November 20, 2025
Mr. Ricketts (for himself and Ms. Slotkin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
To require the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense Joint Executive Committee to improve mental health screening conducted under separation health assessments for members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Medical Integrity in Necessary Diagnostics for Our Veterans Act of 2025
or the MIND Our Veterans Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. Improvement of mental health screening conducted under separation health assessments for members of the Armed Forces
(a) Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)
in order to address the mental health challenges following separation of members of the Armed Forces from military service, transitioning members must receive effective mental health screening prior to separation;
(2)
all screens conducted for mental health for members of the Armed Forces under the separation health assessment must be validated screens;
(3)
it is essential that the Department of Defense fully implement the separation health assessment with validated screening; and
(4)
screening for substance use should be considered a necessary mental health screen and included in the separation health assessment.
(b) Validated mental health screens
The Joint Executive Committee shall ensure the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) mental health screen, the alcohol use mental health screen, and the violence risk mental health screen under the separation health assessment are each modified to be a validated tool, which may include taking steps to validate an existing screen or replacing an existing screen with an already validated screen.
(c) Inclusion of substance use in mental health screens
(1) In general
The Joint Executive Committee shall incorporate screening for substance use as a mental health screen and shall assess whether to include such screening in the separation health assessment, including by taking such action as the Joint Executive Committee considers appropriate, which may include taking steps to incorporate a validated screen.
(2) Report
Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Joint Executive Committee shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the justification of the Joint Executive Committee to include or not include a substance use screen under paragraph (1).
(d) Implementation of separation health assessment
Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, under the guidance of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, shall fully implement the separation health assessment.
(e) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees
The term appropriate congressional committees means—
(A)
the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate; and
(B)
the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives.
(2) Joint Executive Committee
The term Joint Executive Committee means the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense Joint Executive Committee established under section 320 of title 38, United States Code.
(3) Separation health assessment
The term separation health assessment means the health assessment for members of the Armed Forces separating from military service established by the Joint Executive Committee.