Veterans’ Sentinel Act

Section 1709B of title 38, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in subsection (b)—

(A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as subparagraph (3); and

(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new paragraph (2):

(2) The statistical trends and recommendations described in subsection (b).

(2) by redesignating subsection (b), as amended, as subsection (c); and

(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new subsection (b):

On an annual basis, the Secretary shall—

(1) evaluate the statistical trends of suicides and attempted suicides by veterans that occur on the property of the Department; and

(2) determine recommendations for preventing such suicides and attempted suicides.

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a working group to collect and analyze data regarding on-campus suicides and attempted on-campus suicides.

In collecting and analyzing the information under paragraph (1), the working group shall—

(A) review root cause analysis data available to the Secretary regarding all on-campus suicides and attempted on-campus suicides;

(B) with respect to on-campus suicides—

(i) analyze data available to the Secretary under the Behavioral Health Autopsy Program of the Department, including family interviews; and

(ii) document reasons for any deficiencies in the data collected; and

(C) not less frequently than every 90 days, 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 offices.

The working group shall consider, and may implement for purposes described in paragraph (1), improvements to the processes by which the Secretary collects data regarding on-campus suicides and attempted on-campus suicides in order to unify the disparate sources of such data, including with respect to—

(A) modifying incident reports and other methods to collect data, including both suicide and attempted suicide report fields;

(B) developing and ensuring that each source of data relating to on-campus suicides and attempted on-campus suicides includes a specified section for such on-campus incidents; and

(C) developing an associated management system to consolidate all relevant data for on-campus suicides and attempted on-campus suicides, including such data from Behavioral Health Autopsy Program assessments, health records of the Department, root cause analyses, incident reports, and other sources of data.

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter during the period of operation under paragraph (6), the Secretary shall provide to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and Senate a briefing on the progress and findings of the working group established under such paragraph.

Not later than 30 days after the end of the period of operation under paragraph (6), the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report detailing—

(A) the effectiveness of the working group established under such paragraph; and

(B) any recommendations to enhance the data collection and management by the Secretary with respect to on-campus suicides and attempted on-campus suicides, including improvements identified under paragraph (3).

The working group shall operate for a period determined by the Secretary that is not less than two years and not longer than five years.

In this subsection, the term on-campus suicide means a suicide described in section 1709B(b) of title 38, United States Code, as amended by subsection (a).