I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3027 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a counseling program 
for certain survivors of veterans who die by suicide. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 24, 2025 
Mr. VAN DREW introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a coun-
seling program for certain survivors of veterans who 
die by suicide. 
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 ‘‘Green Star Families 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. COUNSELING PROGRAM FOR NEXT OF KIN AND 
CAREGIVERS OF VETERANS WHO DIE BY SUI-
CIDE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subchapter II of chapter 17 
of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
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the end the following new section (and amending the table 
of sections at the beginning of such chapter accordingly): 
‘‘§ 1720M. Counseling program for next of kin and 
caregivers of veterans who die by suicide 
‘‘(a) COUNSELING PROGRAM.—(1) Subject to para-
graph (2), the Secretary shall furnish, at no cost to the 
recipient, counseling services to— 
‘‘(A) the next of kin of a veteran who dies by 
suicide; and 
‘‘(B) a former volunteer caregiver of a veteran 
who dies by suicide. 
‘‘(2) The Secretary may provide counseling services 
under this section only if the Secretary determines such 
counseling services are— 
‘‘(A) reasonably accessible to an individual de-
scribed in paragraph (1); and 
‘‘(B) substantially equivalent or superior to 
similar services furnished by the Secretary to an in-
dividual described in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) To carry out subsection (a), the Secretary may 
enter into an agreement with a Federal, State, or private 
entity. The Secretary may provide fair compensation to 
such entity pursuant to such agreement. 
‘‘(b) PUBLIC AWARENESS.—In carrying out the pro-
gram under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 
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‘‘(1) publish information relating to the pro-
gram on a website of the Department; and 
‘‘(2) provide information relating to the pro-
gram to any individual described in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘covered veterans service organi-
zation’ includes— 
‘‘(A) an organization recognized by the 
Secretary for the representation of veterans 
under section 5902 of this title; and 
‘‘(B) an organization— 
‘‘(i) that is described in section 
501(c)(3) or 501(c)(19) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from 
taxation under section 501(a) of such 
Code; and 
‘‘(ii) that carries out activities relating 
to veterans and their assistance. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘former volunteer caregiver’ 
means, with respect to a veteran who dies by suicide, 
an individual— 
‘‘(A) who is at least 18 years of age; and 
‘‘(B) who, prior to the death of the vet-
eran, and in connection with a covered veterans 
service organization, furnished the veteran with 
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counseling, social work, or other personal care 
services— 
‘‘(i) without compensation to such in-
dividual; and 
‘‘(ii) for a period of at least three 
months. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘next of kin’ means the closest 
living relative of a veteran who dies by suicide, in 
the following order of priority: 
‘‘(A) Spouse. 
‘‘(B) A child. 
‘‘(C) A parent. 
‘‘(D) A sibling. 
‘‘(E) Another individual determined by the 
Secretary. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘personal care services’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 1720G of this 
title.’’. 
(b) IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE.—The Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall carry out section 1720M of such 
title, as added by subsection (a), not later than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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