Legislation that will expand veteran access to mental health services is aimed at reducing the alarming rate of veteran suicide.
The bipartisan Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act includes a number of provisions authored by Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) to empower the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide resources to and share information with veteran-serving non-profits, as well as to require it to develop a measurement tool to assess the effectiveness of mental health programs.
The legislation passed through the Senate in August and was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives late last month.