| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 132 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To require a pilot program on activities under the pre-separation transition |
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| 6 | 6 | | process of members of the Armed Forces for a reduction in suicide |
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| 7 | 7 | | among veterans, and for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 9 | 9 | | JANUARY30, 2023 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. B |
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| 11 | 11 | | ROWN(for himself and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; |
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| 12 | 12 | | which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To require a pilot program on activities under the pre-separa- |
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| 15 | 15 | | tion transition process of members of the Armed Forces |
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| 16 | 16 | | for a reduction in suicide among veterans, and for other |
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| 17 | 17 | | purposes. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Daniel J. Harvey Jr. 4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition 5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act’’. 6 |
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| 25 | 25 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | •S 132 IS |
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| 27 | 27 | | SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON ACTIVITIES UNDER THE PRE- 1 |
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| 28 | 28 | | SEPARATION TRANSITION PROCESS OF MEM-2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES FOR A REDUC-3 |
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| 30 | 30 | | TION IN SUICIDE AMONG VETERANS. 4 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (a) P |
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| 32 | 32 | | ILOTPROGRAMREQUIRED.—The Secretary of 5 |
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| 33 | 33 | | Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly 6 |
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| 34 | 34 | | carry out a pilot program to assess the feasibility and ad-7 |
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| 35 | 35 | | visability of providing the module described in subsection 8 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (b) and services under subsection (c) as part of the pre- 9 |
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| 37 | 37 | | separation transition process for members of the Armed 10 |
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| 38 | 38 | | Forces as a means of reducing the incidence of suicide 11 |
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| 39 | 39 | | among veterans. 12 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (b) M |
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| 41 | 41 | | ODULE.— 13 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (1) I |
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| 43 | 43 | | N GENERAL.—The module described in this 14 |
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| 44 | 44 | | subsection shall include the following: 15 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (A) An in-person meeting between a cohort 16 |
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| 46 | 46 | | of members of the Armed Forces participating 17 |
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| 47 | 47 | | in the pilot program and a social worker or 18 |
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| 48 | 48 | | nurse in which the social worker or nurse— 19 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (i) educates the cohort on resources 20 |
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| 50 | 50 | | for and specific potential risks confronting 21 |
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| 51 | 51 | | such members after discharge or release 22 |
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| 52 | 52 | | from the Armed Forces, including— 23 |
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| 53 | 53 | | (I) loss of community or a sup-24 |
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| 54 | 54 | | port system; 25 |
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| 56 | 56 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 |
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| 57 | 57 | | •S 132 IS |
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| 58 | 58 | | (II) isolation from family, 1 |
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| 59 | 59 | | friends, or society; 2 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (III) identity crisis in the transi-3 |
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| 61 | 61 | | tion from military to civilian life; 4 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (IV) vulnerability viewed as a 5 |
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| 63 | 63 | | weakness; 6 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (V) need for empathy; 7 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (VI) self-medication and addic-8 |
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| 66 | 66 | | tion; 9 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (VII) importance of sleep and ex-10 |
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| 68 | 68 | | ercise; 11 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (VIII) homelessness; 12 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (IX) risk factors contributing to 13 |
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| 71 | 71 | | attempts of suicide and deaths by sui-14 |
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| 72 | 72 | | cide; and 15 |
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| 73 | 73 | | (X) safe storage of firearms as 16 |
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| 74 | 74 | | part of suicide prevention lethal 17 |
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| 75 | 75 | | means safety efforts; 18 |
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| 76 | 76 | | (ii) educates the cohort on— 19 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (I) the signs and symptoms of 20 |
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| 78 | 78 | | suicide risk and physical, psycho-21 |
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| 79 | 79 | | logical, or neurological issues, such as 22 |
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| 80 | 80 | | post-traumatic stress disorder, trau-23 |
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| 81 | 81 | | matic brain injury, chronic pain, sleep 24 |
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| 82 | 82 | | disorders, substance use disorders, ad-25 |
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| 84 | 84 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 |
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| 85 | 85 | | •S 132 IS |
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| 86 | 86 | | verse childhood experiences, depres-1 |
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| 87 | 87 | | sion, bipolar disorder, and socio-eco-2 |
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| 88 | 88 | | logical concerns, such as homeless-3 |
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| 89 | 89 | | ness, unemployment, and relationship 4 |
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| 90 | 90 | | strain; 5 |
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| 91 | 91 | | (II) the potential risks for mem-6 |
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| 92 | 92 | | bers of the Armed Forces from such 7 |
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| 93 | 93 | | issues after discharge or release from 8 |
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| 94 | 94 | | the Armed Forces; and 9 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (III) the resources and treatment 10 |
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| 96 | 96 | | options available to such members for 11 |
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| 97 | 97 | | such issues through the Department 12 |
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| 98 | 98 | | of Veterans Affairs, the Department 13 |
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| 99 | 99 | | of Defense, and non-profit organiza-14 |
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| 100 | 100 | | tions; 15 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (iii) educates the cohort about the re-16 |
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| 102 | 102 | | sources available to victims of military sex-17 |
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| 103 | 103 | | ual trauma through the Department of 18 |
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| 104 | 104 | | Veterans Affairs; and 19 |
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| 105 | 105 | | (iv) educates the cohort about the 20 |
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| 106 | 106 | | manner in which members might experi-21 |
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| 107 | 107 | | ence challenges during the transition from 22 |
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| 108 | 108 | | military to civilian life, and the resources 23 |
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| 109 | 109 | | available to them through the Department 24 |
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| 111 | 111 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 |
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| 112 | 112 | | •S 132 IS |
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| 113 | 113 | | of Veterans Affairs, the Department of De-1 |
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| 114 | 114 | | fense, and other organizations. 2 |
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| 115 | 115 | | (B) The provision to each member of the 3 |
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| 116 | 116 | | cohort of contact information for a counseling 4 |
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| 117 | 117 | | or other appropriate facility of the Department 5 |
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| 118 | 118 | | of Veterans Affairs in the locality in which such 6 |
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| 119 | 119 | | member intends to reside after discharge or re-7 |
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| 120 | 120 | | lease. 8 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (C) The submittal by each member of the 9 |
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| 122 | 122 | | cohort to the Department of Veterans Affairs 10 |
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| 123 | 123 | | (including both the Veterans Health Adminis-11 |
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| 124 | 124 | | tration and the Veterans Benefits Administra-12 |
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| 125 | 125 | | tion) of their medical records in connection with 13 |
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| 126 | 126 | | service in the Armed Forces, whether or not 14 |
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| 127 | 127 | | such members intend to file a claim with the 15 |
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| 128 | 128 | | Department for benefits with respect to any 16 |
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| 129 | 129 | | service-connected disability. 17 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (2) C |
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| 131 | 131 | | OMPOSITION OF COHORT .—Each cohort 18 |
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| 132 | 132 | | participating in the module described in this sub-19 |
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| 133 | 133 | | section shall be comprised of not fewer than 50 indi-20 |
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| 134 | 134 | | viduals. 21 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (c) S |
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| 136 | 136 | | ERVICES.—In carrying out the pilot program, 22 |
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| 137 | 137 | | the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 23 |
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| 138 | 138 | | Affairs shall provide to each individual participating in the 24 |
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| 139 | 139 | | pilot program the following services: 25 |
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| 141 | 141 | | kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 |
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| 142 | 142 | | •S 132 IS |
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| 143 | 143 | | (1) During the transition process and prior to 1 |
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| 144 | 144 | | discharge or release from the Armed Forces, a one- 2 |
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| 145 | 145 | | on-one meeting with a social worker or nurse of the 3 |
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| 146 | 146 | | Department of Veterans Affairs who will— 4 |
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| 147 | 147 | | (A) conduct an assessment of the indi-5 |
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| 148 | 148 | | vidual regarding eligibility to receive health care 6 |
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| 149 | 149 | | or counseling services from the Department of 7 |
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| 150 | 150 | | Veterans Affairs; 8 |
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| 151 | 151 | | (B) for those eligible, or likely to be eligi-9 |
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| 152 | 152 | | ble, to receive health care or counseling services 10 |
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| 153 | 153 | | from the Department of Veterans Affairs— 11 |
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| 154 | 154 | | (i) identify and provide contact infor-12 |
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| 155 | 155 | | mation for an appropriate facility of the 13 |
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| 156 | 156 | | Department of Veterans Affairs in the lo-14 |
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| 157 | 157 | | cality in which such individual intends to 15 |
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| 158 | 158 | | reside after discharge or release; 16 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (ii) facilitate registration or enroll-17 |
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| 160 | 160 | | ment in the system of patient enrollment 18 |
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| 161 | 161 | | of the Department of Veterans Affairs 19 |
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| 162 | 162 | | under section 1705(a) of title 38, United 20 |
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| 163 | 163 | | States Code, if applicable; 21 |
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| 164 | 164 | | (iii) educate the individual about care, 22 |
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| 165 | 165 | | benefits, and services available to the indi-23 |
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| 166 | 166 | | vidual through the Veterans Health Ad-24 |
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| 167 | 167 | | ministration; and 25 |
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| 170 | 170 | | •S 132 IS |
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| 171 | 171 | | (iv) coordinate health care based on 1 |
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| 172 | 172 | | the health care needs of the individual, if 2 |
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| 173 | 173 | | applicable, to include establishing an initial 3 |
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| 174 | 174 | | appointment, at the election of the indi-4 |
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| 175 | 175 | | vidual, to occur not later than 90 days 5 |
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| 176 | 176 | | after the date of discharge or release of the 6 |
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| 177 | 177 | | member from the Armed Forces. 7 |
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| 178 | 178 | | (2) For each individual determined ineligible for 8 |
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| 179 | 179 | | care and services from the Department of Veterans 9 |
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| 180 | 180 | | Affairs during the transition process, the Secretary 10 |
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| 181 | 181 | | of Defense shall conduct an assessment of the indi-11 |
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| 182 | 182 | | vidual to determine the needs of the individual and 12 |
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| 183 | 183 | | appropriate follow-up, which shall be identified and 13 |
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| 184 | 184 | | documented in the appropriate records of the De-14 |
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| 185 | 185 | | partment of Defense. 15 |
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| 186 | 186 | | (3) During the appointment scheduled pursuant 16 |
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| 187 | 187 | | to paragraph (1)(B)(iv), the Secretary of Veterans 17 |
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| 188 | 188 | | Affairs shall conduct an assessment of the individual 18 |
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| 189 | 189 | | to determine the needs of the individual and appro-19 |
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| 190 | 190 | | priate follow-up, which shall be identified and docu-20 |
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| 191 | 191 | | mented in the appropriate records of the Depart-21 |
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| 192 | 192 | | ment of Veterans Affairs. 22 |
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| 193 | 193 | | (d) L |
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| 194 | 194 | | OCATIONS.— 23 |
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| 195 | 195 | | (1) M |
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| 196 | 196 | | ODULE AND MEETING .—The module 24 |
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| 197 | 197 | | under subsection (b) and the one-on-one meeting 25 |
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| 200 | 200 | | •S 132 IS |
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| 201 | 201 | | under subsection (c)(1) shall be carried out at not 1 |
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| 202 | 202 | | fewer than 10 locations of the Department of De-2 |
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| 203 | 203 | | fense that serve not fewer than 300 members of the 3 |
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| 204 | 204 | | Armed Forces annually that are jointly selected by 4 |
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| 205 | 205 | | the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Vet-5 |
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| 206 | 206 | | erans Affairs for purposes of the pilot program. 6 |
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| 207 | 207 | | (2) A |
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| 208 | 208 | | SSESSMENT AND APPOINTMENT .—The as-7 |
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| 209 | 209 | | sessment under subsection (c)(2) and the appoint-8 |
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| 210 | 210 | | ment under subsection (c)(3) may occur at any loca-9 |
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| 211 | 211 | | tion determined appropriate by the Secretary of De-10 |
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| 212 | 212 | | fense or the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as the 11 |
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| 213 | 213 | | case may be. 12 |
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| 214 | 214 | | (3) M |
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| 215 | 215 | | EMBERS SERVED.—The locations selected 13 |
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| 216 | 216 | | under paragraph (1) shall, to the extent practicable, 14 |
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| 217 | 217 | | be locations that, whether individually or in aggre-15 |
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| 218 | 218 | | gate, serve all the Armed Forces and both the reg-16 |
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| 219 | 219 | | ular and reserve components of the Armed Forces. 17 |
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| 220 | 220 | | (e) S |
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| 221 | 221 | | ELECTION AND COMMENCEMENT .—The Sec-18 |
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| 222 | 222 | | retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 19 |
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| 223 | 223 | | shall jointly select the locations of the pilot program under 20 |
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| 224 | 224 | | subsection (d)(1) and commence carrying out activities 21 |
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| 225 | 225 | | under the pilot program by not later than September 30, 22 |
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| 226 | 226 | | 2024. 23 |
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| 227 | 227 | | (f) D |
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| 228 | 228 | | URATION.—The duration of the pilot program 24 |
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| 229 | 229 | | shall be five years. 25 |
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| 232 | 232 | | •S 132 IS |
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| 233 | 233 | | (g) REPORTS.— 1 |
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| 234 | 234 | | (1) I |
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| 235 | 235 | | N GENERAL.—Not later than one year 2 |
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| 236 | 236 | | after the commencement of the pilot program, and 3 |
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| 237 | 237 | | annually thereafter during the duration of the pilot 4 |
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| 238 | 238 | | program, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary 5 |
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| 239 | 239 | | of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to the appro-6 |
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| 240 | 240 | | priate committees of Congress a report on the activi-7 |
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| 241 | 241 | | ties under the pilot program. 8 |
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| 242 | 242 | | (2) E |
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| 243 | 243 | | LEMENTS.—Each report required by para-9 |
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| 244 | 244 | | graph (1) shall include the following: 10 |
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| 245 | 245 | | (A) The demographic information of the 11 |
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| 246 | 246 | | members and former members of the Armed 12 |
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| 247 | 247 | | Forces who participated in the pilot program 13 |
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| 248 | 248 | | during the one-year period ending on the date 14 |
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| 249 | 249 | | of such report. 15 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (B) A description of the activities under 16 |
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| 251 | 251 | | the pilot program during such period. 17 |
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| 252 | 252 | | (C) An assessment of the benefits of the 18 |
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| 253 | 253 | | activities under the pilot program during such 19 |
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| 254 | 254 | | period to members and former members of the 20 |
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| 255 | 255 | | Armed Forces. 21 |
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| 256 | 256 | | (D) An assessment of whether the activi-22 |
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| 257 | 257 | | ties under the pilot program as of the date of 23 |
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| 258 | 258 | | such report have met the targeted outcomes of 24 |
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| 259 | 259 | | the pilot program among members and former 25 |
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| 262 | 262 | | •S 132 IS |
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| 263 | 263 | | members who participated in the pilot program 1 |
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| 264 | 264 | | within one year of discharge or release from the 2 |
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| 265 | 265 | | Armed Forces. 3 |
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| 266 | 266 | | (E) Such recommendations as the Sec-4 |
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| 267 | 267 | | retary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 5 |
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| 268 | 268 | | Affairs jointly consider appropriate regarding 6 |
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| 269 | 269 | | the feasibility and advisability of expansion of 7 |
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| 270 | 270 | | the pilot program, extension of the pilot pro-8 |
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| 271 | 271 | | gram, or both. 9 |
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| 272 | 272 | | (h) A |
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| 273 | 273 | | PPROPRIATECOMMITTEES OF CONGRESSDE-10 |
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| 274 | 274 | | FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit-11 |
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| 275 | 275 | | tees of Congress’’ means— 12 |
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| 276 | 276 | | (1) the Committee on Armed Services and the 13 |
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| 277 | 277 | | Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate; and 14 |
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| 278 | 278 | | (2) the Committee on Armed Services and the 15 |
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| 279 | 279 | | Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 16 |
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| 280 | 280 | | Representatives. 17 |
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| 281 | 281 | | Æ |
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