BRAVE Act of 2025

Key Points

• The bill aims to hire more mental health workers by checking if their pay is competitive with private sector jobs. It also allows the Department of Veterans Affairs to hire counselors and psychologists more quickly by giving them more time to finish their licensing requirements while they begin working.
• Vet Centers, which provide community-based counseling, would get better technology and data to find veterans who need help. The government would also study where to open new centers, focusing on rural areas and places with high suicide rates to ensure help is available where it is needed most.
• The Department of Veterans Affairs would be required to change how it tracks suicide risk for women veterans. It would specifically look at factors like military sexual trauma and domestic violence to make sure women get the right kind of support and outreach tailored to their experiences.
• A new pilot program would be created at at least three facilities to help veterans with spinal cord injuries get into live-in mental health treatment centers. This addresses a current gap where veterans with physical disabilities often face barriers to getting intensive mental health care.
• The bill extends a major suicide prevention grant program for three additional years and increases the maximum grant amount to $1 million. It also requires the government to offer every veteran with a mental health disability an annual check-in to discuss their care options and any new services available to them.