<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><BillSummaries>
    <item congress="119" measure-type="s" measure-number="701" measure-id="id119s701" originChamber="SENATE" orig-publish-date="2025-02-25" update-date="2025-05-09">
        <title>Helping Heroes Act</title>
        <summary summary-id="id119s701v00" currentChamber="SENATE" update-date="2025-05-09">
            <action-date>2025-02-25</action-date>
            <action-desc>Introduced in Senate</action-desc>
            <summary-text><![CDATA[<p><strong>Helping Heroes Act</strong></p><p>This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish the Veteran Family Resource Program to address social determinants of health challenges experienced in veterans’ family units and ensure veterans and their families have access to services and resources to support wellness within the family units.</p><p>In implementing the program, the VA must (1) appoint at least one family coordinator in each Veterans Integrated Service Network (regional VA health care administrative areas), and (2) ensure adequate staffing and resources to ensure family coordinators are able to carry out their duties and functions. Under the bill, a family coordinator’s function is generally to serve at a VA medical center as a point person regarding VA and community resources for veterans, their families, and caregivers and survivors of veterans.</p><p>The VA may expand the program to additional medical centers as appropriate.</p><p>Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this bill, and not less frequently than once every five years after, the VA must survey disabled veterans and their families to identify and better understand their needs.</p>]]></summary-text>
        </summary>
    </item>
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        <dc:language>EN</dc:language>
        <dc:rights>Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.</dc:rights>
        <dc:contributor>Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress</dc:contributor>
        <dc:description>This file contains bill summaries for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.</dc:description>
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</BillSummaries>
