Legislation to review mental health programs for service members, veterans introduced
- mdaviscvono
- Mar 27
- 2 min read
By Liz Carey, 24 days ago
Legislation to improve the mental health of service members and veterans was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week.
The Improving Mental Health Support for Servicemembers and Veterans Act, introduced by U.S. Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE), Jared Golden (D-ME), Jack Bergman (R-MI) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY), would launch a formal review into the effectiveness of the federal government mental health programs for service members and veterans. The goal, the law makers said, address longstanding accessibility issues for those who have transitioned or are transitioning to civilian life.
“The transition to civilian life is one of the most vulnerable periods in a servicemember’s career. We must ensure our mental health screening tools are validated, effective, and connecting people to care,” Bacon said. “The Improving Mental Health Support for Servicemembers and Veterans Act strengthens oversight, improves coordination between the Department of Defense and the VA, and helps ensure no servicemember falls through the cracks. I’m pleased to co-lead this bipartisan legislation with Rep. Golden on this important effort to better support our servicemembers and veterans.”
The legislation would require the U.S. Department of Defense-Veterans Affairs Joint Executive Committee (JEC) to assess the effectiveness of their programs that help veterans returning to civilian life access mental health services. The JEC’s review would be an inventory of the federal government’s mental health programs, along with metrics, milestones and plans of action to find and identify gaps in programming. The legislation requires the DoD to report the results of the review to the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees within 180 days.
The legislation would also require the JEC to update its existing Joint Separation Health Assessment every two years.
“When I came home from the Marines, I saw how important it is to have a strong support system in your corner. The VA is full of skilled public servants who do that work, but there’s only so much an individual employee can do about the fundamental gaps in service created by an imperfect system,” Golden said. “I’m grateful for the partnership of Congressmen Bergman, Bacon and Suozzi in the effort to show VA leaders just how lacking the agency’s outreach, rural logistics, and staffing efforts have been.”
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