Executive Order 13822:Supporting Veterans

What the Executive Order Says

Executive Order (EO) 13822 is entitled "Supporting our veterans during their transition from uniformed service to civilian life" and it has 3 sections.  This EO was issued in January 2018.

Section 1

This section defines the policy which is that veterans need better access to mental healthcare services including suicide prevention resources.

Section 2

This section has 3 subsections.  (a) directs the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Homeland security to do something.  Doesn't really say what they should do.  (b) mandates that the group mentioned need to submit within 60 days a Joint Action Plan.  (c) mandates that a follow-up report on the progress of implementation of the Joint Action Plan be issued within 180 days.

Section 3

This section includes general provisions that limit the authority of the EO to ensure that it does not overstep legislative and constitutional limits.

My Commentary

I have looked on the internet for the Joint Action Plan and follow-up report since due to the age of this EO, it clearly should be available.  On the Veterans Affairs website, I found this updated action plan.  This plan defines 16 actions to be implemented that will support the reduction in suicides and mental health incidents for veterans.  I found this status update report dated July 9, 2018 although it is watermarked "DRAFT".  I would like to think that this had made a difference in at least some veteran's lives.  But it is not clear that there has been much success and since there does not seem to be any mandated report to follow up the implementations (while most of the 16 actions were "On track", none were expected to be completed until mid-2019), we may never know.