order to determine which such 

3 members are in need of additional care and treatment for 

4 such health conditions. 

5 ‘‘(c) ELEMENTS.—(1) The mental health assessments 

6 provided pursuant to this section shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) be performed by personnel trained and 

8 certified to perform such assessments and may be 

9 performed— 

10 ‘‘(i) by licensed mental health professionals 

11 if such professionals are available and the use 

12 of such professionals for the assessments would 

13 not impair the capacity of such professionals to 

14 perform higher priority tasks; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) by personnel at private facilities in ac16 cordance with section 1074(c) of this title. 

17 ‘‘(B) include a person-to-person dialogue be18 tween members of the armed forces described in sub19 section (a) and the professionals or personnel de20 scribed by paragraph (1), as applicable, on such 

21 matters as the Secretary shall specify in order that 

22 the assessments achieve the purpose specified in sub23 section (b) for such assessments; 


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1 ‘‘(C) be conducted in a private setting to foster 

2 trust and openness in discussing sensitive health 

3 concerns; 

4 ‘‘(D) be provided in a consistent manner across 

5 the military departments; and 

6 ‘‘(E) include a review of the health records of 

7 the member that are related to each previous deploy8 ment of the member or other relevant activities of 

9 the member while serving in the armed forces, as de10 termined by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may treat periodic health assess12 ments and other person-to-person assessments that are 

13 provided to members of the armed forces, including exami14 nations under section 1074f, as meeting the requirements 

15 for mental health assessments required under this section 

16 if the Secretary determines that such assessments and 

17 person-to-person assessments meet the requirements for 

18 mental health assessments established by this section. 

19 ‘‘(d) CESSATION OF ASSESSMENTS.—No mental 

20 health assessment is required to be provided to an indi21 vidual under subsection (a)(1)(D) after the individual’s 

22 discharge or release from the armed forces. 

23 ‘‘(e) DIAGNOSES DURING DEPLOYMENT.—(1) In 

24 order to prevent suicide, self-harm, harm to others, and 

25 under-performance of members of the armed forces, the 


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1 Secretary shall, with respect to a member described in 

2 paragraph (2)— 

3 ‘‘(A) retire the member pursuant to section 

4 1201 of this title if such member is otherwise 

5 qualified for such retirement; or 

6 ‘‘(B) redeploy such member from the con7 tingency operation to a location where the mem8 ber may receive appropriate medical treatment. 

9 ‘‘(2) A member described in this paragraph is a mem10 ber of the armed forces who, as a result of a mental health 

11 assessment conducted under subsection (a)(1)(B)— 

12 ‘‘(A) is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress 

13 disorder, traumatic brain injury, suicidal tendencies, 

14 or other behavioral health condition; and 

15 ‘‘(B) as part of such diagnosis, is determined 

16 to— 

17 ‘‘(i) require care or monitoring that the 

18 Secretary determines cannot be provided while 

19 the member is deployed in support of a contin20 gency operation; 

21 ‘‘(ii) be at risk of self-harm or harming 

22 other members of the armed forces; or 

23 ‘‘(iii) be unable to perform duties assigned 

24 during such deployment. 


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1 ‘‘(f) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—(1) The Secretary 

2 of Defense shall share with the Secretary of Veterans Af3 fairs such information on members of the armed forces 

4 that is derived from confidential mental health assess5 ments, including mental health assessments provided pur6 suant to this section and health assessments and other 

7 person-to-person assessments provided before the date of 

8 the enactment of this section as the Secretary of Defense 

9 and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs jointly consider ap10 propriate to ensure continuity of mental health care and 

11 treatment of members of the armed forces during the 

12 transition from health care and treatment provided by the 

13 Department of Defense to health care and treatment pro14 vided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

15 ‘‘(2) Any sharing of information under paragraph (1) 

16 shall occur pursuant to a protocol jointly established by 

17 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 

18 Affairs for purposes of this subsection. Any such protocol 

19 shall be consistent with the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) Applicable provisions of the Wounded 

21 Warrior Act (title XVI of Public Law 110–181; 10 

22 U.S.C. 1071 note), including section 1614 of that 

23 Act (122 Stat. 443; 10 U.S.C. 1071 note). 

24 ‘‘(B) Section 1720F of title 38. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Before each mental health assessment is con2 ducted under subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense 

3 shall ensure that the member of the armed forces is noti4 fied of the sharing of information with the Secretary of 

5 Veterans Affairs under this subsection. 

6 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense, in 

7 consultation with the other administering Secretaries, 

8 shall prescribe regulations for the administration of this 

9 section. 

10 ‘‘(h) REPORTS.—(1) Upon the issuance of the regula11 tions prescribed under subsection (g), the Secretary of De12 fense shall submit to Congress a report describing such 

13 regulations. 

14 ‘‘(2)(A) Not later than 270 days after the date of 

15 the issuance of the regulations prescribed under sub16 section (g), the Secretary shall submit to Congress an ini17 tial report on the implementation of the regulations by the 

18 military departments. 

19 ‘‘(B) Not later than two years after the date of the 

20 issuance of the regulations prescribed under subsection 

21 (g), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on 

22 the implementation of the regulations by the military de23 partments. The report shall include an evidence-based as24 sessment of the effectiveness of the mental health assess25 ments provided pursuant to the regulations in achieving 


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1 the purpose specified in subsection (b) for such assess2 ments.’’. 

3 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec4 tions at the beginning of chapter 55 of such title is 

5 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec6 tion 1074l the following new item: 

‘‘1074m. Mental health assessments for members of the armed forces deployed 

in support of a contingency operation.’’. 

7 (3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense 

8 shall prescribe an interim final rule with respect to 

9 the amendment made by paragraph (1), effective not 

10 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act. 

12 (b) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Section 708 of the Na13 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 

14 (Public Law 111–84; 123 Stat. 2376; 10 U.S.C. 1074f 

15 note) is repealed. 

Æ 


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