National Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End Suicide
| Published date | 08 March 2019 |
| Citation | 84 FR 8585 |
| Record Number | 2019-04437 |
| Section | Presidential Documents |
| Court | Executive Office Of The President |
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 46 (Friday, March 8, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 46 (Friday, March 8, 2019)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 8585-8588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04437] Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 84 , No. 46 / Friday, March 8, 2019 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 8585]]
Executive Order 13861 of March 5, 2019
National Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End
Suicide
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Purpose. On average, 20 service members and
veterans die by suicide each day. As a Nation, we must
do better in fulfilling our solemn obligation to care
for all those who have served our country. I am
therefore issuing a national call to action to improve
the quality of life of our Nation's veterans--many of
whom have risked their lives to protect our freedom
while deployed, often multiple times, to areas of
prolonged conflict.
Answering this call to action requires an aspirational,
innovative, all-hands-on-deck approach to public
health--not government as usual. The Federal Government
alone cannot achieve effective or lasting reductions in
the veteran suicide rate. This is not because of a lack
of resources. It is, in fact, due substantially to a
lack of coordination: Nearly 70 percent of veterans who
end their lives by suicide have not recently received
healthcare services from the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
To reduce the veteran suicide rate, the Federal
Government must work side-by-side with partners from
State, local, territorial, and tribal governments--as
well as private and non-profit entities--to provide our
veterans with the services they need. At the same time,
the Federal Government must advance our understanding
of the underlying causal factors of veteran suicide.
Our collective efforts must begin with the common
understanding that suicide is preventable and
prevention requires more than intervention at the point
of crisis. The Federal Government, academia, employers,
members of faith-based and other community, non-
governmental, and non-profit organizations, first
responders, and the veteran community must all work
together to foster cultures in which veterans and their
families can thrive.
The United States must develop a comprehensive national
public health roadmap for preventing suicide among our
Nation's veterans, with the aspiration of ending
veteran suicide once and for all. This roadmap must be
holistic and encompass the overall health and well-
being of our Nation's veterans.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States
to end veteran suicide through the development of a
comprehensive plan to empower veterans and end suicide
through coordinated suicide prevention efforts,
prioritized research activities, and strengthened
collaboration across the public and private sectors.
This plan shall be known as the President's Roadmap to
Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide
or PREVENTS (the ``roadmap'').
Sec. 3. Establishment of the Veteran Wellness,
Empowerment, and Suicide Prevention Task Force. (a)
There is hereby established the Veteran Wellness,
Empowerment, and Suicide Prevention Task Force (Task
Force), co-chaired by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
and the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy
(Co-Chairs).
(b) In addition to the Co-Chairs, the Task Force
shall include the following officials, or their
designees:
(i) the Secretary of Defense;
(ii) the Secretary of Labor;
(iii) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
[[Page 8586]]
(iv) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
(v) the Secretary of Energy;
(vi) the Secretary of Education;
(vii) the Secretary of Homeland Security;
(viii) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;
(iv) the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; and
(x) the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Sec. 4. Additional Invitees. As appropriate and
consistent with applicable law, the Co-Chairs may, from
time to time, invite the heads of other executive
departments and agencies, or other senior officials in
the White House Office, to attend meetings of the Task
Force.
Sec. 5. Development of the President's Roadmap to
Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide.
(a) Within 365 days of the date of this order, the Task
Force shall develop and submit to the President the
roadmap to empower veterans to pursue an improved
quality of life, prevent suicide, prioritize related
research activities, and strengthen collaboration
across the public and private sectors. The roadmap
shall analyze opportunities to better harmonize
existing efforts within Federal, State, local,
territorial, and tribal governments, and non-
governmental entities. The roadmap shall include:
(i) the community integration and collaboration proposal described in
section 6 of this order, which will better coordinate and align existing
efforts and services for veterans and promote their overall quality of
life;
(ii) the research strategy described in section 7 of this order, which will
advance my Administration's efforts to improve quality of life and reduce
suicide among veterans by better integrating existing efforts of
governmental and non-governmental entities and by improving the development
and use of metrics to quantify progress of these efforts; and
(iii) an implementation strategy that includes a description of policy
changes and resources that may be required.
(b) In developing the roadmap, the Co-Chairs shall,
at their discretion and in consultation with the other
members of the Task Force, engage with:
(i) State, local, territorial, and tribal officials;
(ii) private healthcare and hospital systems, healthcare providers and
clinicians, academic affiliates, educational institutions, and faith-based
and other community, non-governmental, and non-profit organizations; and
(iii) veteran and military service organizations.
Sec. 6. State and Local Action. Within 365 days of the
date of this order, the Task Force shall submit a
legislative proposal to the President through the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget that
establishes a program for making grants to local
communities to enable them to increase their capacity
to collaborate with each other to integrate service
delivery to veterans and to coordinate resources for
veterans. The legislative proposal shall promote the
development of milestones and metrics in pursuit of:
(a) community integration that brings together
veteran-serving organizations to provide veterans with
better coordinated and streamlined access to a
multitude of services and supports, including those
related to employment, health, housing, benefits,
recreation, education, and social connection; and
(b) promoting a stronger sense of belonging and
purpose among veterans by connecting them with each
other, with civilians, and with their communities
through a range of activities, including physical
activity, community service, and disaster response
efforts.
Sec. 7. Development of a National Research Strategy.
(a) Within 365 days of the date of this order, the Task
Force shall, in coordination with the Director of the
Office of Science and Technology Policy, develop a
national
[[Page 8587]]
research strategy to improve the coordination,
monitoring, benchmarking, and execution of public- and
private-sector research related to the factors that
contribute to veteran suicide.
(b) As the Task Force develops this national
research strategy, the Co-Chairs may, at their
discretion and in consultation with the other members
of the Task Force, engage with the persons and entities
described in section 5(b)(i) through (iii) of this
order, as well as with Federal Government entities.
(c) The national research strategy shall include
milestones and metrics designed to:
(i) improve our ability to identify individual veterans and groups of
veterans at greater risk of suicide;
(ii) develop and improve individual interventions that increase overall
veteran quality of life and decrease the veteran suicide rate;
(iii) develop strategies to better ensure the latest research discoveries
are translated into practical applications and implemented quickly;
(iv) establish relevant data-sharing protocols across Federal partners that
also align with the community collaboration outlined in section 6 of this
order;
(v) draw upon technology to capture and use health data from non-clinical
settings to advance behavioral and mental health research to the extent
practicable;
(vi) improve coordination among research efforts, prevent unnecessarily
duplicative efforts, identify barriers to or gaps in research, and
facilitate opportunities for improved consolidation, integration, and
alignment; and
(vii) develop a public-private partnership model to foster collaborative,
innovative, and effective research that accelerates these efforts.
(d) The national research strategy shall not be
limited to clinical or healthcare interventions, but
should approach the problem of veteran suicide in a
holistic manner to improve overall veteran quality of
life.
Sec. 8. Administrative Provisions. (a) The Department
of Veterans Affairs shall provide funding and
administrative support as may be necessary for the
performance and functions of the Task Force.
(b) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in
consultation with the Assistant to the President for
Domestic Policy, shall designate an official of the
Department of Veteran Affairs to serve as Executive
Director of the Task Force, responsible for
coordinating its day-to-day functions. As necessary and
appropriate, the Co-Chairs may afford the other members
of the Task Force an opportunity to provide input into
the decision of whom to designate as Executive
Director.
Sec. 9. Termination of the Task Force. After submission
of the roadmap described in section 5 of this order,
the Task Force established in section 3 of this order
shall monitor implementation of the roadmap. The Task
Force shall terminate 2 years following the submission
to the President of the roadmap.
Sec. 10. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
[[Page 8588]]
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 5, 2019.
[FR Doc. 2019-04437
Filed 3-7-19; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F9-P
