I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3581 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the family caregiver 
program of the Department of Veterans Affairs to include services related 
to mental health and neurological disorders, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 22, 2023 
Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the family 
caregiver program of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
to include services related to mental health and neuro-
logical disorders, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Caregiver Outreach 
and Program Enhancement Act’’ or the ‘‘COPE Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. AUTHORITY FOR SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF-
FAIRS TO AWARD GRANTS TO ENTITIES TO 
IMPROVE PROVISION OF MENTAL HEALTH 
SUPPORT TO FAMILY CAREGIVERS OF VET-
ERANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 17 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘§ 1720K. Grants to provide mental health support to 
family caregivers of veterans 
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may award grants 
to carry out, coordinate, improve, or otherwise enhance 
mental health counseling, treatment, or support to the 
family caregivers of veterans participating in the family 
caregiver program. 
‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—(1) To be eligible for a grant 
under this section, an entity shall submit to the Secretary 
an application therefor at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(2) Each application submitted under paragraph (1) 
shall include the following: 
‘‘(A) A detailed plan for the use of the grant. 
‘‘(B) A description of the programs or efforts 
through which the entity will meet the outcome 
measures developed by the Secretary under sub-
section (g). 
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‘‘(C) A description of how the entity will dis-
tribute grant amounts equitably among areas with 
varying levels of urbanization. 
‘‘(D) A plan for how the grant will be used to 
meet the unique needs of veterans residing in rural 
areas, American Indian or Alaska Native veterans, 
elderly veterans, women veterans, and veterans from 
other underserved communities. 
‘‘(c) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall seek to en-
sure that grants awarded under this section are equitably 
distributed among entities located in States with varying 
levels of urbanization. 
‘‘(d) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall prioritize 
awarding grants under this section that will serve the fol-
lowing areas: 
‘‘(1) Areas with high rates of veterans enrolled 
in the family caregiver program. 
‘‘(2) Areas with high rates of— 
‘‘(A) suicide among veterans; or 
‘‘(B) referrals to the Veterans Crisis Line. 
‘‘(e) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—Any grant awarded 
under this section shall be used— 
‘‘(1) to expand existing programs, activities, 
and services; 
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‘‘(2) to establish new or additional programs, 
activities, and services; or 
‘‘(3) for travel and transportation to facilitate 
carrying out paragraph (1) or (2). 
‘‘(f) OUTCOME MEASURES.—(1) The Secretary shall 
develop and provide to each entity that receives a grant 
under this section written guidance on the following: 
‘‘(A) Outcome measures. 
‘‘(B) Policies of the Department. 
‘‘(2) In developing outcome measures under para-
graph (1), the Secretary shall consider the following goals: 
‘‘(A) Increasing the utilization of mental health 
services among family caregivers of veterans partici-
pating in the family caregiver program. 
‘‘(B) Reducing barriers to mental health serv-
ices among family caregivers of veterans partici-
pating in such program. 
‘‘(g) TRACKING REQUIREMENTS.—(1) The Secretary 
shall establish appropriate tracking requirements with re-
spect to the entities receiving a grant under this section. 
‘‘(2) Not less frequently than annually, the Secretary 
shall submit to Congress a report on such tracking re-
quirements. 
‘‘(h) 
PERFORMANCE
REVIEW.—The 
Secretary 
shall— 
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‘‘(1) review the performance of each entity that 
receives a grant under this section; and 
‘‘(2) make information regarding such perform-
ance publicly available. 
‘‘(i) REMEDIATION PLAN.—(1) In the case of an enti-
ty that receives a grant under this section and does not 
meet the outcome measures developed by the Secretary 
under subsection (g), the Secretary shall require the entity 
to submit to the Secretary a remediation plan under which 
the entity shall describe how and when it plans to meet 
such outcome measures. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary may not award a subsequent 
grant under this section to an entity described in para-
graph (1) unless the Secretary approves the remediation 
plan submitted by the entity under such paragraph. 
‘‘(j) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant 
awarded under this section may not exceed 10 percent of 
amounts made available for grants under this section for 
the fiscal year in which the grant is awarded. 
‘‘(k) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Any grant 
awarded under this section shall be used to supplement 
and not supplant funding that is otherwise available 
through the Department to provide mental health support 
among family caregivers of veterans participating in the 
family caregiver program. 
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‘‘(l) OUTREACH TO FAMILY CAREGIVERS.—The Sec-
retary shall include, in the outreach materials regularly 
mailed to a family caregiver who participates in the family 
caregiver program, notice of mental health support pro-
vided by recipients of grants under this section that are 
located in the relevant Veterans Integrated Service Net-
work. 
‘‘(m) FUNDING.—(1) Amounts for the activities of 
the Department under this section shall be budgeted and 
appropriated through a separate appropriation account. 
‘‘(2) In the budget justification materials submitted 
to Congress in support of the budget of the Department 
for any fiscal year (as submitted with the budget of the 
President under section 1105(a) of title 31), the Secretary 
shall include a separate statement of the amount re-
quested to be appropriated for that fiscal year for the ac-
count specified in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(n) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, for each 
of fiscal years 2023 through 2025, $50,000,000 to carry 
out this section. 
‘‘(o) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The terms ‘caregiver’ and ‘family care-
giver’ have the meanings given those terms in sec-
tion 1720G of this title. 
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‘‘(2) The term ‘family caregiver program’ 
means the program of comprehensive assistance for 
family caregivers under section 1720G of this title. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘Veterans Crisis Line’ means the 
toll-free hotline for veterans established under sec-
tion 1720F of this title.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such subchapter is amended by adding 
at the end the following new item: 
‘‘1720K. Grants to provide mental health support to family caregivers of vet-
erans.’’. 
SEC. 3. GAO REPORT ON MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT FOR 
CAREGIVERS. 
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp-
troller General of the United States shall submit to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report on the provision of mental health 
support to caregivers of veterans. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under sub-
section (a) shall include the following: 
(1) An assessment of the need for mental 
health support among caregivers participating in the 
caregiver programs. 
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(2) An assessment of options for mental health 
support in facilities of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs and in the community for caregivers partici-
pating in the caregiver programs. 
(3) An assessment of the availability and acces-
sibility of mental health support in facilities of the 
Department and in the community for caregivers 
participating in the caregiver programs. 
(4) An assessment of the awareness among 
caregivers of the availability of mental health sup-
port in facilities of the Department and in the com-
munity for caregivers participating in the caregiver 
programs. 
(5) An assessment of barriers to mental health 
support in facilities of the Department and in the 
community for caregivers participating in the care-
giver programs. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) CAREGIVER.—The term ‘‘caregiver’’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 1720G of title 
38, United States Code. 
(2) CAREGIVER PROGRAMS.—The term ‘‘care-
giver programs’’ means— 
(A) the program of comprehensive assist-
ance for family caregivers under subsection (a) 
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of section 1720G of title 38, United States 
Code; and 
(B) the program of support services for 
caregivers under subsection (b) of such section. 
Æ 
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