IIB 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3581 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
DECEMBER 5, 2023 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
AN ACT 
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, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Caregiver Outreach 
and Program Enhancement Act’’ or the ‘‘COPE Act’’. 
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. 
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‘‘(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). 
‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(e) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—Any grant awarded 
under this section shall be used— 
‘‘(1) to expand existing programs, activities, 
and services; 
‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(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— 
‘‘(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. 
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‘‘(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. 
‘‘(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 
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of fiscal years 2024 through 2026, $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. 
‘‘(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. CONTRIBUTIONS TO LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO MITI-
GATE THE RISK OF FLOODING ON LOCAL 
PROPERTY ADJACENT TO MEDICAL FACILI-
TIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF-
FAIRS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8108 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘, or to mitigate the 
risk of flooding, including the risk of flooding associated 
with rising sea levels’’ before the period at the end. 
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(b) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af-
fairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 
report that includes an assessment of— 
(1) the extent to which each medical facility (as 
such term is defined in section 8101(3) of title 38, 
United States Code) is at risk of flooding, including 
the risk of flooding associated with rising sea levels; 
and 
(2) whether additional resources are necessary 
to address the risk of flooding at each such facility. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated for the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs for each of fiscals year 2024 through 2028 
$25,000,000 to carry out the amendment made by sub-
section (a). 
SEC. 4. 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-
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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. 
(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: 
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(1) The term ‘‘caregiver’’ has the meaning 
given that term in section 1720G of title 38, United 
States Code. 
(2) The term ‘‘caregiver programs’’ means— 
(A) the program of comprehensive assist-
ance for family caregivers under subsection (a) 
of section 1720G of title 38, United States 
Code; and 
(B) the program of support services for 
caregivers under subsection (b) of such section. 
SEC. 5. ANNUAL REVIEW OF SECURITY AT COVERED FA-
CILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS. 
(a) ANNUAL SURVEY.—Not later than one year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there-
after for each of the following five years, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the Director of 
the Office of Security and Law Enforcement of the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs, shall conduct an annual sur-
vey of covered employees to collect information regarding 
security at each covered facility. Each annual survey shall 
include questions about— 
(1) the type and frequency of criminal activity 
experienced at the covered facility during the 12 
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months prior to the date the covered employee com-
pletes the survey; 
(2) the number of vacant positions for Depart-
ment police officers at the covered facility and the 
number of days each vacant position has been va-
cant; 
(3) the availability and adequacy of covered 
equipment; 
(4) the availability and adequacy of resources, 
classes, or other time set aside for training Depart-
ment police officers who work at each covered facil-
ity about any skill or tactic related to law enforce-
ment, including the proper use of force, firearms 
qualifications and training, procedures for respond-
ing to an active threat, and any other training re-
quired for Department police officers; 
(5) any security weakness; 
(6) an analysis of the relationship between the 
covered facility (including the Department police of-
ficers who work at the covered facility) and local law 
enforcement agencies; 
(7) efforts by the personnel of the covered facil-
ity to address and reduce criminal activity at, or in 
close proximity to, the covered facility; and 
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(8) recommendations for the Secretary to better 
address and reduce criminal activity at, or in close 
proximity to, covered facilities. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 
each of the following five years, the Secretary shall submit 
to each of the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Sen-
ate and the House of Representatives an annual report 
regarding security at covered facilities that includes— 
(1) the results of the annual survey described 
under subsection (a) for the year covered by the re-
port; 
(2) an analysis, made in coordination with the 
Director of the Office of Security and Law Enforce-
ment of such Department and each director and po-
lice chief of a Veterans Integrated Service Network, 
of the results of the annual survey described under 
subsection (a) for the year covered by the report; 
(3) a plan of action that describes how the Sec-
retary plans to address any security weakness identi-
fied in the results of the annual survey and includes 
clearly-stated goals with measurable benchmarks for 
each goal and deadlines for each benchmark; and 
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(4) a list of each vacant position for police chief 
or deputy police chief at each covered facility, and 
the number of days the position has been vacant. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘covered equipment’’ means any 
item issued by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
a Department police officer (including batons, fire-
arms, pepper spray, ballistic vests, body-worn cam-
eras, and radios) for use in the provision of services 
under section 902 of title 38, United States Code. 
(2) The term ‘‘covered employee’’ means any 
employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs who 
is employed at a covered facility as a police chief, a 
facility emergency management leader, a facility di-
rector, or a person carrying out the responsibilities 
of one of these positions in an acting capacity. 
(3) The term ‘‘covered facility’’ means any fa-
cility of the Department of Veterans Affairs where 
Department police officers have jurisdiction. 
(4) The term ‘‘Department police officer’’ has 
the meaning given to such term as used in section 
902 of title 38, United States Code. 
(5) The term ‘‘security weakness’’ means a defi-
ciency in the facilities, staffing, or covered equip-
ment at a covered facility that a covered employee 
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of the covered facility determines presents a risk to 
the safety of visitors or staff, including an unsecured 
door, inoperable security camera, unsecured police 
operations room, a lack of security presence at an 
entrance to the covered facility, and a lack of secu-
rity presence in an area of the covered facility or the 
grounds of the covered facility that the director of 
the covered facility determines requires an increased 
security presence. 
SEC. 6. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS HOUSING 
LOAN FEES. 
The loan fee table in section 3729(b)(2) of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘November 
14, 2031’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘March 12, 
2032’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives December 4, 
2023. 
Attest: 
KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 
Clerk. 
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