| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 438 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make grants to State |
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| 6 | 6 | | and local entities to carry out peer-to-peer mental health programs. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | JANUARY15, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. L |
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| 10 | 10 | | ALOTA(for himself, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. GARBARINO, Mr. FITZPATRICK, |
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| 11 | 11 | | Mr. B |
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| 12 | 12 | | ACON, Mr. RYAN, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. DAVISof North Carolina, Mr. |
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| 13 | 13 | | F |
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| 14 | 14 | | ITZGERALD, Mr. KENNEDYof New York, and Ms. SALINAS) introduced |
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| 15 | 15 | | the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Af- |
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| 16 | 16 | | fairs |
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| 17 | 17 | | A BILL |
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| 18 | 18 | | To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make |
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| 19 | 19 | | grants to State and local entities to carry out peer- |
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| 20 | 20 | | to-peer mental health programs. |
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| 21 | 21 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 22 | 22 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 23 | 23 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 24 | 24 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘PFC Joseph P. Dwyer 4 |
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| 25 | 25 | | Peer Support Program Act’’. 5 |
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| 26 | 26 | | SEC. 2. PFC JOSEPH P. DWYER PEER SUPPORT PROGRAM. 6 |
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| 27 | 27 | | (a) I |
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| 28 | 28 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 7 |
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| 29 | 29 | | shall establish a grant program to be known as the ‘‘PFC 8 |
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| 30 | 30 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Feb 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H438.IH H438 |
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| 31 | 31 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | •HR 438 IH |
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| 33 | 33 | | Joseph P. Dwyer Peer Support Program’’ under which the 1 |
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| 34 | 34 | | Secretary shall make grants to eligible entities for the pur-2 |
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| 35 | 35 | | pose of establishing peer-to-peer mental health programs 3 |
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| 36 | 36 | | for veterans. 4 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (b) E |
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| 38 | 38 | | LIGIBLEENTITYDEFINED.—In this section, 5 |
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| 39 | 39 | | the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means any of the following enti-6 |
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| 40 | 40 | | ties that submit to the Secretary an application containing 7 |
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| 41 | 41 | | such information and assurances as the Secretary may re-8 |
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| 42 | 42 | | quire: 9 |
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| 43 | 43 | | (1) A nonprofit organization having historically 10 |
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| 44 | 44 | | served veterans’ mental health needs. 11 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (2) A congressionally chartered veteran service 12 |
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| 46 | 46 | | organization. 13 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (3) A State, local, or Tribal veteran service 14 |
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| 48 | 48 | | agency, director, or commissioner. 15 |
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| 49 | 49 | | (c) A |
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| 50 | 50 | | MOUNT OFGRANT.—The recipient of a grant 16 |
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| 51 | 51 | | under this section shall receive a grant in an amount that 17 |
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| 52 | 52 | | does not exceed $250,000. 18 |
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| 53 | 53 | | (d) U |
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| 54 | 54 | | SE OFFUNDS.—The recipient of a grant under 19 |
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| 55 | 55 | | this section shall use the grant funds to— 20 |
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| 56 | 56 | | (1) carry out a program that meets the stand-21 |
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| 57 | 57 | | ards developed under subsection (e); 22 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (2) hire veterans to serve as peer specialists to 23 |
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| 59 | 59 | | host group and individual meetings with veterans 24 |
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| 60 | 60 | | seeking nonclinical support; 25 |
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| 61 | 61 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Feb 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H438.IH H438 |
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| 62 | 62 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | •HR 438 IH |
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| 64 | 64 | | (3) provide mental health support to veterans 1 |
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| 65 | 65 | | 24 hours each day, seven days each week; and 2 |
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| 66 | 66 | | (4) hire staff to support the program. 3 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (e) P |
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| 68 | 68 | | ROGRAMSTANDARDS.— 4 |
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| 69 | 69 | | (1) A |
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| 70 | 70 | | DVISORY COMMISSION .—The Secretary 5 |
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| 71 | 71 | | shall establish an advisory committee for the pur-6 |
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| 72 | 72 | | pose of creating appropriate standards applicable to 7 |
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| 73 | 73 | | programs established using grants under this sec-8 |
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| 74 | 74 | | tion. 9 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (2) S |
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| 76 | 76 | | TANDARDS.—The standards developed 10 |
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| 77 | 77 | | under paragraph (1) shall include initial and contin-11 |
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| 78 | 78 | | ued training for veteran peer volunteers, administra-12 |
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| 79 | 79 | | tive staffing needs, and best practices for addressing 13 |
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| 80 | 80 | | the needs of each veteran served. 14 |
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| 81 | 81 | | (f) N |
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| 82 | 82 | | ONRETENTION OF RECORDS.—The Secretary 15 |
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| 83 | 83 | | may not require the recipient of a grant under this section 16 |
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| 84 | 84 | | to maintain records on veterans seeking support or to re-17 |
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| 85 | 85 | | port any personally identifying information directly or in-18 |
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| 86 | 86 | | directly to the Secretary about such veterans. 19 |
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| 87 | 87 | | (g) A |
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| 88 | 88 | | UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.—There is 20 |
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| 89 | 89 | | authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 to carry out 21 |
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| 90 | 90 | | this section during the 3-year period beginning on the date 22 |
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| 91 | 91 | | of the enactment of this Act. 23 |
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| 92 | 92 | | Æ |
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| 93 | 93 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Feb 06, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H438.IH H438 |
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| 94 | 94 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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