ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH EVALUATION PROTECTIONS

SEC. 554. ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH EVALUATION PROTECTIONS (a) Requirement.— Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall establish an advisory committee to carry out the functions described in subsection (d). (b) Membership.— The advisory committee shall include not fewer than 12 members, including the following: (1) Three board-certified psychiatrists who are officers of the Armed Forces, one of whom shall be an officer in the Medical Corps of the Army, one of whom shall be an officer in the Medical Corps of the Navy, and one of whom shall be an officer in the Air Force designated as a medical officer. (2) One board-certified psychiatrist who is a civilian not employed by the Department of Defense, with expertise in procedures for the psychiatric commitment of civilian adults. (3) Three clinical psychologists who are officers of the Armed Forces and who have been awarded a diploma as a Diplomate in Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology, one of whom shall be an officer in the Medical Service Corps of the Army, one of whom shall be an officer in the Medical Service Corps of the Navy, and one of whom shall be an officer in the Air Force who is designated as a biomedical sciences officer. (4) One clinical psychologist who is a civilian not employed by the Department of Defense and who has been awarded a diploma as a Diplomate in Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. (5) Three judge advocates, one each from the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, with expertise in pretrial restraint and other procedures associated with the mental health evaluation of individuals subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (6) An attorney who is a civilian not employed by the Department of Defense, with expertise in legal procedures associated with the psychiatric commitment of civilian adults. (7) Such other civilian officials (employed by the Department of Defense or otherwise employed) and members of the Armed Forces as the Secretary considers appropriate. (c) Chairman.— The Secretary of Defense shall appoint a chairman of the advisory committee from among the members of the committee. 104 STAT. 1568 (d) Functions.— (1) The advisory committee shall develop and recommend to the Secretary regulations on procedural protections that should be afforded to any member of the Armed Forces who is referred by a commanding officer for a mental health evaluation by a mental health professional. The recommended regulations shall apply uniformly throughout the Department of Defense and shall include appropriate procedural protections according to whether the evaluations are to be carried out on an outpatient or inpatient basis and whether, based on the results of the evaluation, the member is to be involuntarily hospitalized in a mental health treatment facility. In developing the regulations with respect to procedural protections for evaluations conducted on an inpatient basis, the committee shall take into account any guidelines regarding psychiatric hospitalization of adults prepared by professional civilian mental health organizations. (2) (A) The regulations developed under paragraph (1) shall include both of the following: (i) A prohibition on the inappropriate referral for a mental health evaluation of a member of the Armed Forces as a reprisal against the member for making or preparing to make a communication described in subparagraph (B). (ii) Procedural protections to be afforded to a member who is referred for a mental health evaluation following a communication described in subparagraph (B). Such protections shall provide the member with an appropriate opportunity to allow for a timely, prompt challenge to the referral. (B) A communication referred to in subparagraph (A) is a lawful communication by a member of the Armed Forces of the type described in section 1034(c)(2) of title 10, United States Code, except that, for purposes of this section, such a communication shall include a communication to any appropriate authority in the chain of command of the member (as defined by the Secretary of Defense in regulations under subsection (g)). (e) Definitions.— In this section: (1) The term ‘mental health evaluation’ means a psychiatric examination or evaluation, a psychological examination or evaluation, an examination for psychiatric or psychological fitness for duty, or any other means of assessing a member’s state of mental health. (2) The term ‘mental health professional’ means a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a person with a master’s degree in social work, or any other individual who conducts mental health evaluations for the Department of Defense. (f) Report.— (1) Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the advisory committee shall submit to the Secretary of Defense a report containing the recommended regulations and such other information as the committee considers appropriate. (2) Not later than 30 days after receipt of the report under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives the report of the advisory committee, along with such additional comments and recommendations by the Secretary as the Secretary considers appropriate. (g) Regulations.— Not later than 180 days after receipt by the committees described in subsection (f)(2) of the report, comments, and recommendations described in that subsection, the Secretary of104 STAT. 1569 Defense shall prescribe regulations based on such report, comments, and recommendations. The regulations shall provide that an inappropriate referral for a mental health evaluation or an involuntary hospitalization, when undertaken as a reprisal for a communication described in subsection (d)(2)(B), may be the basis for a proceeding under section 892 of title 10, United States Code (article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice). (h) Termination of Committee.— The advisory committee shall terminate on the date on which the Secretary prescribes regulations under subsection (g).