WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss., have introduced a new bipartisan proposal aimed at improving mental health services for military members and veterans.

The “Military and Veterans’ Mental Health Care Provider Assessment Act,” S. 715, would require the Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure all direct care providers receive training in suicide risk recognition and management at least once every three years.

“Mental health providers are leading the battle against the scourge of suicides devastating military families across the nation,” Wicker said. “Those caring for America’s heroes should have the most up-to-date training and support available.”

“Direct health care providers at the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are on the front lines of providing mental health treatment and support to our service members and veterans,” Donnelly said. “An effective continuum of mental health care requires DoD and VA to work together to recognize, assess, and manage mental health conditions using the best tools and treatments available. I am proud to work with my friend Senator Wicker on the bipartisan ‘Military and Veterans’ Mental Health Care Provider Assessment Act’ that would help ensure that DoD and VA providers have the knowledge, training, and tools to deliver the best possible mental health care to our troops and veterans.”

The legislation would require DoD and VA to:

• Ensure all direct care providers receive training in suicide risk recognition and management at least once every three years;

• Carry out annual evaluations of mental health providers’ use of DoD-VA joint clinical practice guidelines and other best practices, including such evaluations in provider performance reviews. The results of these evaluations would be reported to Congress to make sure treatment standards issued by DoD and VA are implemented, and not just talked about;

• Conduct a joint assessment on the current mental health workforce employed directly by DoD and VA as well as the long-term mental health needs of service members and veterans, with the aim of improving workforce development, recruitment, and retention efforts in the future; and

• Develop and submit a plan to Congress on how DoD and VA can monitor mental health outcomes for direct care providers, variations in outcomes among different DoD and VA medical facilities, and barriers to use of evidence-based mental health treatments.

Wicker and Donnelly are longtime advocates of better mental health access for service members and veterans. Last year, they introduced the “Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act of 2014” to advance efforts in military suicide prevention.  This legislation was included in the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015” and signed into law.