{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr2915-114/featured_female-veteran-suicide-prevention-act-1455098468.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr2915-114/featured_large_female-veteran-suicide-prevention-act-1455098468.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr2915-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2015-06-25","title_override":"Preventing Female Veteran Suicide With Better VA Mental Health Care","summary_override":"

Aiming to better address female veteran suicide, this bill would require metrics for suicides among women vets to be included in annual assessments of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA).

A review and report on the VA's mental health care would be conducted by a nongovernment entity. The bill also would require the VA to outline standards for treating veterans who have served on classified missions.

The VA would also have to:

Establish policies to ensure that all covered veterans have access to VA mental health care that accommodates a veteran’s responsibility to withhold classified information;
Offer guidance to VA employees and mental health professionals, regarding these standards and procedures.

This bill defines “covered veterans\" as anyone who:

Is enrolled in the VA health care system;
Is seeking mental health treatment after military service;
Participated in a sensitive (classified) mission or served in a unit primarily involved in training for or conducting special activities or classified missions.

","official_title":"To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to identify mental health care and suicide prevention programs and metrics that are effective in treating women veterans as part of the evaluation of such programs by the Secretary, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on December 3, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)\n\nFemale Veteran Suicide Prevention Act\n\n(Sec. 2) This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to identify: (1) VA mental health care and suicide prevention programs that are most effective for women veterans, and (2) those programs with the highest satisfaction rates among women veterans.\n\n(Sec. 3) It is the sense of Congress that veterans who experience combat-related mental health wounds should have immediate and consistent access to comprehensive mental health care.\n\n The VA shall:\n\n establish standards and procedures to ensure that each covered veteran may access VA mental health care in a manner that fully accommodates the veteran's obligation to not improperly disclose classified information; and disseminate guidance to Veterans Health Administration employees, including mental health professionals, regarding these standards and pro...","summarized":true,"cost":500000,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that this bill would cost less than $500,000 over the 2016-2020 period.","impact":"Female veterans and veterans who participated in classified activities, their families and communities, the Veterans Health Administration, and the VA.","argument_for":"The VA needs to do all that it can to provide mental health and suicide prevention services to vulnerable groups of veterans — particularly women and those who were involved in classified activities.","argument_against":"By focusing on female veterans and those who participated in classified activities, this bill neglects other veterans and the mental health care and suicide prevention programs that serve them.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr2915-114","bill_id":"hr2915-114","formal_id":"H.R. 2915","chamber":"house","congress":114,"last_action_at":"2016-02-10T00:00:00.000Z","active":true,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":"2016-02-09T21:44:37.000Z","debated_on":"2016-02-08T00:00:00.000Z","congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/2915","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114hr2915rfs/html/BILLS-114hr2915rfs.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr2915-114.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/2915/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2016-02-10","related_bill_ids":["s2487-114"],"progress":"Passed House","house_passage_result":true,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":312,"committees":[{"name":"Health","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSVR03","subcommittee":true},{"name":"Committee on Veterans' Affairs","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSVR","subcommittee":false},{"name":"Committee on Veterans' Affairs","chamber":"senate","committee_id":"SSVA","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr2915-114","details":"/api/bills/hr2915-114/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr2915-114","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr2915-114/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr2915-114/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":21,"slug":"hr2915-114-female-veteran-suicide-prevention-act","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":2688,"yea_vote_count":1983,"nay_vote_count":701,"passed_house":true,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["defense","families"],"issue_ids":["defense","military","federal-agencies","veterans-affairs","families"],"sponsor_id":170}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"defense","name":"Defense","slug":"defense","description":"Federal legislation related to Defense spending, the active duty military, intelligence activities, war powers and veterans’ care. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about.","page_title":"US Armed forces and Defense related Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/defense/black_defense-1429042040.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/defense/grey_defense-1429042040.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/defense/white_defense-1429042040.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"military","name":"Military","slug":"military","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Military . Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Military Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/military/black_military-1429042060.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/military/grey_military-1429042060.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/military/white_military-1429042060.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"federal-agencies","name":"Federal Agencies","slug":"federal-agencies","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Federal Agencies. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Federal Agencies Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/federal-agencies/black_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/federal-agencies/grey_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/federal-agencies/white_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"veterans-affairs","name":"Veterans Affairs","slug":"veterans-affairs","description":"Legislation impacting Veterans Affairs and funding. \r\n\r\nCountable empowers you with the knowledge and tools necessary to directly influence Veterans Affairs policy. Countable is live on the web, as an iPhone app in the App Store, and on Android on Amazon and Google Play.\r\n\r\nTell your Senators and Representative what you think about how they’re doing for Veterans Affairs– not every six or two years – but every day!\r\n","page_title":"Veterans Affairs Issue Desk at Countable - Vote on Legislation, Stay informed, Hold Government Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/veterans-affairs/black_veterans-affairs-1429042036.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/veterans-affairs/grey_veterans-affairs-1429042036.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/veterans-affairs/white_veterans-affairs-1429042036.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"families","name":"Families","slug":"families","description":"Congressional legislation related to Families encompassing a wide variety of potential subjects, including: adoption child care, child safety, domestic violence and abuse, marriage, divorce and teenage pregnancy.","page_title":"Federal legislation related to Families - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/families/black_families-1429042038.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/families/grey_families-1429042038.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/families/white_families-1429042038.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"hrieniets","vote_count":860,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/omEeEbXm/large_omeeebxm-1456628546.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/omEeEbXm/small_omeeebxm-1456628546.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/omEeEbXm/tiny_omeeebxm-1456628546.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/omEeEbXm/following","followers":"/api/users/omEeEbXm/followers"},"about_me":"Independent, moderate","twitter_id":"hrieniets","facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"hrieniets","issue_count":129,"is_following":null,"influence_score":465,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":4,"following_count":0,"position_count":127,"id":"omEeEbXm","partner_id":null},{"name":"Harry","vote_count":409,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/QZODRjdm/following","followers":"/api/users/QZODRjdm/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"harry","issue_count":14,"is_following":null,"influence_score":350,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":6,"following_count":6,"position_count":14,"id":"QZODRjdm","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"f8984c25-bd4c-45bf-bd83-80e31e8037b9","argument_for":"I say yes to this, but another bill should be included to do the same for all veterans, not just women. That does not mean I wouldn't support the good things in THIS bill, but more should be done.","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":2,"upvotes_for_count":2,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":2,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/f8984c25-bd4c-45bf-bd83-80e31e8037b9"},"body":"I say yes to this, but another bill should be included to do the same for all veterans, not just women. That does not mean I wouldn't support the good things in THIS bill, but more should be done.","stance":"yea","created_at":"2016-01-26T19:42:08.585Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/f8984c25-bd4c-45bf-bd83-80e31e8037b9.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr2915-114","user_id":"omEeEbXm","endorser_ids":["omEeEbXm","QZODRjdm"]}}

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Preventing Female Veteran Suicide With Better VA Mental Health Care