Women Veterans TRUST Act
Bill: H.R.344 | Sponsor: Rep. Brownley, Julia (D-CA)
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Women Veterans Transitional Residence Utilizing Support and Treatment Act or the Women Veterans TRUST Act
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct a nationwide analysis of the need for women-specific VA programs that treat and rehabilitate women veterans with drug and alcohol dependency. Based on the findings of the analysis, the VA must implement a women-specific pilot program to treat and rehabilitate women veterans with drug and alcohol dependency.

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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as ``Women Veterans Transitional Residence 
Utilizing Support and Treatment Act'' or the ``Women Veterans TRUST 
Act''.

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 challenges 
        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 disorders 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 psychological 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 veterans are more than twice as 
        likely to die by suicide 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 provides women 
        veterans with substance use treatment through a number of 
        programs, the Women Veterans' 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 programs throughout 
        the health care system of the Department.

SEC. 3. WOMEN-SPECIFIC DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPENDENCY 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 Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
        shall conduct a nationwide analysis of the need for women-
        specific programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs that 
        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 Department of Veterans Affairs.
                    (B) Information on all non-Department women-
                specific programs to which the Secretary refers women 
                veterans for treatment and rehabilitation of drug and 
                alcohol dependency, including, for each such program, 
                the name of the entity carrying out the program, the 
                location of the program, and the number of women 
                veterans referred by the Secretary served annually by 
                the program.
                    (C) An analysis of the effectiveness of programs of 
                the Department and non-Department programs to treat and 
                rehabilitate women veterans with drug and alcohol 
                dependency, disaggregated by single-sex versus coed 
                programs.
                    (D) An analysis of all information the Secretary 
                maintains on the satisfaction of women veterans with 
                programs of the Department and non-Department programs 
                to treat and rehabilitate women veterans with drug and 
                alcohol dependency, 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 alcohol dependency, 
                disaggregated by Veterans Integrated 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 Secretary shall carry out a 
        women-specific pilot program 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 Networks 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 enactment of this Act.
            (4) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date on 
        which the pilot program under paragraph (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 Secretary regarding 
                the continuation or expansion of the pilot program as 
                the Secretary considers appropriate.
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