VA Mental Health Outreach and Engagement Act

The VA Mental Health Outreach and Engagement Act would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide veterans who receive compensation for a service-connected mental health disability with an annual mental health consultation, starting not less than once per year. The bill also obligates VA to actively outreach to these veterans about the availability of such consultations and other VA mental health services. In addition to creating this annual requirement, the measure restructures the relevant statute by renaming and reordering the mental health consultation provisions (moving them from section 1167 to 1169) and making related clerical corrections. The bill also authorizes VA to use the annual contact to reevaluate a veteran’s compensation entitlement if appropriate. Finally, the Comptroller General (GAO) would conduct a review within two years to assess uptake, barriers to access, and related impacts. In short, the bill aims to strengthen ongoing engagement in mental health care for veterans with mental health-related disabilities by ensuring at least annual check-ins and proactive outreach, while creating a mechanism for oversight and evaluation of the program’s effectiveness.