,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #hddi  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,september #cj1      
#bjbj,mr4 ,crow 7for himself1 ,mr4      
,kelly of ,mississippi1 ,mr4            
,des,jarlais1 ,ms4 ,omar1 and ,mr4      
,crist7 introduced the following bill2  
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,veterans' ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
direct the ,secretary of ,veterans      
,affairs to carry out a pilot program to
 collect and analyze data regarding     
suicides and attempted suicides by      
veterans on the property of the         
,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 and  
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the          
,veterans' ,sentinel ,act4  #b4 ,pilot  
program on collecting and analyzing data
 regarding certain veteran suicides  7a7
 ,pilot program  7#a7 ,in general ,not  
later than #ij days after the date of   
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
establish in the ,office of ,mental     

,health and ,suicide ,prevention a pilot
 program under which the ,secretary     
establishes a working group in the      
,office to collect and analyze data     
regarding on-campus suicides and        
on-campus attempted suicides4  7#b7     
,working group  7,a7 ,membership ,the   
members of the working group established
 under paragraph 7#a7 shall be selected 
from among staff representing each of   
the following3 7i7 ,the ,office of      
,mental ,health and ,suicide            
,prevention4  7ii7 ,the ,veterans       
,health ,administration4  7iii7 ,the    
,veterans ,benefits ,administration4    
7iv7 ,the ,national ,cemeteries         
,administration4  7v7 ,the ,office of   
,operations1 ,security1 and             
,preparedness of the ,department4  7vi7 
,the ,national ,patient ,safety ,centers
 of the ,department4  7vii7 ,any other  
element of the ,department as the       
,secretary determines appropriate4  7,b7
 ,reporting ,the working group shall    
report directly to the ,executive       

,director of the ,office of ,mental     
,health and ,suicide ,prevention4  7#c7 
,methodology ,in collecting and         
analyzing the information under         
paragraph 7#a71 the working group       
shall-- 7,a7 use root cause analysis to 
review all on-campus suicides and       
on-campus attempted suicides2  7,b7 with
 respect to on-campus suicides-- 7i7    
conduct ,behavioral ,health ,autopsy    
,program assessments1 including family  
interviews2 and  7ii7 document reasons  
for any deficiencies in the data        
collected2 and  7,c7 not less frequently
 than every #ij days1 communicate with  
the medical centers and field offices of
 the ,department in order to coordinate 
the collection and review actions of the
 working group with such actions carried
 out by the medical centers and field   
offices4  7#d7 ,data collection intake  
improvements ,the working group shall   
consider1 and may implement for purposes
 of the pilot program under paragraph   
7#a71 improvements to the process by    

which the ,secretary collects data on   
on-campus suicides and on-campus        
attempted suicides to unify the         
disparate sources of such data1         
including with respect to-- 7,a7        
modifying incident reports and other    
methods to collect data1 including both 
suicide and attempted suicide report    
fields2  7,b7 developing and ensuring   
that each data source1 including the    
,behavioral ,health ,autopsy ,program   
assessment1 relating to on-campus       
suicides and on-campus attempted        
suicides include a specified section for
 such on-campus incidents2 and  7,c7    
developing an associated management     
system to consolidate all relevant data 
for on-campus suicides and on-campus    
attempted suicides1 including such data 
from ,behavioral ,health ,autopsy       
,program assessments1 health records of 
the ,department1 root cause analyses1   
incident reports1 and other sources of  
data4  7#e7 ,briefings ,not later than  
one year after the date of the enactment

 of this ,act1 and annually thereafter  
during the life of the pilot program    
under paragraph 7#a71 the ,secretary    
shall provide to the ,committees on     
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,house of    
,representatives and the ,senate a      
briefing on the progress and findings of
 the working group established under    
such paragraph4  7#f7 ,report ,not later
 than #cj days after the date on which  
the pilot program under paragraph 7#a7  
is completed1 the ,secretary shall      
submit to the ,committees on ,veterans' 
,affairs of the ,house of               
,representatives and the ,senate a      
report detailing-- 7,a7 the             
effectiveness of the working group      
established under such paragraph2 and   
7,b7 any recommendations to enhance the 
data collection and management by the   
,secretary with respect to on-campus    
suicides and on-campus suicide attempts1
 including improvements identified under
 paragraph 7#d74  7#g7 ,duration ,the   
,secretary shall carry out the pilot    

program under paragraph 7#a7 for a      
period that is not less than two years4 
7#h7 ,definitions ,in this subsection3  
7,a7 ,the term on-campus attempted      
suicide means an attempted suicide by a 
veteran that occurs on property of the  
,department of ,veterans ,affairs4  7,b7
 ,the term on-campus suicide means a    
suicide by a veteran that occurs on     
property of the ,department of ,veterans
 ,affairs4  7b7 ,annual reports ,section
 #agji;,b of title #ch1 ,united ,states 
,code1 is amended-- 7#a7 by             
redesignating subsection 7b7 as         
subsection 7c72  7#b7 by inserting after
 subsection 7a7 the following new       
subsection 7b73  7b7 ,on-,campus        
suicides ,on an annual basis1 the       
,secretary shall-- 7#a7 evaluate the    
statistical trends of suicides and      
attempted suicides by veterans that     
occur on the property of the            
,department2 and  7#b7 determine        
recommendations for preventing such     
suicides and attempted suicides4  2 and 

7#c7 in subsection 7c71 as so           
redesignated-- 7,a7 by redesignating    
paragraph 7#b7 as paragraph 7#c72 and   
7,b7 by inserting after paragraph 7#a7  
the following new paragraph 7#b73  7#b7 
,beginning with the report submitted in 
#bjbb1 the matters under subsection 7b71
 including any other matters relating to
 such matters as the ,executive         
,director of the ,office of ,mental     
,health and ,suicide ,prevention        
determines appropriate4  4  7c7         
,comptroller ,general report on the     
,office of ,mental ,health and ,suicide 
,prevention  7#a7 ,in general ,not later
 than one year after the date of the    
enactment of this ,act1 the ,comptroller
 ,general of the ,united ,states shall  
submit to the ,committees on ,veterans' 
,affairs of the ,house of               
,representatives and the ,senate a      
report on-- 7,a7 the actions the ,office
 of ,mental ,health and ,suicide        
,prevention of the ,department of       
,veterans ,affairs has taken to meet the

 priority objective of the ,department  
with respect to preventing veteran      
suicide2  7,b7 the challenges the       
,office has faced in making such        
actions2 and  7,c7 recommendations for  
improvements4  7#b7 ,elements ,the      
report under paragraph 7#a7 shall       
include1 with respect to the ,office1 an
 analysis of-- 7,a7 staffing and        
resource levels2  7,b7 policies and     
processes2  7,c7 leadership structure   
and stability2  7,d7 identification and 
prioritization of activities2  7,e7     
organizational and reporting structure  
within the ,department2 and  7,f7 any   
other matters the ,comptroller ,general 
determines appropriate4