{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnellys-final-care-package-provision-to-become-law", "Donnelly’s Final “Care Package” Provision to Become Law", "2016-12-08", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "IN", "Joe Donnelly", "D000607", "www.donnelly.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Donnelly\u2019s Final \u201cCare Package\u201d Provision to Become Law\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tSenator passes fourth major military mental health bill in four years\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThursday, December 8, 2016\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, D.C. \u2014 The final piece of U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly\u2019s \u201cServicemember and Veteran Mental Health Care Package\u201d (\u201cCare Package\u201d)\u00a0passed the Senate today as part of the bipartisan national defense bill. The legislation now goes to President Obama\u2019s desk to be signed into law. This will mark the fourth military mental health reform effort Donnelly has gotten passed and enacted in his four years in the U.S. Senate.\u00a0\r\nDonnelly, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee said, \u201cGetting the final piece of the Care Package signed into law is about getting our servicemembers better access to high-quality mental health care. As we work to reduce the stigma around mental health and continue to combat military suicide, we will have to ensure that the programs from my \u2018Care Package\u2019 are fully implemented by the Defense Department.\u201d\r\nDonnelly\u2019s bill that passed as part of the national defense bill is his\u00a0Frontline Mental Health Provider Training Act.\u00a0Given the shortage of mental health care providers, Donnelly\u2019s provision allows the Department of Defense (DoD) to establish a pilot program to expand the availability of Physician Assistants (PAs) to provide mental health care evaluations and services for servicemembers and military families.\r\nDonnelly has worked effectively and tirelessly over the past four years to find commonsense, bipartisan solutions to combat military suicide and strengthen military mental health care. He has already had three military mental health provisions signed into law:\r\n \r\nIn 2014, Donnelly\u2019s bipartisan Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act\u00a0was signed into law. Named for Hoosier Jacob Sexton, a National Guardsman who took his life in 2009, the law, for the first time, requires an annual mental health assessment for all servicemembers including Active, Guard, and Reserve.\r\nIn 2015, two provisions from Donnelly\u2019s \"Care Package\" were\u00a0signed into law, which aim to help expand access to quality mental health care for servicemembers and veterans through both military providers as well as community providers. These included:\r\n\r\nA provision that creates a special designation, and an online registry, for private sector, community mental health providers who demonstrate \u2013 either through training or past experience \u2013 a strong knowledge of military culture and evidence-based therapies for mental health issues common to veterans and servicemembers.\r\nA provision that requires all DoD primary care and mental health care providers receive evidence-based training on suicide risk recognition and management.\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\nAccording to the Department of Defense, through the first six months of 2016, 221 servicemembers were lost to suicide. In 2015, 478 servicemembers took their own lives. Last year marked the fourth consecutive year that more troops were lost to suicide than combat. In 2014, 444 servicemembers took their own lives. In 2013, 475 servicemembers were lost to suicide.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnellys-final-care-package-provision-to-become-law"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4885079581290483, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}