Recognizing Community Organizations for Veteran Engagement and Recovery Act

The bill would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a three-year pilot program making grants to nonprofit outpatient mental health facilities that have operated for at least three years. Grant recipients would have to provide culturally competent, evidence-based mental health care to veterans, train at least one clinician per funded facility, and encourage veterans to enroll in the VA's patient enrollment system. Recipients could not charge veterans fees or refuse care based on reimbursement eligibility, though they could seek reimbursement from other sources. Grants would generally be capped at $1,500,000 per facility per year, with a lower cap for facilities heavily dependent on federal funding.

The Secretary would have to distribute grants evenly between rural and urban facilities and could prioritize underserved areas, areas with large veteran populations, or high suicide-risk populations. The bill would not create a permanent program or new VA benefit; it authorizes $20,000,000 annually for fiscal years 2025 through 2027 and requires a final report to Congress within 180 days of the pilot's completion.

Nonprofit outpatient mental health providers seeking VA grants, veterans who use those community-based clinics for mental health care, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, which would administer the pilot, set training and reporting requirements, and evaluate outcomes for Congress.

Veterans in rural or underserved areas could gain access to community-based mental health care without facing fees or reimbursement-based denials, while participating nonprofits would receive federal funding capped by facility size and budget. Because it is a time-limited pilot, its reach and permanence depend on future appropriations and program results.

The VA would solicit applications from nonprofit outpatient mental health providers, evaluating eligibility, facility plans, clinician training commitments, and federal-funding dependence. The Secretary would issue regulations setting accountability, clinical-outcome, and data-reporting requirements, and would establish clinician training standards for culturally competent veteran care. Grants would be distributed evenly across rural and urban areas over the three-year pilot, with recipients tracking veteran enrollment and outcomes. Within 180 days after the pilot ends, the Secretary must report to Congress on veterans served, demographics, care types, outcomes, enrollment conversions, and obstacles encountered.