I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3495 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide financial assistance 

to eligible entities to provide and coordinate the provision of suicide 

prevention services for veterans at risk of suicide and veteran families 

through the award of grants to such entities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2019 

Mr. BERGMAN (for himself and Ms. HOULAHAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide financial assistance to eligible entities to provide and coordinate the provision of suicide prevention services for veterans at risk of suicide and veteran families through 

the award of grants to such entities, 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 ‘‘Improve Well-Being 

5 for Veterans Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN ENTITIES TO 

2 PROVIDE AND COORDINATE THE PROVISION 

3 OF SUICIDE PREVENTION SERVICES FOR 

4 VETERANS AT RISK OF SUICIDE AND VET5 ERAN FAMILIES. 

6 (a) DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The 

7 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide financial as8 sistance to eligible entities approved under this section 

9 through the award of grants to such entities to provide 

10 and coordinate the provision services to veterans and vet11 eran families to reduce the risk of suicide. 

12 (b) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award a 

14 grant to each eligible entity for which the Secretary 

15 has approved an application under subsection (e) to 

16 provide or coordinate the provision of suicide preven17 tion services under this section. 

18 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS, INTERVALS OF PAYMENT, 

19 AND MATCHING FUNDS.—In accordance with the 

20 services being provided under a grant under this sec21 tion and the duration of those services, the Secretary 

22 may establish— 

23 (A) a maximum amount to be awarded 

24 under the grant; 

25 (B) intervals of payment for the adminis26 tration of the grant; and 


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1 (C) a requirement for the recipient of the 

2 grant to provide matching funds in a specified 

3 percentage. 

4 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND

5 PREFERENCE.— 

6 (1) DISTRIBUTION.— 

7 (A) GEOGRAPHIC.—The Secretary shall 

8 ensure that, to the extent practicable and in 

9 compliance with subparagraph (B), financial as10 sistance under this section is equitably distrib11 uted across geographic regions, including rural 

12 communities and Tribal land. 

13 (B) AREAS WITH NEED.—The Secretary 

14 shall ensure that, to the extent practicable, fi15 nancial assistance under this section is distrib16 uted— 

17 (i) to provide services in areas of the 

18 United States that have experienced high 

19 rates or a high burden of veteran suicide; 

20 and 

21 (ii) to eligible entities that can assist 

22 veterans at risk of suicide that are not cur23 rently receiving health care furnished by 

24 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 


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1 (2) PREFERENCE.—The Secretary shall give 

2 preference in the provision of financial assistance 

3 under this section to eligible entities providing or co4 ordinating, or who have demonstrated the ability to 

5 provide or coordinate, suicide prevention services or 

6 other services that improve the quality of life of vet7 erans and their families and reduce the factors that 

8 contribute to veteran suicide. 

9 (d) REQUIREMENTS FOR RECEIPTS OF FINANCIAL

10 ASSISTANCE.— 

11 (1) NOTIFICATION THAT SERVICES ARE FROM

12 DEPARTMENT.—Each entity receiving financial as13 sistance under this section to provide suicide preven14 tion services to veterans at risk of suicide and vet15 eran families shall notify the recipients of such serv16 ices that such services are being paid for, in whole 

17 or in part, by the Department. 

18 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN WITH BENE19 FICIARIES.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—If an entity receiving 

21 financial assistance under this section provides 

22 temporary cash assistance under subsection 

23 (k)(5)(K), the entity shall develop a plan to en24 sure that any beneficiary of such temporary 

25 cash assistance is self-sustaining at the end of 


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1 the period of eligibility for such temporary cash 

2 assistance. 

3 (B) CONSULTATION WITH BENEFICIARY.— 

4 Any plan developed under subparagraph (A) 

5 with respect to a beneficiary shall be developed 

6 in consultation with the beneficiary. 

7 (3) REPORTS.—The Secretary— 

8 (A) shall require each entity receiving fi9 nancial assistance under this section to submit 

10 to the Secretary an annual report that describes 

11 the projects carried out with such financial as12 sistance during the year covered by the report; 

13 (B) shall specify to each such entity the 

14 evaluation criteria and data and information, 

15 which shall include a mental health measure16 ment of each veteran served, to be submitted in 

17 such report; and 

18 (C) may require such entities to submit to 

19 the Secretary such additional reports as the 

20 Secretary considers appropriate. 

21 (e) APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity seeking fi23 nancial assistance under this section shall submit to 

24 the Secretary an application therefor in such form, 

25 in such manner, and containing such commitments 


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1 and information as the Secretary considers nec2 essary to carry out this section. 

3 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each applica4 tion submitted by an eligible entity under paragraph 

5 (1) shall contain the following: 

6 (A) A description of the suicide prevention 

7 services proposed to be provided by the eligible 

8 entity and the identified need for those services. 

9 (B) A detailed plan describing how the eli10 gible entity proposes to coordinate and deliver 

11 suicide prevention services to veterans not cur12 rently receiving care furnished by the Depart13 ment, including— 

14 (i) an identification of the community 

15 partners with which the eligible entity pro16 poses to work in delivering such services; 

17 (ii) a description of the arrangements 

18 currently in place between the eligible enti19 ty and such partners; and 

20 (iii) an identification of how long such 

21 arrangements have been in place. 

22 (C) A description of the types of veterans 

23 at risk of suicide and veteran families proposed 

24 to be provided suicide prevention services. 


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1 (D) An estimate of the number of veterans 

2 at risk of suicide and veteran families proposed 

3 to be provided suicide prevention services and 

4 the basis for such estimate, including the per5 centage of those veterans who are not currently 

6 receiving care furnished by the Department. 

7 (E) Evidence of the experience of the eligi8 ble entity (and the proposed partners of the en9 tity) in providing suicide prevention services to 

10 individuals at risk of suicide, particularly to vet11 erans at risk of suicide and veteran families. 

12 (F) A description of the managerial and 

13 technological capacity of the eligible entity— 

14 (i) to coordinate the provision of sui15 cide prevention services with the provision 

16 of other services; 

17 (ii) to assess continuously the needs of 

18 veterans at risk of suicide and veteran 

19 families for suicide prevention services; 

20 (iii) to coordinate the provision of sui21 cide prevention services with the services of 

22 the Department for which the beneficiaries 

23 are eligible; 


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1 (iv) to tailor suicide prevention serv2 ices to the needs of veterans at risk of sui3 cide and veteran families; 

4 (v) to continuously seek new sources 

5 of assistance to ensure the continuity of 

6 suicide prevention services for veterans at 

7 risk of suicide and veteran families as long 

8 as the veteran is determined to be at risk 

9 of suicide; and 

10 (vi) to measure, over a long-term pe11 riod, the improved mental resiliency and 

12 mental outlook of the veteran served. 

13 (G) Such additional application criteria as 

14 the Secretary considers appropriate. 

15 (f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

17 training and technical assistance to eligible entities 

18 in receipt of financial assistance under this section 

19 regarding— 

20 (A) the data required to be collected and 

21 shared with the Department; 

22 (B) the means of data collection and shar23 ing; 

24 (C) familiarization with and appropriate 

25 use of any tool to be used to measure the effecVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495

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1 tiveness of the use of the financial assistance 

2 provided; and 

3 (D) the requirements for reporting under 

4 subsection (d)(3) on services provided via such 

5 financial assistance. 

6 (2) PROVISION OF TRAINING AND TECHNICAL

7 ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may provide the train8 ing and technical assistance described in paragraph 

9 (1) directly or through grants or contracts with ap10 propriate public or nonprofit entities. 

11 (g) ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.— 

12 (1) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary, in 

13 consultation with entities specified in paragraph (3), 

14 shall establish criteria for the selection of eligible en15 tities that have submitted applications under sub16 section (e). 

17 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF MEASURES AND

18 METRICS.—The Secretary shall develop, in consulta19 tion with entities specified in paragraph (3), the fol20 lowing: 

21 (A) A framework for collecting and sharing 

22 information about entities in receipt of financial 

23 assistance under this section for purposes of 

24 improving the discovery of services available for 

25 veterans at risk of suicide and veteran families, 


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1 set forth by service type, locality, and eligibility 

2 criteria. 

3 (B) The measures to be used by each enti4 ty in receipt of financial assistance under this 

5 section to determine the effectiveness of the 

6 programming being provided by such entity in 

7 improving mental resiliency and mental outlook 

8 of veterans at risk of suicide and veteran fami9 lies. 

10 (C) Metrics for measuring the effectiveness 

11 of the provision of financial assistance under 

12 this section. 

13 (3) COORDINATION.—In developing a plan for 

14 the design and implementation of the provision of fi15 nancial assistance under this section, including cri16 teria for the award of grants, the Secretary shall 

17 consult with the following: 

18 (A) Veterans service organizations. 

19 (B) National organizations representing 

20 potential community partners of eligible entities 

21 in providing supportive services to address the 

22 needs of veterans at risk of suicide and their 

23 families, including national organizations that— 


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1 (i) advocate for the needs of individ2 uals with or at risk of behavioral health 

3 conditions; 

4 (ii) represent mayors; 

5 (iii) represent first responders; or 

6 (iv) represent chiefs of police and 

7 sheriffs. 

8 (C) Organizations with which the Depart9 ment has a current memoranda of agreement or 

10 understanding related to mental health or sui11 cide prevention. 

12 (D) State departments of veterans affairs. 

13 (E) National organizations representing 

14 members of the reserve components of the 

15 Armed Forces. 

16 (F) Vet Centers. 

17 (G) Organizations with experience in cre18 ating measurement tools for purposes of deter19 mining programmatic effectiveness. 

20 (H) Such other organizations as the Sec21 retary considers appropriate. 

22 (4) REPORT ON GRANT CRITERIA.—Before noti23 fying eligible entities of the availability of funding 

24 under this section, the Secretary shall submit to 

25 Congress a report containing— 


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1 (A) criteria for the award of a grant under 

2 this section; 

3 (B) the tool to be used by the Department 

4 to measure the effectiveness of the use of finan5 cial assistance provided under this section; and 

6 (C) a framework for the sharing of infor7 mation about entities in receipt of financial as8 sistance under this section. 

9 (h) INFORMATION ON POTENTIAL BENEFICIARIES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make 

11 available to recipients of financial assistance under 

12 this section certain information regarding potential 

13 beneficiaries of services for which such financial as14 sistance is provided. 

15 (2) INFORMATION INCLUDED.—The information 

16 made available under paragraph (1) with respect to 

17 potential beneficiaries may include the following: 

18 (A) Confirmation of the status of a poten19 tial beneficiary as a veteran. 

20 (B) Confirmation of whether a potential 

21 beneficiary is currently receiving care furnished 

22 by the Department or has recently received 

23 such care. 

24 (i) DURATION.—The authority of the Secretary to 

25 provide financial assistance under this section shall termiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495

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1 nate on the date that is three years after the date on which 

2 the first grant is awarded under this section. 

3 (j) REPORTING.— 

4 (1) INTERIM REPORT.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 

6 months after the date on which the first grant 

7 is awarded under this section, the Secretary 

8 shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

9 Congress a report on the provision of financial 

10 assistance under this section. 

11 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report submitted 

12 under subparagraph (A) shall include the fol13 lowing: 

14 (i) An assessment of the effectiveness 

15 of the provision of financial assistance 

16 under this section, including the effective17 ness of community partners in conducting 

18 outreach to veterans at risk of suicide and 

19 veteran families. 

20 (ii) A list of grant recipients and their 

21 partner organizations that delivered serv22 ices funded by the grant and the amount 

23 of such grant received by each recipient 

24 and partner organization. 


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1 (iii) The number of veterans sup2 ported by each grant recipient, including 

3 through services provided to family mem4 bers. 

5 (iv) The number of veterans sup6 ported by financial assistance under this 

7 section, including through services provided 

8 to family members. 

9 (v) The number of veterans supported 

10 by financial assistance under this section, 

11 including through services provided to fam12 ily members, who were not previously re13 ceiving care furnished by the Department. 

14 (vi) The number of veterans whose 

15 mental resiliency and mental outlook re16 ceived a baseline measurement assessment 

17 under this section and the number of such 

18 veterans whose mental resiliency and men19 tal outlook will be measured by the De20 partment or a community partner over a 

21 period of time. 

22 (vii) The types of data the Depart23 ment was able to collect and share with 

24 partners, including a characterization of 

25 the benefits of that data. 


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1 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than three years 

2 after the date on which the first grant is awarded 

3 under this section, the Secretary shall submit to the 

4 appropriate committees of Congress— 

5 (A) a follow-up on the interim report sub6 mitted under paragraph (1) containing the ele7 ments set forth in subparagraph (B) of such 

8 paragraph; and 

9 (B) a report on— 

10 (i) the effectiveness of the provision of 

11 financial assistance under this section, in12 cluding the effectiveness of community 

13 partners in conducting outreach to vet14 erans at risk of suicide and veteran fami15 lies; 

16 (ii) an assessment of the increased ca17 pacity of the Department to provide serv18 ices to veterans at risk of suicide and vet19 eran families, set forth by State, as a re20 sult of the provision of financial assistance 

21 under this section; and 

22 (iii) the feasibility and advisability of 

23 extending or expanding the provision of fi24 nancial assistance under this section. 

25 (k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

5 and the Subcommittee on Military Construc6 tion, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies of 

7 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 

8 and 

9 (B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

10 and the Subcommittee on Military Construc11 tion, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies of 

12 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

13 of Representatives. 

14 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti15 ty’’ means— 

16 (A) an incorporated private institution or 

17 foundation— 

18 (i) no part of the net earnings of 

19 which incurs to the benefit of any member, 

20 founder, contributor, or individual; 

21 (ii) that has a governing board that 

22 would be responsible for the operation of 

23 the suicide prevention services provided 

24 under this section; and 


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1 (iii) that is approved by the Secretary 

2 as to financial responsibility; 

3 (B) a corporation wholly owned and con4 trolled by an organization meeting the require5 ments of clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of subpara6 graph (A); 

7 (C) a tribally designated housing entity (as 

8 defined in section 4 of the Native American 

9 Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 

10 of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103)); or 

11 (D) a community-based organization that 

12 is physically based in the targeted community 

13 and that can effectively network with local civic 

14 organizations, regional health systems, and 

15 other settings where veterans at risk of suicide 

16 and the families of such veterans are likely to 

17 have contact. 

18 (3) PEER SPECIALIST.—The term ‘‘peer spe19 cialist’’ means a person eligible to be appointed as 

20 a peer specialist under section 7402(b)(13) of title 

21 38, United States Code. 

22 (4) RISK OF SUICIDE.—The term ‘‘risk of sui23 cide’’ means exposure to or the existence of any of 

24 the following: 


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1 (A) Health risk factors, including the fol2 lowing: 

3 (i) Mental health challenges. 

4 (ii) Substance abuse. 

5 (iii) Serious or chronic health condi6 tions or pain. 

7 (iv) Traumatic brain injury. 

8 (B) Environmental risk factors, including 

9 the following: 

10 (i) Access to lethal means (such as 

11 drugs, firearms, etc.). 

12 (ii) Prolonged stress. 

13 (iii) Stressful life events. 

14 (iv) Exposure to the suicide of an15 other person or to graphic or sensational16 ized accounts of suicide. 

17 (v) Unemployment. 

18 (vi) Homelessness. 

19 (vii) Recent loss. 

20 (viii) Legal or financial challenges. 

21 (C) Historical risk factors, including the 

22 following: 

23 (i) Previous suicide attempts. 

24 (ii) Family history of suicide. 


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1 (iii) History of abuse, neglect, or trau2 ma. 

3 (5) SUICIDE PREVENTION SERVICES.—The 

4 term ‘‘suicide prevention services’’ means services to 

5 address the needs of veterans at risk of suicide and 

6 veteran families and includes the following: 

7 (A) Outreach to identify veterans at risk of 

8 suicide, with an emphasis on veterans who are 

9 at highest risk or not receiving health care or 

10 other services furnished by the Department. 

11 (B) A baseline mental health assessment 

12 for risk screening and referral to care. 

13 (C) Education on suicide risk and preven14 tion to families and communities. 

15 (D) Direct treatment. 

16 (E) Medication management. 

17 (F) Individual and group therapy. 

18 (G) Case management services. 

19 (H) Peer support services. 

20 (I) Assistance in obtaining any benefits 

21 from the Department that the veteran at risk of 

22 suicide or veteran family may be eligible to re23 ceive, including— 

24 (i) vocational and rehabilitation coun25 seling; 


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1 (ii) supportive services for homeless 

2 veterans; 

3 (iii) employment and training services; 

4 (iv) educational assistance; and 

5 (v) health care services. 

6 (J) Assistance in obtaining and coordi7 nating the provision of other benefits provided 

8 by the Federal Government, a State or local 

9 government, or an eligible entity. 

10 (K) Temporary cash assistance (not to ex11 ceed 6 months) to assist with emergent needs 

12 relating to— 

13 (i) health care services; 

14 (ii) daily living services; 

15 (iii) personal financial planning; 

16 (iv) transportation services; 

17 (v) temporary income support serv18 ices; 

19 (vi) fiduciary and representative payee 

20 services; 

21 (vii) legal services to assist the vet22 eran family with issues that may con23 tribute to the risk of suicide of the veteran; 

24 and 


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1 (viii) child care (not to exceed $5,000 

2 per veteran family per fiscal year). 

3 (L) Such other services necessary for im4 proving the resiliency of veterans at risk of sui5 cide and veteran families as the Secretary con6 siders appropriate, which may include— 

7 (i) adaptive sports or in-place rec8 reational therapy; 

9 (ii) substance use reduction program10 ming; 

11 (iii) individual, group, or family coun12 seling; and 

13 (iv) relationship coaching. 

14 (6) VET CENTER.—The term ‘‘Vet Center’’ 

15 means a center for readjustment counseling and re16 lated mental health services for veterans under sec17 tion 1712A of title 38, United States Code. 

18 (7) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 

19 meaning given that term in section 101 of title 38, 

20 United States Code. 

21 (8) VETERAN FAMILY.—The term ‘‘veteran 

22 family’’ means, with respect to a veteran at risk of 

23 suicide, any of the following: 

24 (A) A parent. 

25 (B) A spouse. 


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1 (C) A child. 

2 (D) A sibling. 

3 (E) A step-family member. 

4 (F) An extended family member. 

5 (G) Any other individual who lives with the 

6 veteran. 

7 (9) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION.—The 

8 term ‘‘veterans service organization’’ means any or9 ganization recognized by the Secretary of Veterans 

10 Affairs for the representation of veterans included as 

11 part of the annually updated list at https:// 

12 www.va.gov/vso/ or a successor website. 

Æ 


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