Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD), at least once each year, to: (1) provide a person-to-person mental health assessment for each member of the Armed Forces on active duty and for each member of the Ready Reserve of an Armed Force for the purpose of identifying mental health conditions to determine which members are in need of additional care, treatment, or other services; and (2) submit to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees a report on such assessments, including on the number of members referred for care and services based on mental health conditions detected.
Requires the Secretary to: (1) convene an interagency working group to review and recommend collaborative approaches to improving the provision of mental health services to members of the National Guard and the Reserves; (2) report the findings and recommendations of the working group to specified congressional committees; and (3) report to the Armed Services Committees on an evaluation of specific tools, processes, and best practices to improve the identification of, and treatment by the Armed Forces of, mental health conditions and traumatic brain injury among members of the Armed Forces.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2300 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2300
To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the Secretary of
Defense to conduct periodic mental health assessments for members of
the Armed Forces and to submit reports with respect to mental health,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 7, 2014
Mr. Donnelly (for himself and Mr. Wicker) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed
Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the Secretary of
Defense to conduct periodic mental health assessments for members of
the Armed Forces and to submit reports with respect to mental health,
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 ``Jacob Sexton Military Suicide
Prevention Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. ANNUAL MENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENTS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED
FORCES.
(a) Mental Health Assessments.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 55 of title 10, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 1074m the following
new section:
``Sec. 1074n. Annual mental health assessments for members of the armed
forces
``(a) Mental Health Assessments.--Subject to subsection (d), not
less frequently than once each calendar year, the Secretary of Defense
shall provide a person-to-person mental health assessment for--
``(1) each member of the armed forces on active duty; and
``(2) each member of the Ready Reserve of an armed force.
``(b) Purpose.--The purpose of a mental health assessment provided
pursuant to this section shall be to identify mental health conditions
among members of the armed forces in order to determine which such
members are in need of additional care, treatment, or other services
for such health conditions.
``(c) Elements.--The mental health assessments provided pursuant to
this section shall--
``(1) be conducted in accordance with the requirements of
subsection (c)(1) of section 1074m of this title with respect
to a mental health assessment provided pursuant to such
section; and
``(2) include a review of the health records of the member
that are related to each previous health assessment or other
relevant activities of the member while serving in the armed
forces, as determined by the Secretary.
``(d) Sufficiency of Other Mental Health Assessments.--(1) The
Secretary is not required to provide a mental health assessment
pursuant to this section to an individual in a calendar year in which
the individual has received a mental health assessment pursuant to
section 1074m of this title.
``(2) The Secretary may treat periodic health assessments and other
person-to-person assessments that are provided to members of the armed
forces, including examinations under section 1074f of this title, as
meeting the requirements for mental health assessments required under
this section if the Secretary determines that such assessments and
person-to-person assessments meet the requirements for mental health
assessments established by this section.
``(e) Reports.--(1) Not less frequently than once each year, the
Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of
the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives a report on the annual mental health assessments of
members of the armed forces conducted pursuant to this section.
``(2) Each report required by paragraph (1) shall include, with
respect to assessments conducted pursuant to this section during the
one-year period preceding the date of the submittal of such report, the
following:
``(A) The number of members who received an assessment.
``(B) A description of the tools and processes used to
provide such assessments, including--
``(i) whether such tools and processes are
evidenced-based; and
``(ii) the process by which such tools and
processes have been approved for use in providing
mental health assessments.
``(C) A description of the mental health conditions
detected through such assessments.
``(D) The number of members referred for care and services
based on mental health conditions detected through such
assessments.
``(E) Such recommendations for improving the monitoring and
reporting of the number of members who receive care and
services based on such referrals as the Secretary considers
appropriate.
``(F) Such recommendations for improving the tools and
processes used to conduct such assessments, including tools
that may address the underreporting of mental health
conditions, as the Secretary considers appropriate.
``(3) No personally identifiable information may be included in any
report under paragraph (1).
``(f) Privacy Matters.--Any medical or other personal information
obtained under this section shall be protected from disclosure or
misuse in accordance with the laws on privacy applicable to such
information.
``(g) Regulations.--The Secretary of Defense shall, in consultation
with the other administering Secretaries, prescribe regulations for the
administration of this section.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 55 of such title is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 1074m the following new
item:
``1074n. Annual mental health assessments for members of the armed
forces.''.
(3) Implementation.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the issuance of the regulations prescribed under section
1074n(g) of title 10, United States Code, as added by paragraph
(1) of this subsection, the Secretary of Defense shall
implement such regulations.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1074m(e)(1) of such title is
amended by inserting ``and section 1074n of this title'' after
``pursuant to this section''.
SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON THE PROVISION OF MENTAL HEALTH
SERVICES TO MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL GUARD AND THE
RESERVES.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall, in consultation
with the Secretaries of the military departments, the Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, the Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Health Affairs, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, and
the Secretary of Health and Human Services, convene an interagency
working group to review and recommend collaborative approaches to
improving the provision of mental health services to members of the
National Guard and the Reserves.
(b) Duties.--The duties of the interagency working group convened
pursuant to subsection (a) are as follows:
(1) To review existing programs that can be used to improve
the provision of accessible, timely, and high-quality mental
health services to members of the National Guard and the
Reserves.
(2) To recommend new interagency programs and partnerships
to improve the provision of such mental health services to such
members.
(3) To recommend best practices for partnerships among the
Armed Forces, the National Guard, the Department of Health and
Human Services, States, and private and academic entities to
improve the provision of mental health care to members of the
National Guard and the Reserves.
(c) Consultation.--In carrying out the duties under subsection (b),
the interagency working group may consult with representatives of
academia, industry, and such other relevant agencies, organizations,
and institutions as the interagency working group considers
appropriate.
(d) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that
includes the findings and recommendations of the interagency
working group.
(2) Appropriate committees of congress.--In this
subsection, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress''
means--
(A) the congressional defense committees, as that
term is defined in section 101(a)(16) of title 10,
United States Code;
(B) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions of the Senate; and
(C) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the
House of Representatives.
(e) Privacy Matters.--
(1) In general.--Any medical or other personal information
obtained pursuant to any provision of this section shall be
protected from disclosure or misuse in accordance with the laws
on privacy applicable to such information.
(2) Exclusion of personally identifiable information from
reports.--No personally identifiable information may be
included in any report required by subsection (d).
SEC. 4. REPORT ON IMPROVEMENTS IN THE IDENTIFICATION AND TREATMENT OF
MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS AND TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AMONG
MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.
(a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the
Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed
Services of the House of Representatives a report setting forth an
evaluation of specific tools, processes, and best practices to improve
the identification of and treatment by the Armed Forces of mental
health conditions and traumatic brain injury among members of the Armed
Forces.
(b) Elements.--The report under subsection (a) shall include the
following:
(1) An evaluation of existing peer-to-peer identification
and intervention programs in each of the Armed Forces.
(2) An evaluation of the Star Behavioral Health Providers
program and similar programs that provide training and
certification to health care providers that treat mental health
conditions and traumatic brain injury in members of the Armed
Forces.
(3) An evaluation of programs and services provided by the
Armed Forces that provide training and certification to
providers of cognitive rehabilitation and other rehabilitation
for traumatic brain injury to members of the Armed Forces.
(4) An evaluation of programs and services provided by the
Armed Forces that target members of the Armed Forces and family
members affected by suicides among members of the Armed Forces.
(5) An evaluation of tools and processes used by the Armed
Forces to identify traumatic brain injury in members of the
Armed Forces and to distinguish mental health conditions likely
caused by traumatic brain injury from mental health conditions
caused by other factors.
(6) An evaluation of the unified effort of the Armed Forces
to promote mental health and prevent suicide through the
integration of clinical and non-clinical programs of the Armed
Forces.
(7) Recommendations with respect to improving,
consolidating, expanding, and standardizing the programs,
services, tools, processes, and efforts described in paragraphs
(1) through (6).
(8) A description of existing efforts to reduce the time
from development and testing of new mental health and traumatic
brain injury tools and treatments for members of the Armed
Forces to widespread dissemination of such tools and treatments
among the Armed Forces.
(9) Recommendations as to the feasibility and advisability
of establishing preliminary mental health assessments and pre-
discharge mental health assessments for members of the Armed
Forces, including the utility of using tools and processes in
such mental health assessments that conform to those used in
other mental health assessments provided to members of the
Armed Forces.
(10) Recommendations on tracking changes in the mental
health assessment of a member of the Armed Forces relating to
traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder,
depression, anxiety, and other conditions.
(11) A description of the methodology used by the Secretary
in preparing the report required by this section, including a
description of the input provided by the entity and individuals
consulted pursuant to subsection (c).
(c) Consultation.--The Secretary of Defense shall carry out this
section in consultation with the following:
(1) An advisory council composed of--
(A) behavioral health officers of the Public Health
Service; and
(B) mental health and other health providers who
serve members of the regular and reserve components of
each Armed Force.
(2) The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.
(3) The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs.
(4) The Secretaries of the military departments.
(5) The Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
(6) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(7) The Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(8) The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
(9) The Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration.
(10) The Director of the National Institutes of Health.
(11) The President of the Institute of Medicine.
(d) Privacy Matters.--
(1) In general.--Any medical or other personal information
obtained pursuant to any provision of this section shall be
protected from disclosure or misuse in accordance with the laws
on privacy applicable to such information.
(2) Exclusion of personally identifiable information from
reports.--No personally identifiable information may be
included in any report required by subsection (a).
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Preliminary mental health assessment.--The term
``preliminary mental health assessment'' means a mental health
assessment conducted with respect to an individual before the
individual enlists in the Armed Forces or is commissioned as an
officer in the Armed Forces.
(2) Pre-discharge mental health assessment.--The term
``pre-discharge mental health assessment'' means a mental
health assessment conducted with respect to an individual
during the 90-day period preceding the date of discharge or
release of the individual from the Armed Forces.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
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