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S. 3245Senate119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

MIND Our Veterans Act of 2025

Sponsored by Pete RickettsSen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE)
Introduced November 20, 2025

AI-Generated Summary

Updated December 18, 2025 at 5:22 AM UTC

The MIND Our Veterans Act of 2025 directs the Department of Veterans Affairs‑Department of Defense Joint Executive Committee to upgrade the mental‑health screening that service members receive during their separation health assessment. The bill requires that the screens for PTSD, alcohol use, and violence risk be validated tools and that substance‑use screening be considered as part of the mental‑health evaluation. It also sets deadlines for implementing the updated assessment and reporting to Congress.

Key Provisions

  • The Joint Executive Committee must ensure that PTSD, alcohol‑use, and violence‑risk screens used in separation health assessments are validated, either by confirming existing tools or replacing them with validated ones.
  • The Committee must evaluate and, if appropriate, add a validated substance‑use screen to the separation health assessment, treating it as a mental‑health screen.
  • Within 120 days of the law’s enactment, the Committee must submit a report to the Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs committees explaining why it chose to include or exclude a substance‑use screen.
  • The Secretary of Defense, guided by the Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness, must fully implement the revised separation health assessment within 120 days.

Legislative Activity

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2 earlier actions
SenateCommittee Latest Action

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Hearings held.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

March 19, 2026

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

November 20, 2025

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Veterans' Affairs Committee

November 20, 2025

SenateCommittee

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Hearings held.

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

March 19, 2026

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued November 20, 2025

II

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 3245

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

November 20, 2025

Mr. Ricketts (for himself and Ms. Slotkin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

A BILL

To require the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense Joint Executive Committee to improve mental health screening conducted under separation health assessments for members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Medical Integrity in Necessary Diagnostics for Our Veterans Act of 2025 or the MIND Our Veterans Act of 2025.

2.

Improvement of mental health screening conducted under separation health assessments for members of the Armed Forces

(a)

Sense of Congress

It is the sense of Congress that—

(1)

in order to address the mental health challenges following separation of members of the Armed Forces from military service, transitioning members must receive effective mental health screening prior to separation;

(2)

all screens conducted for mental health for members of the Armed Forces under the separation health assessment must be validated screens;

(3)

it is essential that the Department of Defense fully implement the separation health assessment with validated screening; and

(4)

screening for substance use should be considered a necessary mental health screen and included in the separation health assessment.

(b)

Validated mental health screens

The Joint Executive Committee shall ensure the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) mental health screen, the alcohol use mental health screen, and the violence risk mental health screen under the separation health assessment are each modified to be a validated tool, which may include taking steps to validate an existing screen or replacing an existing screen with an already validated screen.

(c)

Inclusion of substance use in mental health screens

(1)

In general

The Joint Executive Committee shall incorporate screening for substance use as a mental health screen and shall assess whether to include such screening in the separation health assessment, including by taking such action as the Joint Executive Committee considers appropriate, which may include taking steps to incorporate a validated screen.

(2)

Report

Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Joint Executive Committee shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the justification of the Joint Executive Committee to include or not include a substance use screen under paragraph (1).

(d)

Implementation of separation health assessment

Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, under the guidance of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, shall fully implement the separation health assessment.

(e)

Definitions

In this section:

(1)

Appropriate congressional committees

The term appropriate congressional committees means—

(A)

the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate; and

(B)

the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives.

(2)

Joint Executive Committee

The term Joint Executive Committee means the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense Joint Executive Committee established under section 320 of title 38, United States Code.

(3)

Separation health assessment

The term separation health assessment means the health assessment for members of the Armed Forces separating from military service established by the Joint Executive Committee.