Department of Defense TRICARE regional managers to 
ensure the appropriate deployment of resources to imple-
ment the Iraq war clinical practice guidelines. 
(b) USE OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—The per-
formance measures under subsection (a) shall be designed 
to assess— 
(1) access and availability of PTSD treatment 
for servicemembers returned from deployment in a 
combat theater; and 
(2) implementation of the Iraq War Clinical 
Practice Guidelines. 
TITLE IV—DEPARTMENT OF DE-
FENSE/DEPARTMENT OF VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS COUNCIL ON 
POST-DEPLOYMENT 
MENTAL 
HEALTH 
SEC. 401. ESTABLISHMENT OF COUNCIL. 
The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs shall jointly establish a council to be known 
as the Department of Defense/Department of Veterans Af-
fairs Council on Post-Deployment Mental Health. The 
council shall be composed of leadership of the two depart-
ments in the areas of mental health, PTSD, substance 
abuse, and military sexual trauma. The council shall be
established not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 402. DUTIES OF COUNCIL. 
(a) DUTIES.—The Department of Defense/Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs Council on Post-Deployment 
Mental Health shall have the following duties: 
(1) Review of the continuum of care between 
the Department of Defense and the Department of 
Veterans Affairs for mental health, PTSD, sub-
stance abuse, and military sexual trauma. 
(2) Identification of gaps in the treatment capa-
bility of the health-care systems of the Department 
of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs for 
mental health, PTSD, substance abuse, and military 
sexual trauma and expected gaps in such continuum, 
with emphasis on access to services in rural areas, 
to meet the expected demand from current users and 
servicemembers returning from Operation Iraqi 
Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and 
other deployments. 
(3) Promotion, within both systems, of an edu-
cational program to implement the jointly developed 
Iraq War Clinical Practice Guidelines. 
(4) Development of outcome monitors and qual-
ity improvement instruments to ensure that internal
policy regarding PTSD is implemented (including 
TRICARE and VISN directors’ performance meas-
ures under section 307). 
(5) Recommendation of policies to reduce the 
stigma associated with the seeking of mental health 
care by active-duty, Reserve, and National Guard 
members. 
(6) Identification of the highest post-deploy-
ment mental health research priorities for the two 
departments. 
(7) Communications to inform active-duty 
servicemembers and veterans of matters relating to 
PTSD. 
(8) Meet at least annually with stakeholder 
groups comprised of veterans, veterans service orga-
nizations, and family members of veterans receiving 
care from the Department of Veterans Affairs men-
tal health programs, and mental health associations. 
(b) REPORT.—The Council shall prepare a report 
based on the reviews under paragraphs (1) and (2) of sub-
section (a) to identify the necessary resources to create 
or enhance PTSD treatment capabilities. The report shall 
be made available to the Secretary of both Departments 
for comment. The Secretaries shall indicate recommenda-
tions in which they concur or disagree and include specific
plans for implementation of any recommendations accept-
ed. The report, with the comments and recommendations 
of the two Secretaries shall be submitted to the Commit-
tees on Veterans’ Affairs and the Committees on Armed 
Services of the Senate and House of Representatives not 
later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. The report shall include priority listing of sites which 
require investments according to the greatest perceived 
need for PTSD services. 
TITLE V—CAPACITY BUILDING 
IN 
DEPARTMENT 
OF 
VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS 
SEC. 501. PLAN FOR EXPANSION OF DEPARTMENT OF VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS SYSTEM TO EXPAND ACCESS 
TO SPECIALIZED PTSD CARE. 
Based upon the report under section 402(b), the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs shall develop a plan for the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs to expand access to special-
ized PTSD care through— 
(1) Readjustment Counseling Service centers 
operated under section 1712A of title 38, United 
States Code; 
(2) community-based outpatient clinics; and 
(3) telemedicine.
SEC. 502. ADDITIONAL DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF-
FAIRS RESOURCES. 
In order to improve access to mental health services, 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide the fol-
lowing: 
(1) 100 additional full-time equivalent employ-
ees to Readjustment Counseling Service outstations. 
(2) A PTSD Clinical Team at every medical 
center of the Veterans Health Administration. 
(3) A family therapist at each Vet Center. 
(4) A PTSD Coordinator in each regional net-
work referred to as a Veterans Integrated Service 
Network (VISN ) whose duties shall include— 
(A) development of plans for meeting 
PTSD treatment needs consistent with the re-
port under section 402(b); 
(B) assurance of implementation of clinical 
practice guidelines throughout the VISN; 
(C) liaison among all health-care sites in 
the VISN and the Department Central Office 
on matters relating to PTSD. 
(5) A PTSD coordinator in each regional office 
of the Readjustment Counseling Service whose du-
ties shall include liaison with regional office staff 
and medical centers for veterans seeking service-con-
nection for PTSD.
TITLE VI—FAMILY THERAPY 
SEC. 601. ELIGIBILITY PERIOD FOR COUNSELING AND BE-
REAVEMENT COUNSELING. 
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may provide coun-
seling to the immediate family members of veterans with 
service-connected disabilities and bereavement counseling 
to the immediate family members of members of the 
Armed Forces who are killed in action for up to one year 
after the initial services are delivered to eligible family 
members. 
TITLE VII—EDUCATIONAL 
INITIATIVES 
SEC. 701. TRAINING PROGRAM FOR HEALTH-CARE PRO-
VIDERS. 
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary 
of Defense shall jointly develop a broad training program 
for all health-care providers in the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs and the Department of Defense to famil-
iarize those providers with mental health-care issues that 
are likely to arise among persons deployed to combat thea-
ters during the five years after such a deployment.
SEC. 702. CURRICULUM AND PROTOCOLS FOR CROSS- 
TRAINING OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 
AFFAIRS CLINICIANS. 
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall develop a cur-
riculum and required protocols for cross-training to allow 
the following clinicians of the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs to screen for PTSD and, as appropriate, provide in-
formation and appropriate referral: 
(1) Primary care providers. 
(2) Practitioners assigned as Gulf War points- 
of-contact. 
(3) Clinicians assigned as case managers. 
SEC. 703. PUBLICATION OF STATE-OF-THE-ART PTSD DIAG-
NOSIS AND TREATMENT. 
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary 
of Defense shall jointly develop a plan for the production 
and dissemination of publications to advise clinicians on 
state-of-the-art PTSD diagnosis and treatment, including 
any medical conditions associated with PTSD. 
SEC. 704. PROTOCOLS FOR PAIN MANAGEMENT FOR PTSD 
AND WAR-RELATED PAIN. 
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary 
of Defense shall jointly develop protocols for pain manage-
ment for PTSD and war-related pain.
SEC. 705. CASE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES FOR VA PTSD 
CLINICIANS. 
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall assist in de-
velopment of case management techniques for PTSD clini-
cians of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
TITLE 
VIII—NATIONAL 
STEER-
ING 
COMMITTEE 
ON 
PTSD 
EDUCATION 
SEC. 801. NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is a National Steering 
Committee on PTSD Education, to be appointed by the 
joint council established under title IV. The committee 
shall be comprised of mental health and other health pro-
fessionals and health educators involved in the care of vet-
erans of current deployments. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The committee shall review training 
protocols for health-care providers and plans for dissemi-
nation of educational materials to veterans, their families, 
and other relevant parties and shall identify the resources 
available to provide for these purposes. 
(c) MEETINGS.—The committee shall meet at least 
once annually. 
SEC. 802. FUNDING SUPPORT FOR NATIONAL CENTER FOR 
PTSD. 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs for the National Center for
PTSD to assist in carrying out a joint educational initia-
tive with the Uniformed Services University of the Health 
Sciences the amount of $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal 
years 2005 through 2014. 
SEC. 803. CONTINUING EDUCATION TO MENTAL HEALTH 
PROVIDERS. 
The National Steering Committee established under 
section 801 shall provide continuing education to mental 
health providers in the Department of Veterans Affairs 
and the Department of Defense. 
SEC. 804. WEB-BASED CURRICULUM TO SPONSOR CLINI-
CIAN TRAINING INITIATIVES. 
The National Steering Committee established under 
section 801 shall develop a Web-based curriculum to spon-
sor clinician training initiatives. 
TITLE IX—BENEFITS 
SEC. 901. IDENTIFICATION OF DEFICIENCIES IN PTSD DIS-
ABILITY EXAMINATIONS. 
(a) IDENTIFICATION OF DEFICIENCIES.—The Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a protocol to 
identify deficiencies in compensation and pension exami-
nations conducted by the Secretary to determine if a vet-
eran has PTSD and, if the veteran is determined to have 
PTSD, the degree of disabilty associated with that diag-
nosis.
(b) PLAN.—Based upon the identification of defi-
ciencies pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall es-
tablish and implement a plan for addressing those defi-
ciencies. 
SEC. 902. CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING MEDICAL CONDI-
TIONS ASSOCIATED WITH PTSD. 
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall develop— 
(1) criteria for determining which medical con-
ditions are as likely as not to be associated with 
PTSD; and 
(2) standards for determining when secondary 
service-connection should be granted for those condi-
tions. 
TITLE X—PUBLIC AWARENESS 
SEC. 1001. PUBLIC AWARENESS PROGRAM. 
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall conduct an 
aggressive, comprehensive outreach program to enhance 
the awareness of veterans, and the public in general, of 
the symptoms of PTSD and of the services available for 
veterans with those symptoms. The Secretary of Defense 
shall provide the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with such 
assistance as may be required for the purposes of such 
program. To the extent practicable, the program shall be 
conducted through the joint council established under title 
IV.
SEC. 1002. WEB SITE AND MATERIALS FOR GENERAL CAM-
PAIGN OF AWARENESS OF PTSD. 
As part of the program under this title, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs shall develop and continually update 
a Web site and materials, including pamphlets, news re-
leases, fact sheets, and other materials, for the purposes 
of a general campaign of awareness of post-traumatic 
stress disorder. 
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