I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 3722
To require a pilot program on activities under the pre-separation transition
process of members of the Armed Forces for a reduction in suicide
among veterans, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY25, 2023
Mr. N
UNNof Iowa (for himself, Mr. MAGAZINER, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, Mr.
D
AVISof North Carolina, and Mrs. KIGGANSof Virginia) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services,
and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
A BILL
To require a pilot program on activities under the pre-separa-
tion transition process of members of the Armed Forces
for a reduction in suicide among veterans, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Daniel J. Harvey, Jr. 4
and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition 5
to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act’’. 6
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3722.IH H3722
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 3722 IH
SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON ACTIVITIES UNDER THE PRE- 1
SEPARATION TRANSITION PROCESS OF MEM-2
BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES FOR A REDUC-3
TION IN SUICIDE AMONG VETERANS. 4
(a) P
ILOTPROGRAMREQUIRED.—The Secretary of 5
Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly 6
carry out a pilot program to assess the feasibility and ad-7
visability of providing the module described in subsection 8
(b) and services under subsection (c) as part of the pre- 9
separation transition process for members of the Armed 10
Forces as a means of reducing the incidence of suicide 11
among veterans. 12
(b) M
ODULE.— 13
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The module described in this 14
subsection shall include the following: 15
(A) An in-person meeting between a cohort 16
of members of the Armed Forces participating 17
in the pilot program and a social worker or 18
nurse in which the social worker or nurse— 19
(i) educates the cohort on resources 20
for and specific potential risks confronting 21
such members after discharge or release 22
from the Armed Forces, including— 23
(I) loss of community or a sup-24
port system; 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3722.IH H3722
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 3722 IH
(II) isolation from family, 1
friends, or society; 2
(III) identity crisis in the transi-3
tion from military to civilian life; 4
(IV) vulnerability viewed as a 5
weakness; 6
(V) need for empathy; 7
(VI) self-medication and addic-8
tion; 9
(VII) importance of sleep and ex-10
ercise; 11
(VIII) homelessness; and 12
(IX) risk factors contributing to 13
attempts of suicide and deaths by sui-14
cide; 15
(ii) educates the cohort on— 16
(I) the signs and symptoms of 17
suicide risk and physical, psycho-18
logical, or neurological issues, such as 19
post-traumatic stress disorder, trau-20
matic brain injury, chronic pain, sleep 21
disorders, substance use disorders, ad-22
verse childhood experiences, depres-23
sion, bipolar disorder, and socio-eco-24
logical concerns, such as homeless-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3722.IH H3722
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 3722 IH
ness, unemployment, and relationship 1
strain; 2
(II) the potential risks for mem-3
bers of the Armed Forces from such 4
issues after discharge or release from 5
the Armed Forces; and 6
(III) the resources and treatment 7
options available to such members for 8
such issues through the Department 9
of Veterans Affairs, the Department 10
of Defense, and non-profit organiza-11
tions; 12
(iii) educates the cohort about the re-13
sources available to victims of military sex-14
ual trauma through the Department of 15
Veterans Affairs; and 16
(iv) educates the cohort about the 17
manner in which members might experi-18
ence challenges during the transition from 19
military to civilian life, and the resources 20
available to them through the Department 21
of Veterans Affairs, the Department of De-22
fense, and other organizations. 23
(B) The provision to each member of the 24
cohort of contact information for a counseling 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3722.IH H3722
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5
•HR 3722 IH
or other appropriate facility of the Department 1
of Veterans Affairs in the locality in which such 2
member intends to reside after discharge or re-3
lease. 4
(C) The submittal by each member of the 5
cohort to the Department of Veterans Affairs 6
(including both the Veterans Health Adminis-7
tration and the Veterans Benefits Administra-8
tion) of their medical records in connection with 9
service in the Armed Forces, whether or not 10
such members intend to file a claim with the 11
Department for benefits with respect to any 12
service-connected disability. 13
(2) C
OMPOSITION OF COHORT .—Each cohort 14
participating in the module described in this sub-15
section shall be comprised of not fewer than 50 indi-16
viduals. 17
(c) S
ERVICES.—In carrying out the pilot program, 18
the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 19
Affairs shall provide to each individual participating in the 20
pilot program the following services: 21
(1) During the transition process and prior to 22
discharge or release from the Armed Forces, a one- 23
on-one meeting with a social worker or nurse of the 24
Department of Veterans Affairs who will— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3722.IH H3722
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6
•HR 3722 IH
(A) conduct an assessment of the indi-1
vidual regarding eligibility to receive health care 2
or counseling services from the Department of 3
Veterans Affairs; and 4
(B) for those eligible, or likely to be eligi-5
ble, to receive health care or counseling services 6
from the Department of Veterans Affairs— 7
(i) identify and provide contact infor-8
mation for an appropriate facility of the 9
Department of Veterans Affairs in the lo-10
cality in which such individual intends to 11
reside after discharge or release; 12
(ii) facilitate registration or enroll-13
ment in the system of patient enrollment 14
of the Department of Veterans Affairs 15
under section 1705(a) of title 38, United 16
States Code, if applicable; 17
(iii) educate the individual about care, 18
benefits, and services available to the indi-19
vidual through the Veterans Health Ad-20
ministration; and 21
(iv) coordinate health care based on 22
the health care needs of the individual, if 23
applicable, to include establishing an initial 24
appointment, at the election of the indi-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3722.IH H3722
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7
•HR 3722 IH
vidual, to occur not later than 90 days 1
after the date of discharge or release of the 2
member from the Armed Forces. 3
(2) For each individual determined ineligible for 4
care and services from the Department of Veterans 5
Affairs during the transition process, the Secretary 6
of Defense shall conduct an assessment of the indi-7
vidual to determine the needs of the individual and 8
appropriate follow-up, which shall be identified and 9
documented in the appropriate records of the De-10
partment of Defense. 11
(3) During the appointment scheduled pursuant 12
to paragraph (1)(B)(iv), the Secretary of Veterans 13
Affairs shall conduct an assessment of the individual 14
to determine the needs of the individual and appro-15
priate follow-up, which shall be identified and docu-16
mented in the appropriate records of the Depart-17
ment of Veterans Affairs. 18
(d) L
OCATIONS.— 19
(1) M
ODULE AND MEETING .—The module 20
under subsection (b) and the one-on-one meeting 21
under subsection (c)(1) shall be carried out at not 22
fewer than 10 locations of the Department of De-23
fense that serve not fewer than 300 members of the 24
Armed Forces annually that are jointly selected by 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3722.IH H3722
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8
•HR 3722 IH
the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Vet-1
erans Affairs for purposes of the pilot program. 2
(2) A
SSESSMENT AND APPOINTMENT .—The as-3
sessment under subsection (c)(2) and the appoint-4
ment under subsection (c)(3) may occur at any loca-5
tion determined appropriate by the Secretary of De-6
fense or the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as the 7
case may be. 8
(3) M
EMBERS SERVED.—The locations selected 9
under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent practicable, 10
be locations that, whether individually or in aggre-11
gate, serve all the Armed Forces and both the reg-12
ular and reserve components of the Armed Forces. 13
(e) S
ELECTION AND COMMENCEMENT .—The Sec-14
retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 15
shall jointly select the locations of the pilot program under 16
subsection (d)(1) and commence carrying out activities 17
under the pilot program by not later than September 30, 18
2024. 19
(f) D
URATION.—The duration of the pilot program 20
shall be five years. 21
(g) R
EPORTS.— 22
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than one year 23
after the commencement of the pilot program, and 24
annually thereafter during the duration of the pilot 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3722.IH H3722
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9
•HR 3722 IH
program, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary 1
of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to the appro-2
priate committees of Congress a report on the activi-3
ties under the pilot program. 4
(2) E
LEMENTS.—Each report required by para-5
graph (1) shall include the following: 6
(A) The demographic information of the 7
members and former members of the Armed 8
Forces who participated in the pilot program 9
during the one-year period ending on the date 10
of such report. 11
(B) A description of the activities under 12
the pilot program during such period. 13
(C) An assessment of the benefits of the 14
activities under the pilot program during such 15
period to members and former members of the 16
Armed Forces. 17
(D) An assessment of whether the activi-18
ties under the pilot program as of the date of 19
such report have met the targeted outcomes of 20
the pilot program among members and former 21
members who participated in the pilot program 22
within one year of discharge or release from the 23
Armed Forces. 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3722.IH H3722
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10
•HR 3722 IH
(E) Such recommendations as the Sec-1
retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 2
Affairs jointly consider appropriate regarding 3
the feasibility and advisability of expansion of 4
the pilot program, extension of the pilot pro-5
gram, or both. 6
(h) A
PPROPRIATECOMMITTEES OF CONGRESSDE-7
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit-8
tees of Congress’’ means— 9
(1) the Committee on Armed Services and the 10
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate; and 11
(2) the Committee on Armed Services and the 12
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 13
Representatives. 14
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3722.IH H3722
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB