SEC. 2. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN ENTITIES TO 
PROVIDE AND COORDINATE THE PROVISION 
OF SUICIDE PREVENTION SERVICES FOR 
VETERANS AT RISK OF SUICIDE AND VET-
ERAN FAMILIES. 
(a) DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide financial as-
sistance to eligible entities approved under this section 
through the award of grants to such entities to provide 
and coordinate the provision services to veterans and vet-
eran families to reduce the risk of suicide. 
(b) AWARD OF GRANTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award a 
grant to each eligible entity for which the Secretary 
has approved an application under subsection (e) to 
provide or coordinate the provision of suicide preven-
tion services under this section. 
(2) GRANT AMOUNTS, INTERVALS OF PAYMENT, 
AND
MATCHING
FUNDS.—In accordance with the 
services being provided under a grant under this sec-
tion and the duration of those services, the Secretary 
may establish— 
(A) a maximum amount to be awarded 
under the grant; 
(B) intervals of payment for the adminis-
tration of the grant; and 
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(C) a requirement for the recipient of the 
grant to provide matching funds in a specified 
percentage. 
(c) DISTRIBUTION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND 
PREFERENCE.— 
(1) DISTRIBUTION.— 
(A) GEOGRAPHIC.—The Secretary shall 
ensure that, to the extent practicable and in 
compliance with subparagraph (B), financial as-
sistance under this section is equitably distrib-
uted across geographic regions, including rural 
communities and Tribal land. 
(B) AREAS
WITH
NEED.—The Secretary 
shall ensure that, to the extent practicable, fi-
nancial assistance under this section is distrib-
uted— 
(i) to provide services in areas of the 
United States that have experienced high 
rates or a high burden of veteran suicide; 
and 
(ii) to eligible entities that can assist 
veterans at risk of suicide that are not cur-
rently receiving health care furnished by 
the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
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(2) PREFERENCE.—The Secretary shall give 
preference in the provision of financial assistance 
under this section to eligible entities providing or co-
ordinating, or who have demonstrated the ability to 
provide or coordinate, suicide prevention services or 
other services that improve the quality of life of vet-
erans and their families and reduce the factors that 
contribute to veteran suicide. 
(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR RECEIPTS OF FINANCIAL 
ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) NOTIFICATION THAT SERVICES ARE FROM 
DEPARTMENT.—Each entity receiving financial as-
sistance under this section to provide suicide preven-
tion services to veterans at risk of suicide and vet-
eran families shall notify the recipients of such serv-
ices that such services are being paid for, in whole 
or in part, by the Department. 
(2) DEVELOPMENT
OF
PLAN
WITH
BENE-
FICIARIES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—If an entity receiving 
financial assistance under this section provides 
temporary cash assistance under subsection 
(k)(5)(K), the entity shall develop a plan to en-
sure that any beneficiary of such temporary 
cash assistance is self-sustaining at the end of 
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the period of eligibility for such temporary cash 
assistance. 
(B) CONSULTATION WITH BENEFICIARY.— 
Any plan developed under subparagraph (A) 
with respect to a beneficiary shall be developed 
in consultation with the beneficiary. 
(3) REPORTS.—The Secretary— 
(A) shall require each entity receiving fi-
nancial assistance under this section to submit 
to the Secretary an annual report that describes 
the projects carried out with such financial as-
sistance during the year covered by the report; 
(B) shall specify to each such entity the 
evaluation criteria and data and information, 
which shall include a mental health measure-
ment of each veteran served, to be submitted in 
such report; and 
(C) may require such entities to submit to 
the Secretary such additional reports as the 
Secretary considers appropriate. 
(e) APPLICATION FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity seeking fi-
nancial assistance under this section shall submit to 
the Secretary an application therefor in such form, 
in such manner, and containing such commitments 
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and information as the Secretary considers nec-
essary to carry out this section. 
(2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each applica-
tion submitted by an eligible entity under paragraph 
(1) shall contain the following: 
(A) A description of the suicide prevention 
services proposed to be provided by the eligible 
entity and the identified need for those services. 
(B) A detailed plan describing how the eli-
gible entity proposes to coordinate and deliver 
suicide prevention services to veterans not cur-
rently receiving care furnished by the Depart-
ment, including— 
(i) an identification of the community 
partners with which the eligible entity pro-
poses to work in delivering such services; 
(ii) a description of the arrangements 
currently in place between the eligible enti-
ty and such partners; and 
(iii) an identification of how long such 
arrangements have been in place. 
(C) A description of the types of veterans 
at risk of suicide and veteran families proposed 
to be provided suicide prevention services. 
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(D) An estimate of the number of veterans 
at risk of suicide and veteran families proposed 
to be provided suicide prevention services and 
the basis for such estimate, including the per-
centage of those veterans who are not currently 
receiving care furnished by the Department. 
(E) Evidence of the experience of the eligi-
ble entity (and the proposed partners of the en-
tity) in providing suicide prevention services to 
individuals at risk of suicide, particularly to vet-
erans at risk of suicide and veteran families. 
(F) A description of the managerial and 
technological capacity of the eligible entity— 
(i) to coordinate the provision of sui-
cide prevention services with the provision 
of other services; 
(ii) to assess continuously the needs of 
veterans at risk of suicide and veteran 
families for suicide prevention services; 
(iii) to coordinate the provision of sui-
cide prevention services with the services of 
the Department for which the beneficiaries 
are eligible; 
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(iv) to tailor suicide prevention serv-
ices to the needs of veterans at risk of sui-
cide and veteran families; 
(v) to continuously seek new sources 
of assistance to ensure the continuity of 
suicide prevention services for veterans at 
risk of suicide and veteran families as long 
as the veteran is determined to be at risk 
of suicide; and 
(vi) to measure, over a long-term pe-
riod, the improved mental resiliency and 
mental outlook of the veteran served. 
(G) Such additional application criteria as 
the Secretary considers appropriate. 
(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 
training and technical assistance to eligible entities 
in receipt of financial assistance under this section 
regarding— 
(A) the data required to be collected and 
shared with the Department; 
(B) the means of data collection and shar-
ing; 
(C) familiarization with and appropriate 
use of any tool to be used to measure the effec-
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tiveness of the use of the financial assistance 
provided; and 
(D) the requirements for reporting under 
subsection (d)(3) on services provided via such 
financial assistance. 
(2) PROVISION OF TRAINING AND TECHNICAL 
ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may provide the train-
ing and technical assistance described in paragraph 
(1) directly or through grants or contracts with ap-
propriate public or nonprofit entities. 
(g) ADMINISTRATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.— 
(1) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary, in 
consultation with entities specified in paragraph (3), 
shall establish criteria for the selection of eligible en-
tities that have submitted applications under sub-
section (e). 
(2) 
DEVELOPMENT
OF
MEASURES
AND 
METRICS.—The Secretary shall develop, in consulta-
tion with entities specified in paragraph (3), the fol-
lowing: 
(A) A framework for collecting and sharing 
information about entities in receipt of financial 
assistance under this section for purposes of 
improving the discovery of services available for 
veterans at risk of suicide and veteran families, 
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set forth by service type, locality, and eligibility 
criteria. 
(B) The measures to be used by each enti-
ty in receipt of financial assistance under this 
section to determine the effectiveness of the 
programming being provided by such entity in 
improving mental resiliency and mental outlook 
of veterans at risk of suicide and veteran fami-
lies. 
(C) Metrics for measuring the effectiveness 
of the provision of financial assistance under 
this section. 
(3) COORDINATION.—In developing a plan for 
the design and implementation of the provision of fi-
nancial assistance under this section, including cri-
teria for the award of grants, the Secretary shall 
consult with the following: 
(A) Veterans service organizations. 
(B) National organizations representing 
potential community partners of eligible entities 
in providing supportive services to address the 
needs of veterans at risk of suicide and their 
families, including national organizations that— 
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(i) advocate for the needs of individ-
uals with or at risk of behavioral health 
conditions; 
(ii) represent mayors; 
(iii) represent first responders; or 
(iv) represent chiefs of police and 
sheriffs. 
(C) Organizations with which the Depart-
ment has a current memoranda of agreement or 
understanding related to mental health or sui-
cide prevention. 
(D) State departments of veterans affairs. 
(E) National organizations representing 
members of the reserve components of the 
Armed Forces. 
(F) Vet Centers. 
(G) Organizations with experience in cre-
ating measurement tools for purposes of deter-
mining programmatic effectiveness. 
(H) Such other organizations as the Sec-
retary considers appropriate. 
(4) REPORT ON GRANT CRITERIA.—Before noti-
fying eligible entities of the availability of funding 
under this section, the Secretary shall submit to 
Congress a report containing— 
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(A) criteria for the award of a grant under 
this section; 
(B) the tool to be used by the Department 
to measure the effectiveness of the use of finan-
cial assistance provided under this section; and 
(C) a framework for the sharing of infor-
mation about entities in receipt of financial as-
sistance under this section. 
(h) INFORMATION ON POTENTIAL BENEFICIARIES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may make 
available to recipients of financial assistance under 
this section certain information regarding potential 
beneficiaries of services for which such financial as-
sistance is provided. 
(2) INFORMATION INCLUDED.—The information 
made available under paragraph (1) with respect to 
potential beneficiaries may include the following: 
(A) Confirmation of the status of a poten-
tial beneficiary as a veteran. 
(B) Confirmation of whether a potential 
beneficiary is currently receiving care furnished 
by the Department or has recently received 
such care. 
(i) DURATION.—The authority of the Secretary to 
provide financial assistance under this section shall termi-
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nate on the date that is three years after the date on which 
the first grant is awarded under this section. 
(j) REPORTING.— 
(1) INTERIM REPORT.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 18 
months after the date on which the first grant 
is awarded under this section, the Secretary 
shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
Congress a report on the provision of financial 
assistance under this section. 
(B) ELEMENTS.—The report submitted 
under subparagraph (A) shall include the fol-
lowing: 
(i) An assessment of the effectiveness 
of the provision of financial assistance 
under this section, including the effective-
ness of community partners in conducting 
outreach to veterans at risk of suicide and 
veteran families. 
(ii) A list of grant recipients and their 
partner organizations that delivered serv-
ices funded by the grant and the amount 
of such grant received by each recipient 
and partner organization. 
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(2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than three years 
after the date on which the first grant is awarded 
under this section, the Secretary shall submit to the 
appropriate committees of Congress— 
(A) a follow-up on the interim report sub-
mitted under paragraph (1) containing the ele-
ments set forth in subparagraph (B) of such 
paragraph; and 
(B) a report on— 
(i) the effectiveness of the provision of 
financial assistance under this section, in-
cluding the effectiveness of community 
partners in conducting outreach to vet-
erans at risk of suicide and veteran fami-
lies; 
(ii) an assessment of the increased ca-
pacity of the Department to provide serv-
ices to veterans at risk of suicide and vet-
eran families, set forth by State, as a re-
sult of the provision of financial assistance 
under this section; and 
(iii) the feasibility and advisability of 
extending or expanding the provision of fi-
nancial assistance under this section. 
(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(1) 
APPROPRIATE
COMMITTEES
OF
CON-
GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-
gress’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
and the Subcommittee on Military Construc-
tion, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies of 
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 
and 
(B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
and the Subcommittee on Military Construc-
tion, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies of 
the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
of Representatives. 
(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means— 
(A) an incorporated private institution or 
foundation— 
(i) no part of the net earnings of 
which incurs to the benefit of any member, 
founder, contributor, or individual; 
(ii) that has a governing board that 
would be responsible for the operation of 
the suicide prevention services provided 
under this section; and 
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(iii) that is approved by the Secretary 
as to financial responsibility; 
(B) a corporation wholly owned and con-
trolled by an organization meeting the require-
ments of clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of subpara-
graph (A); 
(C) a tribally designated housing entity (as 
defined in section 4 of the Native American 
Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 
of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103)); or 
(D) a community-based organization that 
is physically based in the targeted community 
and that can effectively network with local civic 
organizations, regional health systems, and 
other settings where veterans at risk of suicide 
and the families of such veterans are likely to 
have contact. 
(3) PEER SPECIALIST.—The term ‘‘peer spe-
cialist’’ means a person eligible to be appointed as 
a peer specialist under section 7402(b)(13) of title 
38, United States Code. 
(4) RISK OF SUICIDE.—The term ‘‘risk of sui-
cide’’ means exposure to or the existence of any of 
the following: 
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(A) Health risk factors, including the fol-
lowing: 
(i) Mental health challenges. 
(ii) Substance abuse. 
(iii) Serious or chronic health condi-
tions or pain. 
(iv) Traumatic brain injury. 
(B) Environmental risk factors, including 
the following: 
(i) Access to lethal means (such as 
drugs, firearms, etc.). 
(ii) Prolonged stress. 
(iii) Stressful life events. 
(iv) Exposure to the suicide of an-
other person or to graphic or sensational-
ized accounts of suicide. 
(v) Unemployment. 
(vi) Homelessness. 
(vii) Recent loss. 
(viii) Legal or financial challenges. 
(C) Historical risk factors, including the 
following: 
(i) Previous suicide attempts. 
(ii) Family history of suicide. 
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(iii) History of abuse, neglect, or trau-
ma. 
(5) 
SUICIDE
PREVENTION
SERVICES.—The 
term ‘‘suicide prevention services’’ means services to 
address the needs of veterans at risk of suicide and 
veteran families and includes the following: 
(A) Outreach to identify veterans at risk of 
suicide, with an emphasis on veterans who are 
at highest risk or not receiving health care or 
other services furnished by the Department. 
(B) A baseline mental health assessment 
for risk screening and referral to care. 
(C) Education on suicide risk and preven-
tion to families and communities. 
(D) Direct treatment. 
(E) Medication management. 
(F) Individual and group therapy. 
(G) Case management services. 
(H) Peer support services. 
(I) Assistance in obtaining any benefits 
from the Department that the veteran at risk of 
suicide or veteran family may be eligible to re-
ceive, including— 
(i) vocational and rehabilitation coun-
seling; 
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(ii) supportive services for homeless 
veterans; 
(iii) employment and training services; 
(iv) educational assistance; and 
(v) health care services. 
(J) Assistance in obtaining and coordi-
nating the provision of other benefits provided 
by the Federal Government, a State or local 
government, or an eligible entity. 
(K) Temporary cash assistance (not to ex-
ceed 6 months) to assist with emergent needs 
relating to— 
(i) health care services; 
(ii) daily living services; 
(iii) personal financial planning; 
(iv) transportation services; 
(v) temporary income support serv-
ices; 
(vi) fiduciary and representative payee 
services; 
(vii) legal services to assist the vet-
eran family with issues that may con-
tribute to the risk of suicide of the veteran; 
and 
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