Recognizing Community Organizations for Veteran Engagement and Recovery Act
Sponsored By: Representative Bost
In Committee
Summary
Expands access to culturally competent outpatient mental health care for veterans by creating a three-year VA pilot that awards grants to eligible non-profit community mental health providers.
Show full summary
- Veterans gain free outpatient mental health care at participating clinics because grant recipients may not charge fees. The pilot would also encourage veterans to enroll in the VA patient enrollment system.
- Nonprofit community providers that have operated an outpatient mental health facility for at least three continuous years could apply. Grants can be up to $1.5 million per facility per year and are limited if more than 50% of a facility's prior-year operating budget came from Federal grants.
- The VA would set clinician training standards to ensure culturally competent care, require data collection on clinical outcomes, and balance awards between rural and urban facilities. The agency may prioritize medically underserved areas, large veteran populations, locations near military installations, or sites with many veterans at high risk of suicide and must report program results to Congress within 180 days after the pilot ends.
*Would authorize $20 million per year for fiscal years 2025–2027, up to $60 million total, increasing federal spending over that period.*
Your PRIA Score
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Grant cap of $1.5 million per clinic
If enacted, each clinic could receive up to $1.5 million per year from the pilot. If a clinic got at least 50% of its prior-year budget from federal grants, its award could not be more than the smaller of $1.5 million or 50% of its operating budget.
Free mental health care for veterans at pilot clinics
If enacted, the VA would run a three-year pilot that pays clinics to provide outpatient mental health care to veterans. Grant-funded sites would have to offer culturally competent, evidence-based care. Clinics could not charge veterans any fees for care under the grant, and could not refuse care because a veteran lacks reimbursement coverage. Clinics could operate existing sites or open new ones and may bill health plans, the VA Community Care Program, or other programs. Clinics would also encourage eligible veterans to enroll in the VA patient system.
Grants for nonprofit clinics serving veterans
If enacted, only nonprofit providers that have operated at least one U.S. outpatient mental health clinic for three years could apply. Applications would need to name the clinic sites, show a plan to have at least one trained clinician per site under VA standards, and report what share of last year’s budget came from federal grants. The VA would set training requirements, spread awards evenly between rural and urban sites, and may prioritize underserved areas and other high-need locations. Recipients would have to track results, and the VA would report outcomes to Congress within 180 days after the pilot ends.
Authorizes $20 million yearly for pilot
If enacted, the bill would authorize $20 million each year for FY2025, FY2026, and FY2027 to run the pilot. That totals $60 million over three years. This is an authorization and would still need actual appropriations to spend.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Bost
IL • R
Cosponsors
Del. Radewagen, Aumua Amata Coleman [R-AS-At Large]
AS • R
Sponsored 4/29/2025
Bergman
MI • R
Sponsored 6/6/2025
Carter (GA)
GA • R
Sponsored 7/14/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.govTake It Personal
Get Your Personalized Policy View
Start a Free Government Policy Watch to see how policy affects your household, then upgrade to PRIA Full Coverage for year-round monitoring.
Already have an account? Sign in