1.This Act may be cited as
the Honor Act of
2009
.
2.Scholarship
program for veterans for pursuit of graduate and post-graduate degrees in
behavioral health sciences
(a)
(1)The
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a program to provide scholarships
to qualifying veterans for pursuit of a graduate or post-graduate degree in
behavioral health sciences.
(2)The
program carried out under this section shall be known as the Department
of Veterans Affairs HONOR Scholarship Program
(in this section referred
to as the scholarship program
).
(b)For purposes of this section, a qualifying veteran is
any veteran who—
(1)during service on
active duty in the Armed Forces, participated for such period as the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall
specify for purposes of the scholarship program in a theater of combat or
during a contingency operation overseas;
(2)was retired,
discharged, separated, or released from service in the Armed Forces on or after
a date (not earlier than August 2, 1990) specified by the Secretary of Defense
for purposes of the scholarship program;
(3)at the time of
the submittal of an application to participate in the scholarship program,
holds an undergraduate or graduate degree, as applicable, from an institution
of higher education that qualifies the veteran for pursuit of a graduate or
post-graduate degree in behavioral sciences; and
(4)meets such other
qualifications as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may establish for purposes
of the scholarship program.
(c)Each
qualifying veteran seeking to participate in the scholarship program shall
submit to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs an application therefor setting
forth such information as the Secretary shall specify for purposes of the
scholarship program.
(d)Each
qualifying veteran selected by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for
participation in the scholarship program shall enter into an agreement with the
Secretary regarding participation in the scholarship program. The agreement
shall contain such terms and conditions as the Secretary shall specify for
purposes of the scholarship program.
(e)
(1)The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall provide to each
qualifying veteran who enters into an agreement under subsection (d) a
scholarship for such number of academic years as the Secretary shall specify in
the agreement for pursuit of a graduate or post-graduate degree in behavioral
health sciences at an institution of higher education offering such degree that
is approved by the Secretary for purposes of the scholarship program.
(2)The
scholarship provided a qualifying veteran for an academic year shall consist of
payment of the following:
(A)Tuition of the
qualifying veteran for pursuit of the graduate or post-graduate degree
concerned in the academic year.
(B)Reasonable
educational expenses of the qualifying veteran (including fees, books, and
laboratory expenses) in pursuit of such degree in the academic year.
(C)A stipend in
connection with the pursuit of such degree in the academic year in such amount
as the Secretary shall specify in the agreement of the qualifying veteran under
subsection (d).
(f)Each qualifying veteran who participates in the
scholarship program shall, after completion of the graduate or post-graduate
degree concerned and as jointly provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
and the Secretary of Defense in the agreement of such qualifying veteran under
subsection (d), perform service as follows:
(1)Such service for
the Department of Veterans Affairs in connection with the furnishing of mental
health services to veterans, and for such period, as the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs shall specify in the agreement.
(2)Such service for
the Department of Defense in connection with the furnishing of mental health
services to members of the Armed Forces, and for such period, as the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense,
specify in the agreement.
(3)Such combination
of service described by paragraphs (1) and (2), and for such period, as the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, in consultation with the Secretary of
Defense, specify in the agreement.
(g)Each qualifying veteran participating in the
scholarship who fails to complete satisfactorily the terms of the agreement of
such qualifying veteran under subsection (d), whether through failure to obtain
the graduate or post-graduate degree concerned or failure to perform service
required of the qualifying veteran under subsection (f), shall be liable to the
United States in such form and manner as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, specify in the
agreement.
(h)Contingency
operation definedIn this section, the term contingency
operation has the meaning given that term in section 101(a)(13) of title
10, United States Code.
3.Program of
employment, training, and deployment of former members of the Armed Forces with
combat experience as psychiatric technicians and nurses for members of the
Armed Forces in deployment
(a)The Secretary of Defense shall carry out a program to
employ and train qualifying former members of the Armed Forces as psychiatric
technicians and nurses of the Department of Defense for the provision of mental
health counseling and services to members of the Armed Forces who are deployed
to a combat zone.
(b)Qualifying
former members of the Armed ForcesFor purposes of this section,
a qualifying former member of the Armed Forces is any member who—
(1)during service on
active duty in the Armed Forces, participated for such period as the Secretary
shall specify for purposes of the program in a theater of combat or during a
contingency operation overseas;
(2)was retired,
discharged, separated, or released from service in the Armed Forces on or after
a date (not earlier than August 2, 1990) specified by the Secretary for
purposes of the program; and
(3)meets such other
qualifications as the Secretary may establish for purposes of the
program.
(c)
(1)Each
qualifying former member of the Armed Forces selected by the Secretary for
participation in the program may be employed by the Secretary as a civilian
employee of the Department of Defense for such minimum period as the Secretary
considers appropriate for purposes of the program.
(2)Each
qualifying former member of the Armed Forces employed by the Secretary under
paragraph (1) shall be provided such training in the provision of mental health
counseling and services to members of the Armed Forces deployed to a combat
zone as the Secretary determines appropriate in order to qualify such former
member to serve as a psychiatric technician or nurse, as applicable, of the
Department of Defense for the provision of such counseling and services to such
members of the Armed Forces.
(3)Upon
the successful completion by a qualifying former member of the Armed Forces of
training provided under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall require the former
member, as a psychiatric technician or nurse (as applicable) of the Department
of Defense, to provide such mental health counseling and services to members of
the Armed Forces deployed to a combat zone as the Secretary considers
appropriate.
(4)Deployment to
combat zoneEach qualifying former member of the Armed Forces
serving as a psychiatric technician or nurse of the Department of Defense under
paragraph (3) shall agree, as a condition of participation in the program, to
deploy to a combat zone to perform service as a psychiatric technician or
nurse, as the case may be, for members of the Armed Forces deployed to the
combat zone for such period (if any), and under such terms and conditions, as
the Secretary determines appropriate.
(d)Contingency
operation definedIn this section, the term contingency
operation has the meaning given that term in section 101(a)(13) of title
10, United States Code.
4.Restoration of
authority of Vets Centers to provide referral and other assistance upon request
to former members of the Armed Forces not authorized counselingSection 1712A of title 38, United States
Code, is amended—
(1)by redesignating subsections (c) through
(f) as subsections (d) through (g), respectively; and
(2)by inserting after subsection (b) the
following new subsection (c):
(c)Upon receipt of a
request for counseling under this section from any individual who has been
discharged or released from active military, naval, or air service but who is
not otherwise eligible for such counseling, the Secretary shall—
(1)provide referral
services to assist such individual, to the maximum extent practicable, in
obtaining mental health care and services from sources outside the Department;
and
(2)if pertinent,
advise such individual of such individual’s rights to apply to the appropriate
military, naval, or air service, and to the Department, for review of such
individual’s discharge or release from such
service.
.
5.Eligibility of
members of the Armed Forces for counseling and related mental health services
through Vet centers
(a)Section 1712A of title 38, United States
Code, as amended by section 4, is further amended—
(1)by redesignating
subsections (f) and (g) as subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and
(2)by inserting
after subsection (e) the following new subsection (f):
(f)(1)The Secretary shall,
upon the request of a member of the Armed Forces, furnish the member through a
center the following:
(A)In the case of a member of a regular
component of the Armed Forces, mental health services authorized to be provided
under this section.
(B)In the case of a member of a reserve
component of the Armed Forces, readjustment counseling and related mental
health services authorized to be provided under this section, including
readjustment counseling to assist the member in reintegrating into civilian
life after demobilization from active duty in the Armed Forces.
(2)Any general mental and psychological
assessment furnished a member under this subsection shall include such
criteria, and be performed in such manner and with such protections for the
member, as the Secretary and the Secretary of Defense shall jointly prescribe
for purposes of this subsection.
(3)(A)In the event a
physician, psychologist, or other counselor furnishing counseling or mental
health services to a member under this subsection determines that the member
may be a danger to the member or others, the physician, psychologist, or
counselor, as the case may be, shall notify an appropriate official of a
military medical treatment facility designated in the procedures under
subparagraph (C) of the determination.
(B)An official receiving a notification
under subparagraph (A) with respect to a member shall transmit the notification
to an appropriate officer in the chain of command of the member, as designated
in the procedures under subparagraph (C).
(C)The Secretary and the Secretary of
Defense shall jointly prescribe procedures for notifications under this
paragraph. The procedures shall include the following:
(i)A designation of the military medical
treatment facilities to which notice with respect to members is to be submitted
under subparagraph (A).
(ii)A specification of the officers who
shall constitute appropriate officers in the chain of command of a member for
purposes of the transmittal of notice under subparagraph (B).
(4)The Secretary shall carry out this
subsection pursuant to a memorandum of understanding jointly entered into by
the Secretary and the Secretary of
Defense.
.
(b)Subsection (g) of such section 1712A, as redesignated
by subsection (a)(1), is further amended by inserting and members of the
Armed Forces
after veterans
.
6.Treatment of suicides
of certain former members of the Armed Forces as deaths in line of duty for
purposes of eligibility of survivors for certain benefits
(a)Treatment as
death in line of duty of suicides of certain former members of the Armed
ForcesThe suicide of a former member of the Armed Forces
described in subsection (b) that occurs during the two-year period beginning on
the date of the separation or retirement of the former member from the Armed
Forces shall be treated as a death in line of duty of a member of the Armed
Forces on active duty in the Armed Forces for purposes of the eligibility of
the survivors of the former member for the benefits described in subsection
(c).
(b)Covered former
members of the Armed ForcesA former member of the Armed Forces
described in this subsection is any former member of the Armed Forces with a
medical history of a combat-related mental health condition or Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
(c)The benefits described in this subsection are the
benefits as follows:
(1)Burial
benefits.
(2)Benefits under
the Survivor Benefit Plan under subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 10, United
States Code.
(3)Benefits under
the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(4)Benefits under
the Social Security Act.
(d)Dates for
purposes of certain determinations
(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), for purposes of the
benefits under this section, the date of death of a former member of the Armed
Forces described by subsection (a) shall be the date of the separation or
retirement of the former member from the Armed Forces.
(2)Date for nature
of eligibilityIn determining the scope and nature of the
entitlement a survivor of a former member of the Armed Forces described by
subsection (a) to benefits under this section, the date of death of the former
member shall be the date of the suicide of the former member.
(e)Refund of
reduction in retired pay under SBPAny reduction in the retired
pay of a former member of the Armed Forces described by subsection (a) under
the Survivor Benefit Plan under subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 10, United
States Code, during the period beginning on the date of the retirement of the
former member from the Armed Forces and ending on the date of the suicide of
the former member shall be refunded to the surviving spouse or children, as
applicable, of the former member.
7.Annual reports
on effectiveness of mental health training and related counseling under
reintegration programs for members of the Armed Forces and veterans
(a)Not later than 18
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter,
the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly
conduct a review and assessment of the programs of the Department of Defense
and the Department of Veterans Affairs for the reintegration of members of the
Armed Forces and veterans into civilian life after retirement, discharge, or
release from the Armed Forces in order to assess the extent of the
effectiveness of the mental health resiliency training and transition
counseling provided to members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their
families under such programs both before and after retirement, discharge, or
release from the Armed Forces.
(b)The
Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit
to Congress a report on each review and assessment conducted under subsection
(a). Each report shall set forth the results of the review and assessment
concerned and shall include such recommendations for legislative or
administrative action as the Secretary of Defense with respect to Department of
Defense programs, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with respect to Department
of Veterans Affairs programs, or the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs jointly consider appropriate.