 Hello everyone, I am Marquis Bearfield, Assistant National Legislative Director. Today we will explore one of DAB's critical policy goals for 2021, improving mental health and suicide prevention programs. The VA provided mental health services to nearly 1.8 million veterans, approximately 29% of the VA's enrolled patients. Veterans need for mental health care and readjustment services have increased over the last two decades in the wake of continued deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and the current COVID-19 pandemic. Due to those circumstances for fiscal year 2022, VA has requested more than $10 billion to support mental health programs. According to VA's 2020 annual report on veteran suicide, it has been noted that 14 out of 20 veterans who commit suicide each day are not using VA medical facilities. Despite intensive efforts to reduce suicide among veterans, rates have not significantly declined even after the VA has identified this issue as a top clinical priority. During the second session of the 116th Congress, two key pieces of legislation became law. S-785, the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Health Care Improvement Act and H-R-8247, the Veterans Compact Act. Key provisions from the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Health Care Improvement Act include the establishment of a suicide prevention grant program. These grants will be available for three years to eligible entities for the provision of suicide prevention services for veterans and their families. Grants will also enhance VA outreach in the communities to help identify isolated veterans and provide services within the communities not currently served by the VA. It would also address VA staffing mental health provider problems. This will require the VA to determine the number of positions needed for mental health providers at its facility and also review what local vision directors are doing to retain current mental health staff that they already have at their facilities. Lastly, it will require a study and the feasibility and availability of providing alternative methods for treatment of veterans that suffer from depression, anxiety and PTSD. These alternative methods will include acupuncture and animal therapy. Key components of the Veterans Compact Act would include emergency suicide care. This would provide 30 days of inpatient or 90 days of outpatient care for veterans who present to a VA facility or a non-VA facility for emergency mental health crisis. It would also pay for emergency suicide care at a non-department facility to include the cost of transportation. It would also include the creation of an education program for family members and caregivers of veterans who suffer with mental health disorders. It would also require annual training for VA police in de-escalation in crisis intervention training. This training would include crisis intervention and de-escalation skills, including information about mental health and substance abuse disorders. It is imperative that this Congress ensure that VA faithfully and expediently implement these new laws. Some concerns that we have for the new Congress include, VA maintaining capacity for mental health services, meaning we would like to see the VA continue to treat its veterans in-house in its own medical facilities. But due to the increase in the need for mental health services in the veteran population, the VA has referred a lot of veterans out to the community or their community care partners. The community care network providers must meet the same standards for access and quality, including mandatory training on proper screening and evidence-based treatment for conditions often experienced by veterans such as PTSD, MST, and TBI. We would like to see mandatory training on lethal means safety. According to the VA's 2020 annual report on veteran suicide, firearms were the most used method of self-harm for veterans. The report noted that 68.2% of veterans that completed suicide used firearms compared to 48.2% of their non-veteran comrades. We would also like to see increased use of peer support specialists. Peer support specialists help create a more welcoming and personalized healthcare experience for veterans and new patients to the VA medical centers. They should represent subpopulations within the medical center's patient demographics, including Black, Hispanics, Native Americans, women, sexual minorities, and other veterans who may need a more personalized and culturally sensitive type of care when seeking care. Thank you for your time and attention. And again, I am Marquis Bearfield, one of the assistant national legislative directors. And if you would like more information about this critical policy goal or all of the DAV's critical policy goals, please visit our website at dav.org. Thank you.