Have You Served Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Have You Served Act creates a VA grant program for Ask the Question Campaigns. VA may make up to 25 grants per fiscal year from 2026 through 2030, each capped at $200,000. Eligible recipients are States with a Governors Challenge Action Plan for veteran suicide prevention and American Indian or Alaska Native tribes with a veteran suicide prevention plan. Grant funds support developing or expanding campaigns that train human services professionals, State and local governments, and community providers to ask consumers whether they or a loved one served in the Armed Forces and to refer them to VA and other service providers. Grants can also cover staffing, technology, marketing and outreach materials, and convenings. VA must provide technical assistance, including best practices, State veteran-resource information, VA suicide-risk and social-determinants screening protocols, and training performance indicators. Recipients report annually on those indicators, VA reports to Congress on implementation and performance, and VA, with OMB, must develop a plan for Federal agencies to use Ask the Question Campaigns in appropriate social service and health care programs.
Who Benefits and How
Veterans and service members benefit because more human services and community providers are trained to identify military service and make VA or local referrals. States with Governors Challenge Action Plans benefit because they can receive up to $200,000 to build or expand Ask the Question Campaigns. American Indian and Alaska Native tribes with veteran suicide prevention plans benefit because they are eligible grant recipients. Community providers and human services professionals benefit from VA technical assistance, referral resources, screening protocols, and best practices.
Who Bears the Burden and How
VA must administer grants, provide technical assistance, establish performance indicators, and report implementation and annual performance data to Congress. Grant recipients must submit proposals, train covered professionals, run outreach, and report annually on key performance indicators. OMB and Federal agencies must work with VA on a plan for Ask the Question Campaigns in social service and health care programs. Federal taxpayers fund up to 25 grants per year from fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
Key Provisions
- Authorizes up to 25 VA Ask the Question Campaign grants per fiscal year from 2026 through 2030.
- Caps each grant at $200,000 and limits eligibility to qualifying States and American Indian or Alaska Native tribes.
- Funds training, staffing, technology, marketing, outreach, convenings, referral education, and campaign expansion.
- Requires VA technical assistance on best practices, veteran resources, suicide-risk screening, social determinants of health, and performance indicators.
- Requires recipient annual reports and VA congressional reports on implementation and training performance.
- Directs VA and OMB to plan broader Federal agency adoption where appropriate.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Authorizes VA grants for State and Tribal Ask the Question Campaigns that train human services professionals, State and local governments, and community providers to ask whether consumers or loved ones served in the Armed Forces and refer identified veterans or service members to VA and community resources.
Key Policy Areas
Veterans Services, Suicide Prevention, Grants
Primary Purpose
Authorizes VA grants for State and Tribal Ask the Question Campaigns that train human services professionals, State and local governments, and community providers to ask whether consumers or loved ones served in the Armed Forces and refer identified veterans or service members to VA and community resources.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Veterans
- Service members
- States with Governors Challenge Action Plans
- American Indian tribes
- Alaska Native tribes
- Community providers
- Human services professionals
Identified Costs
- Department of Veterans Affairs grant staff
- Grant recipient States
- Grant recipient Tribal governments
- Office of Management and Budget staff
- Federal taxpayers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Ms. Brownley (for herself and Mr. Thanedar) introduced the following …
Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Department of Veterans Affairs grant staff, Office of Management and Budget staff
States with Governors Challenge Action Plans
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology