SAVES Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4809 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4809

   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a grant 
program for the provision of service dogs to eligible veterans, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 2023

  Mr. Santos introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a grant 
program for the provision of service dogs to eligible veterans, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Service Dogs Assisting Veterans 
Act'' or the ``SAVES Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR PROVISION OF SERVICE DOGS TO VETERANS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, acting through 
the Under Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 
shall establish a program under which the Secretary may award grants, 
on a competitive basis, to nonprofit organizations determined eligible 
by the Secretary under subsection (b) to assist such organizations in 
carrying out programs to provide service dogs to eligible veterans.
    (b) Applications.--
            (1) Submission.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this section, a nonprofit organization shall submit to the 
        Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and 
        containing such information as the Secretary may require.
            (2) Elements.--An application submitted under paragraph (1) 
        shall include the following:
                    (A) A proposal for the evaluation required under 
                subsection (d)(2).
                    (B) A description of, with respect to the program 
                to be planned, designed, established, or operated using 
                grant amounts, the following:
                            (i) The training to be provided to eligible 
                        veterans by the organization in connection with 
                        the program.
                            (ii) The training of dogs that will serve 
                        as service dogs under the program.
                            (iii) The aftercare services to be provided 
                        to such dogs and eligible veterans by the 
                        organization under the program.
                            (iv) The plan for publicizing the 
                        availability of such dogs under the program 
                        through a marketing campaign that targets 
                        eligible veterans.
                            (v) The commitment of the organization to 
                        have humane standards for animals.
                    (C) A statement certifying that the organization is 
                accredited by the organization known as ``Assistance 
                Dogs International'', or successor organization, or 
                another accreditation organization that the Secretary 
                determines is similarly widely recognized and has 
                accreditation standards that meet or exceed the 
                standards of Assistance Dogs International.
    (c) Use of Funds.--A recipient of a grant under this section may 
only use the grant amounts so received to plan, design, establish, or 
operate one or more programs that provide service dogs to eligible 
veterans.
    (d) Conditions.--As a condition of awarding a grant to a nonprofit 
organization under this section, the Secretary shall require that each 
such organization agree to--
            (1) provide equal access to service dogs to eligible 
        veterans who are women; and
            (2) conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of the 
        activities carried out by the organization using grant amounts.
    (e) Maximum Amount.--The total amount of grants awarded to each 
nonprofit organization under this section may not exceed $2,000,000.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``covered disability'' means any of the 
        following:
                    (A) Blindness or visual impairment.
                    (B) Loss of use of a limb, paralysis, or other 
                significant mobility issue.
                    (C) Loss of hearing.
                    (D) Traumatic brain injury.
                    (E) Post-traumatic stress disorder.
                    (F) Military sexual trauma.
                    (G) Any other disability that the Secretary of 
                Veterans Affairs considers appropriate.
            (2) The term ``covered service'', with respect to a dog--
                    (A) means the conduct of work or performance of 
                tasks by the dog--
                            (i) for the benefit of an individual with a 
                        disability, including a physical or sensory 
                        disability or a psychiatric, intellectual, or 
                        other mental disability; and
                            (ii) directly related to the disability of 
                        the individual; and
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) the crime-deterrent effects of the 
                        presence of the dog; or
                            (ii) the provision by the dog of emotional 
                        support, well-being, comfort, or companionship.
            (3) The term ``eligible veteran'' means a veteran who--
                    (A) is enrolled in the system of annual patient 
                enrollment of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
                established and operated under section 1705(a) of title 
                38, United States Code; and
                    (B) has at least one covered disability.
            (4) The term ``service dog'' means any dog that is 
        individually trained to provide covered service.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this Act $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2024 through 2028.
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