Wounded Warrior Resource Center

[Jason]

SEC. 1616. ESTABLISHMENT OF A WOUNDED WARRIOR RESOURCE CENTER.

• (a) Establishment- The Secretary of Defense shall establish a wounded warrior resource center (in this section referred to as the `center') to provide wounded warriors, their families, and their primary caregivers with a single point of contact for assistance with reporting deficiencies in covered military facilities, obtaining health care services, receiving benefits information, and any other difficulties encountered while supporting wounded warriors. The Secretary shall widely disseminate information regarding the existence and availability of the center, including contact information, to members of the Armed Forces and their dependents. In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary may use existing infrastructure and organizations but shall ensure that the center has the ability to separately keep track of calls from wounded warriors.

• (b) Access- The center shall provide multiple methods of access, including at a minimum an Internet website and a toll-free telephone number (commonly referred to as a `hot line') at which personnel are accessible at all times to receive reports of deficiencies or provide information about covered military facilities, health care services, or military benefits.

• (c) Confidentiality-

• • (1) NOTIFICATION- Individuals who seek to provide information through the center under subsection (a) shall be notified, immediately before they provide such information, of their option to elect, at their discretion, to have their identity remain confidential.

• • (2) PROHIBITION ON FURTHER DISCLOSURE- In the case of information provided through use of the toll-free telephone number by an individual who elects to maintain the confidentiality of his or her identity, any individual who, by necessity, has had access to such information for purposes of investigating or responding to the call as required under subsection (d) may not disclose the identity of the individual who provided the information.

• (d) Functions- The center shall perform the following functions:

• • (1) CALL TRACKING- The center shall be responsible for documenting receipt of a call, referring the call to the appropriate office within a military department for answer or investigation, and tracking the formulation and notification of the response to the call.

• • (2) INVESTIGATION AND RESPONSE- The center shall be responsible for ensuring that, not later than 96 hours after a call--

• • • (A) if a report of deficiencies is received in a call--

• • • • (i) any deficiencies referred to in the call are investigated;

• • • • (ii) if substantiated, a plan of action for remediation of the deficiencies is developed and implemented; and

• • • • (iii) if requested, the individual who made the report is notified of the current status of the report; or

• • • (B) if a request for information is received in a call--

• • • • (i) the information requested by the caller is provided by the center;

• • • • (ii) all requests for information from the call are referred to the appropriate office or offices of a military department for response; and

• • • • (iii) the individual who made the report is notified, at a minimum, of the current status of the query.

• • (3) FINAL NOTIFICATION- The center shall be responsible for ensuring that, if requested, the caller is notified when the deficiency has been corrected or when the request for information has been fulfilled to the maximum extent practicable, as determined by the Secretary.

• (e) Definitions- In this section:

• • (1) COVERED MILITARY FACILITY- The term `covered military facility' has the meaning provided in section 1648(b) of this Act.

• • (2) CALL- The term `call' means any query or report that is received by the center by means of the toll-free telephone number or other source.

• (f) Effective Dates-

• • (1) TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE NUMBER- The toll-free telephone number required to be established by subsection (a), shall be fully operational not later than April 1, 2008.

• • (2) INTERNET WEBSITE- The Internet website required to be established by subsection (a), shall be fully operational not later than July 1, 2008.