,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #bcjj  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,may #g1 #bjad 
,mr4 ,donnelly 7for himself and ,mr4    
,wicker7 introduced the following bill2 
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,armed ,services  ,a     
,,bill  ,to amend title #aj1 ,united    
,states ,code1 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 health1 and for  
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title  ,this
 ,act may be cited as the ,jacob ,sexton
 ,military ,suicide ,prevention ,act of 
#bjad4  #b4 ,annual mental health       
assessments for members of the ,armed   
,forces  7a7 ,mental health assessments 
7#a7 ,in general ,chapter #ee of title  
#aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 is amended  
by inserting after section #ajgdm the   
following new section3  #ajgdn4 ,annual 
mental health assessments for members of
 the armed forces  7a7 ,mental health   

assessments ,subject to subsection 7d71 
not less frequently than once each      
calendar year1 the ,secretary of        
,defense shall provide a                
person-to-person mental health          
assessment for-- 7#a7 each member of the
 armed forces on active duty2 and  7#b7 
each member of the ,ready ,reserve of an
 armed force4  7b7 ,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 care1 treatment1 or other
 services for such health conditions4   
7c7 ,elements ,the mental health        
assessments provided pursuant to this   
section shall-- 7#a7 be conducted in    
accordance with the requirements of     
subsection 7c77#a7 of section #ajgdm of 
this title with respect to a mental     
health assessment provided pursuant to  
such section2 and  7#b7 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 forces1 as determined by the      
,secretary4  7d7 ,sufficiency of other  
mental health assessments  7#a7 ,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 #ajgdm of this      
title4  7#b7 ,the ,secretary may treat  
periodic health assessments and other   
person-to-person assessments that are   
provided to members of the armed forces1
 including examinations under section   
#ajgd;f of this title1 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 section4  7e7 ,reports  7#a7 ,not 

less frequently than once each year1 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 section4  7#b7 ,each report        
required by paragraph 7#a7 shall        
include1 with respect to assessments    
conducted pursuant to this section      
during the one-year period preceding the
 date of the submittal of such report1  
the following3 7,a7 ,the number of      
members who received an assessment4     
7,b7 ,a description of the tools and    
processes used to provide such          
assessments1 including-- 7i7 whether    
such tools and processes are            
evidenced-based2 and  7ii7 the process  
by which such tools and processes have  
been approved for use in providing      
mental health assessments4  7,c7 ,a     
description of the mental health        

conditions detected through such        
assessments4  7,d7 ,the number of       
members referred for care and services  
based on mental health conditions       
detected through such assessments4  7,e7
 ,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 appropriate4  7,f7 
,such recommendations for improving the 
tools and processes used to conduct such
 assessments1 including tools that may  
address the underreporting of mental    
health conditions1 as the ,secretary    
considers appropriate4  7#c7 ,no        
personally identifiable information may 
be included in any report under         
paragraph 7#a74  7f7 ,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 information4 
7g7 ,regulations ,the ,secretary of     

,defense shall1 in consultation with the
 other administering ,secretaries1      
prescribe regulations for the           
administration of this section4  4  7#b7
 ,clerical amendment ,the table of      
sections at the beginning of chapter #ee
 of such title is amended by inserting  
after the item relating to section      
#ajgdm the following new item3  #ajgdn4 
,annual mental health assessments for   
members of the armed forces4  4  7#c7   
,implementation ,not later than #ahj    
days after the date of the issuance of  
the regulations prescribed under section
 #ajgdn7g7 of title #aj1 ,united ,states
 ,code1 as added by paragraph 7#a7 of   
this subsection1 the ,secretary of      
,defense shall implement such           
regulations4  7b7 ,conforming amendment 
,section #ajgdm7e77#a7 of such title is 
amended by inserting and section #ajgdn 
of this title after pursuant to this    
section4  #c4 ,interagency working group
 on the provision of mental health      
services to members of the ,national    

,guard and the ,reserves  7a7           
,establishment ,not later than #abj days
 after the date of the enactment of this
 ,act1 the ,secretary of ,defense shall1
 in consultation with the ,secretaries  
of the military departments1 the        
,assistant ,secretary of ,defense for   
,reserve ,affairs1 the ,assistant       
,secretary of ,defense for ,health      
,affairs1 the ,chief of the ,national   
,guard ,bureau1 and the ,secretary of   
,health and ,human ,services1 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 ,reserves4  7b7 ,duties  
,the duties of the interagency working  
group convened pursuant to subsection   
7a7 are as follows3 7#a7 ,to review     
existing programs that can be used to   
improve the provision of accessible1    
timely1 and high-quality mental health  
services to members of the ,national    
,guard and the ,reserves4  7#b7 ,to     

recommend new interagency programs and  
partnerships to improve the provision of
 such mental health services to such    
members4  7#c7 ,to recommend best       
practices for partnerships among the    
,armed ,forces1 the ,national ,guard1   
the ,department of ,health and ,human   
,services1 ,states1 and private and     
academic entities to improve the        
provision of mental health care to      
members of the ,national ,guard and the 
,reserves4  7c7 ,consultation ,in       
carrying out the duties under subsection
 7b71 the interagency working group may 
consult with representatives of         
academia1 industry1 and such other      
relevant agencies1 organizations1 and   
institutions as the interagency working 
group considers appropriate4  7d7       
,report  7#a7 ,in general ,not later    
than one year after the date of the     
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  
of ,defense shall submit to the         
appropriate committees of ,congress a   
report that includes the findings and   

recommendations of the interagency      
working group4  7#b7 ,appropriate       
committees of ,congress ,in this        
subsection1 the term appropriate        
committees of ,congress means-- 7,a7 the
 congressional defense committees1 as   
that term is defined in section         
#aja7;a77#af7 of title #aj1 ,united     
,states ,code2  7,b7 the ,committee on  
,health1 ,education1 ,labor1 and        
,pensions of the ,senate2 and  7,c7 the 
,committee on ,energy and ,commerce of  
the ,house of ,representatives4  7e7    
,privacy matters  7#a7 ,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  
information4  7#b7 ,exclusion of        
personally identifiable information from
 reports ,no personally identifiable    
information may be included in any      
report required by subsection 7d74  #d4 
,report on improvements in the          

identification and treatment of mental  
health conditions and traumatic brain   
injury among members of the ,armed      
,forces  7a7 ,in general ,not later than
 one year after the date of the         
enactment of this ,act1 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 tools1        
processes1 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 ,forces4    
7b7 ,elements ,the report under         
subsection 7a7 shall include the        
following3 7#a7 ,an evaluation of       
existing peer-to-peer identification and
 intervention programs in each of the   
,armed ,forces4  7#b7 ,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 ,forces4
  7#c7 ,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   
,forces4  7#d7 ,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 ,forces4  7#e7 ,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 factors4     
7#f7 ,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     
,forces4  7#g7 ,recommendations with    
respect to improving1 consolidating1    
expanding1 and standardizing the        
programs1 services1 tools1 processes1   
and efforts described in paragraphs 7#a7
 through 7#f74  7#h7 ,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 ,forces4  7#i7 ,recommendations  
as to the feasibility and advisability  
of establishing preliminary mental      
health assessments and pre-discharge    
mental health assessments for members of
 the ,armed ,forces1 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 ,forces4  7#aj7           
,recommendations on tracking changes in 
the mental health assessment of a member
 of the ,armed ,forces relating to      
traumatic brain injury1 post-traumatic  
stress disorder1 depression1 anxiety1   
and other conditions4  7#aa7 ,a         
description of the methodology used by  
the ,secretary in preparing the report  
required by this section1 including a   
description of the input provided by the
 entity and individuals consulted       
pursuant to subsection 7c74  7c7        
,consultation ,the ,secretary of        
,defense shall carry out this section in
 consultation with the following3 7#a7  
,an advisory council composed of-- 7,a7 
behavioral health officers of the       
,public ,health ,service2 and  7,b7     
mental health and other health providers
 who serve members of the regular and   
reserve components of each ,armed       
,force4  7#b7 ,the ,assistant ,secretary
 of ,defense for ,health ,affairs4  7#c7
 ,the ,assistant ,secretary of ,defense 

for ,reserve ,affairs4  7#d7 ,the       
,secretaries of the military            
departments4  7#e7 ,the ,chief of the   
,national ,guard ,bureau4  7#f7 ,the    
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs4  7#g7 
,the ,secretary of ,health and ,human   
,services4  7#h7 ,the ,director of the  
,centers for ,disease ,control and      
,prevention4  7#i7 ,the ,administrator  
of the ,substance ,abuse and ,mental    
,health ,services ,administration4      
7#aj7 ,the ,director of the ,national   
,institutes of ,health4  7#aa7 ,the     
,president of the ,institute of         
,medicine4  7d7 ,privacy matters  7#a7  
,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 information4  7#b7   
,exclusion of personally identifiable   
information from reports ,no personally 
identifiable information may be included
 in any report required by subsection   

7a74  7e7 ,definitions ,in this section3
 7#a7 ,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
 ,forces4  7#b7 ,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 #ij-;day period preceding the
 date of discharge or release of the    
individual from the ,armed ,forces4