I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2778 

To require a pilot program on activities under the Transition Assistance 

Program for a reduction in suicide among veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2021 

Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio (for himself, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, 

and Ms. JACOBS of California) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require a pilot program on activities under the Transition 

Assistance Program for a reduction in suicide among 

veterans, 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 ‘‘Daniel J. Harvey Jr. 

5 and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition 

6 to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON ACTIVITIES UNDER THE TRAN2 SITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR A REDUC3 TION IN SUICIDE AMONG VETERANS. 

4 (a) PILOT PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary of 

5 Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly 

6 carry out a pilot program to assess the feasibility and ad7 visability of providing the module described in subsection 

8 (b) and the services described in subsection (c) as part 

9 of the Transition Assistance Program for members of the 

10 Armed Forces participating in the Transition Assistance 

11 Program as a means of reducing the incidence of suicide 

12 among veterans. 

13 (b) MODULE.—The module described in this sub14 section is a three-hour module under the Transition As15 sistance Program for each member of the Armed Forces 

16 participating in the pilot program that includes the fol17 lowing: 

18 (1) An in-person meeting between the cohort of 

19 the member and a social worker in which the social 

20 worker— 

21 (A) counsels the cohort on specific poten22 tial risks confronting members after discharge 

23 or release from the Armed Forces, including 

24 loss of community or a support system, isola25 tion from family, friends, or society, identity 

26 crisis in the transition from military to civilian 


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1 life, vulnerability viewed as a weakness, need 

2 for empathy, self-medication and addiction, im3 portance of sleep and exercise, homelessness, 

4 and reasons why veterans attempt and complete 

5 suicide; 

6 (B) counsels members of the cohort who 

7 have been diagnosed with physical, psycho8 logical, or neurological issues, such as post9 traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain in10 jury, adverse childhood experiences, depression, 

11 and bipolar disorder, on— 

12 (i) the potential risks for such mem13 bers from such issues after discharge or 

14 release; and 

15 (ii) the resources and treatment op16 tions afforded to members for such issues 

17 through the Department of Veterans Af18 fairs, the Department of Defense, and non19 profit organizations; 

20 (C) counsels the cohort about the resources 

21 afforded to victims of military sexual trauma 

22 through the Department of Veterans Affairs; 

23 and 

24 (D) counsels the cohort about the five 

25 stages of grieving, the manner in which memVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2778.IH H2778

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1 bers might experience grieving during the tran2 sition from military to civilian life, and the re3 sources afforded to them for grieving through 

4 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

5 (2) The provision to each cohort member of 

6 contact information for a counseling or other appro7 priate facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs 

8 in the locality in which such member intends to re9 side after discharge or release. 

10 (3) The submittal by cohort members to the 

11 Department of Veterans Affairs (including both the 

12 Veterans Health Administration and the Veterans 

13 Benefits Administration) of their medical records in 

14 connection with service in the Armed Forces, wheth15 er or not such members intend to file a claim with 

16 the Department for benefits with respect to any 

17 service-connected disability. 

18 (c) SERVICES.—The services described in this sub19 section in connection with the Transition Assistance Pro20 gram for each member of the Armed Forces participating 

21 in the pilot program are the following: 

22 (1) Not later than 90 days after the discharge 

23 or release of the member from the Armed Forces, a 

24 contact of the member by a social worker or behav25 ioral health coordinator from the Department of 


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1 Veterans Affairs to schedule a follow-up appoint2 ment with a social worker or behavioral health pro3 vider at the facility applicable to the member under 

4 subsection (b)(2) to occur not later than 90 days 

5 after such contact. 

6 (2) During the appointment scheduled pursuant 

7 to paragraph (1)— 

8 (A) an assessment of the member to deter9 mine the experiences of the member with events 

10 during service in the Armed Forces that could 

11 lead, whether individually or cumulatively, to 

12 physical, psychological, or neurological issues, 

13 including issues described in subsection 

14 (b)(1)(B); and 

15 (B) the development of a medical treat16 ment plan for the member, including treatment 

17 for issues identified pursuant to the assessment 

18 under subparagraph (A). 

19 (d) LOCATIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The pilot program shall be 

21 carried out at not fewer than 10 Transition Assist22 ance Centers of the Department of Defense that 

23 serve not fewer than 300 members of the Armed 

24 Forces annually that are jointly selected by the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2778.IH H2778

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1 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Af2 fairs for purposes of the pilot program. 

3 (2) MEMBERS SERVED.—The centers selected 

4 under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent practicable, 

5 be centers that, whether individually or in aggregate, 

6 serve all the Armed Forces and both the regular and 

7 reserve components of the Armed Forces. 

8 (e) SELECTION AND COMMENCEMENT.—The Sec9 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

10 shall jointly select the locations of the pilot program under 

11 subsection (d)(1) and commence carrying out activities 

12 under the pilot program by not later than 120 days after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

14 (f) DURATION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The duration of the pilot 

16 program shall be five years. 

17 (2) CONTINUATION.—If the Secretary of De18 fense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs rec19 ommend in the report under subsection (g) that the 

20 pilot program be extended beyond the date otherwise 

21 provided by paragraph (1), the Secretaries may 

22 jointly continue the pilot program for such period 

23 beyond such date as the Secretaries jointly consider 

24 appropriate. 

25 (g) REPORTS.— 


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

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

3 every 180 days thereafter during the duration of the 

4 pilot program, the Secretary of Defense and the Sec5 retary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to 

6 Congress a report on the activities under the pilot 

7 program. 

8 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by para9 graph (1) shall include the following: 

10 (A) A description of the members of the 

11 Armed Forces who participated in the pilot pro12 gram during the 180-day period ending on the 

13 date of such report, broken out by the fol14 lowing: 

15 (i) Sex. 

16 (ii) Branch of the Armed Forces in 

17 which served. 

18 (iii) Diagnosis of, or other symptoms 

19 consistent with, military sexual trauma, 

20 post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic 

21 brain injury, depression, or bipolar dis22 order in connection with service in the 

23 Armed Forces. 

24 (B) A description of the activities under 

25 the pilot program during such period. 


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1 (C) An assessment of the benefits of the 

2 activities under the pilot program during such 

3 period to veterans and family members of vet4 erans. 

5 (D) An assessment whether the activities 

6 under the pilot program as of the date of such 

7 report have reduced the incidence of suicide 

8 among members who participated in the pilot 

9 program within one year of discharge or release 

10 from the Armed Forces. 

11 (E) Such recommendations as the Sec12 retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 

13 Affairs jointly consider appropriate regarding 

14 expansion of the pilot program, extension of the 

15 pilot program, or both. 

16 (h) TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM DEFINED.— 

17 In this section, the term ‘‘Transition Assistance Program’’ 

18 means the program of assistance and other transitional 

19 services carried out pursuant to section 1144 of title 10, 

20 United States Code. 

Æ 


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