Deborah Sampson Act
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a three-year pilot program to assess the feasibility of peer-to-peer assistance for women veterans (including those who are separating or newly separated from the Armed Forces), with emphasis placed on women who suffered service-related sexual trauma or who are at risk of becoming homeless.
Additionally, the VA shall:
- expand the women veterans call center to include a text messaging capability;
- establish a partnership with at least one nongovernmental organization to provide legal services to women veterans based upon their 10 highest unmet needs;
- retrofit VA medical facilities with fixtures, materials, and other outfitting measures to support the care of women veterans;
- ensure that each VA medical facility has at least one full-time or part-time women's health primary care provider;
- expand to 14 days VA post-delivery care services for women veterans who are receiving maternity care in a VA or VA-contracted facility;
- ensure that the women veteran manager program is supported at each VA medical center with a program manager and an ombudsman;
- collect, analyze, and publish data on each VA service or benefit program and disaggregate such data by sex and minority status; and
- publish an Internet website that serves as a centralized information source for women veterans' benefits and services.
The bill makes funds available for: (1) primary care and emergency care clinicians' participation in the women veterans health care mini-residency program, and (2) organizations that focus on providing assistance to women veterans and their families.
The bill: (1) provides for reintegration and readjustment services to veterans and family members in group retreat settings, and (2) expresses the sense of Congress that the VA's motto should be more inclusive.