No Wrong Door for Veterans Act
No Wrong Door for Veterans Act
Plain Language Summary
# No Wrong Door for Veterans Act - Bill Summary **What the Bill Does:** The No Wrong Door for Veterans Act would extend and improve a Veterans Affairs program that funds suicide prevention services for veterans, active-duty service members, and their families. The bill increases grant funding amounts, requires the VA to conduct yearly briefings about the program at medical centers near participating organizations, and standardizes mental health screenings across the program. It also modifies which organizations can apply for these grants. **Who It Affects:** This bill directly benefits veterans and military members struggling with suicidal thoughts, as well as their families.
It also affects nonprofit organizations, community groups, and healthcare providers that receive VA grants to deliver suicide prevention services. **Current Status:** The bill has passed the House of Representatives and is pending consideration in the Senate. If approved there and signed by the President, the program would receive continued funding and improvements through 2028.
CRS Official Summary
No Wrong Door for Veterans ActThis bill reauthorizes through FY2028 and modifies the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which awards grants to eligible entities to provide or coordinate suicide prevention services for veterans and members of the Armed Forces and their families.Among other elements, the billadjusts the maximum amount for grants awarded under the program and provides for additional funding per individual who receives suicide prevention services provided or coordinated by a grantee;requires the VA to provide briefings about the grant program at least once a year to certain personnel at each VA medical center located within 100 miles from the primary location of a grantee;requires baseline mental health screenings for risk provided as suicide prevention services under the program to use a protocol selected by the VA; andmodifies eligibility requirements for entities seeking grants, including by authorizing applications from health care providers.In subsequent applications, grantees who have previously received funds under the program must include evidence that previously awarded funds served a significant number of veterans.The bill requires grantees to notify (1) eligible individuals that they may receive emergent suicide care furnished or paid for by the VA, and (2) the VA if eligible individuals request emergent suicide care.
Latest Action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.