To amend title 38, United States Code, to require that domiciliary facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs and State homes that provide housing to veterans have resident advocates.

Summary

Requires every VA domiciliary facility and any State veterans’ home that receives VA payment for domiciliary care to employ a resident advocate. The resident advocate must serve as a liaison to veterans, receive and respond to complaints, transmit complaints to facility leadership, and, when appropriate, refer complaints to the VA Secretary, the Department Inspector General, or state officials.

• Creates a statutory resident advocate position for VA domiciliary facilities.
• Makes resident advocate employment a condition for State homes to receive VA payments for domiciliary care.
• Resident advocates must receive, respond to, and escalate veterans’ complaints to facility directors and higher oversight when appropriate.
• Advocates can submit complaints to the VA Secretary and the Department Inspector General; State advocates can also notify appropriate State officials.
• The law sets duties but does not provide explicit funding or staffing levels for the new advocates.
• Ties federal reimbursement to a staffing requirement for State veterans’ homes.
• Aims to strengthen veterans’ access to grievance channels and increase oversight of domiciliary care operations.