§1720K Grants or Contracts to Provide Mental Health Support to Family Caregivers of Veterans

Summary

The Secretary can give grants or contracts to organizations to improve mental health counseling, treatment, or support for family caregivers of veterans who are in the family caregiver program. To get a grant or contract, an organization must apply and show a detailed plan for using the money. The plan must explain how the work will meet outcome goals the Secretary sets, how money will be shared fairly between urban and rural areas, and how it will serve veterans who live in rural places, Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native veterans, elderly veterans, women veterans, and other underserved groups. The Secretary will try to spread awards across States with different levels of urbanization and will give priority to areas with many family caregivers or with high veteran suicide rates or many referrals to the Veterans Crisis Line. Grants must expand or create programs or pay for travel tied to those efforts. The Secretary will write outcome measures and policy guidance, track performance, report to Congress at least once a year, publish performance information, and require a fix-it plan from any grantee that fails to meet the outcome measures. No one grant can be more than 10 percent of the total grant funds for a fiscal year. Grants must add to, not replace, other VA funding. Outreach materials for caregivers must note local grant-funded mental health support. Money for these activities will come from a separate VA account. The Secretary must show that amount separately in budget materials. Congress may appropriate $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 and 2026, and $1,972,603 for the period from October 1, 2026, to December 11, 2026. Definitions: “caregiver”/“family caregiver” (see section 1720G), “family caregiver program” (see section 1720G), and “Veterans Crisis Line” (see section 1720F).