II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 951 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make grants to eligible organizations to provide service dogs to veterans with severe post-traumatic 

stress disorder, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 24, 2021 

Mrs. FISCHER (for herself, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. RUBIO, Ms. WARREN, and 

Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make grants 

to eligible organizations to provide service dogs to veterans with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, 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 ‘‘Puppies Assisting 

5 Wounded Servicemembers Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘PAWS 

6 Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) According to the analysis of veteran suicide 

5 published by the Department of Veterans Affairs in 

6 November 2020 entitled ‘‘VA National Veteran Sui7 cide Prevention Annual Report’’— 

8 (A) an average of 17.6 veterans died by 

9 suicide each day in 2018; 

10 (B) mental health disorders, including 

11 major depression and other mood disorders, 

12 have been associated with increased risk for sui13 cide; 

14 (C) nearly 60 percent of veterans who re15 ceived care from the Veterans Health Adminis16 tration and died by suicide in 2018 had a men17 tal health or substance use disorder diagnosis 

18 within the two-year period preceding their 

19 death; and 

20 (D) in 2018, patients of the Veterans 

21 Health Administration with a mental health or 

22 substance abuse disorder diagnosis had a sui23 cide rate of 57.2 patients per 100,000, com24 pared to a suicide rate of 58.6 patients per 

25 100,000 in 2005. 


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1 (2) Pairing a service dog with a veteran costs 

2 approximately $25,000, including with respect to 

3 training of the service dog as well as training of the 

4 veteran with the service dog. 

5 (3) New, rigorous scientific research provides 

6 persuasive weight to the growing anecdotal evidence 

7 that service dogs ameliorate the symptoms associ8 ated with post-traumatic stress disorder, and in par9 ticular, help prevent veteran suicide. 

10 (4) According to the results of a recent study 

11 by the Veterans Health Administration, veterans 

12 paired with service dogs over an 18-month period ex13 perienced a 3.7 percent improvement on the post14 traumatic stress disorder checklist (PCL–5) and also 

15 saw a decrease in depression and suicidal measures. 

16 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that the Department of Veterans Affairs must be 

18 more effective in its approach to reducing the burden of 

19 veteran suicide connected to mental health disorders, in20 cluding post-traumatic stress disorder, and should use all 

21 tools at its disposal, including innovative treatments such 

22 as pairing service dogs with veterans suffering from men23 tal health disorders. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PROGRAM TO 

2 AWARD GRANTS FOR THE PROVISION OF 

3 SERVICE DOGS TO CERTAIN VETERANS WITH 

4 SEVERE POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DIS5 ORDER. 

6 (a) GRANTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 

8 Affairs shall carry out a program under which the 

9 Secretary awards grants to eligible organizations for 

10 eligible veterans referred to that organization for a 

11 service dog pairing. 

12 (2) LIMITATION.—The amount of the grant for 

13 each eligible veteran referred to an eligible organiza14 tion under paragraph (1) shall not exceed $25,000. 

15 (b) BENEFITS PROVIDED.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—An organization that re17 ceives a grant under subsection (a) shall provide the 

18 following for each service dog and veteran partici19 pating in the program under this section: 

20 (A) Coverage of a commercially available 

21 veterinary health insurance policy to maintain 

22 the health of the dog and keep the dog func23 tioning in the prescribed role for the life of the 

24 dog. 

25 (B) Hardware, or repairs or replacements 

26 for hardware, that are clinically determined to 


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1 be required by the dog to perform the tasks 

2 necessary to assist the veteran with the diag3 nosed disorder of the veteran. 

4 (C) Payment for travel expenses for the 

5 veteran to obtain the dog, calculated in the 

6 same manner as similar travel expenses pro7 vided pursuant to section 111 of title 38, 

8 United States Code. 

9 (2) OTHER TRAVEL EXPENSES.—If a veteran is 

10 required to replace a service dog provided pursuant 

11 to a grant under this section, the Secretary shall pay 

12 for the travel expenses described in paragraph 

13 (1)(C) required to obtain a new service dog pursuant 

14 to subsection (c)(3), regardless of any other benefits 

15 the veteran is receiving for the first service dog 

16 under this section. 

17 (c) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.—To be eligible to re18 ceive a grant under this section, an organization shall— 

19 (1) be a nonprofit organization that— 

20 (A)(i) is accredited by Assistance Dogs 

21 International, the International Guide Dog Fed22 eration, or another similar widely recognized ac23 creditation organization that the Secretary de24 termines has accreditation standards that meet 

25 or exceed the standards of Assistance Dogs 


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1 International and the International Guide Dog 

2 Federation; or 

3 (ii) meets the publicly available standards 

4 of the Association of Service Dog Providers for 

5 Military Veterans; and 

6 (B) has expertise in the unique needs of 

7 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder; 

8 (2) agree to cover all costs in excess of the 

9 grant amount to guarantee the benefits listed under 

10 subsection (b)(1); 

11 (3) agree to reaccept or replace a service dog 

12 provided by the organization to a veteran, if nec13 essary, as determined by the veteran and the organi14 zation; and 

15 (4) submit to the Secretary an application con16 taining such information, certification, and assur17 ances as the Secretary may require. 

18 (d) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.— 

19 (1) APPROVAL AND REFERRAL.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Vet21 erans Affairs shall review and approve veterans 

22 eligible to participate under this section and 

23 shall refer approved veterans to eligible organi24 zations. 


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1 (B) APPROVAL DETERMINATION.—The pe2 riod beginning on the date on which a veteran 

3 applies to participate under this section and the 

4 date on which the Secretary makes an approval 

5 determination may not exceed 90 days. 

6 (2) INITIAL ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this 

7 section, an eligible veteran is a veteran— 

8 (A) who is enrolled in the system of annual 

9 patient enrollment of the Department of Vet10 erans Affairs established and operated under 

11 section 1705(a) of title 38, United States Code; 

12 (B) who has been treated and has com13 pleted an established evidence-based treatment 

14 for post-traumatic stress disorder yet remains 

15 diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder 

16 by a qualified health care provider as rated on 

17 the post-traumatic stress disorder checklist 

18 (PCL–5); 

19 (C) with respect to whom the health care 

20 provider or clinical team of the Department 

21 that is treating the veteran for such disorder 

22 determines based upon medical judgment that 

23 the veteran may potentially benefit from a serv24 ice dog; and 


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1 (D) who agrees to successfully complete 

2 training provided by an eligible organization. 

3 (3) ONGOING ELIGIBILITY.—To remain eligible 

4 to participate in the program under this section, a 

5 veteran shall see the health care provider or clinical 

6 team of the Department treating the veteran for 

7 post-traumatic stress disorder at least once every 

8 180 days to determine, based on a clinical evaluation 

9 of efficacy, whether the veteran continues to benefit 

10 from a service dog. 

11 (4) OTHER CASES.—If at any point the veteran 

12 is no longer able or willing to care for the service 

13 dog, the veteran and the organization that provided 

14 the service dog to the veteran shall determine the 

15 appropriate recourse to ensure the safety of both the 

16 veteran and the service dog. 

17 (e) POSSESSION OF SERVICE DOG.—Except if deter18 mined otherwise under subsection (d)(4), an eligible vet19 eran in possession of a service dog furnished under the 

20 program under this section may elect to keep the service 

21 dog for the life of the dog, regardless of the continued 

22 participation of the veteran in the program. 

23 (f) RELATIONSHIP TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

24 AFFAIRS BENEFITS.—The provision of a service dog to 

25 a veteran under this section is in addition to any other 


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1 hospital care or medical service furnished by the Depart2 ment for that veteran for post-traumatic stress disorder, 

3 and an improvement in symptoms as a result of the provi4 sion of a service dog shall not affect the eligibility of the 

5 veteran for any other benefit under the laws administered 

6 by the Secretary. 

7 (g) METRICS.—In carrying out this section, the Sec8 retary shall— 

9 (1) develop metrics and other appropriate 

10 means to measure, with respect to veterans partici11 pating in the program under this section, the im12 provement in psychosocial function and therapeutic 

13 compliance of such veterans and changes with re14 spect to the dependence on prescription narcotics 

15 and psychotropic medication of such veterans; and 

16 (2) establish processes to document and track 

17 the progress of such veterans under the program in 

18 terms of the benefits and improvements noted as a 

19 result of the program. 

20 (h) COMPTROLLER GENERAL BRIEFING AND RE21 PORT.— 

22 (1) BRIEFING.—Not later than one year after 

23 the date on which the Secretary commences the pro24 gram under subsection (a), the Comptroller General 

25 of the United States shall provide to the Committee 


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1 on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com2 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep3 resentatives a briefing on the methodology estab4 lished for the program. 

5 (2) REPORT.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than three 

7 years after providing the briefing under para8 graph (1), the Comptroller General shall submit 

9 to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

10 Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

11 of the House of Representatives a report on the 

12 program under this section. 

13 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required 

14 under subparagraph (A) shall include an eval15 uation of the approach and methodology used 

16 for the program with respect to— 

17 (i) helping veterans with severe post18 traumatic stress disorder return to civilian 

19 life; 

20 (ii) relevant metrics, such as reduction 

21 in scores under the post-traumatic stress 

22 disorder checklist (PCL–5), improvement 

23 in psychosocial function, and therapeutic 

24 compliance; and 


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1 (iii) reducing the dependence of par2 ticipants in the program on prescription 

3 narcotics and psychotropic medication. 

4 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

5 authorized to be appropriated for the period of fiscal year 

6 2022 through fiscal year 2024, $10,000,000 to carry out 

7 the program under this section. 

Æ 


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