United StatesRequires VA study of chaplain services and codifies annual suicide report
The bill could change how the VA evaluates faith-based support and allocates suicide-prevention resources for veterans.
What it does
Codifies an annual suicide-prevention report and requires an annual briefing to the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees.
Requires the VA Secretary to conduct a two-year study on the relationship between veterans’ engagement with VA chaplaincy/faith-based programs and suicide risk.
Directs the study to define measurable engagement categories, track chaplain-involved mental health service use and faith-based program use, analyze outcomes, and identify best practices.
Requires safeguards: veterans must be informed of data collection; no reporting that compromises medical or protected religious confidentiality; chaplain services remain voluntary.
Requires annual reports to Veterans’ Affairs committees during the study, including data summaries, analyses, lists of effective programs, and recommendations.
Argument forCollecting systematic data on chaplaincy and faith-based program use could identify effective programs and improve suicide-prevention resource allocation.
Argument againstTracking engagement with faith-based services risks privacy or religious confidentiality breaches despite stated safeguards, especially if data linking occurs.
Where do you stand?
Choose your position
Tell your reps
Take a position to see your representatives and ways to contact them.
Where it stands
- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- To President
- Became Law
Looking ahead
No hearings or votes scheduled.
History
- 2026
- Jun 30Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.Latest
- Jun 18Introduced in House
- Jun 18Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.Introduced
Mental HealthVeteransConsumer Protection