I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5556 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct an analysis of the 
need for women-specific programs that treat and rehabilitate women 
veterans with drug and alcohol dependency and to carry out a pilot 
program regarding such programs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 8, 2020 
Ms. BROWNLEY of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct an 
analysis of the need for women-specific programs that 
treat and rehabilitate women veterans with drug and 
alcohol dependency and to carry out a pilot program 
regarding such programs. 
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 ‘‘Women Veterans Transi-
tional Residence Utilizing Support and Treatment Act’’ or 
the ‘‘Women Veterans TRUST Act’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:14 Jan 10, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5556.IH
H5556
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Substance use problems are a significant 
problem among veterans and can negatively impact 
a veteran’s health and quality of life. 
(2) Veterans can turn to alcohol or drugs in an 
attempt to relieve stress or the symptoms of mental 
health disorders. 
(3) Rates of substance use disorder among 
women veterans range from three to 16 percent of 
the population. 
(4) Women veterans face a unique set of chal-
lenges associated with their military service that can 
lead to substance abuse. 
(5) Women veterans aged 35 and older were 
found to have higher rates of substance-use dis-
orders than their non-veteran counterparts. 
(6) Studies indicate women veterans are twice 
as likely as men veterans to develop posttraumatic 
stress disorder, twice as likely to have serious psy-
chological distress, and approximately one out of 
four women veterans reports military sexual trauma. 
(7) Studies indicate that women veterans with 
a substance-use disorder diagnosis have higher rates 
of suicide than their non-veteran peers, and women 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:14 Jan 10, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5556.IH
H5556
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
veterans are more than twice as likely to die by sui-
cide than non-veteran women. 
(8) Health services that are women-specific can 
be important to effective care, and women veterans 
consider the availability of women-specific care as 
extremely important. 
(9) While the Secretary of Veterans Affairs pro-
vides women veterans with substance use treatment 
through a number of programs, the Women Vet-
erans’ Therapeutic Transitional Residence Program 
is a model for providing treatment and rehabilitative 
services to women veterans with drug and alcohol 
dependency, and it is critical that the Secretary 
identifies the need for, and feasibility of, similar pro-
grams throughout the health care system of the De-
partment. 
SEC. 3. WOMEN-SPECIFIC DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPEND-
ENCY 
TREATMENT 
AND 
REHABILITATIVE 
PROGRAMS FOR WOMEN VETERANS. 
(a) ANALYSIS.— 
(1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs shall conduct a nation-
wide analysis of the need for women-specific pro-
grams of the Department of Veterans Affairs that 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:14 Jan 10, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5556.IH
H5556
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
treat and rehabilitate women veterans with drug and 
alcohol dependency. Such analysis shall include the 
following: 
(A) With respect to each of the three years 
preceding the date of the analysis, the annual 
number of women veterans who have been 
treated and rehabilitated for drug and alcohol 
dependency at each medical center of the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs. 
(B) Information on all non-Department 
women-specific programs to which the Secretary 
refers women veterans for treatment and reha-
bilitation of drug and alcohol dependency, in-
cluding, for each such program, the name of the 
entity carrying out the program, the location of 
the program, and the number of women vet-
erans referred by the Secretary served annually 
by the program. 
(C) An analysis of the effectiveness of pro-
grams of the Department and non-Department 
programs to treat and rehabilitate women vet-
erans with drug and alcohol dependency, 
disaggregated by single-sex versus coed pro-
grams. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:14 Jan 10, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5556.IH
H5556
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
(D) An analysis of all information the Sec-
retary maintains on the satisfaction of women 
veterans with programs of the Department and 
non-Department programs to treat and rehabili-
tate women veterans with drug and alcohol de-
pendency, disaggregated by single-sex versus 
coed programs. 
(E) An assessment of the demand and 
need for women-specific programs to treat and 
rehabilitate women veterans with drug and alco-
hol dependency, disaggregated by Veterans In-
tegrated Service Network and medical center of 
the Department. 
(F) Proposed locations for implementing 
the pilot program under subsection (b). 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees 
on Veterans’ Affairs and Appropriations of the 
House of Representatives and the Senate a report 
containing the analysis under paragraph (1). 
(b) PILOT PROGRAM.— 
(1) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall carry out a women-specific pilot pro-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:14 Jan 10, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5556.IH
H5556
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
gram to treat and rehabilitate women veterans with 
drug and alcohol dependency. The Secretary shall 
develop such pilot program based on the findings of 
the analysis conducted under subsection (a). 
(2) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall select not 
fewer than three Veterans Integrated Service Net-
works in which to carry out the pilot program. 
(3) TERMINATION.—The authority to carry out 
a pilot program under this section shall terminate on 
the date that is five years after the date of the en-
actment of this Act. 
(4) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date on which the pilot program under para-
graph (1) is completed, the Secretary shall submit to 
Committees on Veterans’ Affairs and Appropriations 
of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 
report on the pilot program, including— 
(A) the findings and conclusions of the 
Secretary regarding the pilot program; and 
(B) such recommendations of the Sec-
retary regarding the continuation or expansion 
of the pilot program as the Secretary considers 
appropriate. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
22:14 Jan 10, 2020
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5556.IH
H5556
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS