,,ii  #aadth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #gae  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,march #aa1 #bjae   
,mr4 ,donnelly 7for himself and ,mr4    
,wicker7 introduced the following bill2 
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a  
,,bill  ,to improve the provision of    
mental health care to members of the    
,armed ,forces and veterans from the    
,department of ,defense and the         
,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 and  
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the ,military
 and ,veterans ,mental ,health ,provider
 ,assessment ,act of #bjae4  #b4        
,improvement of mental health care      
provided by health care providers of the
 ,department of ,defense and the        
,department of ,veterans ,affairs  7a7  
,training on recognition and management 
of risk of suicide ,the ,secretary      
concerned shall ensure that all health  
care providers under the jurisdiction of
 such ,secretary receive empirically    

supported training on the recognition   
and assessment of individuals at risk   
for suicide and the management of such  
risk not less frequently than once every
 three years4  7b7 ,evaluation of       
implementation of clinical practice     
guidelines and best practices by mental 
health care providers  7#a7 ,in general 
,not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this ,act1 and not  
less frequently than once each year     
thereafter1 the ,secretary concerned    
shall conduct an evaluation of the      
implementation by mental health care    
providers under the jurisdiction of such
 ,secretary of the clinical practice    
guidelines recommended for such         
providers by such ,secretary and other  
evidence-based treatments and           
approaches4  7#b7 ,inclusion of results 
in employee performance evaluations ,the
 ,secretary concerned shall incorporate 
evaluations conducted under paragraph   
7#a7 into the employee evaluation       
process conducted by such ,secretary    

with respect to mental health care      
providers to the greatest extent        
possible4  7c7 ,assessment of mental    
health workforce  7#a7 ,in general ,not 
later than one year after the date of   
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary of ,defense and the          
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
jointly submit to the appropriate       
committees of ,congress a report        
assessing the mental health workforce of
 the ,department of ,defense and the    
,department of ,veterans ,affairs and   
the long-term mental health care needs  
of members of the ,armed ,forces and    
veterans for purposes of determining the
 long-term need of the ,department of   
,defense and the ,department of         
,veterans ,affairs for mental health    
care providers4  7#b7 ,elements ,the    
report submitted under paragraph 7#a7   
shall include an assessment of the      
following3 7,a7 ,the number of mental   
health care providers of the ,department
 of ,defense and the ,department of     

,veterans ,affairs as of the date of the
 submittal of the report1 disaggregated 
by specialty1 including psychiatrists1  
psychologists1 social workers1 mental   
health counselors1 and marriage and     
family therapists4  7,b7 ,the number of 
mental health care providers that are   
anticipated to be needed by the         
,department of ,defense and the         
,department of ,veterans ,affairs4  7,c7
 ,the types of mental health care       
providers that are anticipated to be    
needed by the ,department of ,defense   
and the ,department of ,veterans        
,affairs4  7,d7 ,locations in which     
mental health care providers are        
anticipated to be needed by the         
,department of ,defense and the         
,department of ,veterans ,affairs4  7d7 
,plan for development of procedures ,to 
measure mental health data ,not later   
than #ahj days after the date of the    
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  
of ,defense and the ,secretary of       
,veterans ,affairs shall jointly submit 

to the appropriate committees of        
,congress a plan for the ,department of 
,defense and the ,department of         
,veterans ,affairs to jointly develop   
procedures to compile and assess data   
relating to the following3  7#a7        
,outcomes for mental health care        
provided by the ,department of ,defense 
and the ,department of ,veterans        
,affairs4  7#b7 ,variations in such     
outcomes among different medical        
facilities of the ,department of        
,defense and ,department of ,veterans   
,affairs4  7#c7 ,barriers1 if any1 to   
the implementation by mental health care
 providers under the jurisdiction of the
 ,secretary concerned of the clinical   
practice guidelines recommended for such
 providers by such ,secretary and other 
evidence-based treatments and           
approaches4  7e7 ,definitions ,in this  
section3 7#a7 ,appropriate committees of
 ,congress ,the term appropriate        
committees of ,congress means--  7,a7   
the ,committee on ,armed ,services and  

the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of
 the ,senate2 and  7,b7 the ,committee  
on ,armed ,services and the ,committee  
on ,veterans' ,affairs of the ,house of 
,representatives4  7#b7 ,secretary      
concerned ,the term ,secretary concerned
 means-- 7,a7 the ,secretary of ,defense
 with respect to matters concerning the 
,department of ,defense2 and  7,b7 the  
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs with   
respect to matters concerning the       
,department of ,veterans ,affairs4