[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 46 (Friday, March 8, 2019)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 8585-8588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04437]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 84 , No. 46 / Friday, March 8, 2019 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 8585]]


                Executive Order 13861 of March 5, 2019

                
National Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End 
                Suicide

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Purpose. On average, 20 service members and 
                veterans die by suicide each day. As a Nation, we must 
                do better in fulfilling our solemn obligation to care 
                for all those who have served our country. I am 
                therefore issuing a national call to action to improve 
                the quality of life of our Nation's veterans--many of 
                whom have risked their lives to protect our freedom 
                while deployed, often multiple times, to areas of 
                prolonged conflict.

                Answering this call to action requires an aspirational, 
                innovative, all-hands-on-deck approach to public 
                health--not government as usual. The Federal Government 
                alone cannot achieve effective or lasting reductions in 
                the veteran suicide rate. This is not because of a lack 
                of resources. It is, in fact, due substantially to a 
                lack of coordination: Nearly 70 percent of veterans who 
                end their lives by suicide have not recently received 
                healthcare services from the Department of Veterans 
                Affairs.

                To reduce the veteran suicide rate, the Federal 
                Government must work side-by-side with partners from 
                State, local, territorial, and tribal governments--as 
                well as private and non-profit entities--to provide our 
                veterans with the services they need. At the same time, 
                the Federal Government must advance our understanding 
                of the underlying causal factors of veteran suicide. 
                Our collective efforts must begin with the common 
                understanding that suicide is preventable and 
                prevention requires more than intervention at the point 
                of crisis. The Federal Government, academia, employers, 
                members of faith-based and other community, non-
                governmental, and non-profit organizations, first 
                responders, and the veteran community must all work 
                together to foster cultures in which veterans and their 
                families can thrive.

                The United States must develop a comprehensive national 
                public health roadmap for preventing suicide among our 
                Nation's veterans, with the aspiration of ending 
                veteran suicide once and for all. This roadmap must be 
                holistic and encompass the overall health and well-
                being of our Nation's veterans.

                Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States 
                to end veteran suicide through the development of a 
                comprehensive plan to empower veterans and end suicide 
                through coordinated suicide prevention efforts, 
                prioritized research activities, and strengthened 
                collaboration across the public and private sectors. 
                This plan shall be known as the President's Roadmap to 
                Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide 
                or PREVENTS (the ``roadmap'').

                Sec. 3. Establishment of the Veteran Wellness, 
                Empowerment, and Suicide Prevention Task Force. (a) 
                There is hereby established the Veteran Wellness, 
                Empowerment, and Suicide Prevention Task Force (Task 
                Force), co-chaired by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
                and the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy 
                (Co-Chairs).

                    (b) In addition to the Co-Chairs, the Task Force 
                shall include the following officials, or their 
                designees:

(i) the Secretary of Defense;

(ii) the Secretary of Labor;

(iii) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;

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(iv) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;

(v) the Secretary of Energy;

(vi) the Secretary of Education;

(vii) the Secretary of Homeland Security;

(viii) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;

(iv) the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; and

(x) the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

                Sec. 4. Additional Invitees. As appropriate and 
                consistent with applicable law, the Co-Chairs may, from 
                time to time, invite the heads of other executive 
                departments and agencies, or other senior officials in 
                the White House Office, to attend meetings of the Task 
                Force.

                Sec. 5. Development of the President's Roadmap to 
                Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide. 
                (a) Within 365 days of the date of this order, the Task 
                Force shall develop and submit to the President the 
                roadmap to empower veterans to pursue an improved 
                quality of life, prevent suicide, prioritize related 
                research activities, and strengthen collaboration 
                across the public and private sectors. The roadmap 
                shall analyze opportunities to better harmonize 
                existing efforts within Federal, State, local, 
                territorial, and tribal governments, and non-
                governmental entities. The roadmap shall include:

(i) the community integration and collaboration proposal described in 
section 6 of this order, which will better coordinate and align existing 
efforts and services for veterans and promote their overall quality of 
life;

(ii) the research strategy described in section 7 of this order, which will 
advance my Administration's efforts to improve quality of life and reduce 
suicide among veterans by better integrating existing efforts of 
governmental and non-governmental entities and by improving the development 
and use of metrics to quantify progress of these efforts; and

(iii) an implementation strategy that includes a description of policy 
changes and resources that may be required.

                    (b) In developing the roadmap, the Co-Chairs shall, 
                at their discretion and in consultation with the other 
                members of the Task Force, engage with:

(i) State, local, territorial, and tribal officials;

(ii) private healthcare and hospital systems, healthcare providers and 
clinicians, academic affiliates, educational institutions, and faith-based 
and other community, non-governmental, and non-profit organizations; and

(iii) veteran and military service organizations.

                Sec. 6. State and Local Action. Within 365 days of the 
                date of this order, the Task Force shall submit a 
                legislative proposal to the President through the 
                Director of the Office of Management and Budget that 
                establishes a program for making grants to local 
                communities to enable them to increase their capacity 
                to collaborate with each other to integrate service 
                delivery to veterans and to coordinate resources for 
                veterans. The legislative proposal shall promote the 
                development of milestones and metrics in pursuit of:

                    (a) community integration that brings together 
                veteran-serving organizations to provide veterans with 
                better coordinated and streamlined access to a 
                multitude of services and supports, including those 
                related to employment, health, housing, benefits, 
                recreation, education, and social connection; and
                    (b) promoting a stronger sense of belonging and 
                purpose among veterans by connecting them with each 
                other, with civilians, and with their communities 
                through a range of activities, including physical 
                activity, community service, and disaster response 
                efforts.

                Sec. 7. Development of a National Research Strategy. 
                (a) Within 365 days of the date of this order, the Task 
                Force shall, in coordination with the Director of the 
                Office of Science and Technology Policy, develop a 
                national

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                research strategy to improve the coordination, 
                monitoring, benchmarking, and execution of public- and 
                private-sector research related to the factors that 
                contribute to veteran suicide.

                    (b) As the Task Force develops this national 
                research strategy, the Co-Chairs may, at their 
                discretion and in consultation with the other members 
                of the Task Force, engage with the persons and entities 
                described in section 5(b)(i) through (iii) of this 
                order, as well as with Federal Government entities.
                    (c) The national research strategy shall include 
                milestones and metrics designed to:

(i) improve our ability to identify individual veterans and groups of 
veterans at greater risk of suicide;

(ii) develop and improve individual interventions that increase overall 
veteran quality of life and decrease the veteran suicide rate;

(iii) develop strategies to better ensure the latest research discoveries 
are translated into practical applications and implemented quickly;

(iv) establish relevant data-sharing protocols across Federal partners that 
also align with the community collaboration outlined in section 6 of this 
order;

(v) draw upon technology to capture and use health data from non-clinical 
settings to advance behavioral and mental health research to the extent 
practicable;

(vi) improve coordination among research efforts, prevent unnecessarily 
duplicative efforts, identify barriers to or gaps in research, and 
facilitate opportunities for improved consolidation, integration, and 
alignment; and

(vii) develop a public-private partnership model to foster collaborative, 
innovative, and effective research that accelerates these efforts.

                    (d) The national research strategy shall not be 
                limited to clinical or healthcare interventions, but 
                should approach the problem of veteran suicide in a 
                holistic manner to improve overall veteran quality of 
                life.

                Sec. 8. Administrative Provisions. (a) The Department 
                of Veterans Affairs shall provide funding and 
                administrative support as may be necessary for the 
                performance and functions of the Task Force.

                    (b) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in 
                consultation with the Assistant to the President for 
                Domestic Policy, shall designate an official of the 
                Department of Veteran Affairs to serve as Executive 
                Director of the Task Force, responsible for 
                coordinating its day-to-day functions. As necessary and 
                appropriate, the Co-Chairs may afford the other members 
                of the Task Force an opportunity to provide input into 
                the decision of whom to designate as Executive 
                Director.

                Sec. 9. Termination of the Task Force. After submission 
                of the roadmap described in section 5 of this order, 
                the Task Force established in section 3 of this order 
                shall monitor implementation of the roadmap. The Task 
                Force shall terminate 2 years following the submission 
                to the President of the roadmap.

                Sec. 10. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
                shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.

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                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    March 5, 2019.

[FR Doc. 2019-04437
Filed 3-7-19; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F9-P