I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1290
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program
under which the Department of Veterans Affairs refers veterans experi-
encing mental health crises to approved non-Department mental health
care providers, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY13, 2025
Mr. B
UCHANAN(for himself and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out
a pilot program under which the Department of Veterans
Affairs refers veterans experiencing mental health crises
to approved non-Department mental health care pro-
viders, 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 ‘‘Veterans Mental 4
Health Crisis Referral Enhancement Act of 2025’’. 5
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•HR 1290 IH
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PILOT PRO-1
GRAM ON MENTAL HEALTH REFERRALS. 2
(a) P
ILOTPROGRAM.—Beginning not later than 180 3
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-4
retary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a three-year pilot 5
program under which Vet Centers and medical facilities 6
of the Department provide veterans experiencing mental 7
health crises with referrals to non-Department mental 8
health care providers approved by the Secretary. 9
(b) L
OCATIONS.—The Secretary shall select at least 10
three geographic locations at which to carry out the pilot 11
program required under subsection (a). 12
(c) R
EQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the pilot pro-13
gram under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 14
(1) develop and maintain a referral system to 15
connect veterans experiencing mental health crises 16
with non-Department mental health care providers 17
within one week; 18
(2) develop criteria for the approval of non-De-19
partment mental health care providers for purposes 20
of referrals under the program; 21
(3) hire any additional employees required to 22
facilitate referrals under the system; and 23
(4) provide appropriate training to employees of 24
Vet Centers and medical facilities of the Department 25
on the referral system. 26
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(d) REPORTS.— 1
(1) A
NNUAL REPORTS .—Not later than six 2
months after the last day of each year during which 3
the Secretary carries out the pilot program under 4
subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to Con-5
gress a report on the implementation and outcomes 6
of the pilot program. Each such report shall include 7
the following for the year covered by the report: 8
(A) The number of veterans referred to 9
non-Department mental health care providers 10
under the pilot program. 11
(B) The average wait time for a veteran to 12
receive mental health care after receiving a re-13
ferral under the pilot program. 14
(C) An evaluation of veteran satisfaction 15
with the mental health care received through 16
the referral system. 17
(2) F
INAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 18
after the conclusion of the pilot program, the Sec-19
retary shall submit to Congress a final report con-20
taining an evaluation of the effectiveness of the pro-21
gram and the recommendations of the Secretary 22
with respect to expanding or modifying the referral 23
system developed under the program. 24
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(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 1
authorized to be appropriated to carry out the pilot pro-2
gram required under subsection (a) $3,000,000 for each 3
of fiscal years 2025 through 2027. 4
Æ
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