2025 SESSION

SENATE SUBSTITUTE

25106404D

SENATE BILL NO. 1251

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE

(Proposed by the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations

on January 29, 2025)

(Patron Prior to Substitute—Senator Durant)

A BILL to direct the Department of Veterans Services to convene a work group to determine an effective programmatic structure to use the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Re-Entry Search Services system.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. That the Department of Veterans Services shall convene a work group to determine the most effective programmatic structure to assist the Department of Corrections, sheriffs, and local and regional jails in utilizing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Re-Entry Search Services system, with the goal of (i) identifying veterans incarcerated in state prisons and local and regional jails; (ii) helping such veterans prepare for release or reentry; (iii) reducing the rates of recidivism and homelessness; (iv) connecting such veterans to resources to address challenges of post-traumatic stress disorder; and (v) diverting eligible veterans to treatment dockets. The work group shall include the personnel needed and associated costs of providing such assistance and case management to adult state and local correctional facilities, to include a description of personnel roles, services provided, and areas served. The work group shall report its findings to the General Assembly by November 1, 2025.