[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 418 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 418

   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot 
    program to improve access to supportive services and community 
            coordination for families of disabled veterans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 10, 2017

Mrs. Lawrence introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot 
    program to improve access to supportive services and community 
            coordination for families of disabled veterans.

    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 ``Early Intervention for Veterans and 
their Families Act''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR GREATER DIRECT ACCESS TO SUPPORTIVE SERVICES 
              AND COMMUNITY COORDINATION FOR DISABLED VETERANS 
              FAMILIES.

    (a) In General.--Commencing not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
carry out a three-year pilot program with community partners to provide 
intensive community care coordination and supportive services to 
disabled veteran families who lack access to direct wellness services 
provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs or other entities.
    (b) Agreements With Community Partners.--In carrying out the pilot 
program under subsection (a), the Secretary shall enter into 
partnership agreements with community partners using a competitive and 
merit-based award process for individual grants and for multi-service 
site grants to test service delivery efficiencies and generate best 
practices.
    (c) Community Care Coordination and Supportive Services.--The 
community care coordination and supportive services referred to in 
subsection (a) are the following:
            (1) Services provided by a community partner to improve the 
        well-being and address the needs of disabled veteran families 
        who otherwise lack access to adequate direct wellness services 
        provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs or other 
        entities. Such assistance and services may include the 
        following:
                    (A) Care coordination and case management services.
                    (B) Outreach services.
                    (C) Assistance in obtaining any benefits from the 
                Department which the veteran may be eligible to 
                receive, including vocational and rehabilitation 
                counseling, employment and training service, 
                educational assistance, and health care services.
                    (D) Assistance in obtaining and coordinating the 
                provision of other public benefits provided by 
                department or agencies of the Federal Government or a 
                State or local government or by community partners, 
                including with respect to--
                            (i) marriage counseling;
                            (ii) services for children;
                            (iii) suicide prevention;
                            (iv) substance abuse awareness and 
                        treatment;
                            (v) mental health awareness and treatment;
                            (vi) financial counseling;
                            (vii) anger management counseling;
                            (viii) domestic violence awareness and 
                        prevention;
                            (ix) employment assistance;
                            (x) transportation services;
                            (xi) child care;
                            (xii) housing counseling;
                            (xiii) preparing and updating family care 
                        plans;
                            (xiv) development of strategies for living 
                        with a veteran with post-traumatic stress 
                        disorder or traumatic brain injury;
                            (xv) accessing emergency financial 
                        assistance through philanthropic efforts; and
                            (xvi) other services that are determined by 
                        the Secretary to be appropriate to improve the 
                        well-being and address the unique needs of 
                        disabled veteran families who lack access to 
                        such direct wellness services.
            (2) Providing the direct services specified in paragraph 
        (1)(D) that are necessary to improve the well-being and address 
        the needs of the disabled veteran families but are otherwise 
        unavailable through existing public or private programs.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``community partner'' means a private 
        nonprofit organization.
            (2) The term ``disabled veteran'' means a United States 
        citizen or United States national who--
                    (A) was honorably discharged from the Armed Forces; 
                and
                    (B) is entitled to disability compensation (or who 
                but for the receipt of military retired pay would be 
                entitled to disability compensation) under laws 
                administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or 
                was discharged or released from active duty in the 
                Armed Forces because of a service-connected disability 
                under chapter 61 of title 10, United States Code.
            (3) The term ``disabled veterans family'' means the 
        dependents of a disabled veteran.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs $2,000,000 to carry 
out the pilot program under subsection (a) for each fiscal year in 
which the Secretary carries out such pilot program.
    (f) Report.--Not later than 180 days before the completion of the 
pilot program under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the 
results of the pilot program, including the number of disabled veteran 
families served and service linkages or referrals and a description and 
assessment of the effectiveness and achievements of the pilot program 
with respect to services and treatments and mitigation of risks, 
including homelessness, unemployment and suicide as well as recommended 
best practices for improving access to supportive services and 
coordination of care for disabled veteran families.
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