Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act of 2018

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4635, the Peer-2-Peer Counseling Act. I want to thank my friend and colleague, Mr. Coffman, for his leadership on this very important issue.

The bill we are considering today will help ensure that our women veterans are fully equipped to transition back to civilian life.

Women veterans are the single fastest growing group of veterans in America. They face many challenges unique to our women warriors. Women veterans need access to peer counselors who are trained in recovery from military sexual trauma, post-traumatic stress, and mental health conditions that they may be struggling with.

I think it is also worth noting that women veterans are disproportionately juggling childcare, which complicates their ability to seek treatment elsewhere. They have special needs and experiences.

Our women veterans should have the opportunity to receive the advice and counseling from someone who knows what they have been and are still going through as women warriors. We need to help ensure that they have the resources to succeed.

The VA must also do more to help ensure that every veteran is able to benefit from peer support and has awareness and access to those services. That is why I am so pleased that this bill today requires the VA to conduct outreach to ensure that our women veterans know how to get access to this important and valuable assistance.

Too often, I hear from veterans in my home State of Connecticut that they are simply unaware that these services are available. We may offer them through the VA, but if our veterans don't know they are there, they aren't going to get the benefits they deserve. In many cases, programs exist to help our women veterans, but the veterans don't know they are there.

Peer support counselors have been through a transition before. They understand what it takes, and they can be particularly effective in meeting the needs of our women warriors.

With the fastest growing number of women in this country who are veterans, now nearly 2 million veterans in America--think about that, 2 million--we need to do better by them through the VA. This is an important peer-to-peer counseling support program. I am delighted that we came together as a committee with bipartisan support to support this bill.

We are also urging other legislation named in honor of Deborah Sampson, the first woman to serve this country, to serve America in the Revolutionary War, who dressed as a man.

It is important that we reassure today's women in Active Duty and those transitioning out that we will take care of them and their families as they make that important transition to civilian life. They have earned our support in the military. We need to provide it to them as they transition out.

Again, I want to thank my colleagues on the committee, the chairman and the ranking member, and Mr. Coffman for their important work.

I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 4635, the Peer-2-Peer Counseling Act.

Currently, women veterans represent over 9 percent of our Nation's veterans, and that number is expected to increase to 15 percent by the year 2030. As more women veterans utilize VA healthcare, it is critical for the VA to update and improve services for women veterans. One area that warrants our particular attention for improved services is VA mental health counseling services for women veterans.

An alarming statistic from VA's 2016 suicide data report noted that the ``risk of suicide was 2.4 times higher among female veterans when compared with civilian adult females,'' and it also noted ``rates of suicide increased more among women than men in the same study.''

Unfortunately, many women veterans have experienced sexual trauma and PTSD while serving in the military. Some women veterans are suffering from other mental health conditions from multiple combat tours of duty and are at risk of suicide and becoming homeless.

The Peer-2-Peer Counseling Act addresses these issues by requiring the Secretary of the VA to ensure a sufficient number of volunteer peer support counselors are available to facilitate peer-to-peer counseling and assist women veterans with gender-specific care and services.

H.R. 4635 will increase access to vital mental health opportunities within the VA for women veterans. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Peer-2-Peer Counseling Act to better serve the growing women veteran population.

I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4635 to better meet the needs of the program and provide needed services to many more veterans.

I will mention one other bill that just passed the House, H.R. 2147, the Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act, which builds upon a very successful program that essentially provides VA liaisons or veteran justice outreach program officers within these veteran treatment courts that facilitate VA services, whether drug and alcohol, mental health, or other services, to veterans who would otherwise be incarcerated. They have fallen into the criminal justice system often related to their military service, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health disorders, where they have problems adjusting from military life to civilian life.

What this program does is provide rehabilitative services in court for our veterans. With the VA in support, it keeps these veterans at a very successful rate. I think in the 18th Judicial District in my congressional district, the veterans court has a 73 percent success rate in keeping these veterans out of the criminal justice system by providing VA rehabilitative services for them. I think an expansion of this program is so important.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for having passed this bill unanimously just previously today.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4635) to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase the number of peer-to-peer counselors providing counseling for women veterans, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material in the Record on H.R. 4635, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4635, as amended. This bill would ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs existing volunteer peer support counseling program includes peer counselors for women veterans.

As the number of veterans who are enrolled in the VA healthcare system continues to grow, it is critical that the VA programs are prepared to meet their needs. The peer support counseling program recruits veterans to serve on a volunteer basis to assist their fellow veterans who are struggling with mental health or readjustment issues and to conduct outreach to inform veterans and their families of the benefits and services that are available to them through the VA healthcare system.

Peer support counselors are trained and overseen by VA and, as peers, are often able to communicate on a more personal and effective basis than nonveteran clinicians, particularly to veterans who may be hesitant to seek VA care due to stigma or other barriers.

This bill is sponsored by Congressman Mike Coffman of Colorado. I am grateful to Mike for his leadership on the committee and for sponsoring this bill to ensure that VA recruits a sufficient number of women veteran volunteers to support the need through the peer support counseling program.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4635, as amended, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Coffman), my good friend and a senior member of the Veterans Affairs' Committee. He is also both an Army and Marine veteran.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I want to thank both sides of the aisle for bringing this forward.

As a physician and a veteran, I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that peer-to-peer counseling is the way to go. This legislation will help our female veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2147) to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to hire additional Veterans Justice Outreach Specialists to provide treatment court services to justice-involved veterans, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on H.R. 2147, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2147, as amended, the Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act of 2018.

This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, to hire at least 50 Veterans Justice Outreach specialists, also referred to as VJO specialists, to serve in a veterans treatment or other veteran-focused court.

VJO specialists provide direct outreach to and case management services for veterans who are involved in the local criminal justice system. They serve to protect some of our most vulnerable veterans from unnecessary criminalization and incarceration by working with law enforcement and the courts to identify service-related mental health or substance abuse issues that may be underlying criminal behavior among veterans, and to link veterans with treatment they need from the VA to recover and become fully functional and contributing members of society.

This bill is sponsored by Congressman Mike Coffman of Colorado. Mr. Coffman is a senior member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and a tireless advocate for service members, veterans, and their families.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership on this bill, and I urge all of our colleagues to join me in supporting this.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Coffman), both an Army and Marine veteran, my good friend and the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support H.R. 2147, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from California for his leadership.

I rise in support of the Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act of 2018 requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to hire 50 Veterans Justice Outreach specialists to support veteran treatment courts.

We have a sacred obligation to serve the needs of our Nation's veterans, including those struggling with addiction and the invisible wounds of war. Twenty percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression. One in six battle with substance abuse.

Left undiagnosed or untreated, these illnesses can lead to an encounter with the justice system. Worse yet, they can also lead to suicide, which veterans commit at more than twice the rate of the civilian population.

Fortunately, specialized veteran treatment courts are being developed across the country to help veterans who suffer from substance addiction or mental health disorders, and they receive the assistance they deserve.

The first such court was established in Buffalo, New York, in 2008. Since then, more than 300 have opened across the country, including one in Fairfax County and another in Prince William County, both counties I represent. I was glad to help establish the first docket in Fairfax County, and have been a proud supporter ever since.

By bringing these service organizations, State Veterans Services Departments and volunteer mentors into the courtroom, veteran treatment courts promote community collaboration and can connect veterans with the programs and benefits they have earned and they need.

Having a veteran-only court docket ensures that everyone, from the judge to the volunteers, specialize in veteran care; and the involvement of fellow veterans allows the defendant to experience the camaraderie to which he or she has become accustomed in the military.

We know this model works. It is our hope that the additional Veterans Justice Outreach specialists provided for in this bill will help promote veteran treatment courts as an alternative to detention for our Nation's returning heroes, and help them with the transition to civilian life.