Veterans’ Sentinel Act

Better tracking of suicides on VA property

The bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to set up a working group within 90 days, running 2 to 5 years. The group would collect and combine data on suicides and attempts that happen on VA property, and review root-cause and Behavioral Health Autopsy Program information. It would talk with VA medical centers at least every 90 days, add on-campus fields to incident reports, and build a system to merge all sources. VA would each year study trends and issue prevention steps, and include those in its annual report. VA would brief Congress within one year and then yearly, send a final report within 30 days after the group ends, and the bill would define “on-campus suicide” to standardize counting.