Enhancing Faith-Based Support for Veterans Act of 2025
This bill, the Enhancing Faith-Based Support for Veterans Act of 2025, would allow chaplains employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to share a patient’s contact information with a non-VA religious or faith-based organization, but only if the patient consents. Specifically, after a VA chaplain conducts a spiritual assessment of a patient, the chaplain may transmit the patient’s contact details to a faith-based organization chosen by the patient. The sharing is voluntary and hinges on the patient’s election. The bill defines “spiritual assessment” as the chaplain’s evaluation to gather spiritual information about the patient and to inform the patient’s medical treatment plan, if applicable. It would add a new Sec. 1730D to Title 38, U.S. Code, to formalize this process and align the section numbering accordingly.
Key Points
- 1Adds a new provision (Sec. 1730D) to Title 38 that allows voluntary transmission of patient contact information by VA chaplains to non-Department religious or faith-based organizations, but only with the patient’s election.
- 2Transmission occurs only after a chaplain has conducted a spiritual assessment of the patient.
- 3The patient can designate which non-VA religious or faith-based organization may receive the contact information.
- 4“Spiritual assessment” is defined as the chaplain’s evaluation to gather spiritual information about the patient and, if applicable, to inform the patient’s medical treatment plan.
- 5The sharing is limited to contact information (not explicitly stated as medical or other data) and is intended to connect veterans with external faith-based support.