Sponsors (3)
Requires VA to create a three-year toll-free hotline within one year, staffed by VA psychologists/social workers to coach family/friends and refer to mental health services.
Creates a three‑year, toll‑free VA hotline giving family members and veterans immediate access to licensed mental‑health advice and referrals and built‑in evaluation, but requires funding and adequate staffing to be effective and will end unless extended by policymakers.
Family members, household members, and friends gain free, immediate access to licensed VA psychologists and social workers through a toll‑free hotline for mental‑health advice and referrals.
Veterans (and callers on their behalf) can get faster connections to VA or non‑VA mental health services because hotline callers receive referrals, potentially speeding access to treatment.
VA and Congress will receive required performance data (call volumes, answer times, referrals) and a report so the program’s effectiveness can be evaluated and decisions about continuation or expansion can be informed by evidence.
If staffing or funding is inadequate, callers (parents, families, veterans) could face long answer times or limited availability, undermining the hotline’s usefulness—especially for urgent needs.
Taxpayers and the VA will face increased personnel and operational costs to operate a staffed hotline for three years, which may require reallocating VA resources or new appropriations.
The benefit is limited to a three‑year pilot, so parents, families, and veterans will lose the service unless Congress or the VA acts to continue or make it permanent, delaying a long‑term solution.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot program to provide mental and behavioral health support to friends and families of veterans, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 24, 2026 by Timothy M. Kennedy · Last progress June 24, 2026
Creates a three-year VA pilot program to run a toll-free hotline staffed by VA-employed psychologists and social workers that provides licensed mental and behavioral health support, coaching on how to discuss mental health with a veteran, and referrals to VA or non-VA mental health services for family members, household members, and friends of veterans. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs must stand up the program within one year, conduct targeted outreach and publicize the service, and submit a post-pilot report with operational metrics and recommendations. The law sets outreach and reporting timelines but does not appropriate funds in the text; it requires the hotline be staffed by VA employees (including hires for the program) and specifies data to collect and report after the pilot ends to help decide whether to continue or expand the service.