PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS FOR DEPENDENTS AND PILOT PROJECT ON POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER.

SEC. 721. PROGRAM FOR MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS FOR DEPENDENTS AND PILOT PROJECT ON POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER.(a) Program on Mental Health Awareness.—(1) Requirement.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall develop a program to improve awareness of the availability of mental health services for, and warning signs about mental health problems in, dependents of members of the Armed Forces whose sponsor served or will serve in a combat theater during the previous or next 60 days.(2) Matters covered.—The program developed under paragraph (1) shall be designed to—(A) increase awareness of mental health services available to dependents of members of the Armed Forces on active duty;(B) increase awareness of mental health services available to dependents of Reservists and National Guard members whose sponsors have been activated; and(C) increase awareness of mental health issues that may arise in dependents referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B) whose sponsor is deployed to a combat theater.(3) Coordination.—The Secretary may permit the Department of Defense to coordinate the program developed under paragraph (1) with an accredited college, university, hospital-based, or community-based mental health center or engage mental health professionals to develop programs to help implement this section.(4) Availability in other languages.—The Secretary shall evaluate whether the effectiveness of the program developed under paragraph (1) would be improved by providing materials in languages other than English and take action accordingly(5) Report.—Not later than one year after implementation of the program developed under paragraph (1), the Secretary 119 STAT. 3347 shall submit to Congress a report on the effectiveness of the program, including the extent to which the program is used by low-English-proficient individuals.(b) Pilot Project on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.—(1) Requirement.—The Secretary of Defense shall carry out a pilot project to evaluate the efficacy of various approaches to improving the capability of the military and civilian health care systems to provide early diagnosis and treatment of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health conditions.(2) Internet-based diagnosis and treatment.—The pilot project shall be designed to evaluate—(A) Internet-based automated tools available to military and civilian health care providers for the early diagnosis and treatment of post traumatic stress disorder, and for tracking patients who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder; and(B) Internet-based tools available to family members of members of the Armed Forces in order to assist such family members in the identification of the emergence of post traumatic stress disorder.(3) Report.—Not later than June 1, 2006, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the pilot project. The report shall include a description of the pilot project, including the location of the pilot project and the scope and objectives of the pilot project.