I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3674 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress a report 

on mental health care furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs 

in certain States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 1, 2021 

Mr. PHILLIPS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to 

Congress a report on mental health care furnished by 

the Department of Veterans Affairs in certain States. 

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 ‘‘Vet Center Support 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ASSESSMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH CARE FUR2 NISHED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

3 AFFAIRS IN CERTAIN STATES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet6 erans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ 

7 Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives 

8 a report regarding mental health care furnished by the 

9 Department of Veterans Affairs to veterans in each cov10 ered State. 

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

12 shall include, with respect to covered States, the following: 

13 (1) An assessment of the ability of the Depart14 ment to furnish to veterans— 

15 (A) readjustment counseling; 

16 (B) therapy for post-traumatic stress dis17 order and other trauma-related therapy; 

18 (C) group counseling; 

19 (D) marriage and family counseling; 

20 (E) military sexual trauma counseling; 

21 (F) bereavement counseling; 

22 (G) screenings and referrals for medical 

23 issues; 

24 (H) substance abuse assessments and re25 ferrals; 


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1 (I) employment assessments and referrals; 

2 and 

3 (J) explanations and referrals regarding 

4 benefits furnished through the Veterans Bene5 fits Administration of the Department. 

6 (2) An assessment of the feasibility of estab7 lishing additional Vet Centers. 

8 (3) An assessment of the feasibility of increas9 ing staff at existing Vet Centers to ensure com10 prehensive coverage, including with respect to bar11 riers regarding— 

12 (A) demonstrating a need for additional 

13 Vet Centers, mobile Vet Centers, and commu14 nity access points; 

15 (B) including drive time as a measure of 

16 productivity while conducting outreach to un17 derserved areas; and 

18 (C) building a new Vet Center. 

19 (4) An analysis of staffing shortages at Vet 

20 Centers, including delays in approving and proc21 essing new hires. 

22 (5) An outreach strategy for using mobile Vet 

23 Centers, Vet Center outstations, and community ac24 cess points to ensure that mental health care serv25 ices reach veterans in underserved areas. 


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1 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) COVERED STATE.—The term ‘‘covered 

3 State’’ means each State (including the District of 

4 Columbia, Puerto Rico, and any territory or posses5 sion of the United States) that has a ratio of one 

6 Vet Center per 100,000 or more veterans who reside 

7 in such State (as such population is determined by 

8 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, acting through 

9 the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Sta10 tistics, for fiscal year 2021). 

11 (2) VET CENTER.—The term ‘‘Vet Center’’ has 

12 the meaning given that term in section 1712A of 

13 title 38, United States Code, including with respect 

14 to Vet Center outstations, but not including mobile 

15 Vet Centers. 

Æ 


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