[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5392 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5392

  To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve the Veterans 
                              Crisis Line.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 7, 2016

Mr. Young of Iowa introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve the Veterans 
                              Crisis Line.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``No Veterans Crisis Line Call Should 
Go Unanswered Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO VETERANS CRISIS LINE.

    (a) Quality Assurance Document.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall develop a quality assurance document to use in carrying out the 
Veterans Crisis Line. Such document shall--
            (1) outline clearly defined and measurable performance 
        indicators and objectives to improve the responsiveness and 
        performance of the Veterans Crisis Line, including at backup 
        call centers;
            (2) include quantifiable timeframes to meet designated 
        objectives to assist the Secretary in tracking the progress of 
        the Veterans Crisis Line and such backup call centers in 
        meeting the performance indicators and objectives specified in 
        paragraph (1); and
            (3) with respect to such timeframes and objectives, be 
        consistent with guidance issued by the Office of Management and 
        Budget.
    (b) Plan.--The Secretary shall develop a plan to ensure that each 
telephone call, text message, and other communications received by the 
Veterans Crisis Line, including at backup call centers, is answered in 
a timely manner by a person, consistent with the guidance established 
by the American Association of Suicidology. Such plan shall include 
guidelines to carry out periodic testing of the Veterans Crisis Line, 
including such backup centers, during each fiscal year to identify and 
correct any problems in a timely manner.
    (c) Submission.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on 
Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 
report containing the document developed under subsection (a) and the 
plan developed under subsection (b).
    (d) Veterans Crisis Line Defined.--In this section, the term 
``Veterans Crisis Line'' means the toll-free hotline for veterans 
established under section 1720F(h) of title 38, United States Code.
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