I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1843 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot program 

to improve access to supportive services and community coordination 

for families of disabled veterans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2015 

Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself and Ms. JACKSON LEE) introduced the following 

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

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a 

pilot program to improve access to supportive services 

and community coordination for families of disabled veterans. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PILOT PROGRAM FOR GREATER DIRECT AC4 CESS TO SUPPORTIVE SERVICES AND COM5 MUNITY COORDINATION FOR DISABLED VET6 ERANS FAMILIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Commencing not later than 180 

8 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 retary of Veterans Affairs (VA) shall carry out a three 

2 year pilot program with community partners to provide 

3 intensive community care coordination and supportive 

4 services to disabled veteran families who lack access to VA 

5 or other direct wellness services. 

6 (b) AGREEMENTS WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS.— 

7 In carrying out the pilot program authorized by subsection 

8 (a), the Secretary shall enter into partnership agreements 

9 with community partners described in subsection (d) using 

10 a competitive and merit-based award process for individual 

11 grants and for multi-service site grants to test service de12 livery efficiencies and generate best practices. 

13 (c) COMMUNITY CARE COORDINATION AND SUP14 PORTIVE SERVICES.—The focused community care coordi15 nation and supportive services referred to in subsection 

16 (a) are the following: 

17 (1) Services provided by a community partner 

18 to improve the well-being and address the needs of 

19 disabled veteran families who otherwise lack access 

20 to adequate VA or other direct wellness services. 

21 Such assistance and services may include the fol22 lowing: 

23 (A) Care coordination and case manage24 ment services. 

25 (B) Outreach services. 

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1 (C) Assistance in obtaining any benefits 

2 from the VA which the veteran may be eligible 

3 to receive, including, but not limited to, voca4 tional and rehabilitation counseling, employ5 ment and training service, educational assist6 ance, and health care services. 

7 (D) Assistance in obtaining and coordi8 nating the provision of other public benefits 

9 provided in federal, state or local agencies or 

10 other community partners, defined in subsection 

11 (d), including— 

12 (i) marriage counseling; 

13 (ii) services for children; 

14 (iii) suicide prevention; 

15 (iv) substance abuse awareness and 

16 treatment; 

17 (v) mental health awareness and 

18 treatment; 

19 (vi) financial counseling; 

20 (vii) anger management counseling; 

21 (viii) domestic violence awareness and 

22 prevention; 

23 (ix) employment assistance; 

24 (x) transportation services; 

25 (xi) child care; 

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1 (xii) housing counseling; 

2 (xiii) preparing and updating family 

3 care plans; 

4 (xiv) development of strategies for liv5 ing with a veteran with post-traumatic 

6 stress disorder or traumatic brain injury; 

7 (xv) accessing emergency financial as8 sistance through philanthropic efforts; and 

9 (xvi) other services that are deemed 

10 appropriate to improve the well-being and 

11 address the unique needs of disabled vet12 eran’s families who lack access to adequate 

13 VA or other direct wellness services and 

14 supports. 

15 (E) Providing direct services, described in 

16 subparagraph (D), that are necessary to im17 prove the well-being and address the needs of 

18 the disabled veteran families but are otherwise 

19 unavailable through existing public or private 

20 programs. 

21 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) The term ‘‘community partner’’ is a private 

23 nonprofit organization. 

24 (2) The term ‘‘disabled veteran’’ is as defined 

25 a United States citizen or United States national 

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1 with an honorable discharge from the United States 

2 Armed Forces; and is entitled to disability com3 pensation (or who but for the receipt of military re4 tired pay would be entitled to disability compensa5 tion) under laws administered by the Secretary of 

6 Veterans Affairs, or was discharged or released from 

7 active duty because of a service-connected disability. 

8 (3) The term ‘‘family’’ is defined as a depend9 ent of the disabled veteran. 

10 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of 

12 Veterans Affairs $2,500,000 for each fiscal year to carry 

13 out the pilot program authorized by this section. 

14 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days before the 

15 completion of the pilot program, the Secretary shall sub16 mit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 

17 and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

18 Representatives a report on the results of the pilot pro19 gram, including the number of disabled veteran families 

20 served and service linkages or referrals and a description 

21 and assessment of the effectiveness and achievements of 

22 the pilot program with respect to services and treatments 

23 and mitigation of risks, including homelessness, unemploy24 ment and suicide as well as recommended best practices 

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1 for improving access to supportive services and coordina2 tion of care for disabled veteran families. 

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