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To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a counseling program for certain survivors of veterans who die by suicide.
Summary
This bill establishes a counseling program for survivors of veterans who die by suicide, to be administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The program provides free counseling services to the next of kin (spouse, child, parent, sibling, or other designated relative) and former volunteer caregivers (unpaid individuals who provided personal care or counseling services for at least three months) of veterans who die by suicide. The VA may partner with federal, state, or private entities to provide counseling services that are reasonably accessible and substantially equivalent to or better than similar services offered by the VA. The VA must publish program information on its website and notify eligible individuals about the program's availability. The Department must implement the program within 90 days of enactment.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Jefferson Van Drew’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $176,557
- ENTREPRENEUR $70,972
- PULSE VASCULAR $9,900
- ICONA RESORTS $9,900
- MONZO CATANESE HILLEGASS $9,000
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Jefferson Van Drew → · Outside spending →
Actions (3)
- May 12, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. · house
- Apr 24, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. · house
- Apr 24, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 24, 2025
Mr. Van Drew introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a counseling program for certain survivors of veterans who die by suicide.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Green Star Families Act”.
SEC. 2. COUNSELING PROGRAM FOR NEXT OF KIN AND CAREGIVERS OF VETERANS WHO DIE BY SUICIDE.
(a) Establishment.—Subchapter II of chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section (and amending the table of sections at the beginning of such chapter accordingly): “Sec. 1720M. Counseling program for next of kin and caregivers of veterans who die by suicide
“(a) Counseling Program.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary shall furnish, at no cost to the recipient, counseling services to—
“(A) the next of kin of a veteran who dies by suicide; and
“(B) a former volunteer caregiver of a veteran who dies by suicide.
“(2) The Secretary may provide counseling services under this section only if the Secretary determines such counseling services are—
“(A) reasonably accessible to an individual described in paragraph (1); and
“(B) substantially equivalent or superior to similar services furnished by the Secretary to an individual described in paragraph (1).
“(3) To carry out subsection (a), the Secretary may enter into an agreement with a Federal, State, or private entity. The Secretary may provide fair compensation to such entity pursuant to such agreement.
“(b) Public Awareness.—In carrying out the program under subsection (a), the Secretary shall—
“(1) publish information relating to the program on a website of the Department; and
“(2) provide information relating to the program to any individual described in paragraph (1).
“(c) Definitions.—In this section:
“(1) The term ‘covered veterans service organization’ includes—
“(A) an organization recognized by the Secretary for the representation of veterans under section 5902 of this title; and
“(B) an organization—
“(i) that is described in section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code; and
“(ii) that carries out activities relating to veterans and their assistance.
“(2) The term ‘former volunteer caregiver’ means, with respect to a veteran who dies by suicide, an individual—
“(A) who is at least 18 years of age; and
“(B) who, prior to the death of the veteran, and in connection with a covered veterans service organization, furnished the veteran with counseling, social work, or other personal care services—
“(i) without compensation to such individual; and
“(ii) for a period of at least three months.
“(3) The term ‘next of kin’ means the closest living relative of a veteran who dies by suicide, in the following order of priority:
“(A) Spouse.
“(B) A child.
“(C) A parent.
“(D) A sibling.
“(E) Another individual determined by the Secretary.
“(4) The term ‘personal care services’ has the meaning given such term in section 1720G of this title.”.
(b) Implementation Deadline.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out section 1720M of such title, as added by subsection
(a), not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. <all>
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