[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 717 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 717

 To designate certain non-Department mental health care providers who 
 treat members of the Armed Forces and veterans as providers who have 
particular knowledge relating to the provision of mental health care to 
   members of the Armed Forces and veterans, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 11, 2015

  Mr. Donnelly (for himself and Mrs. Ernst) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To designate certain non-Department mental health care providers who 
 treat members of the Armed Forces and veterans as providers who have 
particular knowledge relating to the provision of mental health care to 
   members of the Armed Forces and veterans, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Community Provider Readiness 
Recognition Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN NON-DEPARTMENT MENTAL HEALTH CARE 
              PROVIDERS WITH KNOWLEDGE RELATING TO TREATMENT OF MEMBERS 
              OF THE ARMED FORCES AND VETERANS.

    (a) Mental Health Provider Readiness Designation.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and the 
        Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly develop a system by 
        which any non-Department mental health care provider that meets 
        eligibility criteria jointly established by such Secretaries 
        relating to the knowledge described in paragraph (2) receives a 
        mental health provider readiness designation from the 
        Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
            (2) Knowledge.--The knowledge described in this paragraph 
        is the following:
                    (A) Knowledge, comfort, and understanding with 
                respect to the culture of members of the Armed Forces, 
                veterans, and family members and caregivers of members 
                of the Armed Forces and veterans.
                    (B) Knowledge with respect to evidence-based 
                treatments that have been approved by the Department of 
                Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs for the 
                treatment of mental health issues among members of the 
                Armed Forces and veterans.
    (b) Availability of Information on Designation.--
            (1) Registry.--The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary 
        of Veterans Affairs shall jointly establish and update a 
        registry that is available to the public of all non-Department 
        mental health care providers that are currently designated 
        under subsection (a)(1).
            (2) Provider list.--The Secretary concerned shall update 
        all lists maintained by such Secretary of non-Department mental 
        health care providers that provide mental health care under the 
        laws administered by such Secretary by indicating the providers 
        that are currently designated under subsection (a)(1); and
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Non-department mental health care provider.--The term 
        ``non-Department mental health care provider''--
                    (A) means a health care provider that--
                            (i) specializes in mental health;
                            (ii) is not a health care provider of the 
                        Department of Defense or the Department of 
                        Veterans Affairs; and
                            (iii) provides health care to members of 
                        the Armed Forces or veterans; and
                    (B) includes psychiatrists, psychologists, 
                psychiatric nurses, social workers, mental health 
                counselors, marriage and family therapists, and other 
                mental health care providers designated by the 
                Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
            (2) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned'' 
        means--
                    (A) the Secretary of Defense with respect to 
                matters concerning the Department of Defense; and
                    (B) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with respect 
                to matters concerning the Department of Veterans 
                Affairs.
                                 <all>