S. 609 · 119th Congress
BRAVE Act of 2025
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D
BlumenthalSponsor4 cosponsors · 3 D, 1 I
0 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
Building Resources and Access for Veterans' Mental Health Engagement Act of 2025 or the BRAVE Act of 2025
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Feb 18, 2025
Building Resources and Access for Veterans' Mental Health Engagement Act of 2025 or the BRAVE Act of 2025
This bill addresses mental health services and care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), including matters related to personnel, Vet Center administration, care for women veterans, and access to care.
The bill authorizes the VA to waive the licensure or certification requirement for individual licensed professional mental health counselor appointees for a reasonable period of time.
The bill also extends the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program and increases the maximum annual grant amount.
The VA must provide Vet Centers with guidance for assessing outreach activities and implement processes to periodically assess the extent to which (1) veterans and eligible members of the Armed Forces experience barriers to obtaining services at Vet Centers, and (2) Vet Center staff may encounter barriers to providing services.
Among other requirements, the VA must also
- survey and host listening sessions with women veterans to gauge the effectiveness of the VA’s suicide prevention, lethal-means safety, and mental health resources and messaging campaigns;
- initiate efforts to modify the Recovery Engagement and Coordination for Health-Veterans Enhanced Treatment (REACH VET) program to incorporate risk factors weighted for women;
- annually offer a mental health consultation to veterans who are receiving compensation for a service-connected disability relating to a mental health diagnosis; and
- implement a pilot program to provide access to mental health residential treatment programs for veterans with a spinal cord injury or disorder.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: BRAVE Act of 2025
Also known as: Building Resources and Access for Veterans' Mental Health Engagement Act of 2025
Latest action (Feb 18, 2025): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Feb 18, 2025
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.