
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document affected by Public Law 106-419 Section 402(f)]
[CITE: 38USC7321]

 
                      TITLE 38--VETERANS' BENEFITS
 
              PART V--BOARDS, ADMINISTRATIONS, AND SERVICES
 
 CHAPTER 73--VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION--ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS
 
           SUBCHAPTER II--GENERAL AUTHORITY AND ADMINISTRATION
 
Sec. 7321. Committee on Care of Severely Chronically Mentally 
        Ill Veterans
        
    (a) The Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Health, 
shall establish in the Veterans Health Administration a Committee on 
Care of Severely Chronically Mentally Ill Veterans. The Under Secretary 
shall appoint employees of the Department with expertise in the care of 
the chronically mentally ill to serve on the committee.
    (b) The committee shall assess, and carry out a continuing 
assessment of, the capability of the Veterans Health Administration to 
meet effectively the treatment and rehabilitation needs of mentally ill 
veterans whose mental illness is severe and chronic and who are eligible 
for health care furnished by the Department, including the needs of such 
veterans who are women. In carrying out that responsibility, the 
committee shall--
        (1) evaluate the care provided to such veterans through the 
    Veterans Health Administration;
        (2) identify systemwide problems in caring for such veterans in 
    facilities of the Veterans Health Administration;
        (3) identify specific facilities within the Veterans Health 
    Administration at which program enrichment is needed to improve 
    treatment and rehabilitation of such veterans; and
        (4) identify model programs which the committee considers to 
    have been successful in the treatment and rehabilitation of such 
    veterans and which should be implemented more widely in or through 
    facilities of the Veterans Health Administration.

    (c) The committee shall--
        (1) advise the Under Secretary regarding the development of 
    policies for the care and rehabilitation of severely chronically 
    mentally ill veterans; and
        (2) make recommendations to the Under Secretary--
            (A) for improving programs of care of such veterans at 
        specific facilities and throughout the Veterans Health 
        Administration;
            (B) for establishing special programs of education and 
        training relevant to the care of such veterans for employees of 
        the Veterans Health Administration;
            (C) regarding research needs and priorities relevant to the 
        care of such veterans; and
            (D) regarding the appropriate allocation of resources for 
        all such activities.

    (d)(1) Not later than April 1, 1997, the Secretary shall submit to 
the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of 
Representatives a report on the implementation of this section. The 
report shall include the following:
        (A) A list of the members of the committee.
        (B) The assessment of the Under Secretary for Health, after 
    review of the initial findings of the committee, regarding the 
    capability of the Veterans Health Administration, on a systemwide 
    and facility-by-facility basis, to meet effectively the treatment 
    and rehabilitation needs of severely chronically mentally ill 
    veterans who are eligible for Department care.
        (C) The plans of the committee for further assessments.
        (D) The findings and recommendations made by the committee to 
    the Under Secretary for Health and the views of the Under Secretary 
    on such findings and recommendations.
        (E) A description of the steps taken, plans made (and a 
    timetable for their execution), and resources to be applied toward 
    improving the capability of the Veterans Health Administration to 
    meet effectively the treatment and rehabilitation needs of severely 
    chronically mentally ill veterans who are eligible for Department 
    care.

    (2) Not later than February 1, 1998, and February 1 of each of the 
three following years, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on 
Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report 
containing information updating the reports submitted under this 
subsection before the submission of such report.

(Added Pub. L. 104-262, title III, Sec. 335(a), Oct. 9, 1996, 110 Stat. 
3204.)
