Deborah Sampson Act

Deborah Sampson Act

This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a three-year pilot program to assess the feasibility of peer-to-peer assistance for women veterans (including those who are separating or newly separated from the Armed Forces), with emphasis placed on women who suffered service-related sexual trauma or who are at risk of becoming homeless.

Additionally, the VA shall:

• expand the women veterans call center to include a text messaging capability;
• establish a partnership with at least one nongovernmental organization to provide legal services to women veterans based upon their 10 highest unmet needs;
• retrofit VA medical facilities with fixtures, materials, and other outfitting measures to support the care of women veterans;
• ensure that each VA medical facility has at least one full-time or part-time women's health primary care provider;
• expand to 14 days VA post-delivery care services for women veterans who are receiving maternity care in a VA or VA-contracted facility;
• ensure that the women veteran manager program is supported at each VA medical center with a program manager and an ombudsman;
• collect, analyze, and publish data on each VA service or benefit program and disaggregate such data by sex and minority status; and
• publish an Internet website that serves as a centralized information source for women veterans' benefits and services.

The bill makes funds available for: (1) primary care and emergency care clinicians' participation in the women veterans health care mini-residency program, and (2) organizations that focus on providing assistance to women veterans and their families.

The bill: (1) provides for reintegration and readjustment services to veterans and family members in group retreat settings, and (2) expresses the sense of Congress that the VA's motto should be more inclusive.