Sec. 2. Addressing Department of Veterans Affairs turn-away problem
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/bill/117/hr/5321/ih/section-2A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall require all employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs to participate in uniform, national training on character of discharge eligibility standards for benefits and services provided under laws administered by the Secretary. The Secretary shall require all employees of the Department who the Secretary considers front-line staff, including employees of the Department that the Secretary considers Department facility enrollment and eligibility staff, to participate, as soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act and periodically thereafter, in training described in subparagraph (A).
The Secretary shall ensure that any contact made by an individual seeking health care from the Department is recorded in the electronic health management system of the Department. The Secretary shall designate a national-level position and establish senior positions within each regional office of the Department to focus on issues affecting individuals who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who were discharged or released therefrom under conditions characterized as neither honorable nor dishonorable.
The official designated to a national-level position under subparagraph
(A)shall provide Congress with updates, on a regular basis, on progress made by the Department in providing benefits and services to individuals described in subparagraph (A). Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans affairs shall— conduct an assessment of the practices of the Department involving denying benefits and services to individuals seeking such benefits and services from the Department based on a discharge or release from service in the active military, naval, or air service under conditions that were characterized as neither honorable nor dishonorable; identify whether any denials described in subparagraph
(A)were unlawful and the scope of such unlawful denials by the Department; develop recommendations for legislative or administrative action to limit the occurrence of unlawful denials described in subparagraph (B); and submit to Congress a report on the findings of the Inspector General under subparagraphs
(A)through (C). The Secretary shall— notify all individuals who were discharged or released from service in the active military, naval, or air service under conditions that were characterized as neither honorable nor dishonorable about their right to apply for health care and benefits from the Department; and encourage individuals describe in clause
(i)to apply for health care and benefits described in such clause, even if they have previously been denied or turned away from the Department. The Secretary shall carry out subparagraph
(A)by sending individuals described in such subparagraph a letter to last known address on file with Social Security Administration. The Secretary shall carry out a program of public outreach, including via the internet and through mailed notices, to covered individuals described in subparagraph
(B)who may have been unlawfully denied a benefit or service from the Department based on the characterization of their discharge or release from service in the active military, naval, or air service. For purposes of this paragraph, a covered individual is an individual who was discharged or released from service in the active military, naval, or air service under conditions that were characterized as neither honorable nor dishonorable. Outreach carried out pursuant to the program required by subparagraph
(A)shall include distribution of information about what benefits and services covered individuals may be eligible for under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Outreach under the program required by subparagraph
(A)shall include the follow methods of contact: Traditional and social media. Websites and blogs of the Department. Informational brochures and fact sheets. Community events. Section 101(2) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking under conditions other than dishonorable and inserting , other than a person whose rights are barred by section 5303(a) of this title . The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that services provided by the Veterans Justice Outreach Program are available to all individuals who served in the active military, naval, or air service, regardless of the nature of their discharge or release from such service. In this paragraph: The term justice-involved veteran means a veteran with active, ongoing, or recent contact with some component of a local criminal justice system. The term local criminal justice system means law enforcement, jails, prisons, and Federal, State, and local courts. The term Veterans Justice Outreach Program means the program through which the Department of Veterans Affairs identifies justice-involved veterans and provides such veterans with access to Department services. In this section, the terms active military, naval, or air service and veteran have the meanings given such terms in section 101 of title 38, United States Code.