S. 4871: Improving Personal Risk Assessments to Prevent Suicide Act

This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs, working with the Department of Defense, to study and report on how military sexual trauma and intimate partner violence affect the risk of suicidal thoughts and suicide among service members and veterans.

What the bill requires

• Within 18 months of enactment, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, must:
  • prepare a report on the connection between military sexual trauma or intimate partner violence and suicide risk;
  • give a briefing on the report to the House and Senate Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs committees;
  • publish the report on a publicly available website.
• Within one year after the report is published, the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs must update their suicide-risk clinical guidelines to include the report’s findings about military sexual trauma and intimate partner violence as risk factors for suicide and suicidal ideation.

What it would change in practice

The bill does not create a new benefit program, penalty, or entitlement. Instead, it is focused on collecting information and then using that information to update medical and mental health guidance used by military and veterans’ healthcare providers when assessing suicide risk.

In practical terms, the bill would aim to make sure clinicians and policymakers give formal attention to whether a person has experienced sexual trauma during military service or violence from an intimate partner when evaluating suicide risk and planning care.

Relevant Companies

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