S.Amdt. 4045

SA 4045. Mr. ROUNDS submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 3896 proposed by Ms. Collins (for herself, Mr. Kirk, Mr.
Reed, and Mr. Tester) to the bill H.R. 2577, making appropriations for
the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development,
and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and
for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of title II of division B, add the following:

SEC. 251. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE
MONITORING OF MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE
TREATMENT PROGRAMS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS.

(a) Establishment.--Commencing not later than 180 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs shall establish a grant program to improve
the monitoring of mental health and substance abuse treatment
programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(b) Grants.--
(1) Main grant.--
(A) Award.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary
shall award grants to four protection and advocacy systems
under which each protection and advocacy system shall carry
out a demonstration project to investigate and monitor the
care and treatment of veterans provided under chapter 17 of
title 38, United States Code, for mental illness or substance
abuse issues at medical facilities of the Department.
(B) Minimum amount.--Each grant awarded under subparagraph
(A) to a protection and advocacy system shall be in an amount
that is not less than $105,000 for each year that the
protection and advocacy system carries out a demonstration
project described in such subparagraph under the grant
program.
(2) Collaboration grant.--
(A) Award.--During each year in which a protection and
advocacy system carries out a demonstration project under
paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary shall award a joint grant to
a national organization with extensive knowledge of the
protection and advocacy system and a veterans service
organization in the amount of $80,000.
(B) Collaboration.--Each national organization and veterans
service organization that is awarded a joint grant under
subparagraph (A) shall use the amount of the grant to
facilitate the collaboration between the national
organization and the veterans service organization to--
(i) coordinate training and technical assistance for the
protection and advocacy systems awarded grants under
paragraph (1)(A); and
(ii) provide for data collection, reporting, and analysis
in carrying out such paragraph.
(3) Authority.--In carrying out a demonstration project
under paragraph (1)(A), a protection and advocacy system
shall have the authorities specified in section 105(a) of the
Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness
Act (42 U.S.C. 10805(a)) with respect to medical facilities
of the Department.
(c) Selection.--In selecting the four protection and
advocacy systems to receive grants under subsection
(b)(1)(A), the Secretary shall consider the following
criteria:
(1) Whether the protection and advocacy system has
demonstrated monitoring and investigation experience, along
with knowledge of the issues facing veterans with
disabilities.
(2) Whether the State in which the protection and advocacy
system operates--
(A) has low aggregated scores in the domains of mental
health, performance, and access as rated by the Strategic
Analytics Improvement and Learning database system (commonly
referred to as ``SAIL''); and
(B) to the extent practicable, is representative of both
urban and rural States.
(d) Reports.--The Secretary shall ensure that each
protection and advocacy system participating in the grant
program submits to the Secretary reports developed by the
protection and advocacy system relating to investigations or
monitoring conducted pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(A). The
Secretary shall designate an office of the Department of
Veterans Affairs to receive each such report.
(e) Duration; Termination.--
(1) Duration.--The Secretary shall carry out the grant
program established under subsection (a) for a period of five
years beginning on the date of commencement of the grant
program.
(2) Termination of demonstration projects.--The Secretary
may terminate a demonstration project under subsection
(b)(1)(A) before the end of the five-year period described in
paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines there is good cause
for such termination. If the Secretary carries out such a
termination, the Secretary shall award grants under such
subsection to a new protection and advocacy system for the
remaining duration of the grant program.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the grant
program under subsection (a) $500,000 for each of fiscal
years 2017 through 2021.
(g) Transfer of Funds.--Of the funds made available to the
Department of Defense in title I of division B of this Act
for the Department of Defense Base Closure Account, $500,000
shall be transferred to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to
carry out this section in fiscal year 2017.
(h) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``protection and advocacy system'' has the
meaning given the term ``eligible system'' in section 102(2)
of the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental
Illness Act (42 U.S.C. 10802(2)).
(2) The term ``State'' means each of the several States,
territories, and possessions of the United States, the
District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(3) The term ``veterans service organization'' means any
organization recognized by the Secretary for the
representation of veterans under section 5902 of title 38,
United States Code.
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