,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #hacj  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,august #bh1         
#bjbj,miss ,rice of ,new ,york 7for     
herself and ,mr4 ,gonzalez of ,ohio7    
introduced the following bill2 which was
 referred to the ,committee on          
,veterans' ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
direct the ,secretary of ,veterans      
,affairs to conduct an assessment of the
 capacity of peer specialists of the    
,department of ,veterans ,affairs who   
are women1 and for other purposes4  #a4 
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,,va ,peer ,specialists ,act4  #b4  
,staffing improvement plan for peer     
specialists of ,department of ,veterans 
,affairs who are women  7a7 ,assessment 
of capacity  7#a7 ,in general ,not later
 than #ij days after the date of the    
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  
of ,veterans ,affairs1 in consultation  
with the ,inspector ,general of the     
,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 shall
 commence an assessment of the capacity 

of peer specialists of the ,department  
of ,veterans ,affairs who are women4    
7#b7 ,elements ,the assessment required 
by paragraph 7#a7 shall include an      
assessment of the following3 7,a7 ,the  
geographical distribution of peer       
specialists of the ,department who are  
women4  7,b7 ,the geographical          
distribution of women veterans4  7,c7   
,the number and proportion of women peer
 specialists who specialize in peer     
counseling on mental health or suicide  
prevention4  7,d7 ,the number and       
proportion of women peer specialists who
 specialize in peer counseling on       
non-mental health related matters4  7,e7
 ,a description of the duties and       
responsibilities of women peer          
specialists1 including number of hours  
worked per week1 to better define1      
delineate1 and standardize              
qualifications1 performance goals1      
performance duties1 and performance     
outcomes for peer specialists and their 
managers4  7,f7 ,department funds and   

other resources dedicated to supporting 
the work of women peer specialists4  7b7
 ,report ,not later than one year after 
the assessment required by subsection   
7a7 has commenced1 the ,secretary shall 
submit to the ,committee on ,veterans'  
,affairs of the ,senate and the         
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of the
 ,house of ,representatives a report    
detailing the findings of the           
assessment1 including the ratio of how  
many hours were worked by women peer    
specialists relative to the population  
of women veterans at each ,department   
medical center4  7c7 ,staffing          
improvement plan  7#a7 ,in general ,not 
later than #ahj days after submitting   
the report under subsection 7b71 the    
,secretary1 in consultation with the    
,inspector ,general1 shall submit to the
 ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of   
the ,senate and the ,committee on       
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,house of    
,representatives a plan1 based on the   
results of the assessment required by   

subsection 7a71 to hire additional      
qualified peer specialists who are      
women1 with special consideration for   
areas that lack peer specialists who are
 women4  7#b7 ,elements ,the peer       
specialist positions included in the    
plan required by paragraph 7#a7-- 7,a7  
shall be non-volunteer1 paid positions2 
and  7,b7 may be part-time positions4