Veteran suicides: report and recommendations.

Existing law requires that each death be registered with the applicable local registrar of births and deaths and requires a person completing the certificate of death to record specified information, including whether the decedent was ever in the Armed Forces of the United States. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to implement an electronic death registration system and to access data within the system to compile a report on veteran suicide in California that includes information on the veterans' ages, sexes, races or ethnicities, and methods of suicide. Existing law requires the department to provide that report annually to the Legislature and the Department of Veterans Affairs. This bill would additionally require the report described above to include information on the veterans' locations of residency and death, length and locations of service, branches of service, and occupations and industries or businesses. Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs, headed by a Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to generally administer programs and benefits for veterans and their families, including, among others, educational assistance, home purchase assistance, and the oversight of veterans' homes. Existing law also establishes the California Veterans Board, comprised of veterans, to review policy changes that would modify veterans' programs, as specified. This bill would establish, within the department, the Commission on Veteran Suicide Prevention, comprised of 5 commissioners, including the secretary who would act as the chair. The bill would require the commission to review each annual report on veteran suicide in California, described above, and make recommendations for preventing veteran suicide from the data collected in each report.