§317 — Title 38 Veterans' Benefits | U.S. Code

Summary

Create a Center for Minority Veterans inside the Department of Veterans Affairs, led by a Director who must be a Senior Executive Service appointee (career or noncareer) and who serves a six-year term. The Director reports straight to the Secretary or the Deputy Secretary. The Director acts as the main adviser on policies for veterans who are minorities, recommends new or improved programs to VA officials, runs outreach and benefit-promotion efforts, shares successful program ideas, leads social and demographic research on minority veterans’ needs, reviews complaints about VA services and reports findings, works with other government and private program officials to increase minority veteran use of benefits, warns the Secretary about laws or policies that discourage use, publicizes medical research important to minority veterans, advises on minority inclusion in clinical research (including matters related to section 492B of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 289a–2), supports the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans, and does other related duties the Secretary assigns. The Secretary must give the Director enough resources to do the job. Each year’s budget materials sent to Congress must include the Center’s budget details, the Secretary’s view on whether the proposed resources (including staff numbers) are enough, and a report on the Center’s past-year activities and accomplishments. “Veterans who are minorities” means veterans who are minority group members, and “minority group member” is defined in section 544(d).

Title 38, §317

Veterans' Benefits — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)There is in the Department a Center for Minority Veterans. There is at the head of the Center a Director.

(b)The Director shall be a career or noncareer appointee in the Senior Executive Service. The Director shall be appointed for a term of six years.

(c)The Director reports directly to the Secretary or the Deputy Secretary concerning the activities of the Center.

(d)The Director shall perform the following functions with respect to veterans who are minorities:

(1)Serve as principal adviser to the Secretary on the adoption and implementation of policies and programs affecting veterans who are minorities.

(2)Make recommendations to the Secretary, the Under Secretary for Health, the Under Secretary for Benefits, and other Department officials for the establishment or improvement of programs in the Department for which veterans who are minorities are eligible.

(3)Promote the use of benefits authorized by this title by veterans who are minorities and the conduct of outreach activities to veterans who are minorities, in conjunction with outreach activities carried out under chapter 77 of this title.

(4)Disseminate information and serve as a resource center for the exchange of information regarding innovative and successful programs which improve the services available to veterans who are minorities.

(5)Conduct and sponsor appropriate social and demographic research on the needs of veterans who are minorities and the extent to which programs authorized under this title meet the needs of those veterans, without regard to any law concerning the collection of information from the public.

(6)Analyze and evaluate complaints made by or on behalf of veterans who are minorities about the adequacy and timeliness of services provided by the Department and advise the appropriate official of the Department of the results of such analysis or evaluation.

(7)Consult with, and provide assistance and information to, officials responsible for administering Federal, State, local, and private programs that assist veterans, to encourage those officials to adopt policies which promote the use of those programs by veterans who are minorities.

(8)Advise the Secretary when laws or policies have the effect of discouraging the use of benefits by veterans who are minorities.

(9)Publicize the results of medical research which are of particular significance to veterans who are minorities.

(10)Advise the Secretary and other appropriate officials on the effectiveness of the Department’s efforts to accomplish the goals of section 492B of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 289a–2) with respect to the inclusion of minorities in clinical research and on particular health conditions affecting the health of members of minority groups which should be studied as part of the Department’s medical research program and promote cooperation between the Department and other sponsors of medical research of potential benefit to veterans who are minorities.

(11)Provide support and administrative services to the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans provided for under section 544 of this title.

(12)Perform such other duties consistent with this section as the Secretary shall prescribe.

(e)The Secretary shall ensure that the Director is furnished sufficient resources to enable the Director to carry out the functions of the Center in a timely manner.

(f)The Secretary shall include in documents submitted to Congress by the Secretary in support of the President’s budget for each fiscal year—

(1)detailed information on the budget for the Center;

(2)the Secretary’s opinion as to whether the resources (including the number of employees) proposed in the budget for that fiscal year are adequate to enable the Center to comply with its statutory and regulatory duties; and

(3)a report on the activities and significant accomplishments of the Center during the preceding fiscal year.

(g)In this section—

(1)The term “veterans who are minorities” means veterans who are minority group members.

(2)The term “minority group member” has the meaning given such term in section 544(d) of this title.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Prior section 317, added Pub. L. 102–218, § 1(a), Dec. 11, 1991, 105 Stat. 1671; amended Pub. L. 103–446, title XII, § 1201(e)(4), Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4685, related to Chief Minority Affairs Officer, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 103–446, § 509(a).

Amendments

1996—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–275, § 501(a), inserted “career or” before “noncareer”. Subsec. (d)(10) to (12). Pub. L. 104–275, § 501(b), added pars. (10) and (11) and redesignated former par. (10) as (12). Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 104–275, § 501(c), added subsec. (g).

§317 Center for Minority Veterans