38 U.S.C. § 1709 — Comprehensive policy on reporting and tracking sexual assault incidents and other safety incidents

(a) By September 30, 2012, the Secretary^* must develop and implement a centralized, comprehensive policy for reporting and tracking sexual-assault and other safety incidents at each Department^* medical facility. It must include (A) suspected, alleged, attempted, or confirmed sexual assault, whether or not prosecution or conviction follows; (B) criminal and purposely unsafe acts; (C) alcohol- or substance-abuse-related acts, including by Department employees; and (D) every event involving alleged or suspected patient abuse. The Secretary must consider effects on veterans’ use of mental-health and substance-abuse care and the Department’s ability to refer veterans to it. (b) The policy must include: (1) definitions of “safety incident,” “sexual assault,” and “sexual assault incident”; (2) specific risk-assessment tools for risks a veteran^* may pose during treatment, with clear and consistent guidance for collecting legal-history and medical-record information, while considering effects on veterans’ use of Department health care; (3) mandatory employee security training on awareness, preparation, precautions, and police assistance; (4) mandatory implementation, use, and regular testing of physical security measures and equipment, including cameras, computer panic alarms, stationary alarms, and portable electronic personal alarms; (5) clear, consistent, comprehensive criteria for employees to communicate and report incidents to supervisors at Department medical facilities, Veterans Integrated Service Network offices, and the Veterans Health Administration central office, and to Department law-enforcement officials; (6) criteria for referring and reporting incidents meeting the regulatory criminal threshold under sections 901 and 902 to the Department Inspector General; (7) accountable Veterans Health Administration oversight, including systematic sharing among officials with program responsibility and a central reporting, tracking, and monitoring system; (8) consistent law-enforcement procedures for investigating, tracking, and closing reported incidents; and (9) clear guidance for clinical management of assaults reported more than 72 hours after they occurred. (c) The Secretary must periodically review and revise the policy as appropriate and according to best practices. (d) Within 60 days after developing the policy, and by October 1 each later year, the Secretary must report implementation to the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees. The report must state^* (A) each Department facility’s number and type of reported incidents; (B) how the policy was implemented, including changes since the prior year; and (C) the policy’s effectiveness in improving facility safety and security, including the measures used to evaluate it.