II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2300 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Defense 

to conduct periodic mental health assessments for members of the Armed 

Forces and to submit reports with respect to mental health, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2014 

Mr. DONNELLY (for himself and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Defense to conduct periodic mental health assessments for members of the Armed Forces and to 

submit reports with respect to mental health, 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 ‘‘Jacob Sexton Military 

5 Suicide Prevention Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ANNUAL MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS FOR MEM2 BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

3 (a) MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS.— 

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

5 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

6 section 1074m the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 1074n. Annual mental health assessments for mem8 bers of the armed forces 

9 ‘‘(a) MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS.—Subject to 

10 subsection (d), not less frequently than once each calendar 

11 year, the Secretary of Defense shall provide a person-to12 person mental health assessment for— 

13 ‘‘(1) each member of the armed forces on active 

14 duty; and 

15 ‘‘(2) each member of the Ready Reserve of an 

16 armed force. 

17 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of a mental health as18 sessment provided pursuant to this section shall be to 

19 identify mental health conditions among members of the 

20 armed forces in order to determine which such members 

21 are in need of additional care, treatment, or other services 

22 for such health conditions. 

23 ‘‘(c) ELEMENTS.—The mental health assessments 

24 provided pursuant to this section shall— 

25 ‘‘(1) be conducted in accordance with the re26 quirements of subsection (c)(1) of section 1074m of 


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1 this title with respect to a mental health assessment 

2 provided pursuant to such section; and 

3 ‘‘(2) include a review of the health records of 

4 the member that are related to each previous health 

5 assessment or other relevant activities of the mem6 ber while serving in the armed forces, as determined 

7 by the Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(d) SUFFICIENCY OF OTHER MENTAL HEALTH AS9 SESSMENTS.—(1) The Secretary is not required to provide 

10 a mental health assessment pursuant to this section to an 

11 individual in a calendar year in which the individual has 

12 received a mental health assessment pursuant to section 

13 1074m of this title. 

14 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may treat periodic health assess15 ments and other person-to-person assessments that are 

16 provided to members of the armed forces, including exami17 nations under section 1074f of this title, as meeting the 

18 requirements for mental health assessments required 

19 under this section if the Secretary determines that such 

20 assessments and person-to-person assessments meet the 

21 requirements for mental health assessments established by 

22 this section. 

23 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.—(1) Not less frequently than once 

24 each year, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the 

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1 mittee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives 

2 a report on the annual mental health assessments of mem3 bers of the armed forces conducted pursuant to this sec4 tion. 

5 ‘‘(2) Each report required by paragraph (1) shall in6 clude, with respect to assessments conducted pursuant to 

7 this section during the one-year period preceding the date 

8 of the submittal of such report, the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) The number of members who received an 

10 assessment. 

11 ‘‘(B) A description of the tools and processes 

12 used to provide such assessments, including— 

13 ‘‘(i) whether such tools and processes are 

14 evidenced-based; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the process by which such tools and 

16 processes have been approved for use in pro17 viding mental health assessments. 

18 ‘‘(C) A description of the mental health condi19 tions detected through such assessments. 

20 ‘‘(D) The number of members referred for care 

21 and services based on mental health conditions de22 tected through such assessments. 

23 ‘‘(E) Such recommendations for improving the 

24 monitoring and reporting of the number of members 


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1 who receive care and services based on such referrals 

2 as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

3 ‘‘(F) Such recommendations for improving the 

4 tools and processes used to conduct such assess5 ments, including tools that may address the under6 reporting of mental health conditions, as the Sec7 retary considers appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(3) No personally identifiable information may be 

9 included in any report under paragraph (1). 

10 ‘‘(f) PRIVACY MATTERS.—Any medical or other per11 sonal information obtained under this section shall be pro12 tected from disclosure or misuse in accordance with the 

13 laws on privacy applicable to such information. 

14 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense shall, 

15 in consultation with the other administering Secretaries, 

16 prescribe regulations for the administration of this sec17 tion.’’. 

18 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec19 tions at the beginning of chapter 55 of such title is 

20 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec21 tion 1074m the following new item: 

‘‘1074n. Annual mental health assessments for members of the armed forces.’’. 

22 (3) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 180 

23 days after the date of the issuance of the regulations 

24 prescribed under section 1074n(g) of title 10, United 

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1 section, the Secretary of Defense shall implement 

2 such regulations. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

4 1074m(e)(1) of such title is amended by inserting ‘‘and 

5 section 1074n of this title’’ after ‘‘pursuant to this sec6 tion’’. 

7 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON THE PROVI8 SION OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES TO 

9 MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD AND 

10 THE RESERVES. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

13 Defense shall, in consultation with the Secretaries of the 

14 military departments, the Assistant Secretary of Defense 

15 for Reserve Affairs, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for 

16 Health Affairs, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, 

17 and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, convene 

18 an interagency working group to review and recommend 

19 collaborative approaches to improving the provision of 

20 mental health services to members of the National Guard 

21 and the Reserves. 

22 (b) DUTIES.—The duties of the interagency working 

23 group convened pursuant to subsection (a) are as follows: 

24 (1) To review existing programs that can be 

25 used to improve the provision of accessible, timely, 


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1 and high-quality mental health services to members 

2 of the National Guard and the Reserves. 

3 (2) To recommend new interagency programs 

4 and partnerships to improve the provision of such 

5 mental health services to such members. 

6 (3) To recommend best practices for partner7 ships among the Armed Forces, the National Guard, 

8 the Department of Health and Human Services, 

9 States, and private and academic entities to improve 

10 the provision of mental health care to members of 

11 the National Guard and the Reserves. 

12 (c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the duties 

13 under subsection (b), the interagency working group may 

14 consult with representatives of academia, industry, and 

15 such other relevant agencies, organizations, and institu16 tions as the interagency working group considers appro17 priate. 

18 (d) REPORT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec21 retary of Defense shall submit to the appropriate 

22 committees of Congress a report that includes the 

23 findings and recommendations of the interagency 

24 working group. 


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1 (2) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate 

3 committees of Congress’’ means— 

4 (A) the congressional defense committees, 

5 as that term is defined in section 101(a)(16) of 

6 title 10, United States Code; 

7 (B) the Committee on Health, Education, 

8 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and 

9 (C) the Committee on Energy and Com10 merce of the House of Representatives. 

11 (e) PRIVACY MATTERS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any medical or other per13 sonal information obtained pursuant to any provi14 sion of this section shall be protected from disclosure 

15 or misuse in accordance with the laws on privacy ap16 plicable to such information. 

17 (2) EXCLUSION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE

18 INFORMATION FROM REPORTS.—No personally iden19 tifiable information may be included in any report 

20 required by subsection (d). 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON IMPROVEMENTS IN THE IDENTIFICA2 TION AND TREATMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH 

3 CONDITIONS AND TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY 

4 AMONG MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

7 shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the 

8 Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

9 House of Representatives a report setting forth an evalua10 tion of specific tools, processes, and best practices to im11 prove the identification of and treatment by the Armed 

12 Forces of mental health conditions and traumatic brain 

13 injury among members of the Armed Forces. 

14 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 

15 shall include the following: 

16 (1) An evaluation of existing peer-to-peer iden17 tification and intervention programs in each of the 

18 Armed Forces. 

19 (2) An evaluation of the Star Behavioral Health 

20 Providers program and similar programs that pro21 vide training and certification to health care pro22 viders that treat mental health conditions and trau23 matic brain injury in members of the Armed Forces. 

24 (3) An evaluation of programs and services pro25 vided by the Armed Forces that provide training and 

26 certification to providers of cognitive rehabilitation 


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1 and other rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury 

2 to members of the Armed Forces. 

3 (4) An evaluation of programs and services pro4 vided by the Armed Forces that target members of 

5 the Armed Forces and family members affected by 

6 suicides among members of the Armed Forces. 

7 (5) An evaluation of tools and processes used 

8 by the Armed Forces to identify traumatic brain in9 jury in members of the Armed Forces and to distin10 guish mental health conditions likely caused by trau11 matic brain injury from mental health conditions 

12 caused by other factors. 

13 (6) An evaluation of the unified effort of the 

14 Armed Forces to promote mental health and prevent 

15 suicide through the integration of clinical and non16 clinical programs of the Armed Forces. 

17 (7) Recommendations with respect to improv18 ing, consolidating, expanding, and standardizing the 

19 programs, services, tools, processes, and efforts de20 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (6). 

21 (8) A description of existing efforts to reduce 

22 the time from development and testing of new men23 tal health and traumatic brain injury tools and 

24 treatments for members of the Armed Forces to 


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1 widespread dissemination of such tools and treat2 ments among the Armed Forces. 

3 (9) Recommendations as to the feasibility and 

4 advisability of establishing preliminary mental health 

5 assessments and pre-discharge mental health assess6 ments for members of the Armed Forces, including 

7 the utility of using tools and processes in such men8 tal health assessments that conform to those used in 

9 other mental health assessments provided to mem10 bers of the Armed Forces. 

11 (10) Recommendations on tracking changes in 

12 the mental health assessment of a member of the 

13 Armed Forces relating to traumatic brain injury, 

14 post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, 

15 and other conditions. 

16 (11) A description of the methodology used by 

17 the Secretary in preparing the report required by 

18 this section, including a description of the input pro19 vided by the entity and individuals consulted pursu20 ant to subsection (c). 

21 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

22 carry out this section in consultation with the following: 

23 (1) An advisory council composed of— 

24 (A) behavioral health officers of the Public 

25 Health Service; and 


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1 (B) mental health and other health pro2 viders who serve members of the regular and 

3 reserve components of each Armed Force. 

4 (2) The Assistant Secretary of Defense for 

5 Health Affairs. 

6 (3) The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Re7 serve Affairs. 

8 (4) The Secretaries of the military departments. 

9 (5) The Chief of the National Guard Bureau. 

10 (6) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

11 (7) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv12 ices. 

13 (8) The Director of the Centers for Disease 

14 Control and Prevention. 

15 (9) The Administrator of the Substance Abuse 

16 and Mental Health Services Administration. 

17 (10) The Director of the National Institutes of 

18 Health. 

19 (11) The President of the Institute of Medicine. 

20 (d) PRIVACY MATTERS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any medical or other per22 sonal information obtained pursuant to any provi23 sion of this section shall be protected from disclosure 

24 or misuse in accordance with the laws on privacy ap25 plicable to such information. 


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1 (2) EXCLUSION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE

2 INFORMATION FROM REPORTS.—No personally iden3 tifiable information may be included in any report 

4 required by subsection (a). 

5 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) PRELIMINARY MENTAL HEALTH ASSESS7 MENT.—The term ‘‘preliminary mental health as8 sessment’’ means a mental health assessment con9 ducted with respect to an individual before the indi10 vidual enlists in the Armed Forces or is commis11 sioned as an officer in the Armed Forces. 

12 (2) PRE-DISCHARGE MENTAL HEALTH ASSESS13 MENT.—The term ‘‘pre-discharge mental health as14 sessment’’ means a mental health assessment con15 ducted with respect to an individual during the 90- 

16 day period preceding the date of discharge or release 

17 of the individual from the Armed Forces. 

Æ 


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