CBO: Proposed Suicide Prevention Programs for Departing Service Members Won’t Break Budget

WASHINGTON — A mandate that the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs use two existing programs to help service members leaving the armed forces overcome risk factors for suicide would cost a modest $500,000 through 2028, the Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday.

The CBO was responding to a Dec. 5 request from the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs to assess the potential budgetary impact of H.R. 3722, otherwise known as the Daniel J. Harvey Jr. and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act.

The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, would require the departments to create a pilot program under the DoD’s existing Transition Assistance Program and the VA’s existing Solid Start program to counsel service members about mental health, the challenges they might face during transition to civilian life and how that might affect their mental health. 

The bill would also inform service members about the services available to them at their local Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility. 

“Iowa’s Cpl. Adam Lambert was a proud Marine, an honorable young man and a brave soldier who raised his hand to serve our country,” Nunn said when he introduced the bill last spring. “America is the land of the free and home of the brave because of people like Adam, and we owe eternal gratitude to our veterans.

“The transition back to civilian life is harder than it should be. I’m proud to work with colleagues across the aisle, as well as with the parents of Cpl. Lambert, to introduce legislation that aims to make that transition easier by improving mental health services.  We owe it to the next generation of soldiers,” he said.

The bill is co-led by Reps. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, and Jen Kiggans, R-Va.

Under current law, VA helps transitioning service members receive health care and other benefits from the department and works with DoD and other federal agencies to offer resources to service members and their families as they transition to civilian life. 

The Veterans Health Administration has 48 nurses and social workers working as liaisons at 26 DoD installations and military treatment facilities. Those staff members assess various needs of separating military personnel, including the need for services aimed at preventing suicide and homelessness. 

The liaisons also help people register for VA health care and connect them with case management teams for ongoing care and services.

As a result, the Congressional Budget Office said, it believes the departments are generally already satisfying the requirements of the bill, and that the legislation’s main new wrinkle — that the departments jointly report on the information and materials that support their programs’ work — would not materially affect the federal budget.

The agency also noted that a companion bill introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, S. 132, an assessment of which was requested by the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on Feb. 16, 2023, would have the same estimated cost.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue