119-hr2283

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2283 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2283

 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot 
 program to provide grants to outpatient mental health facilities for 
 the provision of culturally competent, evidence-based mental health 
 care for veterans, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 March 24, 2025

 Mr. Bost introduced the following bill; 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 provide grants to outpatient mental health facilities for 
 the provision of culturally competent, evidence-based mental health 
 care for veterans, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Recognizing Community Organizations 
for Veteran Engagement and Recovery Act'' of the ``RECOVER Act''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PILOT PROGRAM TO PROVIDE GRANTS 
 TO MEDICAL FACILITIES FOR THE PROVISION OF CULTURALLY 
 COMPETENT, EVIDENCE-BASED MENTAL HEALTH CARE FOR 
 VETERANS.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry 
out a three-year pilot program under which the Secretary shall make 
grants to eligible mental health care providers for the provision of 
culturally competent, evidence-based mental health care for veterans.

    (b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under the pilot 
program, a mental health care provider shall--

    (1) be a non-profit organization;

    (2) have operated at least one outpatient mental health 
 facility in the United States for a continuous period of at 
 least three years; and

    (3) submit to the Secretary an application that includes 
 such information and assurances as the Secretary may require, 
 including--
        (A) an identification of the outpatient facility or 
 facilities where the provider will provide mental 
 health care to veterans using the grant funds;
        (B) a plan under which at least one clinician 
 employed by the provider at each facility for which a 
 grant is made is trained to provide culturally 
 competent veterans mental health care pursuant to the 
 requirements established by the Secretary under 
 subsection

    (f) ; and
            (C) an identification of the percentage of the 
 operating budget for each such facility that was 
 provided through Federal grants during the fiscal year 
 preceding the year during which the application is 
 submitted.
            (c) Use of Funds.--

    (1) In general.--The recipient of a grant under the pilot 
 program shall use the grant--
        (A) to provide culturally competent, evidence-based 
 mental health care for veterans;
        (B) to operate an existing outpatient mental health 
 facility or establish a new outpatient mental health 
 facility for the purpose of providing such care; and
            (C) to encourage veterans who are eligible for 
 enrollment in the patient enrollment system under 
 

section 1705 of title 38, United States Code, to enroll 
 in such system and to receive medical services 
 furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    (2) Limitations.--The recipient of a grant under the pilot 
 program may not--
        (A) charge any veteran a fee associated with the 
 receipt of mental health care; or
        (B) refuse to provide mental health care to any 
 veteran on the basis that the veteran is not eligible 
 for reimbursement for such care under a health plan 
 contract or any Federal, State, or local government 
 program.

    (3) Reimbursement.--Nothing in this subsection shall 
 prevent the recipient of a grant under the pilot program from 
 seeking or receiving reimbursement for all, or a portion, of 
 the mental health care provided to a veteran, including 
 reimbursement under a health plan contract, the Community Care 
 Program of the Department under 

section 1703 of title 38, 
 United States Care, or any other Federal, State, or local 
 government program.
            (d) Selection of Facilities.--In selecting outpatient mental health 
facilities for the receipt of grants under the pilot program, the 
Secretary--

    (1) shall ensure that grants are distributed evenly among 
 outpatient mental health facilities located in rural and urban 
 areas;

    (2) may consider the proportion of veterans historically 
 served by the outpatient mental health facilities; and

    (3) may prioritize outpatient mental health facilities 
 located in areas that the Secretary determines--
        (A) are medically underserved;
        (B) have large veteran populations;
            (C) are located near military installations; or
            (D) have large numbers of veterans at high risk of 
 suicide.

    (e) Amount of Grant.--

    (1) In general.--
        (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph
        (B) , no grant under the pilot program for a facility 
 for any fiscal year may exceed $1,500,000.
        (B) Limitation.--In the case of an outpatient 
 mental health facility for which at least 50 percent of 
 the operating budget of the facility for the preceding 
 fiscal year was provided through Federal grants, no 
 grant under the pilot program for the facility for any 
 fiscal year may exceed the lesser of--
            (i) 50 percent of the operating budget of 
 the facility; or
            (ii) $1,500,000.

    (2) Multiple grants.--The recipient of a grant under the 
 pilot program--
        (A) may apply for, and receive, grants for more 
 than one facility of the recipient for any fiscal year; 
 and
        (B) may apply for, and receive, a grant for a 
 facility that has already received a grant under the 
 pilot program.

    (f) Training Requirement.--The Secretary shall establish the 
requirements for the training referred to in subsection

    (b)

    (2)
        (A) .

    (g) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to 
carry out this section, which shall include a requirement that each 
recipient of a grant under the pilot program shall--

    (1) demonstrate the capacity to provide accountability;

    (2) demonstrate clinical outcomes; and

    (3) justify the effective use of any private investment 
 funds or Federal grant funds through data collection and 
 reporting metrics.

    (h) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the completion of the 
pilot program under this section, the Secretary shall submit to 
Congress a report on the pilot program that includes the following:

    (1) The number of veterans who received mental health care 
 under the program.

    (2) The demographics of the veterans served.

    (3) An identification of the types of mental health care 
 provided and the time period for which such care was provided.

    (4) An identification of program outcomes.

    (5) The number of veterans who received mental health care 
 under the program and subsequently enrolled in the patient 
 enrollment system under 

section 1705 of title 38, United States 
 Code.

    (6) An identification of any obstacles faced by grant 
 recipients in providing mental health care under the program.
            (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the pilot program under this 
section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2027.
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